Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: M.Acorn on April 15, 2011, 01:01:16 pm
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Just quoted on the church my mother attends and works at 4195 sq foot,18 month old carpet tiles,covered in t and coffee stains,ground in biscuits etc,they paid over 10 grand to have them fitted.
I was coming out at over a grand,going to look at my price and possibly bonnet it,said I will do it for £600.00,been told their budget is £300.
Looks like they will be putting up with dirty carpets !!
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So they are basically saying they'll give just over 13p per foot.... How long would you anticipate the job taking you?
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Looking at a day Colin,no pun intended ;D
Minimum I will go down to is £600,so will have too see what they say,not really that fussed if I am honest,work is stacking up for me at the mo
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C'mon your mother works there, its a church not Barclays and think of the good will,
I would do it, £300 for the day isn't so bad for a nice flat job, easy carpet tile LM clean.
I bet other work would come from, we do a large church carpets around the alter, its always dirty and has candle wax on it, bit of a pain but we see as part of our community and we are putting something back. They always refer us first for everything and we have more than got our money back for a 'cheap' clean once a year.
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Yeah will see what the other company come in at,and I will do what I can for her,could use it as practise as never done bonnet buffing on carpet before.
I am a Pagan,so it's not really my scene
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Can't believe you'd turn down £300 for
a days work.
John
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It will pay for a buffer too mark so maybe do the job as it all caint be covered with t n coffee n cake ;D
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£1 a square mtr is the norm in alot of areas, so they're expectations probably not far off,
i would do it but ask for a constant supply of tea and cakes and get them to give leaflets to all there
members,
Jobs a good un 8)
Steve
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Buffer was paid for after my first tile and grout job last month.
It's pretty grim,they spent ten grand on them,if they want them to last they need top look into having them done at least once a year.
Will be seeing if I can accommodate their budget,maybe on the proviso that they book me every year for a hwe job,and 6 monthly for stains and traffic areas ,will also want an a4 size framed ad up in their foyer,saying carpets cleaned and maintained by me...They are a large church,so they have a lot of potential customers
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I was coming out at over a grand,going to look at my price and possibly bonnet it,said I will do it for £600.00,been told their budget is £300.
You're having a laff aren't you.
466 sq/m it's a church not Barclays bank ffs and a days work bonneting (if you take anything in from this forum) at one location, one set up normally sells around the £1/meter range.
If you've got any sense try ans split the difference between £300 and £600 and accept that as a good days money.
A grand ::)
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If you don't want it below a certain price don't do it. Someone else will happily do it for 2/3 hundred.
I wouldn't do it for £300 that's for sure but you could do it for that and by the time you have finished practicing you will probably know what you are doing on your next one.
Church's are always pleading poverty, don't be fooled they have lots of money they just don't want to spend any of it. How many churches near you run Slimming world clubs? Do they let them rent it for free? I don't think so.
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They are a specialist church,do the Alpha course and stuff,the congregation donate monthly from their salary !!
There are a lot more people round here that are way more expensive than me,it's a wealthy area,have been doing houses for way more than that.
Like I said,see what the next guy quotes,then I will know where I need to be price wise,have cleaned the smaller rooms up there,and charged normal rates.
But they spend 10k on carpet,would you not think they would want to make them last,try possibly doing something before it got so bad,they have been using rug doctor chemicals on it,even though I got them to get a Prochem spotting kit,and they have been trained in what to do.
a tenth of the total cost of the carpet ,wouldn't of gone in at 1.1k would have done a £700 day rate,however many hours it takes
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Looking at a day Colin,no pun intended ;D
Minimum I will go down to is £600,so will have too see what they say,not really that fussed if I am honest,work is stacking up for me at the mo
If work is stacking up that's good, but look at the potential work from doing this job!
Free advertising, do they have other contacts and buildings within their religion, again all those congregations just waiting to have their carpets cleaned at home and where they work as well!
Why miss the chance of all that, by sticking to a high end price when for just lowering your rates to a reasonable cost you could be set for months and months of work.
They may have spent £10k on having the fitting, but work it out, approx 470 sq mt supplied and fitted comes in at around £22 per sq mt.
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I would tell them your dilema and how you arrrived at your price with your quality then negotiate!
There are a few ways to do this
1. Try and get £450
2. £300 and 1 year full page ad in parish mag with testimonial from the vicar
Church goers often buy from parish mags (birds of a feather)look at it as ongoing advertising for the quiet times.
