Hippie CEO Life #13 - Charge For Value, Not Hours
July 8, 2022
When we started 33 Sticks, we did so with a promise that we would forever charge fees based on value, not hours.
In the services world, charging for work by the hour is the standard and has been for many decades but it is a broken model that results in unhappy employees and a serious conflict of interest between the company and the client — e.g. the client is benefited by receiving a solution to their problem as quickly as possible, the company is benefited by that work taking as long as possible.
It’s always the hottest times of the year when your air conditioner decides to no longer want to produce cold air. That was the case for me this week.
Yesterday, i had an owner-operator of a small HVAC company in Utah come out to the house to address my lack of cool air problem. When he arrived, he took all pertinent information from me, did a high-level inspection of the cooling system, ran a few tests, and concluded that the issue was due to a blown capacitor.
He didn’t just swap in a new capacitor, he took out the old one and explained to me in great detail how capacitors work, not only that, he showed me how to replace them.
Once the new capacitor was installed, he didn’t just pack up and go, he proceeded to do a full test of the coolant to see if there were any leaks in the system, and validated the the house was indeed cooling.
After we were both satisfied that the problem was resolved he said, “Well that only took 20 minutes so i’m embarrassed to even charge you for more than the part.”
i replied, “My man, this was the most valuable 20 minutes an HVAC expert has ever spent with me. Not only did you fix the problem and we now have cool air, but you took the time to teach me, and most importantly, you didn’t take advantage of my lack of expertise to sell me something i didn’t need. That’s worth at least 20% more than the rate you are charging me.”
It’s not the time we spend, it’s the value that we create.
