DiscoverThe Cash Flow Contractor282 - Are You Losing Money on Every Service Call?
282 - Are You Losing Money on Every Service Call?

282 - Are You Losing Money on Every Service Call?

Update: 2025-11-20
Share

Description

Is your service department draining profits instead of generating them? In this practical episode, Martin and Khalil tackle a real contractor dilemma: how to transform service calls from costly overhead into a profitable business segment. Discover why your current pricing model might be leaving thousands on the table and the straightforward systems you need to fix it.


What You’ll Learn

  • Why mixing service and install teams creates hidden profit leaks
  • How to properly calculate service call pricing (hint: it's much higher than you think)
  • Simple systems to separate service operations for clarity and profitability
  • Why treating service as a "loss leader" is destroying your margins


Time Stamps

  • 00:52 - Episode Intro
  • 01:02 - The Service Dilemma
  • 03:23 - Exploring Solutions and Pricing
  • 17:37 - Final Thoughts and Takeaways


Snippets from the Episode

  • "If I can't figure out what something costs me and what I gotta sell it for, then I shouldn't be doing it." - Martin Holland
  • "I think the way that this gets created is you start thinking 'If I can't service these clients, the builder's gonna get upset and not give me new jobs.' So we have it as a loss leader. That's a recipe for disaster."- Khalil Benalioulhaj
  • "Make some estimate and just make sure the estimate is high enough that it's worth it. If we get half of our estimated calls, we still make money."- Martin Holland
  • "You gotta know your costs. That's the takeaway."- Martin Holland


Key Takeaways

  1. Double your service department costs at a minimum when setting prices
  2. Separate service from installation teams completely
  3. Stop treating service as a loss leader
  4. Understand the full cost of running a dedicated service department
  5. Be bold with pricing until you get pushback
  6. Service should have its own tracking and profit metrics
  7. Service work requires specialized skills and dedicated resources


Resources


More from Martin Holland


More from Khalil


More from The Cash Flow Contractor


Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

282 - Are You Losing Money on Every Service Call?

282 - Are You Losing Money on Every Service Call?

Benali