By Harry Weimann

Setting your prices in a trim shop isn’t much different than in any other industry. There are several factors that can affect pricing such as location, competition and the clientele. You must examine the prices of your products, materials and labor, and remember that pricing is a very important aspect of the success of your business. It’s also important that you have an accurate idea of the various costs that are involved in the daily operation of your business, including rent, utilities, taxes and employee wages.

If you have a great reputation and customer following, then customers are more willing to pay a premium for your services. If you price yourself right, it can allow your business to prosper. Incorrect pricing, however, can have an adverse effect and cause customers to look at other options. Here are some ways to price your services correctly.

As I mentioned before, knowing the cost of your day-to-day operations is very important. Once you understand the cost of keeping the doors open, you can add other factors such as the shop’s location and how it can affect what you charge.

If the shop is located in a large, metropolitan area versus a rural area, this can drive pricing higher or lower. The larger cities are great if you’re trying to attract new car dealer work and the retail customer. Pricing of products can differ, but location doesn’t typically play a role with product pricing. What usually drives the price of the product is based more on the manufacturer, the product you’re purchasing wholesale and what you’re paying for that product. Typically, the manufacturer will give you a suggested retail price and a shop purchase or jobber price.

Again, this is a guideline and can vary depending on your customers and if they can buy this product from another supplier or online.

Your competition can affect your pricing in a positive or negative way. One thing that I would suggest is to shop the competition. If your competitor is providing the same services and products, then it’s imperative that you know what they’re charging for them.

You should have accurate figures to compare your own prices to. Acquiring your competitor’s prices can sometimes take some investigating, and you may even have to secretly shop their business. I can assure you that if your competition is smart, they’re checking your pricing. You’ll need to keep your pricing in line with, if not better than, the competition.

The next factor that can affect pricing is your clientele.  If your shop is dealing with high-end vehicles, and your work and reputation brings this clientele into your shop, then you should be charging for the superior work you’re performing.

If your targeted customer base is the basic in-and-out customer who’s looking for a good job but is also shopping for the best price, then you won’t attract that customer if your pricing is geared toward high-end restorations.

With that said, you can charge different prices depending on the job. In our family-run shop we have a labor rate that we charge for general work and also an adjusted rate for specialty work. Most likely, when you’re working on specialty or high-end jobs, it requires a different level of expertise and skill. Complete restorations and specialty work are hard to give an exact price on. In most cases when performing work on these types of vehicles, you’ll charge the customer for the time it takes and the materials you use, while with other work you’ll be able to quote customers for that particular job, such as replacing a foam-back headliner.

Getting your pricing adjusted to where it needs to be to remain profitable isn’t an easy task. There are a few other factors to consider when setting your prices.

If your business is established or if you’re just getting started, your pricing can differ. If starting a new trim shop, one thing to try would be to charge the customer an introductory rate that could be slightly lower than other established shops in your area. You need to attract new customers, so offering lower prices and establishing superior customer service once you get the work will be helpful in bringing new business into your shop.

Once you’re established, it’s important to keep the customers coming in the door, so changing pricing by running specials and offering group pricing periodically can be helpful. What I mean by group pricing is, for example, if you’re installing seat heaters you might have a set price for purchasing and installing seat heaters for one seat and a discount price if the customer wants heaters installed in multiple seats.

When you get into changing prices and running specials, you should consider how you want to get this information out to the public. In an upcoming article, some basic marketing concepts will be addressed.

Pricing your services correctly is a difficult and on-going process. Attracting new customers and keeping the customers you have are important to the success of your business. Pricing is only one part of the equation. Providing the customer with superior work and great customer service is another factor to your success.

After you set your prices you’ll want to keep a watch on the competition and you might consider fluctuating your prices from time to time by running promotions, but my advice is to adjust your prices using the tips I’ve outlined and stay the course—your business will be healthier in the end.

Harry Weimann in the director of education at WyoTech Blairsville in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. He has been in the trim industry since 1980 and has owned Weimann’s Interiors in Delmont, Pennsylvania, with his wife since 1986.

Tags: Harry Weimann, Interior Insights, Pricing Work, Trim Shops