Price for splashing?

[DivingOtter]

Hey everyone, I have a question for those of you who do either hull cleaning, wheel replacements or foulings. It seems that people in my area who either call me for work or stop to question me while im on site ask me my rates. Now from what two other divers have told me in my area, they charge around 150 to show up and get wet ( exept long time customers and friends )and usually charge per half hour after that. I recently had a call to replace some zincs and told him 150 per hour then per half hour after that. I got the usual haggle of no thats too much! I know another guy who does it for 100 ! Now speaking to the individual who does dive it for 100 says its been that way for X amount of years and hes been doing it so long at that price for certain people, he just sticks with it. However, the two other divers in the area are getting to the stage in life where they would prefer not to dive if they dont have too, so that being said one individual made the agreement to give me any calls he gets. I told him the scenario from above and he said that 150 is fair seeing how no one besides myself is really wiling to dive a busy port in freezing cold water they need to pay or I shouldnt waste my time or do it for any less unless its a special circumstance. Being a small business owner I want the business but dont want to end up putting myself into a scenario where im not making any headway. I guess the short version of it is do i give in to someone haggling me down just to take the business, or do I stay with my set prices and hope they agree to it? From what I have gathered other divers around my area have charged as much as 200 just to show up and slap their gear on. These are commercial vessels for the most part and I am hoping to build a good long term relationship with them but dont want to get stomped on in the process. Thanks in advance.

 

[RickyF]

If your price is reasonable for the area, stick with it. If he really could get someone cheaper, he wouldn't even bother to try to haggle with you. You have to be able to make a living. If you do good work, show up when you say you will and are fairly priced, the business will be there.

 

[DivingOtter]

Thanks Ricky, this is more of a side business but I want it to be my main rodeo eventually. I introduced myself to one other diver that still dives for the people hes been serving for years so he didnt think i was undercutting or a fly by night operation. Like more than one diver and vessel owner has told me, no one wants to dive in these waters, let alone doing it for 100 bucks, if they say no let them try to find someone else. It is hard to stick to my guns on the price, but I know if I give into haggling I will be setting myself up for the " oh I heard you did such and such boat for 50 bucks less" scenario. Thank you for the input Rick

 

[thirdcoastdiver]

Set a fair price for your services. Make sure the service exceeds what you promise. Spend sometime thinking about what your customers really want. Would your service be better if they could ask for a quote from a website, you would promise 4 hour response time, etc. There are always customers who will want a service for the lowest possible price. Then complain because they got what they paid for. Think about value in the business transaction. It is not just about price, but the service level, quality, availability. What can you do to deliver a better service than your competitors? Then charge for the advantage. The process is called competition, but until the service becomes a commodity the price is driven up by competition, once the service is commoditized, competition drives the price down.

 

[DivingOtter]

As far as my customer service goes, I always have one diver available in my area.Most response time for me is less than an hour if it is a local job. If I am busy my friend is available who I know and trust. Last guy who complained about the price I even cleaned up his intakes and let him know they was alot of soft growth but I took care of it no cost, yes I know it was all of 20 seconds, but people like to hear they are getting something for free. Also something I have that no one else around my area has ( except large companies that do BIG projects) is a live underwater camera feed. It has a 75 ft umbilical on an LED lit camera that is attached to an 8 inch LCD screen. Ive found this helps put boat owners at ease that they can actually SEE what is going one, all the work being accomplished as well as an overall condition of the hull. This led to one customer whom I told he had 2 zincs falling off, he said thats impossible I just had them done when it was hauled a few months ago. I grabbed the camera which we mounted inside a custom toolbox, hopped back in and showed him. When i came back up he was more than pissed. Two of the zincs had lost its bolts which led to him saying im glad you caught that and I wouldnt have believed you if I didnt see it for myself! That led to him saying when can you come back to fix them? Alot of people laughed when I said i had that ( other divers ) and it was unnecessary spending. But as you can see at least one person appreciated it, and the whole system ( minus toolbox and mounting ) cost 200 bucks off a friend who had no need for it. Now at 150 bucks for the hour minimum charge, it damn near payed for itself, PLUS the additional 50 bucks per zinc landed me more money. I even said I would do it on a day where I am already at the dock, this way I could knock the 150 down to 75 since I would already be on location and wet. He was satisfied with my work.

 

[Herb-alaska]

Set a fair price for your services. Make sure the service exceeds what you promise. Spend sometime thinking about what your customers really want. Would your service be better if they could ask for a quote from a website, you would promise 4 hour response time, etc. There are always customers who will want a service for the lowest possible price. Then complain because they got what they paid for. Think about value in the business transaction. It is not just about price, but the service level, quality, availability. What can you do to deliver a better service than your competitors? Then charge for the advantage. The process is called competition, but until the service becomes a commodity the price is driven up by competition, once the service is commoditized, competition drives the price down.

I am also kind of in your position. I am not diving for the income but rather use it to funnel back into gear and discretionary income. I have talked to the couple of other divers that dive boats and let them know that I am only picking up stuff that they can't do, They are actually my dive buddies so i am interested in letting them know I am not out to undercut them.

One thing I have been doing is adding free value to my service. When I dive a boat and after I have completed the project I take my camera down and swim the bottom on video and then get back out and let the boat owner see what I am seeing. a couple of times it has added work for me but I make it clear I am just showing you what it looks like, I am not telling you everything is OK or that you need something.

All that to say just set your price and then stick to it but add an extra value like clean your hull today and then when I am in your area again on another job Ill let you know and Ill check your wheel and clean it for free.

 

[fstbttms]

If you set your prices below the competition, the customers you get will be the ones looking to save a buck. This means two things:

1.- Because they make a habit of skimping on maintenance, their bottoms are going to be the nasty ones. The ones that are a bitch to clean. Plus, as a noob to the hull cleaning biz, crappy bottoms are going to make up the majority of your work until you get established anyway, so why do that work for cheap?

2.- The customer that specifically chooses the new, cheaper dive service will bail on you as soon as someone cheaper comes along. Not the kind of customer that is going to stick around and help you build your business.

Keep your prices in the ballpark with the other hull cleaners in your service area. Being the cheapest guy in the marina isn't going to make you rich. Plus, there is perceived value in a higher price point (to a certain extent.) By that I mean, people think that if it costs more, it must be of higher quality. Your time is worth money. Hull cleaning isn't easy and it's certainly not something the boat owner typically can, or wants, to do. For me, if I'm not making about $100/hour while I'm in the water, I'm not charging enough.