[Dynafoam]

Derek,

My sentiments to the letter !

There are many 'cleaners' in my area who will do any suite for £35.00 whereas last year I was chargeing £110.00 - £320.00. My minimum job charge is £55.00 and obviously my clients consider that I am worth it.

If the day ever comes when this changes I shall simply change my profession.

Whilst it is essential to keep an eye on the state of the market, it is equally important  that we all consider what sector of the market is ours, rather than get too wrapped up with what is happening in the market as a whole.

John.

[Mike Halliday]

There's probably lots of cleaners who are reading this topic who are charging around £45 to clean a suite.

I think it all comes down to how busy you are. if you have no work booked in next week its hard to turn away an extra £45 for cleaning a suite, after all it cost pennies to clean a suite.

So you can sit on the sofa and earn nothing or clean a suite for £45 ( apart from the diesal your bussiness expences stay the same either way).

I bet most of the carpet cleaners who charge £130 plus have been in bussiness more than 8yrs  so have enough regular work to stop them getting desperate.

I think one of the bravest things a man can do is to start a carpet cleaning company and straight away charge top prices's.

Mike

Ps:I speak from experiance, when I started I cleaned suites for £30 and livingrooms for £12

[Dynafoam]

Mike,

When I started I was chargeing 3/6 (3 shillings and 6 pence) a square yard for carpet and the first suite I think was £3.00.

Taking the price of a pint of best bitter as a yardstick, my carpet prices are not much different now  

John.

[Bob Allen]

I agree totally with you mike,
some times we all have to clean items for cheaper when things are quiet, also on the other hand when we are really busy we can throw silly prices at a customer and they quite often accept.
It does pee me off when alot of carpet cleaners say i will never come down in price even if they have no work.
I too am one of those people who would rather earn something than nothing. Ive even heard some people saying you should charge more when your quiet.........Wouldnt get any work then.

[Derek]

Hi Bob

I apologise in advance for upsetting you but I will not reduce my prices if things go quiet...I would certainly take a long,hard look at my marketing plan and do something about it.

Clean a suite/carpet at a lower price and word soon gets around and it would become difficult to suddenly raise them again and justify the increase to that persons friends.

The benefit of being self employed is that YOU are in control of your business and it is up to you to come up with some fresh ideas for promoting your business.

There have been many spoken about already on this Forum which may help.

Please...it is not my intention to be patronising and I hope I don't come across as such.  I just like to see not only customers get value for their money but, more importantly, that cleaning technicians get a fair rate for the job.
£45.00 is NOT a fair rate for cleaning a three piece suite.

What other reason is there for being self employed than to provide a reasonable living for yourself and family? We work darned hard for it.

Derek

[Bob Allen]

Totally agree Derek no offence taken, generally we all at some times have "come to a compromise" at certain times.
Im very busy at the moment and have not reduced my prices if anything im charging abit more (well i am getting married in 3 weeks time).  im sure alot of people in the past have lost jobs because of going in too cheap it a hard balance to srike this quoting lark but like you Derek with age & experience we all learn along the way........god this debate could go on for ever.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Once married you will find you have to raise them some more

Shaun

[Derek]

Shaun

You never said a truer word.

As a general comment....

I have found that 'confidence' is a key factor....let me explain.

When I was training for the NCCA one of the things we talked about was telephone conversations with perspective clients. One of the things we suggested was that when answering the telephone first of all stand up to do it and to 'SMILE'.

The standing was to keep you alert and the smile raises the voice to a higher octave to sound better/ friendly. This should be done in a quiet room away from children, pets and other household noises.

You may sometimes feel a bit of a 'Charlie' but it does work.
Be confident when speaking to a client and this comes from knowledge and yes, to a degree, experience.

When giving a price, either in the home or over the telephone....don't hesitate, just say what your price is with complete confidence...this comes over in your voice.
Your confidence in yourself will generate the customers confidence in you.

When work is slow then sometimes a hesitancy comes into your voice and this is transfered down a telephone line.  If you have no work at all (and it can happen when you are starting up) don't panic and let your prospective client know that.....you are on the back foot from the start.

