Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Daria Taylor on October 30, 2009, 04:06:38 pm
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Just thought i will ask you guys what you do about small jobs, do you have a minimum call out charge?We have a minimum of 50 pounds call out.We had couple of people enquire about small jobs like one woman rang up and said i've got 3 staicases but i only need one cleaning plus small landing, so i told her, she put phone down saying that was rediculas.
I felt quiet offended. Some people are just so rude and want things doing for nothing.
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Its because they think £50 for a 1 hour job.
£50 per hour x 37 hours per week = £1850 per week x 50 weeks a year = £92k (approx)
IF ONLY
they forget about travel to and from, the cost of equipment, van running costs, insurance, depreciation, PL insurance, training, tools, the fact we dont work 37 hours per week, advertising etc etc.
They the losers cause they will probably get a splash and dash in. :o
Stairs wet for a day.
Dont be offended by their attitude.
They not your sort of clients.
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Its because they think £50 for a 1 hour job.
£50 per hour x 37 hours per week = £1850 per week x 50 weeks a year = £92k (approx)
IF ONLY
they forget about travel to and from, the cost of equipment, van running costs, insurance, depreciation, PL insurance, training, tools, the fact we dont work 37 hours per week, advertising etc etc.
They the losers cause they will probably get a splash and dash in. :o
Stairs wet for a day.
Dont be offended by their attitude.
They not your sort of clients.
Thats true,
is very rare that i take an offence, i'm very tough person and can tell ppl where to get off when they rude, but this time i was just astonished by the rudness of the woman.
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Trouble is when one spalsh and dash packs it in there always seems to be another starting up ::)
Had a recomondation two weeks ago asking me to clean just the stairs and when i mentioned my minimum she went quiet ;D
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Trouble is when one spalsh and dash packs it in there always seems to be another starting up ::)
Had a recomondation two weeks ago asking me to clean just the stairs and when i mentioned my minimum she went quiet ;D
I thik people just dont release that carpet cleaning is a business and we as wner have alot of thin to pay, not just that but just the hassle of getting things ready driving up there equipment in and out ect.
Dis you geth the job after all from that woman?I bet you minumum charge is much more than ours.
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before I even give them the price on a small job I tell them it will take longer for me to travel to thier home than it will to do such a small job. then I ask them if they need anything else doing so they get their monies worth, as we have a £55 minimum charge.
or I tell them I have some 'Stainshield Gold' left from a big job I did last week for Sir David & lady Millingsworth, so I after cleaning the small job I'll protect it within the minimum charge.
they need to feel they are getting value for money.
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before I even give them the price on a small job I tell them it will take longer for me to travel to thier home than it will to do such a small job. then I ask them if they need anything else doing so they get their monies worth, as we have a £55 minimum charge.
or I tell them I have some 'Stainshield Gold' left from a big job I did last week for Sir David & lady Millingsworth, so I after cleaning the small job I'll protect it within the minimum charge.
they need to feel they are getting value for money.
I did suggest it to the woman that we could clean all the stairs instead and it wouldnt be far off from a minimum charge. she said that all other stairs are spotless and dont need cleaning and she was looking to spen 20 at max.
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Hi dash
No i didnt get the job and was busy that week so just ended the call pronto lol as no matter what i said doubt she would have payed ;D
Some times they get a figure in there head and think thats the top price and when they do phone me they get a shock,as you say they dont realise how much i have spent on my set up.
The good thing is there is always someone else willing to pay for my services ;D
Looks like am the same min charge as you dash :)
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Thats the idea dash and lets them think they are getting some work for here money :)
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Makes you laugh really as i bet they would pay that sort of money to get their car fixed if not more for the same amount of time . ;D
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Makes you laugh really as i bet they would pay that sort of money to get their car fixed if not more for the same amount of time . ;D
???
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Dash,
you mention for the 3 flights of stairs that your minimum charge wouldnt be far off the mark for cleaning all 3!!!!
I would suggest a price tag of around £40 PER flight if doing all 3 . a little over your mimimum charge i know, but i consider your to cheap if you would have done all 3 for a little over your min.
geoff
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Do you really want a customer who has three sets of stairs and only wants one doing (usually the top one)?
