Every industry has it’s high end and low end. Both in terms of customers and merchants. It happens that in our industry, the low end merchant has the distinct title, “Trunk Slammer.”
Don’t you think that some customers would be paired up nicely with this level of installer? How do you qualify your customers to make sure they are a match for your target market? I believe there is a great market for trunk slammers. There are more people out there who would love to pay $150 to mount a TV than are willing to pay $1,000 to have it done right.
Is it the products you specify that weed out unwanted customers?
Do you request a scope of work along with an actual budget to identify if it’s a fit? How detailed is your proposal?
In our business, we try to identify the scope of work and have a set of drawings if it is a project under construction. This helps us to identify early in the process if we are anywhere near having a project that we can do and make money doing it.
And although our bread and butter comes from the big projects, we still do service calls for existing customers and business partners to foster and strengthen our existing relationships.
Glad to be sharing in this exciting industry with you,
Morgan
You rock man! I am a CEDIA CERTIFIED “Trunk Slammer” who has been in business in the Midwest for about a year.
The going rate for flat panel install with concealed wiring is $400 in this area and I charge $350. I’m not so much cheaper,
I’m better in the fact that I treat each and every client like they are my “only” client. I was the top salesman at a local
custom av shop for 6 years. I made a little over or a little under 100K a year there. I will make about $160K this year on
my own. I would like to see what you do on a flat panel install better than me. I applaud that you can get $1000 to mount
a TV, I thought I could sell but you blow me out the water. Keep up the good work. Realize this though, A/‘V gear does not
have the same importance to every client. Some clients spend crazy money on cars, watches, guns, and spend little on A/V.
Thanks for the encouragement mistercee. And thanks for the candid response. I must say, though, that I am curiouis about your numbers. You say you were making around $100k as an installer and now are making $160k. Is that your actual take home pay? Because if so, YOU ROCK! Well, you rock anyway because you seem to have a great attitude. But I am a bit skeptical about a single installer making $160k take home in his first year out. Usually custom installers have about a 50/50 split on revenue for labor and material. Also, even with your small operation, you have business expenses which I’ll estimate at $2k/month. So to take home $160k…let’s say you make 10 points and harware.
So $150,000 labor and $150,000 equipment = $300,000
Cogs $135,000 = $165,000
operating expenses $24,000 = $141,000
By my estimate, to take home $160,000 you need to be doing ...more than 857 flat panel installs at $350/ea.
You are one busy guy. Well, you see my point and I’ll be very interested to hear your response.
Okay, now that I see that about $500.00 to $600.00 is materials I can see the $1000.00 install. It also sounds like a full day labor. What is the labor rate over there in california? I ask because it doesn’t seem like your charging much labor for the amount of work you’re doing. I found that it takes me about 3 hours to go over and up about 6 feet or so from start to finish. Including patching any cutouts. I dont paint thats up to them. Mistercee only has to do 3.4 flat panels a day to take home the 160k a year in a 5 day work week. No problem if you can find that many flat panels to install.
Labor rates vary. I would say they average about $125/hour. Again, my figures were not intended to be exact, it was more an illustration. When you asked how it could be $1,000 - I simply showed you. $200 might not be enough labor, depending on the install. But, if it is mounting a 42” tv on drywall, 2x4 wood studs and there is power right below and a cabinet right below for the equipment, $200 is a good number. Not to mention that there will likely be components to hook up with additional labor for that as well. But how often are you charging time and material? Usually it’s a fixed bid and you are doing your best to estimate the T&M;. That’s where I find most installers blow it. They regularly under-estimate to make the sale - or don’t properly manage changes and eat the expense for additional work. I’ve certainly had to learn my lessons the hard way.
mistercee certainly could pull it off working 10 hours a day assuming almost zero commute time, then figure the administrative time, since the overhead I assumed did not include ANY office assistance - mistercee is looking at 12+ hour work days M-F or 10+ hours M-Sa. It certainly could happen. How he can keep that up and have any time for scheduling, call backs, picking up material, etc. I’m not sure. Maybe he’ll check back and respond.
Hey here are some goals that were set in the beginning.
Monthly
2 theaters one good one and one cheap one 15k and 7k
1500 labor on one and 1000 labor on another.
where are you getting 10% margin?
My speakers are 50 to 60pts
my projectors are 30 pts
my cables can be 60pts or more
Warranty warrantech is 60pts
Do the math
7k theater
6k in products
40% margin on that 2
2400 profit plus the 1000 in labor $3400
Do two of these a month.
15K theater
13500 in products
at 40pts
5400 in profit 1500 in labor $6900
You gotta sell speakers, warranty, and accesories.
