How is flat rate fair to my customers? 

One of the great ironies of charging Time & Material is that you make more money with slow technicians that fast ones. Slower technicians are usually less experienced, and usually paid less. Yet companies charge the same rate, no matter the tech, so the customer pays more to give a slower tech experience. That isn't fair to the customer. 

A faster tech cost the company more, they get paid more, and they charge less. That isn't fair to the company. Flat rate evens out the difference. 

Doesn't it allow price gouging? 

Flat rate is just a way to present price. It doesn't force anyone to operate differently. If a tech is prices fair with Time & Material, they can price just as fairly with flat rate. 

Won't the techs resist? 

If flat rate is present correctly, most likely not. Read more about that here. 

I don't need Smart Price. I can make my own flat rate system.

Sure. You definitely can do that. But Smart Price's database is constantly worked on by a team of industry professionals and has been used in more than 50 million repairs. To dedicate as much time Profit Rhino powered by Callahan Roach (the team behind Smart Price's database) does, you would be spending about 6 hours daily keeping your D.I.Y. flat rate database as accurate and updated as Smart Price. 

It is almost like saying, "I can build my own service truck for cheaper." You probably can, but is it worth all that time and effort when you can just pay dedicated professionals to do it? 

What would you tell a homeowner if they told you they could do the repair cheaper themselves? 

What about that one long, long job? Doesn't that cost me an arm and leg with flat rate? 

The odds of that job is slim, but with Smart Price, you have already padded in a "safety" with all the other jobs.  

Summarized from Matt Michel's blog on Flat Rate Myths. Michel is the author of The Power of Positive Pricing.