Shaun
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If it's 400 sq meters then 5 hrs max
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i get it to 389 sq meters.
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i get it to 389 sq meters.
4195 divide by 9 gives 466 sq/yards
I know there is a nominal difference between yards and meters which is why most of just accept them as much the same.
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God incorporated is worth a lot of money,if they got every member of the congregation to give an extra pound,they would get double that..
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As ever it'll boil down to how desperate you are for the job. If you're desperate for work you'll drop your price. If you're not then you'll stick out for a higher price. Some thoughts however...
churches don't negotiate the size of their gas bill, so...
people buy people. If the "powers that be" like you then that is half the battle. All you have to do then is meet in the middle on the price but the important thing is to get away from the price being the defining issue.
you could stick out for the price you want but then agree to "tithe" (give 10%) of the price to one of the church's nominated charities. Although you may leave yourself open to a charge of hypocrite.
Must say Marc I personally agree with your take on the price. I'd have been looking for at least £600. But there again I'm not desperate for work.
Rog
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They are wanting you to do it for 7 pence per sq ft!
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Wise words from Roger, being liked is 90% of getting the job booked.
It wouldnt matter if you had the best machine, best chems etc etc,
if they dont like you your foucked. Give a good impression, shake their hand on meeting them, smile loads, tell them you will do what ever they want.
Sell the sizzle as they say, but make sure they like you..
First impressions last a lifetime, dont go in saying i cant do this, i cant do anything with that stain etc. Tell them what they want to hear.
Take your tech head off and sell it.
Andrew.
ps be honest
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2. £300 and 1 year full page ad in parish mag with testimonial from the vicar
Sounds like the Vicar is James Brown. Take it to the bridge ya'll ;D
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It's my mum I am dealing with there,as she is the church sectary,so I do hope she likes me !!
I am gradually beginning to not sell on price ,as I feel I have enough experience,and do a good job,which I take care and pride in,I go out of my way to get the best possible outcome,I would go down to £600 for the lot,or I could do the stained areas for £300.
But I am not going to bow down to doing the job for £300.How would a member of the congregation feel if I charged them £300 to do their house,and then the later find out I did the entire church for that,I am regularly charging more than that for your average domestic job.
I would just feel a bit dishonest if I dropped their price so much.
Once the other guy's quote comes in I will know how realistic / unrealistic I am being,and I will decide then.
Work is coming in thick and fast now ,so I am not desperate.
My wife thinks I am mad to not do it for £300.But it's not her business.
I have been up there on and off for the last 5 years,and they have a constant supply of my flyers in the foyer,prob had 2 small jobs from it,so it's not setting the world alight...
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Mark
I may have got it wrong, have you only recently started padding? This would be a good job to get some paid practice on.
Say you took the job for £450 and spent £100 on different pads and chems and use the day to see what's what. If they complain that some areas look cleaner than others you can say What do you expect for £450. ;D
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Never bonneted a carpet yet,have only used my rotary on hard floors,so yes need to get some pads,and will see how I get on with price negotiations..
Have used rotary machines a lot as a chef,cleaning kitchen floors,no experience of using it on carpets yet
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I wouldn't pad coffee stains, id extract then pad them!!! :o
I seen a pice list today and a BIG co. were going per hour for commecial work £61.00 +vat
Yeah thats CD for you!!!
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£61/hr What's wrong with that? Well yeah actually seems a bit on the low side
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Too right, aim for at least £100 per Hr on commercial jobs
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thats what I thought .....but thats what CD are doing round by me!!!!! :o :o
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7p per sq ft is not enough imo, i would stick with the £600 price and not budge at all thats £1.50 ish per sq mtr.
Your going to HWE if you have tea cofffee stains on some areas.
Mark
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Jeez, there is some hard b'stards on here :o
It's for his mum and the Church and I dont agree its all about how desperate you are, sometimes you should do a job simply because its the right thing to do and will benefit you in the long term.
As already mentioned we would do this for £300 no problem, not necessarily for the money but for the benefits it will bring, straight away you set yourself up as the parish's approved carpet cleaner and like it or not the god squad out there would rather use the Church's official cleaner over one pulled from YP.
By the way you can bonnet out tea and coffee stain very successfully just depends on the system being used and the solutions.
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Personally I think £300 for a days work
is very good, I certainly don't earn that.
If you can get more good luck but I would
bite their hand off.
John
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The Parish of Cambridge city centre is huge !!
