[M.Acorn]

Had a call today from the newest letting agy i picked up they have a 5 bed that the want doing before Friday,asked for a price over phone,said £350 ish,got the response that is far too much,we have been quoted £235 from another national company,so i said get them to do it then !!! Oh they can`t do i t before Friday !
So i said ok,but thinking about it now i am not sure if i have done the right thing.
I picked them up after i cleaned a minger,contacted them and told them about the state of the place,sent pics before and after,they had seen the state of it and were impressed with my work,so asked for all my details so they could put me on their system as a contractor.
Sent rough guide prices for sizes of houses,they have been happy with my work and my prices up until today,it`s a big company,with lot`s of staff,the woman who called me is one i have not worked for before.

Am i cutting of my nose to spite my face,if i give into them now they will expect it all the time,i have a £93 job in the morning,for just small lounge / diner.
Think i might measure the place up and call her back if it`s way more than £235 worth of carpet,call her bluff.
The way i see it,if someone can afford to rent a big 5 bed house,which would be well over a grand a month,possibly 2 as it`s right in Cambridge,then they should have money to clean the carpets afterwards..

It`s taken me 6 years to get to this level,and not sure i want to start going back down again !

[Colin Day]

Sorry to say Mark... Only you know the answer to your question.

Personally... I'd call her bluff, measure up and go from there.

You did a fantastic job last time and you're more flexible than the big guy! (Evidently!)

You call the shots shipmate!!

[M.Acorn]

Think your right Colin,i can`t compete with a big national company,it`s a completely different kettle of fish

[John Kelly]

So she wasn't happy with your price and the other company can't do it her time scale so what has she done?
This is a bit like those customers who said they had it done last time and it only cost 20 quid. So you ask why didn't you get them back to do it, oh it wasn't very good and it was wet for 3 days

[Neil Williams]

All depends on what you want and what you need.
Can you afford to do less but higher priced jobs which you have to hunt for, or do you want more quantity, less hunting required, but lesser price.

[Carpet Dawg]

Personaly, i'd do it for that price. £235 for 4 hours work (i think you said in a previous post) is good. Do you have anything else booked in for friday?

You could turn round and tell her its a one off that you'll do it at such a reduced price. Maybe word it differantly, make it sound like just this one time.... as a gesture of good will etc....
I work for three letting agents and i think once they have questioned my price so i lowered a bit, but they never said anything else since and my price hasn't been lowered.

Also, its a fact that pretty much all landlords are tight! doesn't matter how rich they are or how big the house is. So even tho they'll get a good wack per month for that house he'll still want working doing o it cheaply as possible.
Think of it this way, you have an investment (a bond, a share, some gold bullion bars etc) imaging having to pay to maintain these investments! what a pain in the arse that would be ah! Thats how landlords see it. I should know as i have two properties i rent out and i hate spending money on them! Even tho i'm not a tight person  when it comes to buying other things in life.

Tony

[Mike Halliday]

cut your price down by such a large amount and you're practically admitting you tried to overcharge them in the first place.

and the next 5 bed house they get they will say ....." its the same size as the last one, so will it be the same price?"

you set your price, not some stuck up letting agent receptionist

[Colin Day]

Think your right Colin,i can`t compete with a big national company,it`s a completely different kettle of fish

On the contrary my friend, you CAN compete as you can be more flexible in this case.... They are just trying it on..

[Steve Chapman]

Hi Mark,

the mistake many make is thinking that working for letting agents is like regular carpet cleaning, but it isnt, its a completey different ball game, if you want straight forward carpet cleaning and charge regular prices then LA's are not for you.

They will always be interested in lowest price and quickest turn around,  they normally working on what they have left of a tenants deposit or sometimes none at all.

The upside its regular work if you have a good relationship and normally empty properties so fit in a time to suite you.

We have cleaned for some for over 15 years and have on occasions cleaned properties for free, but at the same time made a great deal of money from them.  i think flexibilty is the key and understanding what there needs are and how you can fulfill that and make it profitable.

We generally charge 25% less to LA's than regular clients and sometimes even done it for what ever money they had available.  Thats not for everyone i know, its worked for us, and when we've had quiet months like in Jan & feb, some weeks nearly all our work has been from agencies, so its kept us ticking over.

One thing i would say is that they will often be disloyal and have several cleaners on their books, so you have to figure out a way of getting them to choose you first, we've done this but i wont mention it here as its unique to what we do.

I think its choice as to whether you really want to do work for them or not and play by their rules

regards
steve

[Simon@arenaclean]

One off's have a habit of repeating on you, and once it starts you will resent it if it continues. I'm prepared to be a little flexible but I would not lose over a £100, 10 - 20% but that would be as far as I would go. I had this type of thing with a pub/restaurant, I quoted, and I have been working for them for around 10 years they got a quote elsewhere and it was £60 less than what I would charge. I offered an extra 10% with the reassurance we had a long association and my work stood up for it's self. He went cheaper and I wished him luck, it's all you can do sometimes because there comes a point when you have to let some go. If the other cleaner does a good job then the landlord has a bargain. If not and he calls I'll go back. I have several commercials where they don't even ask, just book my time and wait for the invoice. It's nice when that happens. 