Example.
"Well Mrs Customer I am pretty booked up but I do have a spot tomorrow afternoon/morning, my customer at that time has moved ahead a couple of weeks as the builders haven't finished. If that isn't  convenient I have a slot a week on Monday"

Hope this helps
Derek

[Nigel_W]

I have read this thread with interest because it raised again a question that I would love to know the answer to.

In general, why do we charge less for upholstery cleaning than carpet cleaning.

1.It is harder work and it seems that most people don't enjoy it.

2. It requires more technical knowledge than carpet cleaning

3. Mistakes and problems are more likely to occur

All of the above indicate to me that we should be earning more per hour from upholstery cleaning than carpet cleaning. It is more specialised.

Some years ago I changed my policy and increased upholstery prices to be in line with carpet cleaning rates per hour. Funnily enough I enjoy upholstery cleaning now

Mark Roberts suggested that it is the customer who doesn't value upholstery cleaning. Is this the case or do we just under value our services in this area?


Nigel

[petra]

so how much would you guys charge for a leather three seater x 2, just curiousity, so I know what to charge my husband the next time I spend three hours cleaning and conditioning the damm things.
Petra

[Ian Hare]

Petra,
charge him £100 per hour if it's your husband!!!!!
Ha Ha

[nick_warrenevans]

Like many of you my % of suites is far less than carpets. I to do not like diong suites, much prefer carpets.

It seems the prices vary greatly around the country for a 10 cushion ( 3pc suite) i charge £70. Think i need to check around with my local collegues.

I do find that it is more difficult to get really good results on some suites, may be because i don't do so many therefore not so confident :-/

Nick

[Ian Gourlay]

Why do these boards make you feel embarassed to admit what you really charge,


My charge is aprox £65 to £75

I think this is reasonable.

Garages have to pay Bussiness Rates, Rent etc and charge between £15 and £25 per hour to fix  my car,


I could still make a profit at £45  

two or three a day brings in £90 to £135 per day.


However interesting point about the amount of material in a suite and using a 3 inch tool.

I believe I do as much as most of you when I clean a suite, apart from turbo dry.

Regards

Ian

[strakercleaning]

I would say that my ratio is 75% carpets and 25% upholstery ::)ROUGHLY
I WET cleaned two 2 seat sofas today and went on to clean 2 bedrooms and HSL (1st to Gd). Sofas were dry by the time i packed away kit but sofas took twice as long as carpets to do .......so upholstery should be priced up TO PAY FOR PAINKILLERS FOR MY BACK.

[Derek]

Hi Ian

Interesting post of yours....the Garages in Leicester charge a heck of a lot more that that per hour.

If you are happy charging the prices that you are then that's fine.

The question was posed and the replies have been given...
It takes me at least three hours to clean a three piece suite (five seating units) and its darned hard work...If you are doing three a day you deserve an 'Oscar'

Kind regards
Derek

[Dynafoam]

Carefull Derek,

When I said in another thread that I took 3 hrs to clean a suite, I was told that it was because I was old & fat  

John.

[Ian Gourlay]

Derek
I have done three in a day but was ................... afterwards and no good the next day.

Regards

Ian

Ps Im too fat also but just signed up to a fittness centre

[Dave Parry]

I enjoy cleaning suites so much I ration myself to 1 a day Max. as stated earlier I charge £20 a seat. However if I know before I tell them the price that the suite is 3 armchairs, I charge £25 per seat/Armchair for the aggro. Anyone doing 3 a dayis in my view training for the olympics. and doing it for £65 a suite charity.

[Derek]

Hi John

My initial reaction to your last post was....'one out of two ain't bad' but on reflection maybe a dash of the other applies too.

The person who made the post will also age in time  ..that's life....we can wait.. if only to say 'we told you so'

Derek

[Mike Halliday]

I 'cleaned' a suite yesturday in an hour and 15mins

I have a gentlemen working with me who's starting a carpet cleaning company in a local town, I'm letting him work with me so he get some free training.

When we arrived we both looked at the suite in amazement, it looked like it had just come out of the showroom. it showed no sign of dirt or wear.

the lady said she would feel better if it had a freshen up :

I vacced it and gave it a fresh water rince, charged her £95

I've found the higher your prices go, the cleaner the suites you clean. On this basis i don't see how anyone who charges £130ish ever cleans a dirty suite

Mike