I did a church hall a couple of years back,they were astounded at what I did for them,carpet came up like new,did them a reduced price on the proviso of getting more work out of it,did I ? No.
Can't carry on running my business on the promise of loads of repeat bookings from people.
Heard it all before many a time,what I do now is say full price for the first one,reduced price on any additional work.
Just got back from doing a 3 story 3 bad house for a letting agency £250,out in 3 hours,word get's around,why should I do reduced rates for some and not others,makes me disshonest.
Would rather do 3 jobs for a grand,than ten at £100 each,less miles,less wear and tear on my gear,less wear and tear on me.
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So you got the job mark yet mate ???
You going to use a buffer n your hwe for stuborn coffee etc?
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Not submitted my quote yet Clinton,going to wait until the other quote comes in ;D Before I decide what I am doing,and yes will be using hwe on the stains,probably buff the rest,see what happens I am going to submit a selection of prices,and systems see how I can work around it.Would treat all the stains hwe,for £300 if they won't budge on that....
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The Parish of Cambridge city centre is huge !!
I did a church hall a couple of years back,they were astounded at what I did for them,carpet came up like new,did them a reduced price on the proviso of getting more work out of it,did I ? No.
Can't carry on running my business on the promise of loads of repeat bookings from people.
Heard it all before many a time,what I do now is say full price for the first one,reduced price on any additional work.
Just got back from doing a 3 story 3 bad house for a letting agency £250,out in 3 hours,word get's around,why should I do reduced rates for some and not others,makes me disshonest.
Would rather do 3 jobs for a grand,than ten at £100 each,less miles,less wear and tear on my gear,less wear and tear on me.
With all do respect,
I have heard this argument soooooooo many times and what a load of bollix it is.
How often do you or anybody else on here get £1000 jobs ?? I would wager not very often or not at all. So according to your theory you would turn down the lower priced ticket as its beneath you.
But lets suppose you did get those 3 £1000 jobs ???
You (and others) would turn down ten other jobs to wait for three, think about it for a minute, 3 jobs over ten.
Those ten jobs if you carried them out to a high standard and marketed well would generate more income than your three jobs,
how's that I hear you scream ;D 7 x more referral opportunities 10 x more visits, your £1000 job would not be in to much of hurry to get you back for other smaller jobs that might occur as she would deem you too expensive to get in for just a spot clean or a single room.
On the other hand your ten jobs would not hesitate in getting you back for said work or passing on your details to friends and family as you do a very good job at a competitive rate, so over a longer period you would generate more customers and more cash from the ten.
I know its a nice thought to believe that you are so exclusive and so brilliant that everyone is just queueing up to use you with wallets and purses bulging fully prepared to be charged top end rates ,but in reality we all know that's tosh.
A fair price for a good job and you will be kept busy, stupid price for the same job and your equipment will be on the sale section before long.
This is not a pop at you by the way but a general comment on the ridiculously high prices I see posted on here by cleaners who aren't really doing that but just wishing they could ;)
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Surely he meant 3 x £333 = £1000, and not 3 x £1000?? ???
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He might have done but the principal is the same, all this I wouldn't do it for less than £800 or less than £600 is complete rubbish, I took £1000 as a crude example of how people tell us they turn down work because its too cheap for them and would rather do a few high priced tickets than lots a bit lower.
Its fine if you are financially secure I suppose and do not want to build a larger business and want to work part time.
But when you have to keep the vans on the road and pay the bills acting like Fortnum & Masons when your really an Aldi will not keep you going for very long.
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But when you have to keep the vans on the road and pay the bills acting like Fortnum & Masons when your really an Aldi will not keep you going for very long.
;D
It's a fair point, it is however up to each operator how they want to run their business. I'm sure that here in South Wales £1000 (which almost classes as a 10% deposit on a house..) cleans are very few and far between, however in more affluent areas the bigger ticket jobs are going to be more bountiful - so perhaps the cleaners in those areas can afford to be more picky?
Just my 2p worth..
Ashley
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Like I said,there are a lot of people round here that would be more than me,for my domestic work I am .28p per square foot,there are people round here that are .40p and more !!
The other quote has come in,and it's not that much lower than mine,so I am currently in talks about working around their budget,and also making it a yearly thing,with 4 or 6 monthly visits to treat the stains and do high traffic areas.
Like I said,I was planning on this.
And I also said if I had charged my normal rate it would of been over a grand,hence why I said I would do a day rate for a reduction.
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The Parish of Cambridge city centre is huge !!
