[JandS]

Question is are they getting the work?
250sq metres an hour of commercial?? Leave it out.
Obviously carpet prices round here are dearer than suite prices.
I've just quoted at £3 per  sq metre for commercial and they bit my hand off.
I wouldnt pay £125 myself for my suite cleaning and I don't think some of you out there get what you say.
If I quoted say £95 for every suite I got asked to clean I don't think I'd get to clean one again.
Regarding your phone question I picked 6 at random from the Thomson's where I advertise and everyone gave me a phone quote, no problem.
Try it yourself you may be suprised
Nearly all my quotes for dometics are phone qoutes.

John

[gwrightson]

John,

I dont imagine for one minute you are calling me a liar, yes 250 sq m an hr ,
I pasted this from cimex site, ok we all know manufactures may exagerate a little , but believe me 250 an hr is done with ease.




High Productivity

Traditional carpet cleaning methods can be time consuming and quite hard work. Cimex-Encap exploits the benefits of the Cimex Cyclone to maximise ease of use and productivity


High Productivity
Clean up to 300m2 per hour
Low Moisture
Instant Clean
Cost Effective
Prevents re-soiling

Geoff

 

[derek west]

cant remember saying a £1 a sq metre for 150 commercial. did 121sq m yesterday for £200, took 2 an half hours, bout the same time it takes to do a good job on a tough suite, see where i'm going with this, listen the fact is, if you dont get to clean another suit again in your life then so what, clean carpets, if i cant get £120 for a suite then i dont want to clean it, i'd rather stay at home than devalue and wear out my eqiupment.
and as for today, i got £60 for the living room, would of done it in 40 mins but once i smelt those bacon butties it was tools down.
j&s if you wanna go head to head with the sloggers then go for it mate, not knocking ya, just think your mad, i'm worth more than that,
are you?
derek
ps your missing the point about the £27.50 an hour, its not £27.50 an hour, youve got overheads, bloody lots of them.

pps
50 sq meters an hour with a 12 inch wand is not far off the mark.
as for 250, even with an rx20 i think you'd be pushing it.

[JandS]

"not how long you take but how much you make, on my own that sounds about how long it would take me, with my mate helping i could half that. either way i'd of charged around £135 to £155 depending on furniture"

With you on the 250 sq m per hour.
Think even 50 is a bit high myself, depending on where your water supply is.
My machine holds 50 litres and last night I was working on the ground floor with nearly 150 foot walk to the first floor to the nearest water supply.
Anyway off there again now to hopefully fnish off the job by about 7    catch you all later.
John

[gwrightson]

Derick,
you may be getting the reply,s a little mixed up .
It is I who said 250m an hour , at £1 a m , achieved with cimex not rx, bonnet, or any other l/m

I cleaned nearly 2,000 sq m in under two days only a couple of months ago using cimex,
results were the best the manager had seen ," his words, not mine" after using C/D for a number of years.  
It might sound if I am blowing my own trumpet , be assured I am not , I am mearling trying to point out what can be achieved at times.  In other words , dont work for peanuts, because in the long term that is what you will be doing all the time.  
that statment is meant for John, by the way.

just added this, as seen johns reply.
John, please study my replys.
I never mentioned h/w/e , never mentioned running backs and forwards filling machines, what I did mention is l/m cimex
Geoff
geoff

[derek west]

i have a 60 GALLON tank so water supply is not to much of a problem for me.

hey if you can do that much in an hour then who am i to argue, just letting you know what i can do with a wand, i'll let ya know what i can do with an rx20 when i get round to it. who knows, might even snatch your world record. fastest cc in the west,  get it! west! fastest! derek west! in the west! awww forget it.
derek

[clinton]

hey thats my record am the fasstest c cleaner in the west

OOps i ment the fastest milkman

[Kinver_Clean]

Why rush around like a lunatic earning not much an hour. Over the last couple of years I have more than doubled my prices and still have people saying is that all? I now work 3 days aweek as I get my pension but find I am making as much PROFIT as before with less work.
Many more small businesses go out of existance because of poor bookeeping and loss of contol of expenses than by poor work standards. Work out how much your van, mc, chemicals, diesel, repairs, phone, ADVERTISING and everything else costs. Then add on how much you need for living divide it all by 48 (assuming you want a holiday) and add around 35% tax and then you have a weekly average of how much you need. It wil be much more than 27 / hr.
I don't think I have ever cleaned a suite in less than 2 1/2 hrs usually 3 1/2-4. I get repeat business and secure customers that way. I have not advertised for a long while now and still get new customers.
Provide a top service and you will get top customers willing to pay over the odds for you to do their cleaning.
End of rant, I'm off for a Bathams.

