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The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:
| Topic: | Labor Rates??? This thread has 40 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15. |
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| Post 1 made on Saturday March 20, 2004 at 15:23 |
TJG55 Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | June 2003
304 |
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client is bitching about labor rate. $45/hr per man, usually two men. What is your rate?
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| Post 2 made on Saturday March 20, 2004 at 15:41 |
THXRick Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | October 2002
241 |
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Labor is 75.00 per hour per man..and 110.00 for all programming,complex or simple..if we crack open a computer we are at 110.00.. Sounds like you may not want this client..You are well below the industry average..I have not billed at that rate for at least 12 years..
THXRick
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| Post 3 made on Saturday March 20, 2004 at 17:45 |
Maverick Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | December 2002
28 |
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We are in a small market and we charge $55/hr per man usually two people.
Mav
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| Post 4 made on Saturday March 20, 2004 at 20:41 |
jeffh9020 Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | December 2003
105 |
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$65.00/hr. per man, Eastern VA.
Jeff
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| Post 5 made on Saturday March 20, 2004 at 23:53 |
Ernie Bornn-Gilman Yes, That Ernie! |
Joined:
Posts: | December 2001
30,104 |
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Los Angeles area. Charged $75/hour one man, $110 for a two-man crew. Just raised rates, am not telling you because it looks like you might be having a heart attack at this rate.
One question is, does somebody know of a reference where we can compare the cost of living in our town with the cost of living where you are?
The other question is, are you a trunk-slammer, or do you have a location? We have a store in Beverly Hills, and not just a small office over a Starbucks, or just a mailbox. Rent is due and payable on the first of the month.
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A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw |
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| Post 6 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 09:48 |
avdude Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | February 2002
814 |
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Ernie, not neccesarily cost of living..but try... www.salary.comand if you poke around here enough, they have ALOT of information on cost of living in different places [Link: realtor.com]Also, I'm glad to now see in writing, your definition of a trunkslammer. I'm glad to know that we are considered one because we only have a 2000 Square foot home, with 300k worth of gear in it, that we use as a showroom, that we purchased and re-modeled to be a show home. It's proving MUCH more effective than a showroom could. I think there are an AWEFUL lot of professionals here that would now be classified as "trunkslammers" by your definition above, quite unjustly. WOW, If I can do the kind of quality workwork I do, often in the 75-200k range, and I'm some some country, cornpone hick trunkslammer red-neck, then I can only IMAGINE what a high priced, ultra-mordern, super chik big boy from Beverly Hills can do! At least I have a real lap-top ;-) avdude
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AVDUDE
"It might work better if it were plugged in and programmed first...just a thought!" |
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| Post 7 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 11:31 |
Trunk-Slammer -Supreme Loyal Member |
Joined:
Posts: | November 2003
7,462 |
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LOL.....
I knew it, avdude is a trunk slammer.......he he
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| Post 8 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 12:50 |
glaro Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | February 2002
101 |
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i always thought a trunk-slammer was someone who couldn't afford a van
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| Post 9 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 14:41 |
avdude Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | February 2002
814 |
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ohh...well, we're ok then, cause we done got us one of them new-fangled Freightliner Sprinter vans, and a coupla trucks...so we ain't even got nuttin wit a trunk in it....u...goo...goo...gooo...Rosco P. Coltrain!
avdude
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AVDUDE
"It might work better if it were plugged in and programmed first...just a thought!" |
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| Post 10 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 16:26 |
Brijaws Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | November 2002
265 |
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What are we classified on that salery.com site as?
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| Post 11 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 17:21 |
jmk8793 Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | March 2004
84 |
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The time you will spend to make sure that your "price wary client" it satisfied, you WILL loose money! Every client that we have ever dealt with like this has cost more in the end. Always want something dirt cheap or even free. There are definatly plenty of work to be had out there. Good luck.
ps. no need to be ugly guys, we are all in the same industry trying to scratch out a living and college for our kids.
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KntRdr |
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| Post 12 made on Sunday March 21, 2004 at 23:32 |
avdude Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | February 2002
814 |
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jmk8793...
welcome!
PLEASE, look through the posts over the years here!
I agree, there is no need to get nasty...we ALL have our opinions, and they ALL have some validity...
but PLEASE, look at where I AM COMING FROM...
Colorado...population 4 million (maybe a little more) yet on ANY given weekend, and ALL summer, I can find the following ratios, counting license plates alone!
Colorado 1: California 3
Colorado 1: Texas 2
Colorado 1: New York, New Jersey, or Florida 1
This means several things...
one, my job is secure cause people from these sates LOVE my state (born AND RAISED, by the way)
two, Californians, ESPECIALLY HOLLYWOOD, BEVERLY HILLS, and LOS ANGELES, LOVE my state. I KNOW THIS, because MY clientelle in Southwest, CO, when I worked there, is EASILY as impressive as some others...TO INCLUDE:
Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman (pre problems)
Brad and Jennifer
"Stormin" Normam Swartzkoph (spelling?)