I did a church hall a couple of years back,they were astounded at what I did for them,carpet came up like new,did them a reduced price on the proviso of getting more work out of it,did I ? No.
Can't carry on running my business on the promise of loads of repeat bookings from people.
Heard it all before many a time,what I do now is say full price for the first one,reduced price on any additional work.
Just got back from doing a 3 story 3 bad house for a letting agency £250,out in 3 hours,word get's around,why should I do reduced rates for some and not others,makes me disshonest.
Would rather do 3 jobs for a grand,than ten at £100 each,less miles,less wear and tear on my gear,less wear and tear on me.
With all do respect,
I have heard this argument soooooooo many times and what a load of bollix it is.
How often do you or anybody else on here get £1000 jobs ?? I would wager not very often or not at all. So according to your theory you would turn down the lower priced ticket as its beneath you.
But lets suppose you did get those 3 £1000 jobs ???
You (and others) would turn down ten other jobs to wait for three, think about it for a minute, 3 jobs over ten.
Those ten jobs if you carried them out to a high standard and marketed well would generate more income than your three jobs,
how's that I hear you scream ;D 7 x more referral opportunities 10 x more visits, your £1000 job would not be in to much of hurry to get you back for other smaller jobs that might occur as she would deem you too expensive to get in for just a spot clean or a single room.
On the other hand your ten jobs would not hesitate in getting you back for said work or passing on your details to friends and family as you do a very good job at a competitive rate, so over a longer period you would generate more customers and more cash from the ten.
I know its a nice thought to believe that you are so exclusive and so brilliant that everyone is just queueing up to use you with wallets and purses bulging fully prepared to be charged top end rates ,but in reality we all know that's tosh.
A fair price for a good job and you will be kept busy, stupid price for the same job and your equipment will be on the sale section before long.
This is not a pop at you by the way but a general comment on the ridiculously high prices I see posted on here by cleaners who aren't really doing that but just wishing they could ;)
that's possibly the most sensible post I've seen on a forum for some time, well done Hilton.I personally have never met a carpet cleaner who earns £1000 a day(let alone one who hasn't reached the dizzy heights of padding yet!). Working 5 days a week 48 weeks a year that's £240,000 pa. per operator What's on your tax return guys? :)
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The Parish of Cambridge city centre is huge !!
I did a church hall a couple of years back,they were astounded at what I did for them,carpet came up like new,did them a reduced price on the proviso of getting more work out of it,did I ? No.
Can't carry on running my business on the promise of loads of repeat bookings from people.
Heard it all before many a time,what I do now is say full price for the first one,reduced price on any additional work.
Just got back from doing a 3 story 3 bad house for a letting agency £250,out in 3 hours,word get's around,why should I do reduced rates for some and not others,makes me disshonest.
Would rather do 3 jobs for a grand,than ten at £100 each,less miles,less wear and tear on my gear,less wear and tear on me.
With all do respect,
I have heard this argument soooooooo many times and what a load of bollix it is.
How often do you or anybody else on here get £1000 jobs ?? I would wager not very often or not at all. So according to your theory you would turn down the lower priced ticket as its beneath you.
But lets suppose you did get those 3 £1000 jobs ???
You (and others) would turn down ten other jobs to wait for three, think about it for a minute, 3 jobs over ten.
Those ten jobs if you carried them out to a high standard and marketed well would generate more income than your three jobs,
how's that I hear you scream ;D 7 x more referral opportunities 10 x more visits, your £1000 job would not be in to much of hurry to get you back for other smaller jobs that might occur as she would deem you too expensive to get in for just a spot clean or a single room.
On the other hand your ten jobs would not hesitate in getting you back for said work or passing on your details to friends and family as you do a very good job at a competitive rate, so over a longer period you would generate more customers and more cash from the ten.
I know its a nice thought to believe that you are so exclusive and so brilliant that everyone is just queueing up to use you with wallets and purses bulging fully prepared to be charged top end rates ,but in reality we all know that's tosh.
A fair price for a good job and you will be kept busy, stupid price for the same job and your equipment will be on the sale section before long.
This is not a pop at you by the way but a general comment on the ridiculously high prices I see posted on here by cleaners who aren't really doing that but just wishing they could ;)
that's possibly the most sensible post I've seen on a forum for some time, well done Hilton.I personally have never met a carpet cleaner who earns £1000 a day(let alone one who hasn't reached the dizzy heights of padding yet!). Working 5 days a week 48 weeks a year that's £240,000 pa. per operator What's on your tax return guys? :)
I think you'll find Mark said in his original post that the initial costings would have put the job in at over £1000 but he was realistic enough to know that he'd never get it at that price and therefore he was offerring to do it for £600 with the possibility that he may come down from that figure depending upon other circumstances.