Trevor

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Susan ,
I remeber your posts well from a couple of years ago, pleased to hear you took note and doing well,
geoff

whilst I remember . J & s  the other cleaners you have just phoned for prices, out of interest did you pick them out of the local free press " no offence to c/c who advertise in them " or did you choose at random from y/p or internet ?   
and how strange every cleaner you have phoned gave you a price over the phone    makes you wonder what type of c/c youre phoning !!!! " again , no offence to c/c who phone price "

Geoff

thanks greoff im doing well at the moment upping the prices and not loseing so many custys.  i have now moved away from sometimes haveing  5 portys out aday to haveing  two t.m.s out seven days aweek and earning much more cash

i will be upping the suite prices soon and if i never clean anthor suite then so be it i have had a belly full of them over the years ... i would much rather do carpets with the t.m. any way

[Joe H]

I see, Susan, you are another cc that does not like cleaning fabric suites. Me too.

I like cleaning leather ones though, but dont get enough of them.

[Joe H]

I wouldnt pay £125 myself for my suite cleaning and I don't think some of you out there get what you say.
If I quoted say £95 for every suite I got asked to clean I don't think I'd get to clean one again.

John

Did an on site quote last night for a reasonably clean 3 seater + 2 seater .... £125 ....  got the job - no problem.
They are out there waiting for you.
Just need the confidence and the talk to go with it (not bull - but sell your quality service)

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

My problem in the past, which I think is what Susan was also saying (and many others) is it us, the c/c's, who have the problem with perceptions as to what is expensive, and this is magnified as your prices approach natural break-points.

I was charging £96 for a 3+1+1 suite but had to really convince myself that I wouldn't loose business just because I wanted to charge an extra £6. In itself it's nothing (just under 6%-inflation then about 4%) but I thought customers would baulk at prices over £100. Never did lose a job that I really wanted and have subsequently upped my prices even further once I had got over the psychological hurdle.

But consider. A fairly typical lounge might be about 14x11 feet. 80/20 twist, cost fitted c£600. Cost for cleaning say around £60. (10% value of the carpet!) Many would not have a problem charging that but then we have a problem with suite prices. The suite can easily cost £1500, takes at least as twice as long to clean, is physically harder work with more attention to detail required, yet some c/cers have problems charging a price twice as much as that of cleaning the carpet. (£120 or 8% value or the suite!)

Having said all that some customers seem to attach more importance and value to their carpets than the suite. Perhaps because it's as simple as the suite being a more expensive ticket item to clean (or the custy doesn't realise the extra that goes into suite cleaning).

Just a few musings for everybody this morning.

[JandS]

Have rung 3 more cc's today in the area from YP and Thompsons and the maximum price now as gone up to £65.
People round here won't pay more than that for 3 piece but the thing is they will pay anything for their carpets doing.
Perhaps they perceive that they get more done for there money without realising that carpets, especially domestic, are actually quite easy to clean. You can get in, start up and away you go, especially if they have been good enough to virtually clear the room barring the 3 piece.
Also think a carpet shows it's been cleaned more than a suite.
Some suites I've done have been so old and worn they look virtually the same when finished, until you show them the poop in the waste tank.
Quick question.
I use Fibre and Fabric rinse by Prochem but it is one of there products I have never been really keen on. Any better extraction chemicals you people have used??
Just been lazy at the mo and stuck with all Prochem chemicals, mainly due to there availability in abundance at the local Prochem shop.

John 

[derek west]

did a suite today, acrylic, 3 seater + 1 and a pough/puff (not sure how you spell it) charged £90, come up looking fantastic, used 35 gallons of water (but i'm guessing half of that was dumped) took 1 hour (with 2 of us) and honestly you could sit on it when we'd finished, just a few damp patches, custy was over the moon with the job, now thats value for money, i got what i deserved and the custy got a beautiful clean suite that she can sit on pretty much straight away. £90 for that, who wouldn't pay that much for that kind of service. its how you sell yourself not what price you charge. smart witty confident (which i am now when it comes to suites) professional, thats all it takes, i'm sure i could go to leeds or anywhere and convince custys to get value for money. not everyone but yeah some. and i gaurantee they'd have me back again.
and like i said, if they don't like the price then i don't wanna do it.
a lot of people seem to think there getting paid for cleaning carpets and upholstery, (in which case £27.50 is a good wage) but what they forget is they should also be getting paid for being the marketing manager, for being the sales advisor, for being the accounts manager, for being the artwork designer, logistics and ordering of stock, the mechanic, phone operative. blah blah blah.
you do everything so don't sell yourself short.
derek

