Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: M.Acorn on July 09, 2008, 10:32:42 am
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Quoted on a big 4 bed yesterday £236 said i would do 2 flights of stairs free as he is having the house he is moving into done too.Quoted the the house a smaller 3 bed for £200.
Said he would call back last night,didn`t call back.
Got a call this morning saying he has had another quote £300 for both ??? Had to match it as i am getting skint verry peed off though.
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£300 is better than £0
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If he had quote and was happy with the service he would receive then why did he call you back ............. ::)
Were you wearing your ' I am 1 day old' badge on ......... as he clearly thought you were born yesterday :o
My response to this sort of approach, when i used to get it, was to offer to clean £300 worth properly and the rest for free or offer a 'cash discount' price with 20% discount ......... if you drop normal price without a blink, then customer feels YOU were pushing it in the first place ???
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As justin said,getting low on funds and £300 is better than sitting on my computer all day >:(
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Appreciate that as have been there myself but ........... you are now convinced he got one over on you and he is thinking you tried it on with him, i do hope he appreciates what you did and remains ongoing customer ;)
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I've taken the odd hit recently so I'm guilty of it too and with these types most of the time I say 'I quoted you the lowest price to do a decent quality job and any less would not be worth doing'.
Then I shut up. I'd say 6-7 times out of ten they say ok then or they say surely you can blah blah. If I think I'm close I offer something on top for 'free'
Two things strike me with these tough decisions. One is the less desperate you come across (even if you are) the more likely you will get it and at a good price. I like to go in with an attitude that I don't care either way if they go for it or not.
Second, when you don't get a job your not sat on your arse, you are going to find new better Clients aren't you.
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Sounds like he was trying it on perhaps? I used to be guilty of caving in and letting customers have the work done at their price...not mine. Not anymore though!
When I first started I quoted to do a chinese restaurant. I quoted him £300 and like a shot he said the other quote he had supposedly said they would do it for £200. I said I would match it and looking back I must have been off my head! To give you an idea of it's size it used to be an ABC cinema!!!
I wouldn't touch them these days. Problem is when the work is dry you do tend to get desperate and maybe giving in a little is what is needed.
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300 is still good money buddy i would of gone in at 200 myself and thats the new prices we are now chargeing :o :o
guess oneday ill be there with the big hiters :(
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I did think he was bullpooing me about the other quote ,but the other company turned up while i was there working :-[ asked me loads of questions about what was going on when was i booked in etc he also had a t/m while i am a prochem porty !
was a bit of a language barrier as custy is from Chille,
other firm charged him £60 for inconvenience :) .Now it`s created a big nightmare with the letting company.Basically he is moving from one house to another with same let com,moving into the one i cleaned today tomorow,then i have to do the one he is moving out of on friday as new tennants are moving in on sat ! the other company could not do the other house until next fri so no good ,
Been a mare to be honest,he got there half way through me cleaning and stood and watched my every move,then he moaned that i was quick 2 hr for an empty 3 bed 3 storey, no furniture had been vaced so was quick.
Told him i needed to make up the money somewhere :)
Don`t wanna be a splash and dash merchant but it was all he was paying for so that`s what he got,seemed to be happy with the end result though.Next thing is trying to get the money out of him :)
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Susan
How long would it take you to clean a 3 and a 4 bedroom house and charge £200?
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Susan
How long would it take you to clean a 3 and a 4 bedroom house and charge £200?
pass without seeing them , emity about hour and a half each ???? useing too wands . mind if they were to do on diffent days then i would want 240
i would allow 3 hours per house useing just one guy
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No i won`t be working for him again Clinton ! been a mix up from the word go with him really.Letting agy called me to look up what i charged him last time i did it ! said i have no record of ever working for him,so said i would go and quote , got there and he was like you did not clean for me last time , i said i know but i have come out to quote you ! he was then asking loads and loads of questions wanting to know what i was going to use,why didn`t i have a t.m am i busy how long have i been doing this do i do any other work etc.
went back to agy and they said sorry you were away on holiday last time that is why you have no record.
Thanks for that ! woman from the agy has twice put the phone down on him while i was there.Very hard customer who i think was playing the i don`t understand card a bit too much,he soon understood when we started talking about the money :)
And p,s the carpet was clean only been down a year max,that`s why it was a flyer,will see how i get on with his next one ..
Oh and i said £££ only and no invoice :)
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Good outcome but have found that once you give 'discounted' price .......... very hard to get back to normal rate :o
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Yes aggre with that ! did a lounge last week and charged £80.carpet was trashed wine stains that had been there 2 years,custy had tried a rug doc with no joy,they were americans in the services over here.They had been told that they would have to replace the carpet if i could not get it out.Well i did get everything out and it looked as good as new they were very very happy and said i had saved them a lot of $$$$.