There are many times when i'm sure we've all been there on a job and thought along the lines of "this is my pricing structure but if I'm to be succcessful in getting this job I'm going to have to be more flexible on my pricing"
I think Mark has taken a more than pragmatic approach. It'll be interesting to see what the final outcome is.
rog
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At last someone who understands where I am coming from !!
I am not mental,of course I am going to work around what they want,but it's a 2 way street,they also have to accommodate what I want too,..
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You could always just trust your own judgement, stop dithering and decide what you are going to do either way.
There's little point arguing on here to defend a position you are obviously uncertain about anyway. Some on here will do it for £150 and some won't get out of bed for a grand, I don't see how that helps you.
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They don't have to accommodate you they
just go elsewhere.
John
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I wouldn't say he's being pragmatic more procrastinating, which in business is a killer.
I had already in an earlier post advised Mark to stop dithering and get on with it, he has family connections there and despite what others have said the contacts could be useful.
Of course this is only my opinion but why would you bother posting at all if you did not want advice and opinion, sorry if its not what you want to hear, but there you are. ;)
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I think that everyone has missed a very important thing in all of this..................
Another poor carpet cleaner has been in and given his time and money to do what he thought was a bone fide quote for a church, just for a confirmation if you like that Marks price was justifiable.....
This other carpet cleaner was NEVER going to get the job, and unknowingly gave up his time and fuel money to stroke Marks ego.
I think that is terrible,
but as Mark has in his signature "what goes around comes around!"
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For someone that isn't fussed about getting the job or not because they are 'stacked out with work', you seem to be making a lot of noise.
You even say you will drop the price as long as they use you in the future at a period set by you!! Who do you think you are??
Sorry Mark but this just smacks of greed and the fact you have inside information on the pricing has just lit up pound signs in your eyes. I seriously question whether your mother is fit to hold the office of church secretary. What would her church think if they knew what was going on?
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Don't know,I have done smaller commercial jobs in the past and charged day rates of £700. and been booked no questions asked,when I say a day at £700.that means I am there until completion,if it takes me 16 hours then so be it.
Have just booked a big 5 bed house £450 inc protector,so it's not that unrealistic.
They want it doing H,W,E with a bonnet clean after 6 months
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I have done loads of church halls , methodists , baptists you name it . Mark your more than entitled to quote as you wish but should you really have tunnel vision about size areas and price . these jobs 9 /10 are a piece of pi**. large single room same carpet througout , generally pay on the day.
Amazing how quick you can get through these sorts of jobs .
ps i would of done it for betweeen £3-400.
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Well I didn't get this one,due to the fact that my mother has not got a clue,and told the elders I was away on holiday,for the date they wanted it cleaning,she needs a dam good slap.
They booked the job at £480...
On the upside I have just booked a 5 bed for £450,which is going to be much less hassle,and won't involve a church,so it's all good....
The organisation of that place makes me fume,too many fingers in pies,and not one member of their staff has a clue,including my mother
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No warm milk and a farleys rusk for you tonight i guess then Mark ............Alan(swindon....centre of the unkown universe)
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Ha Ha,used to love those farleys rusks ,had one not so long back and it turned my stomach..
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Mother always knows best mark ;D
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In most cases yes Clinton,as far as mine goes though,well that's another matter
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Mother always knows best mark ;D
Perhaps she was "saving" you from a hassle ridden job ;)
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Possibly yeah,although she is currently in Malaysia
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Possibly yeah,although she is currently in Malaysia
Did she phone them from Malaysia and tell them you would be on holiday then ??? I guess it may have been before she went ;D
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Just before she went.
The exact words were,we wanted to use you,but had been told you were away on the date we wanted it doing,so we used someone else,we will however,be in touch in the future.
That's the problem,too many people involved,not just me and the one booking the job,but me,my mother,the other sectary,2 of the elders,and my wife for good measure.
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Sounds like too many people invloved too mark.
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Yes there were Clinton,was a nightmare to be honest,would rather do domestics,did 2 today £370,another on Tue £450.
Then just quoted Hallway 2 sets stairs and landing £300,and before anyone goes my god how can you charge that for a h/s/l it's over 800 sq foot...