Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Clean-Dri on September 29, 2006, 05:17:12 pm
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This happened aprox 2 weeks ago, just got over the shock to post it now....
Urgent call 'can you come today..carpet cleaner let us down...rooms cleared..machines broken down...don't want them back in here'
Anyway gladly turned up to see them later that afternoon to find a large lounge carpet 20'x20' just a third cleaned... WET with obvious wand marks.
Hadn't realized on the phone they had made a start then asked who came, the response was ChemDry.
Knowing that their method of cleaning is usually low moisture (like ourselves) we
asked if they were sure it was Chemdry and sure enough they convinced us it was. Apparently 2 guys started the work...then claimed something was wrong with the machine and then....gone. I assume a few things were said but we were quite surprised that even if their original equuipment had failed that they switched to wet and I guess this prompted the customer problem.
Anyway our customer although sceptical about carpet cleaners from that moment we had managed to turn it around and clean her carpets beautifully....of course if we knew it was ChemDry I would have charged more! ::)
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Why would you want to charge more? unless your name is Dick Turpin
My news agent does not run outside to see what car I drive when I go in to buy a paper!
Ever thought that charging the price you have will get you more recomendations.????
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Well said Dave, best, Dave.
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Dave, I was waiting for you mate ;)
My point was, if you want to charge high prices then you have to stick with them for everyone.
Not the odd one or two, if you see my point.
I can see were the guy's coming from but doing things like that will always catch up with you.
But top marks for helping a customer out at short notice.
He could of used that as an opporpunity to raise his price a little, then it would have sounded more feasible.
Anyway who said your no.1 Dave. :-X
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Dave, I knew you would get it. I charge everyone a lot of money otherwise it wouldnt be fair now would it? Sorry mate, I dont understand the no. 1 comment, please advise.........Best, Dave.
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It was the end of your last comment, you said Best Dave ;D
And I thought O R would recons that then ;)
Regards
Dave
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Ok, got it now. It is just short for best wishes.I write enough as it is so shortened it to best, best Dave. P.S. I am not the best, I just think I am, go on you have to laugh.....
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i think i'll go back to sleep, obviously some of you have a sort of code that you communicate by, when you get back to english, let me know.
cbt
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i was once told by acustomer that they almost through the chem dry guy out of there house for trying to charge them £60.00 for 45 minutes work and another customer told me they quoted them £25.00 per dinning chair. Your prices have to match the quality off your work.
John
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i was once told by acustomer that they almost through the chem dry guy out of there house for trying to charge them £60.00 for 45 minutes work and another customer told me they quoted them £25.00 per dinning chair. Your prices have to match the quality off your work.
John
Not being funny but there's a spell check on the google tool bar. I only hope that letters you send out are better written then this.
Through should be THREW
There should be THEIR
Off should be OF
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Three months ago i did a job that had, two years previously, been carried out by chemdry.
In 2004 they charged the customer £300, i charged them £180 for a four bedroom house which took me 2 and a half hours on my tod with a tm. How do these people get away with it or do they know which customer has MUG written on their forehead.
Best, Dave :P
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CLEANCARE, it should be "than this" and not "then this"
Spot on, would you rather earn £300 for 2 and a 1/2 hours work or £180 for the same? I would say you were the mug in this case. Although 180 isnt too bad for the time involved I would rather make 120 an hour instead of 72. If it was me in your situation I would have charged them the same and just have done a better job. After all I pressume you do better work than the other "cleaners". Maybe instead of knocking the higher charges you would be better joining them. More for less, now there's a concept. Best, Dave.
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Dave has a point.
It's not about ripping people off it's about saving for a rainy day!
Will the customers look upon you when you are quiet and say "ah lets give him a carpet to clean he looks poor this month?"
My mate works at HSBC and he gets £35000 a year, gets 6 weeks holiday, sick pay, shares, redundancy!! all for 35 hours a week, comes home puts his feet up.
Do your Maths and take into consideration all of your out goings and then..... machine brakage (with loss of work), depreciation, do you have 6 weeks hols?, YOU are always looking for the work he's not (stress) to get the same money do you think £45000 profit is a better target?
The bit that really gets to you is He thinks he's hard done to and thinks YOUR job is a piece of pz.
Earn it and live to fight another day.
Shaun
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Shauns right,
Q - Why are so many Carpet Cleaners hard up ?
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Dave
I didn't actually know that Chemdry had previously done the job until it cropped up in conversation after the work had been completed, but i take your point.
The trouble is, the area where i live does not have an enough affluent clientelle, but on this particular day, i pulled in £320 which in my area, i think is good.
I remember talking to the london boys on the Prochem courses who told me that as far back as 2002, were pulling in over £1000 a week then, so in the right area you can achieve what you want. I am happy with what i earn.
I might in the future target Bristol which is only 26 miles away now we have our 0800 number. There are a lot of affluent people there.
I also take your point about contacts. I came out of a customers house after cleaning their carpets and was approached by this guy to clean the carpets in a flat that he was working in. He offers a full maitenance package for four big letting agents, some of which i also work for.