Turns out that his wife is the one in charge of the news letter that gets put out on base and she is going to put a copy of my flyer in there and also a small write up for free as she was so happy.
They also said i was too cheap ! but when i was faced with the carpet i really didn`t think i would get it as new looking so would have been a bit stuck if i had said more.She said she had called other people but they gave her price over phone without wanting to see it.One of the reasons she booked me is because i went to look :)
It has been quite a steep learning curve for me,i did find it really hard dealing with people to start with,i was always working behind the sceenes as a chef and never really had to deal with "people" partly down to my upbringing too i think.Thanks to my step dad beating me and telling me i would never make anything of my life,that i was poo ,useless layabout that would end up in the gutter.Took many years to stop hearing that voice in my head.Getting there though helps that my wife is learning to be a councilor :)
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Guy's,
This is a swings and roundabouts business, you take what you can get when you can get it and don't bleat about it, work is work! Yes, of course you will come across the odd lower than you would like job, but so what, the next job may be a real creamer - swing and roundabouts.
I always try and tie a reduction to the quoted price to a benefit for me, like the rooms must all be clear of furniture, go around three piece suites etc, that way the client knows that they have bought a budget job, not a premium one.
Simon
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sorry but i make it very clear we do not undercut or price match
you either want it doing properly or not
i think we have to keep up the standard of cleaning at the price WE WANT
there are always going to be others who can DO IT CHEAPER
my answer
LET THEM DO IT THEN
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Susan
Yes, empty makes a huge difference. Had a woman not that long ago booked me on the basis that her new place was going to be available before she moved in, then rang up to say after she moved in and got shirty when I said the price would go up.
Still think you are worth more than you give yourself credit for. :)
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Part aggree with that colin,but when you have not had a single job since monday and there are bills to pay and wifes birthday,and your getting through your savings (money i had put aside for my tax bill ),van needs taxing etc then it`s hard to be that carefree about £150. x 2 .I have walked in the past but it was when i had £1500 in the bank to tide me over !
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Hi Guys
If you are desperate it is much more difficult to turn down this type of work.
When you are more established you can sense this type of thing almost before it happens and just tell them thanks for the enquiry but you do not do these sort of deals.
I don't like working with letting agents because quality doesn't really seem to matter.
To all newbies and realative ones you have to put in the hard graft and put up with rubbish jobs but after a while you can start to call the shots.
Cheers
Doug
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Yes letting agy are hard work as they put 25% on what i charge if the custy goes through them.Which in turn makes my prices look bad as there are always flyers around with stupid prices on like £15 per room.
I charged £335 for a job i did in london last week n8 bloke did not flinch at my price ( was a small 2 bed and 2 sets of stairs.
Partly down to sussing them out when you first get there,do they have expensive furniture,flash car, big telly etc could all be on the never never but helps to get a feel thats why it`s important to view when pricing
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Colin,
It will be interesting to see you you continue to take such a cavalier approach to business when this recession really starts to bite and you have your mortgage and other bills and payments to meet with little or no work coming. Being skint tends to humble even the mightiest.
Simon
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i think what you have to remember is that end of tenancy cleaning is not the same as normal carpet cleaning, most are having it done because they have to, and want their deposit back and obviously want to pay as little as possible, they are not going to get the benefit, so you have to charge what they are happy to pay, to a point, if not then its best you dont do this type of work.
we've done it for years and can be a real pain, but also can be bread and butter work.
One tactic we use is to tell the customer that we know the agent well and know what they will be happy with, and are happy to speak to them on their behalf, this way even if we are a bit more expensive than someone else, they have the reassurance that they wont get any comebacks and will get their deposit back, (we've often been into a property for an agent where the carpets have supposedly been cleaned, and then the client has had to pay twice )
Its just remembering what the customer is actually interested in and focusing on that in the conversation.
regards
steve
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Yup i come highly recomended by the letting agy i work for ,so i have my foot in the door as such ,as they pass on my no to the letters :) /And yes they do keep me busy over the quiet part of the year,so musn`t grumble ( in a mark and lard stylee )
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Did a 3 pce today for £145. Lady had 2 other qoutes for £40 & £65. Cheap not always best. Qouted for a pub 106m2 @ £1.75 - way guy went on you would think I tried to mug him.
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www.mobileclean.biz/
this is one of many near me ..........and you think your cheap........am sick off them
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I'd use them, good website and they say the right things.
can see why you don't like them
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3 piece FROM £30.. that says someting, they must be good '1986 Award Winning Business ' ;D
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thats there VAN/CAR.......get there machine out the back of it ....lol.....and am no kiddin.......i wish she would just put her prices up a wee bit .....munters....
