Clean It Up
UK General Cleaning Forum => General Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Adam10 on August 16, 2007, 08:12:05 pm
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hi guys, i have been asked to clean 3 bedroom cottage it is just general cleaning the lady wants 5 hours per week plus 1 hour of ironing, she also said she had few quotes from other companies and all have been much higher than her old cleaner used to charge and we are based in edinburgh. have u got any ideas?
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Ideas? yes. She's probably had a 'treasure' who went in for about 8 hours a week (even though she was only paid for 4) and earnt about £4 an hour. ;D Happens ALL the time, the 'treasures' who are prepared to 'do' a few hours a week are now of rertirement age and the next-generation 'treasures' have been absorbed into 'proper' employment by cleaning companies and agencies. Well, thats my idea.
As such there is no reason why you should drop your price below what you would charge anyone else as the woman isnt going to find another 'treasure'. They hardly exisit now.
How do you charge normally? Hourly rate or by the job? How does she know she needs 5 hours if she has no idea how fast you all work? I've never been able to make sense of people asking for X hours, i mean it implies that all cleaners work at the same speed.
I've often wondered how it is that people are prepared to pay for cleaning by the hour, not when you consider that for more or less everything else in life you pay for a product or a job, you dont pay by the hour. Like recently when i had a new kitchen, i paid for the units, i paid an electrician to wire the kitchen, and paid a man to fit the kitchen. Each time i was given a single price for the job to be done.
I think if you could tell us a bit more about what kind of service you run, what you supply, what you normally charge, and what this woman wants then it may be easier to offer some more advice.
Cheers
Stephen
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We do mainly domestics and haven't got lot of jobs yet as we started not long time ago this is the reason we wouldn't like to loose the customer, we supply all the materials, she wants the house to be hoovered and mopped, the house has got wooden floors, what we thought to charge her was 40-50 quid, as she would be a regular customer, what do you think?
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Hi
Its really hard to say without knowing what your competition is charging. Or what state the house is in. Thats always the hard part. I think the general rule is "How much do i want/need per hour for the job" and then try to come up with a price for all the work that she wants doing.
I've never heard anyone ask for 5 hours cleaning (even though i charge for the 'job' initially many people ask for X hours), the most i've been asked for was 3 hours. I'm thinking she needs a lot of cleaning doing?
Stephen
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Thanks for your help Stephen,
Cheers :)
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Wondered if this for a five hour stint, or split over two visits, when your costs would be proportionally higher. To be honest you're charging rock bottom at that rate.
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Aye, i agree
2 visits a week that take approx 2.5 hours would be cheap at £50 for both.
Stephen
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We have sent the lady an email with quotes. we'll see , we really need work at the moment,
Cheers for your advice guys :)
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How much did you quote and how did you quote - by job or by hour?
Cheers
Stephen
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6 hours a week , you should be charging £10 per hour as an absolute minimum.
I know you said you've not long started, but if you intend to grow and take on staff, you must price work as if you were going to pay an hourly rate to a member of staff and have a profit left for yourself.
Arthur