He explained that by the time he hires a machine and pays his mans wage, it's better to get me in and the job is done better.He says that he will pass a lot of work my way so bumping into him was a fluke.
Going back to the four bedroom house for £180, the customer seemed to know a lot about tm's, and when i questioned her about it, she explained that she worked for the Nhs and on occasion has to call out another local business also running a tm for flooded offices. She gave me the address and contact name to approach should i be interested in this type of work and decide to offer my services. Aske why she didn't use the same company to clean her carpets, she said that they were £20 more than me. ::)
Dave
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Myself and Glynn are in a good position as we have enough clientelle to be rigid with our pricing but as you get more confident I advise you to raise your prices and you will make a good living ALL of the time.
TM's or rug doctors it's not rocket science but you do have to sell it as that!
Shaun
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Shaun
Your mate is getting ripped off no mortgage subsidy.
Len
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He's got no morgage
How's Leonard anyway?
Shaun
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its always interesting to work out all your exspense's take into account all holidays and deppreciation, EVERTHING, then come a figure for that a month, count your jobs for the last month, divide your exspense's by number of jobs so you can see exactly how much your average job needs to be.
needless to say when i did this over a year ago i realised my average job price needed to go way up!
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Dave has a point.
It's not about ripping people off it's about saving for a rainy day!
Will the customers look upon you when you are quiet and say "ah lets give him a carpet to clean he looks poor this month?"
My mate works at HSBC and he gets £35000 a year, gets 6 weeks holiday, sick pay, shares, redundancy!! all for 35 hours a week, comes home puts his feet up.
Do your Maths and take into consideration all of your out goings and then..... machine brakage (with loss of work), depreciation, do you have 6 weeks hols?, YOU are always looking for the work he's not (stress) to get the same money do you think £45000 profit is a better target?
The bit that really gets to you is He thinks he's hard done to and thinks YOUR job is a piece of pz.
Earn it and live to fight another day.
Shaun
Surely Shaun you must break what your mate earns? You knocked out 135k 2 years ago mate!-personally i just work to keep kids! ;)
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I work to keep the empire running ;D
Actually it goes beyond cleaning, I have a dry cleaners and 2 houses I let, and a Missus who locks the door until I've brought enough money home.
Shaun
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Thats the first thing I learned as a ChemDry franchissee, 13 years ago, DIVERSIFY, from starting offbeing a carpet cleaner, now I am into a few related businesses, fire/flood restoration, leather cleaning, van hire, biodiesel, renting out houses, limo hire and builders cleans, all these things are carpet cleaning related and so long as they fit my criteria for ROI the list will be added to.
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Glynn, in answer to your question of why so many cleaners are hard up. I think its because they purely and simply dont charge enough for what it is they do. They or some clean rooms for free, offer more rooms for less money.... well you know the story. I get paid to clean or whatever I may be doing I get paid for. I dont clean anything for free. Nor do I discount more rooms for example. I also think that a lot of cleaners and granted not all are scared of charging what they think is a lot of money to clean. In most cases it is in their own head that they are expensive. They will come up with excuses why they cant charge more but it is only themselves they are convincing that they cant get more money. Last comment, too many cleaners all clean the same way and dont offer anything that might be out of the ordinary to charge more for. As long as they dont differ in what they do they will have to be content with the measley 30, 40, 50 or however many p they charge per square foot. If you are doing a 50p job then charge 50p. I do considerably more than a 50p job so I charge more. Best, Dave.
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are carpetcleaners hard up?
ok people new to the industry might earn less, but I know a lot of C/C and most of them make a very good living.
Glynn did my sister ring you? she lives in Poulton-le-Fyde, I was there last month and gave her your number.
Mike
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Glynn, in answer to your question of why so many cleaners are hard up. I think its because they purely and simply dont charge enough for what it is they do. They or some clean rooms for free, offer more rooms for less money.... well you know the story. I get paid to clean or whatever I may be doing I get paid for. I dont clean anything for free. Nor do I discount more rooms for example. I also think that a lot of cleaners and granted not all are scared of charging what they think is a lot of money to clean. In most cases it is in their own head that they are expensive. They will come up with excuses why they cant charge more but it is only themselves they are convincing that they cant get more money. Last comment, too many cleaners all clean the same way and dont offer anything that might be out of the ordinary to charge more for. As long as they dont differ in what they do they will have to be content with the measley 30, 40, 50 or however many p they charge per square foot. If you are doing a 50p job then charge 50p. I do considerably more than a 50p job so I charge more. Best, Dave.
I'm sorry, but I don't know what planet your on but your comments are pure nonsense. It is a competitive market place and everyone has to attract customers through discounts, special offers etc.
I don't know what or where you clean but the majority of cleaners work in every day Joe Bloggs house (the working class) and can't charge ridiculous prices.