Sylvester Stalone (also took him up Vail Moutain in a snowcat when I worked there as an 18 year old HS senior in Glenwood Springs)
Barry Sonnenfeld
Oprah Winfrey
Lawrence Kasdan
Jeffery Price (wrote the Grinch Screenplay)
THREE Disney heirs...
ONE AVEDA Hair Care Heir
In Denver,
Patrick Roy (the BEST goaltender in NHL history)
Peter Forseberg (ummm...another hockey guy)
Lars Soderberg (VP, Janus Funds)
and a partridge in a pear tree!
Ohh...one more...remember the stupid friggin smiley t-shirts that made Wal-Mart....Wal-Mart? His name is Harvey Roiseman, and he sells 85% of all T-shirts to Wal-Mart...yeah, him too!
What's my point? Just that I know different cultures, which BELEIVE ME, Hollywood and Beverly Hills ARE are different culture, and I know what they think and expect....and THEY, never even insinuated that they thought our company was a bunch of trunkslammers, because we were SMALL...and were ALL very happy with our work.
The company I worked for had TWO trucks, was located in a 1000 square foot space above the local gas company, had four guys (the owner, plus three techs) and was doing these kinds of jobs and numbers...so, this pre-madonna BULLSHIT about having all the blah...blah...friggin blah that CERTAIN users claim...BEFORE you can exit TRUNKSLAMMER status...is BULLSHIT!
small companies (5-10 people) do some of the very best work...bar none....they ALSO have some of the best pay and benefits!
avdude
This message was edited by avdude on 03/22/04 08:06.
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AVDUDE
"It might work better if it were plugged in and programmed first...just a thought!" |
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| Post 13 made on Monday March 22, 2004 at 10:35 |
modom Long Time Member |
Joined:
Posts: | November 2003
352 |
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I've got 20 years in the A/V business and I have worked for independent dealers and for large regional chain operations, and some of the best work I've done is for a dealer with no store at all .Some would call me a trunk slammer,but we are authorised dealers for Yamaha,B&W,Martin logan,Niles,Sony,Rotel,Sunfire,Revel and others.Big trunk. BTW $55 to $65 per hr. is the norm for us.
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Mark |
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| Post 14 made on Tuesday March 23, 2004 at 08:50 |
rhm9 Founding Member |
Joined:
Posts: | December 2001
1,347 |
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OK... heres my defintion of a trunk-slammer.
One who has not taken the time and put forth the capitol investment to become a licensed business and a properly licensed, bonded, insured contractor to whatever degree his/her state requires him/her to be. Or one who "consults" as a hobby while drawing a paycheck somewhere like Microsoft or gleans customers on the side from a licensed electrical contractor. In my opinion, if you've taken these steps you have graduated beyond trunkslammer.
Often we run into the situation where the large electrical contractor has one of his employees (probably unbeknownst to the contractor) pull a client aside and offer to do a theater or multi-room audio system for him. Almost any distributor will sell stuff to an employee of one of their dealers (not singling out AVAD here). I've stood right there in distributors listening to the conversation...
" So can I buy a Denon Receiver and DVD, Monster cables, etc. etc etc"
"Is this for you?"
"uhhhhhhhh... yeah"
"sure"
"do I have to pay tax?"
"if its for your use... yes"
"can you just write it up under my name and not send an invoice to Sparkomatic Electric?"
"....Sure"
" Can you explain to me what all this stuff does?"
I'm sure many of you have happened upon the poor bastard that ended up with the system provided and summarily abandoned by this as---le. Usually the most unfortunate part is that by the time you are on site, the majority of a good clients budget has been eaten up by this punter.
That, my friends is a trunkslammer. Around here, we have one of the most prestigious dealers in the country... and they sit in their beautiful showrooms whining about trunkslammers... acting like they are the ONLY ones who could possibly design a theater environment. While they have an undeniable pedigree and do fantastic work... we have won bids over them where we were actually higher in price and the determining factor was that the customer sensed an air of snobbery and way too much time spent discrediting their competition as opposed to lauding their pedigree.
We don't even have a real showroom. We have that ghetto office (in our case behind a dairy building... not even classy enough to be over a Starbucks). Our rent is due and payable every month though. And we pay paychecks, benefits, L&I, unemployment insurance, etc, etc. just like anyone else. We tend to let our volume of work be our showroom... keeps down the overhead and allows us (and I'm sure others like us) to truly be a design service. The advantage of dealing with someone who does not carry backstock is that you don't get sold whats overstocked, spiffed or in desperate need of being cleared out.
I'll add one more thing. Anyone who ever recommends that a customer go into a store to look at product they are specifying, while not being a trunkslammer per se, is still being an as---le. You should be able to recommend product and either show it in your own environment or a customer's home... not by wasting the time of someone who is also trying to earn a living. This could be one of the things that chaps the ass of the person who HAS stuck it out there with a big showroom/store. I know it used to piss me off to no end when I worked retail.
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| Post 15 made on Tuesday March 30, 2004 at 23:14 |
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