Paying my TECH % when he works alone..

[Mikey P]

without going through my Craig Jaspers Handbook of Success can you guys who have experience in this give me an idea of what he should get.


I'm thinking around 20%

 

[CarpetKING]

I just recently hired a guy and when he works alone he gets 25% - that sounds about right.

 

[Brian R]

If your prices are what you say they are then yes.

 

[Mikey P]

well he aint getting fiddy thats fo' sure

 

[Hoody]

I'd be happy with 20-25%. Of course if he F's the job up and has a dreaded re-do....well then I'd expect to have to go do it, for FREE.

 

[Erik]

without going through my Craig Jaspers Handbook of Success can you guys who have experience in this give me an idea of what he should get.


I'm thinking around 20%

I think 20% is about accurate. I'm just not a big fan of paying my employees a percentage, they seem to rush to get the job completed. I pay all of my employees by the hour, even if it takes them an extra hour or so longer in the day, as long as the job in done correctly. I give them a bonus if they up-sale the job. This seems to work for me on my residential customers. IMO

 

[Mikey P]

Now what if he had a helper on the clock (my son)?

 

[Hoody]

lead tech 15-20% pay the helper 5-10%. It'll still keep your fixed labor costs at no more than 30%

 

[Erik]

I would pay the same. I always send two guys on the truck. Two guys that work good together get a whole lot more accomplished than a single guy, as long as your in one place. Your drive time is what will cut into your profits. I would pay your son cash, I won't tell anyone.

 

[joe harper]

Mike

20% is the correct #

Give a 2.5 % raise every 6 mths...."if deserved"....up to a MAX of 30%...

Give him a MIN of $30.00...For each job.."there will be some cancellations"

Make him AWARE of a 10% chargeback...on any callbacks..."that were AVOIDABLE"

If he wants to use a Helper .? It comes out of his %..This will allow him to have bigger jobs"

Ps If he will be doing any water damage work...EXPLAIN to him up-front.!!!
"that he will ONLY be paid for what he does" NO equipment rental & misc.charges
associated with this type of work.....

 

[Desk Jockey]

I remember going to a Tom Hill Steamway class and at the time he was advocating 30% total labor. If it was all the single tech it got it all if he needed a helper he divided it with the helper.

 

[joe harper]

30% is the MAGIC # for sucess in this BIZ...."IMO"

I like to expense out EVERY job....

Rule of thumb is ... :wink:

30% MAX labor cost
40% operating cost
30% personal income

 

[Desk Jockey]

I love your formula Joe, but the damn b*stards expect me to pay taxes.

 

[Ken Snow]

we pay 25% (15-10) to the 2 person crew, and also OT comission and a higher premium for after 9p or sundays. Our overall % works out to about 31.5% plus matching FICA taxes and all the required and voluntary benefits. The 31.5 does include holiday & vacation pay.

 

[Todd Christiansen]

well he aint getting fiddy thats fo' sure

LMAO! That is definitely fo sho.

 

[joe harper]

Mexicans don't pay TAXES....





I'll take 1.384756220499021% of your gross ReCiEpTs.... :wink:

 

[Ed]

We don't let our production labor for carpet & upholstery get above 25%. It is about 19% right now. We pay by the hour, but when I was paying commission we paid 20% for 1 tech on the truck, 25% for 2 with a 15%/10% split between the crew chief and tech.

D/R we try not to exceed 20% production labor per job.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Mexicans don't pay TAXES....

Well maybe that's why I pay so much, I'm covering for them!

 

[The Great Oz]

Look at what you charge and how much a guy can reasonably make by percentage when he's doing everything by your book. Make your percentage slightly less than this, as the tech will quickly outpace what you think he can do. Make sure the percentage is an upgrade from his hourly pay and continue to pay hourly but give him the option to take the percentage if it's higher. He doesn't get penalized if you under bid a job, he gets his hourly rate. Everyday he can look at the difference between hourly rate and what he takes home on a percentage and you'll have a happy tech.

Some owners that would be fine paying 25% will pay 23%, while "donating" another 2% to a bonus account. If at the end of the month there are no excessive damages or reservice work, the tech gets the 2% as a bonus. You're not docking pay for damages because it was never the tech's pay in the first place.

PS: Ken's systems works for two different skill levels on the same job. If equal skills the percentage gets split between all techs on the job. An hourly rate helper would just have the hourly rate subtracted from the commission paid to the lead tech.

 

[KeithCo]

20% - 25% and your sons hourly pay rate comes out of the lead techs percentage.

Your lead tech will think he's making less when actually he's working faster and making the same
if not more because of the helper.

Re-services are taken care of at minimum wage. Against the law to send him back for free.

 

[Jimmy L]

He'll quickly learn to cut a deal with the customers for cash.

 

[Ken Snow]

I agree Bryan- if two Specialists are on the job they split the commission, but this rarely happens except wintertime.

 

[The Great Oz]

Re-services are taken care of at minimum wage. Against the law to send him back for free.

Not if his hourly rate for the initial cleaning and the reservice would be less than his percentage pay. Say a tech works for three hours on a job with an hour travel time, then has to go back to do some spotting for another half-hour plus and hour travel time. He has a total of 5.5 hours at $15 per hour, or $82.50. if you are shooting for $150 per hour of service time, 25% of $450 would be $112.50 to the tech, so including the reservice he still beat his hourly rate by $30.

He already got his extra pay, and he only cuts into his own profit (obviously ignoring the cost of fuel, lost opportunity etc.) so quickly sees the value in doing the job right the first time.

This also covers overtime as long as the percentage equals or exceeds what the tech would have been making hourly.

 

[Curtis Pennington]

20-30%