After all, we're only putting water and a detergent on a fabric and it's not rocket science. Any fool can do it. In fact, this is probably the only job that any idiot can get into without serving an apprenticeship or under going training, brains or no brains. That is why this land is flooded with carpet cleaners all undercutting each other and this forum is full of them.
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I don't give discounts.....don't do rooms for free or any other special offers.... I fully understand where Dave is coming from...he gives 'quality service'
That is the basis of my own business...quality service...pure and simple.
I don't do leaflets.....never have....they don't reflect the company image I wish to portray.
We all do things our own way and by doing this we serve the public's requirements.. those who want cheap... get cheap ...those who want to pay a little more are also catered for....the world keeps going round
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I don't give discounts.....don't do rooms for free or any other special offers.... I fully understand where Dave is coming from...he gives 'quality service'
That is the basis of my own business...quality service...pure and simple.
I don't do leaflets.....never have....they don't reflect the company image I wish to portray.
We all do things our own way and by doing this we serve the public requirements.. those who want cheap... get cheap ...those who want to pay a little more are also catered for....the world keeps going round
You obviously live and work in an affluential area and have probably been established for many years.
Why do you think leaflets will reflect badly on your company?
Are you in the one man band up market category as Dave, if so, then you're in a minority. The rest of us compete and charge accordingly to attract customers day in day out regardless of how much money they have or willing to spend, colour or race.
You should be the same and not pick and choose what suits you. I thought the customer always comes first?
Do you say no to Mrs Smith wanting her rug cleaned for a tenner and yes to Mrs Parker-Bowles wanting her rug cleaned for £50 - to me that's discrimination and is unjust and unfair.
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Cleancare
I cannot see any discrimination contained within my post..plus it was yourself who mentioned colour and race....I have many Mrs Smith's as my clients but not one Mrs Parker-Bowles as it happens... However I do have many customers with foreign sounding names too much of a variety to mention
I live just outside of Leicester one of the most mult-cultural Cities in the UK....The price I charge for my work reflects the effort I put in and I expect a reasonable return for that effort. If a potential customer doesn't choose to want to pay my price then they have many alternatives.
I said I didn't choose to produce and mailshot leaflets...that is the way I do business, you choose to run your business the way you want to....I wouldn't presume to tell you otherwise.
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Cleancare, your last paragraph of the second to last post sort of rests my case. I take it that is how you clean and so I refer to the answer that I gave Glynn. With re. your last post, why shouldnt we chose who we work for? Call it what you like but if you want to clean for Mrs Smith and not look for Mrs Parker-Bowles then that is your choice. Me, I dont want to nor do I work for Mrs Smith. For the record, Mrs Parker-Bowles paid a dxxm site more than £50 to have her carpets cleaned, a lot more. You have accused Derek and myself of being in the minority. That may well be the case. If so then join the minority. As I dont feel you will or can then you will have to be content with being the same as everyone else and carry on under-cutting to suit. Then you wont be able to offer the service that I feel Derek does and so you will be cheep and so on and so on. Best, Dave.
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Well said Derek. Likewise I never mentioned how anyone should run their business. Nor did I mention colour or race. I would like to think I get people to think about how they do what. At the end of the day, each to their own, best, Dave.
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I think every one has to cut there cloth to suit some areas,you can get lots more for :-\ other areas are so tight, :o they need some oil ;D and you get the people call who try to cut the price down over the phone before you have got there,we all know who they are dont we :o ;D I see carpet cleaning as up and down price roller coaster :-\ thats what we have found :-\
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I believe it is important to have consistent costings.
Many of my customers have family and friends that also use my services, inconsistent pricing would offend.
I have always found that Some Mrs Smiths will not use my services because they think I am to expensive and also find some Mrs Parker- Bowles who will not use my services because they think I am to expensive.......and visa-versa of course.
No matter what their background or social standing is, all of my customers appreciate excellent value for money.
A Large "Majority" of Carpet Cleaners, and many other types of business fail early for a variety of reasons, one of these just happens to be under valuing your service and charging to little.
So maybe it is better to be with the minority. :)
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At the end of the day you are supposed to be running a business. This requires planning. You can only be truly succesfull if you plan and operate your business on sound footings. One of these is deciding what level of charges you need to levy to enable you to operate and make a profit.
Carpet cleaners who do this are the ones regularly turning over 100k plus.
I would say these are in the minority.
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yes i agree, if theres one thing i've learnt in my time carpet cleaning it's that all your work has to be profitable that is over and above all expenses
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You don't want all the work you can get.
You want all the profitable work you can get.
Cheers
Rab.
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hi there
it does appear however that some people define profit in a very fifferent way to others.
gross profit-- sales less materials and in some cases the labour to do the job, ie the cost of sales
nett profit gross profit, less all other costs, including YOUR WAGES
i know people that dont invclude their own time on a job, and others that say their profit is £xxxx.oo when in fact that finger includes their own wages and salary.
quite simply, i have a costing template for all the standard works that we do, and then specialist cleans are costed per job.
and if it doesnt show a profit WE DONT DO IT.
regaards
martin