Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: stevegunn on September 26, 2007, 02:49:44 pm
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From £38 to £43 minimum charge.Went to price job up this afternoon he pulled local free paper out prices from £8 to £20 for one carpet,tried explaining how I was fully trained,what equipment I use,drying times etc etc.Finally I asked him to ring said £8 a carpet merchant to ask what he used,how quickly he could do it,how long it takes to do?How long to dry?
1.carpet cleaning machine ;D his reply
2.tomorrow
3.15 minutes
4.20 minutes to 30 minutes
After much soul searching he booked me for next week,the best part is I did it last year for them he was querying the £5 increase ::) Was he happy last year "oh yes it was fantastic but £5 since last year seems steep"
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i think he's rite ;)
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So Steve what was the job you booked him in to do and how much did u charge him?
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Lounge carpet and small hallway £55
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Hi
Drying time 20 to 30 mins is very good.
It will allways be like this Steve, sounds like he is skint to me.
Dave
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It's a nice tactic if you can get away with it.
It's like going into a Jaguar dealers and showing them an ad. for a Hyundi coupe and saying you want an XK for the same price.
Do you not think he's also the type who will cancel the day before because he wants to save a few bob despite your wise words?
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ANY CARPET CLEANED FOR ONLY £8.00 !!!
PLEASE CALL MR WHODUANICKABOLLOCKOFF !
ON 08989786776
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On a more serious note. I 'm just putting my prices up ready to offer discounts for Jan, no one notices because no one is asking at the mo!
Cheers
Justin
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This is the first rise in 2 years for me just in time for christmas 8)
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I'm fortunate, in that I don't depend on c/c for all of my income, but with the market apparently in decline, hopefully, temporary, maybe not a good time to increase prices, yes I know all about the cost of everything else, but ............although it looked like laminate was in decline a year ago, we are now getting other alternative flooring types at up to £50 per sq mtr and they are selling !!!
In my case and I don't care what the purists among you say, I would reduce the time taken per job, to maintain the profit level, if I found resistance.
There is absolutely no point, in losing clients, when you will still be delivering an excellent " value for money " service.
rob m
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I've been preaching this business tactic for years, put your prices up for the busy period it will allow you to breathe more easily when the taxman comes in January, then if you discount in quieter periods it won't hurt so much.
Shaun
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Yes £55 is about what I would charge
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Robert you posted as I was writing, but you could offer a 2 tier system, cleaned and cleaned and dried with protector but this doesn't work over the phone.
Jason Hedges pushed protector to increase the job ticket, call it bait and switch but I don't believe it is but clean at an average price and then try and sell protector but you will be playing the % game to who buys and who doesn't but at least you will get in the house!
Shaun
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I know what you're saying Shaun and selling a basic price is, in my opinion the way to get in the door, then you can politely ask about another room, or whatever.
A lot of guys are determined to resist, or ignore, what's going on around them and some will be less affected than others, but to ignore market changes can be suicidal.
The market is still huge, but if there is resistance to a price, IMO it I would be better to be smart, rather than risk, not just the loss of one client, but the referrals they always bring.
Although I've increased my minimum charge, it's new clients who are being targeted, with existing clients only paying a couple of pounds more, for the same work, as before.
rob m
Don't let pride get in the way of profit, even if it's fractionally reduced profit.
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May I ask what your minimum is? mines 59.00 for new and 49.00 for old.
In the US they keep the price low but do 'combo deals' where they advertise 3 rooms cleaned for $XXX but they are born salesmen and far better than us and also the carpet in the US is mainly man made so you can through anything at it.
I think the ethics of cleaning over there is to have an affordable price, have multiple rooms cleaned in 1 trip (many have a $100 min) and a multi truck operation. Alot of cleaners do next day or even same day none of this week waiting.
Shaun
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I heard a good one today! lady bought a new carpet from stories ,they gave her a number to ring to get it stain guarded, the cc who is a member of this site so I wont mention his name quoted her £50 or should I say his wife did! then he wanted another £20 for traveling time as he was comming from newcastle and the customer resides in stockton about 500 yards from where I live, needless to say she wasn't going to pay him cos she thought it was a cheek charging her £20 traveling time, if it was me I would of charged double, Anyway she has booked us to go and stain protect her carpet for £80.00 does that make sense ?
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Getting off on the wrong foot can cancel out any positive advertising as it did for this guy.
Shaun
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Well yes it does make sense, if the perception is you will give £80 worth of value rather than £50.
No one is really interested your costs, only what you can give them. He would have got it if he just quoted £70 for the job.
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May I ask what your minimum is? mines 59.00 for new and 49.00 for old.
Do you think I should do that old wise one £43 for new £38 for old ;D ;)
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Well Shaun I was talking to you last week about this guy so you will know who I mean !
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How far do you travel steve ? do you cover the Newcastle Yellow pages area ?
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Steve say "I usually charge XXX but I'll knock a fiver off seeing that you are a value customer"
Stuart ;)
Shaun
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Yes I cover Newcastle yellow pages areas
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Steve I work in Sunderland every other day of the week, and easily get £95.00 to clean an average lounge carpet and a sml hall or stair well, So iam sure someone like yourself with a high powered truck mount could get a lot more than you are charging , i am just trying to be constructive this is not a critisism
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Not ignoring the question Shaun, had to pick up one our care staff. I am behind you with my minimum charge, which is £38, but expect to get an average job of around £80, for carpets, a bit higher if a suite's involved, which is about every 3rd job.
I only manage 2 jobs per day now, ( not really supposed to be doing any ) but would have easily handled 6, or 7 working with another, a few years ago. Sometimes more.
Talking about what we charge always gets people going, but if someone is earning decent money throughout the year and has more than one string to their bow, they are often making more, sometimes much more than others imagine.
I have always known myself to be better than high charging franchisees, or a handful of others, but it gave me a great deal of pleasure, giving my clients better value. I even used reverse psychology when explaining the reasons for the franchisees high charges, being well aware that in the clients mind I appeared to be a decent sort, who did'nt charge excessively for my services, leaving them thinking they were in a win / win situation, using me.
That is a personality / charachter trait, or whatever you want to call it, in sport I did the same, always letting the other guy get ahead, then reeling them in.
Risky, of course, but it's me and I have never been able to change it, whether in martial arts, squash, or even as a golf pro !!!!!
I've enjoyed my varied working life and been pretty successful, without the all out drive, that some feel they need. Maybe I've never felt I had to prove myself, or have just been lazy, or whatever.
The point being.......................we are all different !!!!
rob m
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I heard a good one today! lady bought a new carpet from stories ,they gave her a number to ring to get it stain guarded, the cc who is a member of this site so I wont mention his name quoted her £50 or should I say his wife did! then he wanted another £20 for traveling time as he was comming from newcastle and the customer resides in stockton about 500 yards from where I live, needless to say she wasn't going to pay him cos she thought it was a cheek charging her £20 traveling time, if it was me I would of charged double, Anyway she has booked us to go and stain protect her carpet for £80.00 does that make sense ?
It was my company!
And it was'nt my wife it was one of the office staff, and she gave the customer the NCCA number as they would have a local member who wouldn't charge milage, so I think the words you are looking for are
"Thank you"
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Well yes it does make sense, if the perception is you will give £80 worth of value rather than £50.
No one is really interested your costs, only what you can give them. He would have got it if he just quoted £70 for the job.
good point! Thanks for the tip
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Thankyou Paul !
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Your welcome Stuart !
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Pity you diddn't return my call when I called your office last week Paul ! I was only passing you some work in whitley bay
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after going there on a 'stag outing' I wouldn't pass water over Whitley Bay!
Shaun