On the other hand there's no point moaning about people complaining about your minimum charge either accept it or bring it down, simplz. ;)
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Dash,
you mention for the 3 flights of stairs that your minimum charge wouldnt be far off the mark for cleaning all 3!!!!
I would suggest a price tag of around £40 PER flight if doing all 3 . a little over your mimimum charge i know, but i consider your to cheap if you would have done all 3 for a little over your min.
geoff
well i must say our prices are alot lower compared to what you are saying. If they was to have 3 flihghts of stairs and a landing we would do them for 95 25 per stairs and 20 fo landing. What would you charge, i'm still working on prices as yet. As we mainly do end of tenancies and small offices etc, we hardly ever get to quote such small jobs as a one room or stairs.
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Do you really want a customer who has three sets of stairs and only wants one doing (usually the top one)?
On the other hand there's no point moaning about people complaining about your minimum charge either accept it or bring it down, simplz. ;)
I was't moaning, :o and if what i would put my minimum up not put it down so i dont have to work with such customers like that one ;D
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My minimum charge is £50 too. If people can't afford it or think it's too much I don't take offence. That's what I meant.
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My minimum charge is £50 too. If people can't afford it or think it's too much I don't take offence. That's what I meant.
Oh ok, i didnt take offence to the fact that they though it was too much, i took offence to the woman saying it was rediculos. If you not happy with the price say thank you but i think you too expencive or i am not too happy to pay that, not be rude and put phone down. :(
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Dash
Some people are just rude in life anyway. ::)
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Dash,
I charge a mimimum of £45 for a flight of stairs and small landing , as for 3 flights with landings i would be looking for £120 .
Geoff
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Dash
Some people are just rude in life anyway. ::)
I no tell me about it :)
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Dash,
I charge a mimimum of £45 for a flight of stairs and small landing , as for 3 flights with landings i would be looking for £120 .
Geoff
Thats a fair price i must say, like i said we still working on the prices for small domestic jobs and just domestic in general, as i said our main intention to do carpet cleaning t the start was so we could affer full packages to customers like private landlords and estate agents as we get most of contracts and workfrom them :) and now its gone quiet we thugh we take it further and target local homes :)
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Had a potential custy ring me last week "How muuch to clean my hall carpet it's only small" - quoted him my min charge of £45 subject to survey "What? it'll only take you 5 minutes! Extortionate! would you do it for £10"? Yes i said but i'm booked up for 9 months because i'm so cheap - do you mind waiting? Geezer said he'd find someone else! ;D
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Having started way to cheap I have been edging my minimum up in recent years. It's at £50 at the moment but I struggle to motivate myself to do a minimum charge job. It's a risk going to high as it may alienate the custy who in turn may not come back to you when he/she has a worthwhile job to do. I did one today. It was the tiniest lounge in tiny cottage. I always try to make the price more palatable to the customer by throwing in something. Today was a small hallway. She was delighted with the freeby and it only took an extra ten minutes so was a win/win.
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My min is £60, otherwise it just aint worth it ::) Had a call last week getting funny when he wanted a price over the phone - which i dont do. He said something rude too and slammed the phone down.
He forgot to withold his number...oh yeh. So i rang him back 8)
Mark
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If you call British Gas, BT etc, that is classed as a necessity, and people are forced to pay their minimum. Carpet cleaning is a luxury in most peoples eyes. I had 1 phone me today, then said she might get back to me cos she had the phone book out and was calling around. Was a leather suite cleaned + baby sick down the lining of 1 chair. I did not argue or advise about splash & dash.
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on the subject of charge , 16th July I got a call to do a job that a fellow CC turned cause it was too far and not a big big enough job to travel to and I was much closer , it was just a 2 seater .
turned out to be 2 paw prints from a dog ( the suite had been used in a photo shoot )
turned out to be son of 1 of Britain wealthiest men who is with a top fashion designer
since this ive had 4 visits to this 12 bed farm/Court yard with indoor pool health suite bar etc etc they never ask price and it looks like I will be going to London and Gloucestershire in the new year to work some of there other houses.
some times it can pay to go the extra mile
only some times
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Well said Mr T
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The trick is to have a smallish min charge to cover small emergencies but not to cover a full carpet ie £50 min but a carpet cost of £70 or something like that.
