282 - Are You Losing Money on Every Service Call?

The Cash Flow Contractor

Is your service department draining profits instead of generating them? In this practical episode, Martin and Khalil tackle a real contractor dilemma: how to transform service calls from costly overhead into a profitable business segment. Discover why your current pricing model might be leaving thousands on the table and the straightforward systems you need to fix it.

What You’ll Learn

• Why mixing service and install teams creates hidden profit leaks
• How to properly calculate service call pricing (hint: it's much higher than you think)
• Simple systems to separate service operations for clarity and profitability
• Why treating service as a "loss leader" is destroying your margins

Time Stamps

• 00:52 - Episode Intro
• 01:02 - The Service Dilemma
• 03:23 - Exploring Solutions and Pricing
• 17:37 - Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Snippets from the Episode

• "If I can't figure out what something costs me and what I gotta sell it for, then I shouldn't be doing it." - Martin Holland
• "I think the way that this gets created is you start thinking 'If I can't service these clients, the builder's gonna get upset and not give me new jobs.' So we have it as a loss leader. That's a recipe for disaster."- Khalil Benalioulhaj
• "Make some estimate and just make sure the estimate is high enough that it's worth it. If we get half of our estimated calls, we still make money."- Martin Holland
• "You gotta know your costs. That's the takeaway."- Martin Holland

Key Takeaways

1. Double your service department costs at a minimum when setting prices
2. Separate service from installation teams completely
3. Stop treating service as a loss leader
4. Understand the full cost of running a dedicated service department
5. Be bold with pricing until you get pushback
6. Service should have its own tracking and profit metrics
7. Service work requires specialized skills and dedicated resources

Resources

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠24 Things⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Construction Business Owners Need to Successfully Hire & Train an Executive Assistant

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Schedule⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ a 15-Minute Roadblock Call

• Check out⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OpenPhone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Build a Business that Runs without you. Explore our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ GrowthKits⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Need Marketing Help? We Recommend⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Benali⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Need Help with podcast production? We recommend⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Demandcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

More from Martin Holland

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theprofitproblem.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠annealbc.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email Martin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meet With Martin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

More from Khalil

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠benali.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email Khalil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meet With Khalil⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

More from The Cash Flow Contractor

• Subscribe to our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Follow On Social:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X(formerly Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Visit our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Cashflow Contractor