How to research competitor pricing

What you are trying to learn

Competitor research is not about finding the lowest number in town and matching it. It is about knowing where your prices sit in the local market, what customers get for each price level, and which parts of your offer customers actually compare. With that, you can set prices with confidence and explain them on the phone.

• Price position: are you low, middle or high for your most common jobs?
• Pricing structure: do competitors charge service calls, offer flat rates, publish ranges or quote only on site?
• Offer details: warranties, response times, financing, memberships, guarantees.
• Reputation: what customers praise and complain about, especially on price and surprise charges.

The legal line: research, never coordinate

Learning competitors’ prices from public sources is normal business. Agreeing on prices with them is not. The FTC defines price fixing as an agreement, written, verbal or inferred from conduct, among competitors, and says a naked agreement among competitors to fix prices is almost always illegal, whether prices are set at a minimum, a maximum or within a range^[1]. The same guidance says each company is free to set its own prices, and that matching competitors’ pricing may be good business, as long as the decision is not based on any agreement or coordination with a competitor^[1].

• Do not discuss your prices, planned increases or bids with competitors, including at trade association events or on owner forums.
• Do not exchange price sheets with a competitor, even informally.
• Do not agree to “not undercut” each other, or divide customers or territories.
• If a competitor raises prices with you, end the conversation and make a note of it.

Sources, from best to worst

Write down the date and source of every data point. Prices change, and a number from two years ago is not market research.

Mystery calls without wasting anyone’s time

Calling a competitor the way a customer would is a long-standing way to hear how they quote. Keep it respectful and limited.

1. 01

   Use a realistic scenario

   A common job, described the way your own callers describe it.

2. 02

   Ask what a customer would ask

   “Do you charge to come out? Roughly what does a spring replacement run? How soon can you come?”

3. 03

   Do not book a visit you will not keep

   A fake appointment wastes a technician’s time and a real customer’s slot.

4. 04

   Do not record without consent

   Federal law allows recording with one party’s consent^[3], but some states require everyone’s consent. Take notes instead.

5. 05

   Record what you learned

   Fees, ranges, structure, response time, and how the call felt.

Five or six calls across your main competitors, repeated once a year, usually tell you more than a hundred online searches.

Mining reviews for price signals

Customers read reviews before they buy. In Pew Research Center data, 82% of US adults said they at least sometimes read online ratings or reviews before buying something for the first time, and 40% said they always or almost always do^[2]. Competitors’ reviews show how their pricing feels to the people paying it.

• Search reviews for words like price, fee, charge, quote, expensive, fair and upfront.
• Note patterns rather than single complaints: repeated mentions of surprise fees mean something.
• Look for praise too: “explained the price before starting” tells you what customers value.
• Never post reviews about competitors, and never buy or arrange reviews for yourself. The FTC’s final rule bans the sale or purchase of fake reviews^[4].

Ask the customers who said no

Your lost estimates are the richest source of price data you have. When a customer chooses someone else, ask politely and briefly: “Thanks for letting us know. So we can improve, would you mind telling me whether it came down to price, timing or something else?” Some will share the competing price. Record the answers by job type and review them each quarter.

Also ask new customers who switched to you what they paid before. People who left a competitor are often happy to explain why, and their invoices tell you what that competitor actually charges, not just what it advertises.

Build a simple comparison sheet

The comparison usually shows that price is only one column. If your price is higher but your warranty, response time and reviews are stronger, that is a position you can explain on the phone. If your price is higher and nothing else is better, that is a problem to fix.

Structure matters as much as the number

Two companies can charge the same total for a repair and feel completely different to the customer. One quotes a free visit and a high repair price; another charges a service call credited to the repair and a moderate flat rate; a third bills hourly. When you compare, record how each competitor structures the price, not just the headline figure. Customers often compare the first number they hear, usually the service call or the advertised special, so your phone answer has to explain your structure in a sentence.

Structure also reveals strategy. A competitor that advertises free service calls is making its money on the repair. One that publishes flat rates is betting on transparency. Knowing which game each competitor plays tells you how to describe your own offer.

When a competitor undercuts you

• Check whether the comparison is real: same scope, same parts, same warranty, licensed and insured.
• Explain the difference on the call: “Our price includes a one-year labor warranty and a licensed tech. Is that included in the other quote?”
• Offer a lower-cost option of your own rather than cutting the price of the original one.
• Let some price-only shoppers go. Matching every low quote trains the market to negotiate with you.
• Watch the trend. One low quote is noise; a pattern across many lost estimates means your price or your explanation needs work.

Know how crowded your market is

Competitive pressure depends on where you work. In 2023, California had the most plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments in the US with 11,686, followed by Florida with 9,353 and Texas with 8,966^[5]. Dense metro markets usually have a wider spread of prices, from solo operators to large companies, while rural markets may have only a few options and less price pressure.

Turn research into phone answers

Research is only useful if it changes what your team says. After each review, update the price-question section of your call script with two or three lines that reflect what you learned: how your service call compares, what your warranty includes that others do not, and how quickly you can come. Share the comparison sheet with office staff and techs, minus anything speculative, so they can answer “why are you more than the other company?” calmly and accurately.

Using what you learn

Customers do not always price-shop as hard as owners fear. In 2025, 53% of surveyed homeowners reported difficulty finding pros^[6]. A company that answers, shows up and explains its price often wins without being the cheapest.

1. Set prices from your costs and margin targets first.
2. Compare the result with the market range for each common job.
3. Where you are well above the range, check whether your offer justifies it, and explain the difference on calls and estimates.
4. Where you are well below, raise prices; you are leaving money on the table.
5. Revisit once a year, or when a major competitor changes its offer.

For using the research in your price book, see how to raise prices without losing good customers and bundling services.