Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Deep Clean Newcastle Gateshead on May 01, 2008, 05:15:03 pm
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Got a custy call me 5 mins ago, saying she had a guy booked to come out to clean on sat and he has let her down twice so she wants to go with me.....
OK, I said I will see if I can get close to the sort of price he quoted if you will let me know.
£40 for her 3 piece and for her carpets to be done ........
Yip that's why she was let down twice. She just about fell over when i told her what we charge.
People who say they will do if for £40 and screw the custy around give this whole industry a bad name........
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And in 6 months he will be biting the dust, another fly by night.
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yip and an other will take his place and the cycle continues!!!
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I have one by me, £45 for 4 seating positions and that includes Scotchguard!
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I had the opposite today,
3 seater , 1 chair and small lounge ,
lady was quoted £500 after nearly an hour of sweet talking, name dropping of who,s carpets he cleans , that he is reconised as THE best c/c in the country , yes . her words as told by him
she told me this after I had got the job,
I quoted £185
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Yip £185 sounds about right, £500 sounds like Bo*e Dry
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£185. sheez i need to pot my prices up.. How long would that job take you.. 3 hrs?
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Geoff I quote against him all the time and usually get them, but how many does he get at that price? perhaps I'm the idiot for being so 'cheap'
mike
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Paul
You put your prices for a suite above £40 now then?
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Geoff
That sounds like Mike Halliday. He has to be the best carpet cleaner in the country 'cos he's got an award to prove it ;)
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Ken I'm not the 'best' my award was for being the 'most helpful' ;D
the bloke Geoff is on about is a fast tracker who has always charged really high prices, he does a decent job, i wouldn't say he britains best ::)
but if he's happy and being truthful to his faith then who am I to comment on his work practices
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theres a advert in my local paper saying any 3 piece suite plus carpet cleaned for £45
john
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It's a small world,
I was cleaning a leather suite today and the customer said her brother lives in Beverley and had a quote for cleaning a simular leather suite from a local cleaner, £1100 and it wasn't Mike! I guess it was the same cleaner as above.
Shaun
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Take my hat off to the guy for £500 but it would have to be good for that price
Problem is if he is charging a lot, and I say good luck to him, he will be paying a lot out on fuel, to visit all the ones that say no, so he will probs be doing more work to get the biz ie, three hrs to clean a 3pc and carpet say and times it by two to get his cost of about £500 thats six hrs work.
He is going to have to do more than 3 hrs work to get one in three people to buy at his prices.
Well there gos the theory. Let me know if im talking poo!
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Shaun £1100 for a leather suite, yep that was me ;D
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Hi Guys
If we want a free market and lets face it we don't want to be told what to charge, then there will always be extremes.
I have a localish cleaner who quotes very cheap, doesn't turn up, they ring me I quote much higher some say yes , some no, such is life.
Cheers
Doug
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Doug you are spot on, but I'm sure we all make a good wage from our rates some cleaners take the buscuit and some just eat dirt, kay sera sera.
Shaun
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your quite right Mike,
you know who it is........... but £500 is pricy, just a straightforward clean, protection was extra
what percentage of quotes do you think he gets?
it would be interesting to see the comparative income
scenerio.
1 suite 1 lounge £500 perhaps 10% of quotes maybe more but I wouldnt have thought so.
Same 1 suite 1 lounge £180 75% of quotes .
working on 10 qoutes a week number 1 gives £500
number 2 gives £1,350 I think :-\ if my figures are right.
I may be way out with the percentages and amount of quotes , but Im sure you get the jist.
geoff
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I have a localish cleaner who quotes very cheap, doesn't turn up, they ring me I quote much higher some say yes , some no, such is ife.
Have been changing my ways recently Doug. Low price high volume doesnt pay. Just knackers you and your machinery out. Along with higher fuel and running costs. Have put my prices up and doign less then I was but getting more enjoyment out of cleaning now. Also halved the number of days that I do carpet cleaning.
Mike
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Geoff.
As per your scenario but £500 at 50% of the time equals £2500 for 5 jobs
or £1350 for 7 or 8 jobs.
If anyone, cheep or expensive doesnt get at least 50% of thier quotes I would be surprised.
If it was me £500 at 10 times equals £5000 Even if I had to discount at 20% its still £4000
So why would I or anyone even entertain the £1350?