Shaun
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I am as guility as the rest of us, but over past two weeks I have come to the conclusion its not good to mention minimum charge.
The other thing is if we were all good we should pursade person to let us inspect all their carpets and see if we can find additional work that needs doing to avoid just qouting for one small room
The other point is if you all charged more it would make the rest of us seem cheap
;D ;D
And you would be above your current minimum charge
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Hi Guys,
The whole minmum charge thing is a problem, custies don't like them as it immediately gives the impression that the job is not worth it but they will have to pay in anyway.
From our point of view it's a small job with a small profit, I tend to stay clear of these jobs unless it is an old custy/rec.
However if you have plenty of space in your diary, then it is an oppurtunity to earn a bit of beer money and maybe get add ons and recs.
Cheers
Doug
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I think Doug makes a good point in that talking minimum charge isn't a bright move sales wise as they think they may be charged more than a small job should cost.
However I see as minimum charge as a fast qualifier in that if they begrudge £x for ANY job then I'm not the carpet cleaner they need.
The flip side to this is the 'no job too small'. I think is is a very successful strategy to get lots of small jobs.
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If I get anybody to come to my home to do some work I would at least expect to pay £60 no matter if they were here 10mins, if he opens his tool box I expect to pay. Anybody who is too thick to understand this concept is not some one who I want to do business with.
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Had a potential custy ring me last week "How muuch to clean my hall carpet it's only small" - quoted him my min charge of £45 subject to survey "What? it'll only take you 5 minutes! Extortionate! would you do it for £10"? Yes i said but i'm booked up for 9 months because i'm so cheap - do you mind waiting? Geezer said he'd find someone else! ;D
Ho! Ho! ;D
It's always seemed to me that there are two types or minimum charge job. A straight-forward carpet clean which often gets clients backs up although as has been said you can often soften it by doing something extra to bring the price of the job upto (or just over) your minimum charge.
The second is when you are into the realms of specialist spot and stain removal and the like. I would suggest that many "splash and dash"/untrained cleaners would avoid these jobs for two reaasons. Firstly they don't know what to do and secondly they don't know how to properly charge for the time and skill invlolved (which they haven't got in any case).
In this case charging a minimum usually isn't an issue if the initial conversation(s) are handled correctly. Afterall perception of value for money is in the mind of the client, the problems justifying it is the problem between our two ears.
An example: removal of 1 ten-pence piece size of black boot polish off 80/20 carpet in bedroom. 30 seconds applying citrus gel and 1 minute flushing it out. Bill £45. Paid £50 with the philosophical comment from him "I was told not to clean my shoes in the bedroom with the 1 week old carpet. Listen Dr Carpet this is money well spent as it has got me out of the dog-house with the wife big time!" ;D
For all those times you hold out for your minimum then when you are knocked back you will often find you can undertake an even more lucrative job during the time you would have been doing the minimum charge job.
Incidentally my minimum is now £50 as well.
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If I get anybody to come to my home to do some work I would at least expect to pay £60 no matter if they were here 10mins, if he opens his tool box I expect to pay. Anybody who is too thick to understand this concept is not some one who I want to do business with.
Mike I'm assuming you mean for one-off jobs and not regular work like you may pay to a cleaner or gardener?
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£45 minimum here, but repeats £25 only , I believe in giving good SERVICE people appreciate , and return for the better jobs later on.
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If I get anybody to come to my home to do some work I would at least expect to pay £60 no matter if they were here 10mins, if he opens his tool box I expect to pay. Anybody who is too thick to understand this concept is not some one who I want to do business with.
