Franchise location guide
Your numbers look wrong. What to do.
If your estimator is producing prices you would not honour, that is fixable in twenty minutes. Tell us early rather than quietly stopping using it.
Almost always one of three things: you are still on brand template pricing, a single answer option is priced wrong, or a percentage has been entered wrong. The Pricing Lab finds all three in about two minutes. Do not stop using the estimator, and do not just absorb the difference on jobs.
The reason this page exists. A location that emails us about pricing is a location still using their estimator. The ones we worry about are the ones who see a wrong number, decide the tool does not work, and quietly stop sending anyone to it. If your numbers look wrong, that is a twenty minute fix, not a reason to give up.
Work out which of the three it is
Are you still on template pricing?
This is the most common answer by a distance. Your estimator launched on your brand's template numbers, set without knowing your labour rate or your material costs.
If you have never opened the Pricing Lab and changed anything, this is your answer. Review your pricing →
Is one service wrong, or all of them?
Open Edit, then the Pricing Lab tab, and read the Price Range Summary.
What you see What it points to Everything is roughly 20 to 30 percent out, in the same direction Your labour rate assumption. One fix, applied broadly. One service is wrong, the rest are fine A single answer option on that service. One service is wildly wrong, like ten times out A percentage typo, for example 2,000 entered instead of 20. A service shows $0 An option with no price, or a percentage applied to a zero base. The range is enormous, like $500 to $40,000 One extreme answer option dragging the top or bottom. Find the exact combination
Below the summary, every individual scenario is listed with the answers that produced it. When a summary figure looks strange, this is where you find out which answer caused it, rather than hunting through your questions.
Fix it in plain English
Use the Pricing expectations box at the bottom of the Pricing Lab. You do not need to know which option is at fault:
Say something like"Our labour rate is $95 an hour, the template looks like it assumes about $70."
"The largest house size for gutter cleaning is coming out far too cheap for this area."
Review the suggested changes, apply the ones you agree with, check them in the Questions tab, then Save & Publish.
What good looks like: you re-run the analysis and every budget figure is a price you would genuinely honour.
If a customer already got a wrong price
Be straight with them. Estimates already sent keep the number the customer saw, so you cannot retroactively change it, and you should not try to.
I want to be upfront with you. The range our estimator gave you is lower than what this job actually costs us to do properly, and that is on us rather than on you. The realistic figure is $X to $Y. I completely understand if that changes things.
Most people accept that. What they do not accept is turning up and adding 40 percent with no explanation.
When it is not your pricing
| Situation | Who to ask |
|---|---|
| You cannot edit your pricing at all | Your brand. Some manage pricing centrally. Give them your own hourly rate and material costs, because that is an argument they can act on. |
| A question does not apply to your market | Us first. Some things can be changed per location, some are brand-level. |
| A service you do not offer is showing | Us. Tell us your location code and which service. |
| Everything is right but customers still push back on price | Not a pricing fault. That is a sales conversation. See a lead just came in, now what. |
Will fixing my pricing affect other locations?
No. Your pricing is yours. Changes you make apply to your estimator only.
Can I go back if I change something and it is worse?
Yes. Version history at the top of the editor restores any earlier version, and estimates already sent are never affected.
How often should I check?
Twice a year, and whenever your costs move. Most pricing problems are just old numbers.
What if I do not trust the suggestions?
Ignore them and edit the numbers directly. They are suggestions, and you know your market.
Send your hourly rate and material costs to [email protected] with your location code and we will tell you exactly what to change.