Hi,
I provide database administration services. My clients can call (and they do) 24x7 if there is an issue with database. And I don't mind.
In the past I have been charging hourly for that. But don't think this is smart on my part. 1h during vacation, weekend, or off-hours is worth more.
What are the options of charging for this type of support?
The best I could come up with so far is:
- charge $X per month where 3h of support are included.
- If there is more than 3h per month those get charged at 2x normal billable rate.
What do you think?
Thank you!
The best way is to create an app or a website that connects to paypal which automatically allows customer to call or create ticket as well as charge the customer based on timings. For example if the customer open your website or app during day it would be X dollars and if they visit it at 2.00AM then X+Y Dollars. I would not advise subscription model if they do not frequently call you.
I'd be happy to help you with this. I've run a lot of services businesses with SLAs and different contract/hourly values based on levels of service.
"Riskbased" pricing is not far from what you suggest, so you are on the right track: Calculate call frequency and how much each call will cost you (time, resources). Divide it over your working time, and add a profit margin: Then you have a monthly fee for 24x7 support.
If you want, you could monitor individual frequency - maybe somebody uses your support more than others and would freeride on a fixed rate? Then you could price based on number of uses of your hotline pr. month, or software version (if some versions crash more than others).
This is how you do it in insurance, where "usage" is random, and each use (claim) will cost you money. If you want to know more about this, feel free to sit up a call, or send me a mail.
Best regards
Kenneth Wolstrup