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Must be a very small machine, and how come thy've been established
20 years , but won an award 22 years ago.
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thats there VAN/CAR.......get there machine out the back of it ....lol.....and am no kiddin.......i wish she would just put her prices up a wee bit .....munters....
thats buisness if it to hot in the fire best get out ;D
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I know its hard but you have to switch off from this competition. By pitching yourself above their level of service it is possible to achieve higher prices and a better class of customer.
This means every aspect of your business from your vehicle to your stationary. Take the vehicle, a smart well designed sign writen van will outshine a family car any day of the week no matter how much writing there is on it. Make your leaflets and brochures ooze class. Keep your equipment tip top and also your appearance.
Take a leaf out of the franchises book. Servicemaster and Chem-Dry command high prices for their services and are always busy, not just with insurance work, they are pushing more and more for carpet and upholstery cleaning as their insurance work tails off slightly.
Cheap operators have always been around and always will but don't try and compete.
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I know its hard but you have to switch off from this competition. By pitching yourself above their level of service it is possible to achieve higher prices and a better class of customer.
This means every aspect of your business from your vehicle to your stationary. Take the vehicle, a smart well designed sign writen van will outshine a family car any day of the week no matter how much writing there is on it. Make your leaflets and brochures ooze class. Keep your equipment tip top and also your appearance.
Take a leaf out of the franchises book. Servicemaster and Chem-Dry command high prices for their services and are always busy, not just with insurance work, they are pushing more and more for carpet and upholstery cleaning as their insurance work tails off slightly.
Cheap operators have always been around and always will but don't try and compete.
yep your bang on the money ;D
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Hi Guys
Spot on John and remember all customers are not the same , lots will pay decent money for a decent job.
I did three yesterday, all 80 - 90 Pounds per hour using a portable and not rushing around.
All were very pleased.
Cheers
Doug
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Yep . Gotta quote on 4 bedroom and 2 sets of stairs today said ball park price over phone last night £250 + she thought that was very reasonable :) funny old game
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So would the other one if they hadn't spoken to the cheapo CC. Best seal the deal before she rings him up.
Just done a 4x6 polyprop rug. Charged £45, seen them new for £60ish. Funny old world.
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Well the saga continues ! was booked in today to clean Pedros house,the one he is moving out of,bearing in mind they don`t have any furniture,only air beds no sofas etc and no carpets down stairs.Got to the job at 11am as arranged knocked on the door ,his wife answered and said wait a second then shut the door.
TEN minuites later he comes to the door and says sorry i am going to have to wait 2 to 3 hours before i can clean ! :o
Said sorry mate got another job to get to ,one that is paying me decent money ! and left him to it ! He had already turned away the plumber this morning for the 4th time this week even though he was booked,called agy said i am going to be charging him for wasting my time,going to do it tomorrow arvo when he has gone !
I want to break his legs :-[
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Mark
As I'm hardly snowed under at the moment, if you provide me with an overnight stay I would do that job for £50 each leg.
I have a minimum call out charge of £55.00 - for that I will break one leg and stamp on his toes. ;)
Paul
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Ha ha will bear that in mind ,my other friend has gone back inside for a stretch :)
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What! Hes stretching legs now not breaking them.
Back to the old days of torture eh! - on the rack with em!
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And there`s more !
Went and quoted for the other job i was called about today ,no problems happy with price very nice eastern european lady :),didn`t batter an eyelid at my price,job booked in for 2 weeks time possibly a large corner suede effect sofa too !
Called the letting agy and said right i am going to go and see if i can do the one he is moving from ,got to the house nobody home,so drove around corner to the new place to see if he was there.Noone there either,but the big bunch off all the house keys was in the lock so i left them,went back to the other house and waited for him......he turned up with his family so i gave them 10 mins to get in,rang the bell knocked on the door stood waiting for 10 mins nothing went back to van called agy then he came out and said 1 more hour,so i said it`s either now or not at all and left.
Just got call from agy saying he is supposed to be handing keys back this eve.Turns out they have also had enough and have told him he won`t be getting the other house and they are giving him 2 months notice,so he will be paying for carpet cleaning for a house he is not going to be moving too + i quoted for cash so will be + 22% + travel and wasted time out of his deposit when he goes.Plumber had turned up from Bury st eds so he had a much further journey !
I need a stiff drink after today what a mare glad it`s all over now .Live and learn i knew my funny feeling i had about him was right
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simon
nothing Cavarlier about making a profit
cut your prices and your standards will quickly follow
im not saying dont barter a little bit but NEVER buy work
that really is a slippery slope to go down