Agree 100% Mike, I think most people would expect to pay a minimum of around £50 or £60 just to turn up anyway. I do think though that Doug also makes a very good point that if your diary isn't full then any job is still a bit of beer money as long as it doesn't cost you more in expenses or leave you passing up better paid work because of it, especially if it potentially leads to other work at a later date then it may be worth it.
Jason says he likes to give a 'service', and he may have a point. Granted most will have an expectation to pay a minumum fee but if you do something that sets yourself apart from the average Joe tradesman then you may just end up with a customer for life. The difficulty sometimes, (and especially over the phone) is differentiating between the custy who may well become a customer for life giving you further well paid work as a result of that small job, and one that just wants the cheapest price, takes the p, and will never phone you again anyway!!!
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Well, how about this , just to confuse things more, just had a call, man wanted 2 small bedrooms cleaning,he said they are not dirty, he just does not like the thought of walking where someone else has, fine I thought. I would normally charge £45, however with this thread in mind I said£50, ok says the man , next wed, fine,,blah blah,, usual little chat......what is your address? I asked, 1 ,,,,,,,,,,etc he says, do you know it?
I am new to the area , but I knew the exact address as it was a pig to find 4 weeks ago when I last cleaned the exact 2 bedroom caqrpets for the outgoing tenant at the end of September!!! I did not let on , I know though that Iwill be cleaning a carpet with one months worth of empty property dirt on it , whatever that amounts to.
What would you do?
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I just give them the price and if they say I'm very expensive, I agree and say yes we are.
Just put the phone down, let out a combined sigh along with the words d**k head, forget it and get on with your job.
I don’t deal with d**ks weather it be Aerials, CCTVs or Carpets, they all get the cold shoulder when I find there looking for cheap only. We don’t do cheap, but affordable quality.
Matt
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Hi Jason
Got your text, I will sort out the other area today.
As for the carpets I would clean them as your custy has asked.
Cheers
Doug
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I agree with Doug on this , if they ask and are paying then oblige
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I went to a halloween party tonight in Derbyshire going into the caverns, outside there was an ice seller who sold a 99 to a little girl, she took a couple of licks of the ice cream and then dropped it, her parents went and got her another just to shut her up, what do you think the ice cream seller did?
a.give them a free ice cream
b.charge them again
Shaun
PS I like free ice cream I managed to save the cone but the sprinkles were beyond licking up.
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Well i'd have gone with 'a' but i'm a soft touch. Just spent a long weekend in Buxton, what a lovely county, did a few caverns and walks, Pooles cavern was good.
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Shaun,
I do like your method sir. I go out into town early saturday morning to salvage up-turned pizzas and donna kabab reminents before others beat me to it.
I often come across beef stew that has been tipped in door ways, tastes too tangy and acidic for the childrens liking.
Enjoy your sunday lunch. ;D
Matt
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Think also that the minimum charge also depends in what type of area
you live in, built up or rural.
I live in a well populated area so a lot of the small jobs I get are probably
15 minutes max to get to.
Suppose in a more rural area your potential customers are spread a bit
further.
I charge minimum £40 for cleaning but if it's to nip round the corner on a
5 minute journey to remove a stain I drop this to £35 or even £30.
John
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my minimum charge is £99 but of course if im passing the door or its an existing custy then things might be cheaper, for instance i was out on a job and a lady from the next street rang about some oil on her carpet, so i went around and got it out in seconds using my spotting liquiud that i give to custys, charged her £25 and left her the spotting liquid with all my details on the label in case she need me in the future, she was over the moon and gave me £30
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Colin,
My minimum charge for your area is £200, you need to put your prices up! ;)
Dave.
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Any advance on £200 ;D
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Mike,
Just to explain, Colins area is Blackpool/Cleveleys roughly 30 miles from where I live.
People often ask me if I go as far as ?????? I answer them by saying I go as far as the job is worth. Im not traveling 30 miles for less than £200, actually I should have made that £300.
Dave.
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That makes sense Dave.
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Mike
200 pounds ;D
We get that in leafly cheshire most days ;D
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Too many Range Rovers and not enough sense in Poshnorth. ;D
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Were talking minimum charge, right, like in a rug, not in a days work. :-\
Dave.