Charging Fees Like the Airlines –Farquharson/Tedesco

Perhaps we can learn something from this high-flying model. Here are a few ideas—presented with tongue firmly pressed into the cheek—but offered to get you thinking...

What they do: Charge a booking fee. If you want to buy a ticket by calling an airline and talking to a real person, you will pay an extra $25. That is, if you can understand what they're saying.

What printers can do: Charge to quote a job. Hey, there are expenses involved in this process. Hitting a customer up for, say, $50 per complex quote would go a long way to eliminate the "Give me prices on 5M, 10M and 25M in one and two colors on three different paper stocks." We might also consider charging the customer to place an order if they do it over the phone. Just a thought.

What they do: Charge a change fee. Typically, after you book your ticket, if you want to make a change to the flight you will endure anywhere between $100 and $150 in addition to any fare difference.

What printers can do: We already have AA fees. What if the customer makes a spec change, such as quantity, paper type or size? Give the customer one shot to state what they want and charge them $50 to make a change. This would certainly make our CSRs happy!

What they do: Charge extra for checked bags. With the noted and well-advertised exception of Southwest Airlines and a few others, if you want to bring an extra pair of underwear, you're going to pay between $25 and $35 per bag. Not only that, Spirit Airlines now charges up to $45 for a carry-on bag!

What printers can do: Let's follow Southwest's lead and make the first box of printed material free. Additional boxes, however, incur a $25 charge. Each. If the customer chooses to, they are welcome to come and pick up the job on their own. They'll just need to remember to bring their own boxes. Hey, it works for BJ's Wholesale! Do they think this stuff grows on trees? Um, scratch that last part.