Give away free work.

Its ok to OCCASIONALLY throw a good customer a freebee, but to officially tell them as described is a bad idea, GMOD:thumbsup:

Magic Hammer said:

Phil Rea talks about selling the benefits of hiring your company.
One of his ideas is to give a lifetime labor warranty on your projects and I agree with that.
Another idea is to tell the homeowner sometimes the crew may have a few minutes of down time and could do a free handyman job for them.
I think that is nuts!
What do you think about giving away free work?

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I agree with Gene. Promoting that concept is only asking for trouble. If you happen to do a little extra, well ok. Don't forget, once you touch something in a customers house, you own it! We have a standard 2 year warranty on labor and 10 year on tile jobs.

I believe providing top quality service and an extreme attention to detail for the project they are paying for, makes them extremely happy with you. I think that's better than doing an average job but giving them some freebies. (not insinuating you do average work)

We gave a lifetime warranty for about 15 years. There's a few things to know about it:

1. Few ever call with warranty work - mabe we're just that good. :whistling
2. Your wording needs to be good - are you covering all labor? What about your electricians labor - plumber - HVAC? Be carefull here.
3. Its a great selling point until you get someone that takes advantage of you - in their minds every problem is the result of labor/installation.

On freebies:

1. Only past customers
2. Never announce it ahead - finish something for them then send them an invoice describing what you did and the cost. Then line item "Thank you for your past biz" or "the referral" - whatever - "Zero Balance Due". :thumbsup:

For the type of work I do, this would cause huge problems. I really don't see how a company could stay in business doing free work. Now, doing something that takes an extra hour while you are there and not charging them for it is entirely different then going back to the house and spending awhile doing small things they ask. When you have your employees go do these small things tell them that the company is doing it for free , so they are also going to do it for free. That way, you'll really know how bad of an idea it is.

I could see doing it, when your first getting started. But I'd drop that practice as fast as I possibly could... I seem to do enough free work, without looking for it.

Put that offer in Craigslist... watch how fast you'll be busy :whistling