[JandS]

Just booked a 3rd 3 piece clean in for next week and even she queried why it costs so much.
However I got it.
What do you honestly want me to do when that is the going rate round here.
Tell her it's £95 and sit here with an empty diary or tell it's £55 and keep the work coming in.
Couple of questions though.
What is your average distance from home to a job?
And the extraction question above what is your preferred extraction chemical.
Whatever happened to cleaning leather suites?
Used to average 2-3 a month but none for last 8 months.
Is it all the DIY kits you can buy?

John

[derek west]

jands
try hydramasters clearwater rinse, i used to use fib fab but i'm converted now to clearwater, and its a lot cheaper.
yes sit at home with an empty book and concentrate on marketing, do you have dryers? if not get one, do you use a drimaster hand tool or similar? if not get one, are you uniformed? if not a logo'd polo shirt goes a long way, don't quote over the phone, get round there and sell the job, sell yourself with this equipment.
and if you still can't get suites then concentrate on carpets, the strain your putting on your equipment for £55 a suite is counter productive. but thats just my opinion.
i maybe new but i'm a quick learner.
ps today was my first suite, ive had a lot of knock backs but that was all down to confidence in cleaning suites, after the result i got today i'm sure i'll get a few more, not everyone but they'll come.
and like i said, i'm not firing up my truckmount for an 1hr to 2 hrs (depending if i have help) for £55,
pps, don't take advice from anyone including me, we're al different, just listen anylise and make your own mind up, thats what i do.
derek

[hotsteam]

I won't clean a suite below £135 they can whistle

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Just booked a 3rd 3 piece clean in for next week and even she queried why it costs so much.
However I got it.
What do you honestly want me to do when that is the going rate round here.
Tell her it's £95 and sit here with an empty diary or tell it's £55 and keep the work coming in.
Couple of questions though.
What is your average distance from home to a job?
And the extraction question above what is your preferred extraction chemical.
Whatever happened to cleaning leather suites?
Used to average 2-3 a month but none for last 8 months.
Is it all the DIY kits you can buy?

John

nail on head you are pooping yourself that the phone wont ring !!! been there done that and two years later i couldnt give a monkeys as im not running brand new vans for bugger all any more ! and as from today suite have just gone up to 75 - 100 pounds ! going rate round here is 35 pounds for a suite

julian (boyfriend) as just cleaned  2 x 2 setters in a dump of a houseing estate , the bottom cushions were split and the zips broke the house smelt of wee due to haveing three young ones running around in nappyes only  and guess what they still payed 80 pounds for the suite to be cleaned and one small carpet

well if people that look like they are on the so called bread line pay this then everybody can 

p.s.  im not a snob just trying  to paint a picture on the house and what they paid . all my custys get a top job weather there on the dole or rolling in cash same chems same end result weather we there 1 hour on ten !

[garry22]

We are charging about £ 90 + at the moment. In fairness, the bulk of the work is recommendations.

I did a suite recently for £ 95. The client said she would want it done again regularly. Talking about prices, she said she saw all the leaflets offering to do it for £ 35-55 and wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

She said in her case it was a simple decision. Spend £ 1000 on a new one or have the existing one brought back like new for £ 95.

You have to understand the mindset here. £ 95 appeared dirt cheap to her.

She was getting more or less a brand new suite for 10% of replacement cost.

Let's face it, suites are horrible, back breaking jobs compared to carpet cleaning. Realistically, assuming they are done right (including sheeting up etc ), how many do you expect to do in a day (and still have some energy left for life outside work)?

Don't be scared to raise your prices.

Garry

[JandS]

 To be honest I should put the price up.
Not because they are hard work but because I find them boring to do.
Thanks for the constructive comments especially from Derek, Susan and Garry.
Sorry Derek didn't realise you had a TM, that would put the price up.
I have 2 portables so a lot easier.
Sorry to pick your brains again Derek but what do you use as a pre spray.
As I said I'm a Prochem junkie due to the availability but I find some of there fabric treatments not up to scratch.
And this bloody keyboard keeps missing leters

John