Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: David_Annable on September 12, 2006, 10:42:56 pm
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Hi
Having established that most people have a minimum charge (mine is £40).
How much do you discount for 2, 3 or more rooms.
If charging £40 per room 5 rooms would be £200, where as I think £150 would be more appropriate.
Dave
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£1.00 OFF for OAP's when accompanied by both parents.
Shaun
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Hi Shaun
I have advertised 10% off for old giffers in the past.
But all it got me where people smelling of wee.
Dave
PS I know this works for a very well regarded member, but not for me.
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Hi Dave,
I offer a half price deal ;) on every carpet cleaned after the largest at normal price (normally the lounge, lounge/diner).
So for example working on 30p sq.ft a 10'x20' through lounge would be £60 then every room after would be charged at 15p sq.ft.
So if they say through lounge @ 10'x20' - £60, 2 bedrooms at 10'x10' @ half price would be £15 each price would be £90.
Time is money and travelling / setup / breakdown / travelling takes the time doing the work while you're there is easy.
I always ask if there's anything else they think might need cleaning while I'm there at a half price rate, usually get an extra carpet, rug, chairs etc a day ;D.
Did a job today and asked if anyting else might need cleaning, cusomer said dining chairs. Did 4 dining chairs, took 10 minutes, extra £10 on the bill. Doesn't sound like much but it all adds up.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Jason.
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I always give a 10% discount to retired person, not many of them smell of wee, but most don't have dirty carpets and never want evening & weekend appointments.
i suppose I give a discount for more rooms, as I use a 3 for 2 offer which tends to make people have more done.
Mike
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Good to see a bit of reality, in pricing. This is the way we have always worked and it gets a constant flow of refferals
Angie
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My minimum charge is £55 within a two mile radius of base.
I never discount cleaning prices when more than one room is done.
I never discount cleaning prices full stop....you may as well take a price cut for that is what it is. The money I earn from cleaning is to provide for my family to live
I will however offer a discounted price for any add-on such as protection treatment.
Imagine for one moment if you were employed and your boss asked you to do additional work but at a lessor hourly rate...I can imagine what would be said to him/her....can't you? ::)
Whoah...that's going to upset a few folks...but it is how I feel...reduce your prices and you start to clock watch....human nature kicks in and all that goes with it
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I have to agree with Derek I stand strong with my pricing.
Yesterday a customer said they require a discount because they are having 4 chairs cleaned (wow so many). I explained I am running a business and at the end of the month would they except thier boss giving them a lesser wage because he can get somone cheaper. We have our overheads which is what the customer dosn't think about all they see is £40 - £50 per hour.
On the very large jobs i will go in cheaper just for the fact that you could be in one place for a day or two. Then you don't have the added time of travelling between jobs and setting up.
Rob.
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im with other 2, i used to discount, not any more, i dont even advertise 'competitive rates' you dont need to, if people want your services they use you, not just because you got 1 room free.
the price i qoute is the price i want, why discount it? if you can discount then your first price is to high.
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if i was fully booked i would be with you but im not i also have a familly to feed and at present im only getting a few jobs a week so if a little discount gets me the job thats fine id rather the money in my pocket than someone elses ;) ;)
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True Bennymon,
I've only been in business 2 years and if I'd have stuck to set prices and not offered cheaper rates for extra jobs whilst on a job I'd have lost my house by now! We all need to earn £X's a week to survive, around here if I charged a £50 minimum call out I might as well pack up and throw in the towel.
I think once you have an established customer base and have been in business for a few years price setting is fine. When you're business is in its early years every penny counts. If it means cleaning a suite for £50 because you have a morning free then do it!
All the best,
Jason.
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Gents, I no this may not be politicaly correct but is it not the point that you are supposed to make the customer think they are getting a discount.
Do you think that you save money at Tesco's, they may nock 10p of a loaf of bread but put 10p on the cheese that goes in the bread. Its all an illusion.
For me the process is the same I go through pricing with clients but have different structures for people finding me with the offers or people coming from Yellow pages where their are no offers.
The whole point of offers is to get the customer to ring, not take money away from me.
Cheers
Neil
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i should just make clear i do reduce my price for a whole house, like 1 bedroom on its own would be more than if it were with another 2, but i dont bother giving a percieved discount, ie. tell them what it would be indevidaully.
they tell me what wants cleaning i give a price, obviously the more they have done the more economical for them.
not saying im right in that mind. i just like it simple now.
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Whooops...here I go again...I don't even discount for a full house of carpets and soft furnishings.
I offer a quality job and quality service.....I want time to do the best possible job that I can for my customers....I also expect to be paid a reasonable amount for that effort
If you discount now they will expect a discount next time....you will get stuck in a rut and if you want to raise your prices at some point then you will have to establish a whole new clientbase based on your new price structure.
You are doubling your marketing efforts...not very cost effective
Do a good job ....make your customer comfortable with you and 'they' will sell your services for you....now that is cost effective!