3000 in speakers at 50pts 1500
1000 receiver and blu ray 300
2500 projector 750
600 mount and cables 350
1000 labor 900
300 programmed remote 200
8400 deal 4000 to you,
As a trunk slammer pay for the van, gas, insurance, NETWORKING GROUP DUES, NETWORKING GROUP DUES,
NETWORKING GROUP DUES, dinners, golf outings, dinners, golf outings, shake hands, kiss babies,
shake hands, kiss babies, sponsor a little league team, meet realtors, appear on TV explaining the
digital TV transition because YOU called the station. I’m really more of a marketing Dude
than a salesperson or installer. But I do all three pretty well. REMEMBER
EVERYBODY HAS GOTTA KNOW YOU!
If you do 2 theaters and hang panels, you’re gonna make some dough.
Thank you mistercee! I have talked with several business owners in several industries in my area. I interviewed them early on in my business to get advice. The most successful businesses were started by marketing dudes. Not the technical people. The marketing people. The ones who… join networking groups, shake hands, ADVERTISE somehow some way. As a technical person, however, I think we find it difficult to make the time to do the schmoozing when we’re just trying to get the work done.
Read, The E-Myth, by Michael E. Gerber
So, mistercee - are you really pulling that off solo? And if you regularly get 30-60 points on product - my hats off to you. These days that is incredibly impressive. I can get those numbers, but not regularly. At least half the jobs price shop components. I’m trying to steer away from these more and more, but when you don’t have customers banging down your door, you get what you can.
Thankfully, I am learning some of the lessons my marketing buddies have told me about… and some they didn’t. I can see the incredible value in properly marketing to help ease the sales process and land better jobs, better margins, just better. But, I have had my share of jobs where I am installing components the customer purchased at Costco. And some of these are very afluent customers.
Check this silly deal I just got. And by the way if it is a 50” panel or larger I bring my kid or best friend to help me hang the TV.
I bought a 42” LG, universal remote and tilt mount from tigerdirect.com
for 1061 shipped.
I charged 1000 for tv
mount 200
remote 200 programmed
hang labor 300
cables 100 1 component with audio, 1 hdmi
shop mat 54
Total 1854 i have like 1105 in the deal.
I have $700 for 2.5 hours work.
Do I like buying from tigerdirect, NO! but I can spot a deal, whether its from AVAD, DBL, DSI, ADIA, or whomever.
I do 90% of my work on one half of town. Call your clients back religously after 30 days to make sure all is well.
Send them a thank you note. You are their technology expert. If you get out and shake more hands you will get more
business! The more people start to trust you, the more PRODUCT you can sell. If they don’t trust you they are going to
buy that stuff somewhere else and hopefully have you install it. Hey, whats installed in your home?
The going rate for flat panel install with concealed wiring is $400 in this area and I charge $350. I’m not so much cheaper,
I’m better in the fact that I treat each and every client like they are my “only” client. I was the top salesman at a local
custom av shop for 6 years. I would like to see what you do on a flat panel install better than me.
I guess I don’t understand.
If you’re better than your competitors, treat your clients better, are a top saleman and do better installations why are you charging less than the going rate?
I would think a top saleman would be able to get more than the going rate in the area.
Electric Guy - how do you deal with flat panel installs? As you can see, the more specific you get, the more we can understand. Do you sell the TV and components? Or, as an electrician, do you wire the 110 and get the install work while you’re there?
You know what, youre right! I think I do things the way I do because I’m fairly successful at it. I make good money and
my clients are happy with the service they receive. I recently read an article that basically said if you are booked out 3 weeks then you need to raise your labor rates. I like to think because I get a ton of business from referrals that I am giving my clients a deal, they will pay more though. Thanks for your insight.
Wow, mistercee! You don’t seem like much of a trunk slammer. Do you have a business license? Do you have a sellers permit? Do you have a contractors license? It sounds like you run a legit business. Who cares if you are using help. You seem to know what you are doing and it looks like you have a system in place. You shouldn’t refer to yourself as a “trunk slammer”. It is kind of a low title to hold and you are running a very, very successful business. I am a one man company with a van and I have all of my licenses, etc. I am a real business, not a trunk slammer. It would appear to me that you change clothes in a phone booth. Keep up the good work Superman!
PhDav, I like your point. Trunk slammer is probably not appropriate for a one man business that has all the appropriate licensing, permits, insurance etc. But, in California, as long as each job is less than a certain amount (around $500) you don’t need a contractors license. So you could be legit without a contractors license ... although I wouldn’t want to try and walk that fine line.
Here’s a question for vistors to this thread: what do you think is the maximum gross revenue a one man custom installer can make in a year?
I’m not sure what the max should be but for me my whole audio business will generate more than 80k in gross sales this year. After expenses I am on target to clear about 27k in profit. This scenerio is based on installing an entry level 4 zone 4 source distribution system. I do 2 installs a month (probably could do more), charge a 35% mark up on materials and a $1,500 flat labor rate fee.
Is Specialty Retail’s Future ‘Extremely Lean’?
Well, you see my point and I’ll be very interested to hear your response.
