Located in Rochester, New York, Cross Bros. specializes in providing both standard and custom conveyors, product pick and place assemblies, justification devices, and other material-handling equipment. Cross Bros. completed their Encompix implementation on July 1, 2004.

Thomas R. Cutler, spokesperson for ETO Institute (www.etoinstitute.org) said, “The ETO Institute recognizes Encompix as clear cut leader in Engineer-to-Order environment. The ability to track rework is so central to ETO process that it is a central quality issue.”

Encompix (www.encompix.com) has filled manufacturing software requirements of Engineer-to-Order companies since 1992. The company name reflects our commitment to developing business application solutions that encompass complex areas of project-based and job-based manufacturing.

Encompix provides ETO manufacturers with a competitive advantage by improving bottom line results.

Contact: Roger Meloy Encompix 513-733-0066 e-mail protected from spam bots

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If you are selling good advice, and your customers listen carefully and implement it - they will be more successful and thus will value you that much more. It is a cycle that spirals upward: The more you charge, more people follow your suggestions, more profitable they become, more valuable you are to them. This is a vicious circle that you definitely want to be part of.

SERVICE

The third component of your offering is service. In today's world, service is ultimate differentiator and separates successful companies from mediocre companies. People will pay a premium for excellent service, and want to do business with companies who provide it. They want to build up personal relationships, know that their needs are understood, and do business with people who demonstrate integrity and value long term associations.

Successful businesses are in relationship building game, and everything they do is aimed at strengthening connections and affiliations with potential and existing clients. This is where each of us can be different. No one can imitate our personal style and success at building and maintaining relationships.

In long run, excellent service providers will prevail over mediocre "competitors."

Getting Away from Hourly Rate Mentality

Before you do business with a new customer, you hold all leverage in relationship. After services have been performed, customer possesses leverage. The lesson is that you want to set all of your prices when you possess leverage - that is, before engagement begins. This requires quoting fixed prices and removing yourself from Almighty Hour mentality.

The minute you quote an hourly rate, you put a fixed limit on your earning potential. It’s hard to increase an hourly rate once it has been set. The most successful service providers charge for job as a whole, and don’t reveal how many hours it will take to complete job.

One of my clients - a management consultant – bemoaned fact that he always underestimated hours required to complete a job, even when he added in extra time. When all extra hours were added in, his hourly rate worked out to less than $50 per hour. At my suggestion, he began quoting prices by job. After three months he conceded that on average, he was able to charge more for whole job than when he quoted by hour. His customers – it seems – perceived greater value when he outlined what job consisted of, than when he simply quoted an hourly rate for his time.

Price Resistance

If you are in business, at some stage you will encounter resistance to price you are charging. Your best option here is to help customer understand full value of your service, and value or benefit they will get by implementing it. If you cannot conquer price resistance through educating customer, then I would seriously suggest you not take engagement.

Never decrease your price to get business from a customer suffering from price resistance. That cheats your best customers - those who value what you provide - and subsidizes your worst customers - those drawn to you by price considerations alone. Those will be first customers to defect once they find - and they will - a service provider willing to do work for less. You do not want to work for people who do not understand, or refuse to pay for, value you provide. Stay true and stick to your guns.

In today’s world it is no longer relevant to talk in terms of hourly rates when positioning price of your services. It’s all about value you provide, and perception of value in your customers’ mind.