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We give 10% discount for over 500sq ft, then 20% on over 800 sq ft. Teasing them to have more and having it cheaper works everytime! Losing the % is worth it if its at a good rate, plus no travelling/setup etc ;D
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i offer a volume discount, so the more thety have done, the cheaper it gets
if i can do 3-4 rooms in one house then i am prepared to give a small discount, its better than doing 4 seperate rooms in 4 seperate houses
however this does NOT mean i would work for peanuts
in fact we do very nicely thank you
P.S i've had a postponment on the job i was supposed to do tommorrow of £291.00
went to see someone tonight who wanted it "doing ASAP"
when i said i could do it tommorrow she said she wanted it doing cheaper , TO HELP ME OUT!!!
decided to have a lie in instead and chill out for the day
the cheeky cow!!!!!!!!!!
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i offer a volume discount, so the more thety have done, the cheaper it gets
if i can do 3-4 rooms in one house then i am prepared to give a small discount, its better than doing 4 seperate rooms in 4 seperate houses
however this does NOT mean i would work for peanuts
in fact we do very nicely thank you
P.S I've had a postponement on the job i was supposed to do tomorrow of £291.00
went to see someone tonight who wanted it "doing ASAP"
when i said i could do it tomorrow she said she wanted it doing cheaper , TO HELP ME OUT!!!
decided to have a lie in instead and chill out for the day
the cheeky cow!!!!!!!!!!
Peasant as you would say
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exactamundo my friend ;D
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How obvious is it that successive rooms can be cleaned more quickly than the 1st since the equipment is already set up and yet we still get these debates!!!
I always get around £50 per hour and any room after the 1st is reduced to about 2/3rds.
Working off an hourly rate is obviously fair to the naive customer who doesnt understand setting up but I really do this to get extra work and therefore £.
Maybe some people who charge the same throughout have a higher minimum which obviously covers for the 1st and then a lower £/m2 which effectively lowers the successive room cost?!
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a cleaner I know charges a considerable amount for his 1st carpet then discounts heavily for extra work.
I think he charges 80p per sq ft for the first 200sq ft = £160 and then 40p there after.
Athough he is very kind and will do a minimum of 100 sq ft if he's quiet = £80
Shaun
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I advertise 20% of if doing three rooms or over
This is a mistake and looses me money
The only reason i still do it is i havent found time to change my leaflet yet
People dont ring for this offer, they ring to get there carpets cleaned i give them a price and they book the work in, then i get a phone call a couple days latter or the pull out the leaflet at the end of the job and say "hold on dont i get a 20% discount" >:(
This is just giving away your profit :(
Yes it makes sense to round up the price when doing the whole house, but not a couple rooms, a standard job is a couple rooms anyway.
What do you think of this idea?
"Massive 33% discount for oap's"
You then go round do your quote, and then tell them the catch
To get this deal they go on your "cancellation list" seen as they spend most of there time indoors anyway this shouldnt be a problem
Then next time you get a cancellation or a early finnish, you ring them and go round.
Better to work at a discount rate than not work at all.
Could also do it for single mothers, you might even get lucky ;)
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Why not go the whole hog Red and tell them to get the discount I only clean at these prices when there's an R in the month ;D
If I went round telling folks what you want to do I'd get battered up here :-\
Nice thought though but I carn't see it working for me mate.
I think it would sound better if they were the last job of the day on account many people like to have the first oppiontments.
But to use them as cancelations is rubbing the noses in it a bit ;D
Dave
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Oh well i thought it made sense, its good to get other opinions though
Dont you find most customers want it done yesterday?
And the old ladys are like "oh come when your ready dear, theres no rush, iv left it 3 years a couple of weeks wont matter"
If you wanted something but wernt in a rush, would you wait a couple weeks to save 1/3? i would.
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Red your dead right in what you say, I love working for old people it might be because I'm old myself. but to be honest they seem to have more time on their hands than most.
And most importantly they tip better too!
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Come on Dave what you are really saying is that you like the tea in china cups and of course the chocolate biccies....the guys got style
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Dont know about the tip better bit, they do allways tip, and it is nice of them.
Problem is they think you can still have a night out on 50p ::)
"oh that looks lovely son, here you go have a drink on me" they say as they hand you 20p
So far iv had from 20p to £5.
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Cleaned a carpet and 3pce for a lady that was 104 years younge today and I mean younge. :o
Who knows, next year she be having it done again ;)
Which reminds me I must start looking for new clients. The furture is not orange its bloody bleak :'(
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Youre gonna have no one left to send these postcards everyone keeps on about to, you better start hunting for new clients over some of the bovis new builds ;)
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As Derek, I dont discount any thing. I get paid to clean, period. If you go to a shop, any shop that sells jeans, do you think if you bought two pairs that the second would be less expensive than the first one? On the whole and looking at most cleaners minimum charges "we" dont charge enough as it is. Why would you want to then charge even less money for doing more. CHARGE more and believe me you will still get the work. Best, Dave.
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Wo wo! Jeans dont have a travel and machine setup time consideration. Why cant we see that £50/h or whatever is greatly increased if we dont discount on the successive rooms. Is this fair?
Im no saint btw and would charge anything if I could especially for the quality service I give!
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min charge £40.
£5 per carpet discount until it hits £20
cheers
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Nice logo scott and that pricing makes sense.
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My prices in Funny Money €67.50 EUR = 45.3836 GBP minimum charge. Have not changed prices in 3 years 30 cent per sq/ft flat rate on all sizes. (a little cheap for the work I do) Management Company's end up trusting you after a few jobs ! No more time wasting on estimates as they know your prices.