Advanced Webinar - Rate Increases
Time To Pet conducted a live Advanced Webinar on Rate Increases on December 9th, 2020. This webinar focused on basic rate increases, how to set legacy rates for existing customers, and how to make rate increases on extra fees, frequency discounts, templates, and packages.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Q: If I raise my rates, will all of my client's old invoices update to the new rates?
When you raise rates, it only affects events that will be approved or added after the rate change is made. Previously scheduled events will only be updated if the event is edited. To update rates for previously scheduled events, you can use Bulk Update - Bulk Refresh Rates to update events in bulk. For example, you updated rates on January 1st but already had events on the Scheduler before making that rate update. After making the rate change, select all events from January 1st and onward using Bulk Update and click the "Bulk Refresh Rates" button.
Basic Rate Increases (Starts at 3:30)
Q: What about removing any discounts?
Removing frequency discounts will be covered in depth in the last video.
Q: When you did the bulk update, did it also change rates on the template rates?
We will spend more time on template rates in the last video.
Setting Legacy Rates For Existing Customers (Starts at 11:34)
Q: Is there a way to "Label/Name" the customization rate? IE, First responder rate, HERO rate, Teacher Discount, etc.
No, but you could use client flags to keep track of which clients have a certain rate. Here is a link to our client flags help doc: Client And Staff Flags.
Q: When we want to review these types of rate changes in a year, do we use the filters to pull a report?
If you're using client flags for these rates, you could use that filter to pull a report on these clients. You can also pull a report of all custom rates in Bulk Custom Client Rates.
Q: Can you filter on the flags?
Yes, we do have filters for flags, and you can run reports using those filters under the "Clients" tab in Reporting - Staff & Clients. We also have a help article here on client reporting: Client Reporting
Rate Increases On Extra Fees, Frequency Discounts, Templates, And Packages (Starts at 20:57)
Q: What about removing any discounts, I am not updating rates, but removing multi walk discounts?
Frequency discounts work the same as basic rate increases. Anything already scheduled would stay the same after a rate change for frequency discounts unless the bulk refresh rates tool was used.
Q: When you did the bulk update, did it also change rates on the template rates?
With templates, the rates are assigned based on the current rates you have set when the template is approved.
Q: How about fees such as last-minute fees or admin fees?
You're most likely using add-on services for these in which case you would update them using the methods for basic rate increases in the first video or if you wanted to set legacy rates for existing clients, the methods in the second video.
Q: What if you have different holiday rate increases for the same day, I received an error that the day already existed?
It's only possible to have one automatic holiday fee per day. You could select the rate you most commonly use as the automatic holiday fee and then manually edit the holiday fee on any event that needed a different rate.
Q: Can we get that link for the calculators again?
https://www.timetopet.com/free-tools
Q: Does the frequency discount apply to all services, or can we set for certain services?
Frequency discounts are set on a service-by-service basis.
Q: Is there a way to not discount Holiday fees?
No, if a client has an auto discount set or an invoice has a discount on it, that will be applied to any holiday fees.
Q: Is it possible to set one holiday rate for visits and one for overnight services?
No, but holiday fees can be set as percentages.
Q: What's the difference between the pet sitting and the dog sitting rate calculator?
The pet sitting calculator is based on rates for services labeled as pet sitting and the dog walking is based on rates for services labeled as dog walking. Some companies charge differently for pet sitting or dog walking services so the averages will be slightly different.
Q: Is there a way to add a "same day booking fee" automatically as Time To Pet does for cancellation fees?
No, this would need to be added manually as an add on service or custom invoice line item.
Q: Will you offer a calculator to UK clients? Or you don't have enough data?
Unfortunately, we don't have enough data at this time to generate the calculator for these.