Best, Dave.
P.S. Mike above, glad to hear how changing your business has helped.
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dave,
I can understand what you are saying,
and supberb if anyone can get 50% of quotes at them prices ,
I really do doubt it.
having said that an established c/c working with only high end custys and likely all regulars , such as your self " I am Assuming " those figures look different, but to an everyday c/c I cannot see them getting 50% my figure of !0 % is nearer to the mark.
geoff
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Geoff, I cant argue as I dont really know any figures of people in general. I just would have thought that 10% was low but may well be accurate.
You have to remember though that the person charging the £500 doesnt see his prices as anything other than his prices. He or she doesnt see it as expensive or cheep, just the price they charge.
It is harder to comprehend if you are charging considerably less but then again it is in the mind of us as cleaners not the customer that £500 is expensive.
Best, Dave.
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Hi Mike
With your set up and advertising nous you don't need to be cheap.
We will have to get together for a beer and set up a cartel :o
Cheers
Doug
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Doug
Once you have the setup, experience, advertising, websites etc it is easier. Sould have done something like this years ago, supose you live and learn. Beer sounds good. I am reducing my area covered so may have a few websites for you to take over if you interested.
Mike
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Every time the sublime and the ridiculous comments get posted I automatially think about the other service providers out there, which of them get a bad press and why !
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Look at it this way.
Customer pays £1000 for suite and you charge £100 to clean thats 10% of cost. They and you can live with that.
Customer pays £5000 for suite and you charge £500 to clean thats 10% of cost. But we dont think that way.
Personally speaking the £5000 suites can be difficult to clean due to design, fabric and colour esp if dirty.
Having said that if i could get three suites to clean at £500 each, every week, Id be a very happy part time carpet cleaner.
Mark
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if you have clientelle that will pay £1000's then you'll get the work but if you don't then your coversion may be zero, change your price to suit your market or your market to suit your prices.
It's easy to sell cheap but harder to do the cleaning and visa versa, you need patience and the gift of the gab.
Shaun
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Maybe he just does'nt like cleaning suites, so he overprices them to make sure it does not happen ;D
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Well done ProDry.
You have seen the light. better than being a busy fool eh.
Diesel at £1.20 a litre = £6 a gallon.
Runninmg round allover the place, wearing yourself and machinery out for 'soap dodgers'.
And whats more the guy charging £500.oo for a suite isnt going to get a job from them next year is he, word gets around, especially when you can get a suite and lounge for £185.00 and cleaned by the master himself.
Murky
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Well done ProDry.
You have seen the light. better than being a busy fool eh.
Agree with yours and others posts including your previous ones on other threads about mine and others low prices. However there will always be cheap cleaners and probably more in the imediate future as we hear about more people taking up part time jobs. There will also always be a market for cheap cleaners. Maybe this market will grow aswell as more customers start feeling the pinch.
I have made good money doing cheap volume work and there are others that do aswell. I have had weeks where the number of jobs and travelling I have done in a week would'nt be belived by many on here. I have seen many CC come and go over the last few years some cheapys and some not. I think the high volume, cheap work is just another service model and I wouldnt discourage anyone from following the same path.
The only reason I am changing is my circumstances have changed. I no longer have an expensive wife, house or two gas guzzling cars to pay for. I started my working life early at 15 and have always grafted I am not changing to become one of the many CC who do 5 jobs a week or are at home every time you drive past their house. I just have other business interests that I enjoy more. I hope to cut my CC hours initially then eventually go back to employing someone all at much higher rates when I get busier.
My point is you say "busy fool". Busy, yes. Fool, definatly not. There is a franchise near me who charges £200 a suite and turns £95k a year, this year end he made a small loss. I think we all get sucked into what we and others earn a day issue. I do property maintenace aswell so see exactly what other trades get a day both casual, full time and agency. Their are big differances between similarly skilled workers day rate. I think we all know what we need, would like or get. For us to start lecturing each other on earnings just fuels a debate that can never be resolved.
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Prodry from what I understand where you live is a better area than most for getting better priced work, on your website before it was changed you had a price for upholstery cleaning of a 3pc suite discount price £95, I would guess that 75% of cleaners in my area don't charge that.
If you can get better priced work go and get it IMO.
Shaun