[M.Acorn]

Appreciate the feedback guy`s
I work for 3 la`s now,the other 2 have no problem with what i charge,i feel if i go this low for this latest company then i am being dishonest to the other 2 in a way.They have been happy paying normal price up until this one.  .30p per square foot.
The fact that they have already had someone else in to quote the job says it all really,why didn`t the call me in the first place ?
Seems like they are only using me to get themselves out the shizzle,even though they have been impressed with the jobs i have done for them so far !!
Why should i play 2nd fiddle to a big national company.
Work has been great this last couple of months,i am currently 2 months ahead with my outgoings,and have accumulated a decent buffer in the bank.

Going to get the key`s and go and have a look,it might be clean,but if it`s like the normal let jobs it will be a minger,if i have to vac your looking at over an hour just for that in a 5 bed.
Will have a chat with her,as really i don`t think i have much to lose.
Don`t think it`s the l,lord who is paying the ticket,but the people who have been renting,and we are looking at max 20% of what they paid in rent to clean it,at my normal rate.

[markpowell]

Most of the letting agent jobs are paid from the bond of the tennent moving out so the agents are not usually bothered about price within reason, the problem comes when its the landlord footing the bill. Stick to your prices, as MIke says if you start coming down they will assume you were trying to rip them off in the 1st place. I would just forget about it.
Mark

[Mike Halliday]

you told them your price and they have declined it, why are you going to have a look?

I have a very low opinion of letting agents they have no respect for  your work or time, they see you as  a lower class person who should jump when ever they call.

what makes me laugh is the person calling you is at best the manager ( usually one of here juniors) who probably earns half what we earn and has a decidedly lower standard of living but she has the audacity to look down her nose at us when really she is'nt good enough to lick dog dirt off our shoes

[Helen]

you told them your price and they have declined it, why are you going to have a look?

I have a very low opinion of letting agents they have no respect for  your work or time, they see you as  a lower class person who should jump when ever they call.

what makes me laugh is the person calling you is at best the manager ( usually one of here juniors) who probably earns half what we earn and has a decidedly lower standard of living but she has the audacity to look down her nose at us when really she is'nt good enough to lick the dog dirt of our shoes

You must know some of the agents round here then
We had one a while back that we did quite a bit of work for and for their tenants on a private basis. This one job in particular (private basis, but picking up the keys from the agent).
Arrived at agency
 "can we have the keys for....."
 Agent: Sorry can't find them (Uhhhh?!!!!)
Spoke to customer again, who clarified he left the keys with them the a couple of days previously, with our payment sealed in an envelope as he had moved out.
Passed this on to the agent.....blank faces and went off to search again.
Meanwhile I shot back to the van (outside the house in question) and for some reason thought lets try the garage door, it was open, as was the door to the back garden and then the door into the kitchen.
The agent wasn't even bothered and couldn't care less.
Any way to cut a long story short,
Keys and payment turned out to be locked in safe in managers office.
Did clean, went back to agent, he said manager due back in 10 minutes if you want to wait for your payment. Ok fair enough.
20 Minutes later, no manager and getting close to our next appt. No problem we are still in area, will pop back later and get ££. This agreed with the guy in the office and manager over the phone.
Went back to the message that manager has decided not to come back to this office today. I phoned him and asked when will it be convenient to get the money, and got so much abuse it was unbelievable. He actually said that we would get our money when he was ready (it was not his to withold) and that if he decided he wouldn't go to that office for a few days, then tough on us.
Charming
He carried on saying that if I didn't hang up, then he would be extremely rude to me and he wouldn't be responsible for his words or actions bad hair day or what?
I just said when do you plan to be in that office next, then we can amicably arrange a time to collect. He went off again on one and in the end I just said, look you need to calm down, i'll call you tomorrow and we'll arrange something then. goodbye and hung up.
The words weren't used, but the inference of "you don't matter. you're only cleaners" was there. Got money eventually and had the pleaseure of telling them that in the future we will only deal with their tenants on a private basis and will not do any more work for them direct. We know the lady that does the general cleans for them and 3 weeks ago, she had enough and told them where to stick it too...good for her

[garyj]

you told them your price and they have declined it, why are you going to have a look?

I have a very low opinion of letting agents they have no respect for  your work or time, they see you as  a lower class person who should jump when ever they call.

what makes me laugh is the person calling you is at best the manager ( usually one of here juniors) who probably earns half what we earn and has a decidedly lower standard of living but she has the audacity to look down her nose at us when really she is'nt good enough to lick dog dirt off our shoes

This is so close to the truth! I had a commercial cleaning company and to deal with some right stuck up cows who sometimes talked to me and treated me like poop over what the cleaners had/hadn't done. Then you see them leaving work in a crap car or heading home to the wrong part of town. I walked out of a 10k a month contract once because of the way my cleaners were being treated, you have to sand by your principles!

It was interesting that you had the call from someone that you haven't spoken to before, she was obviously told to call you and then took it on herself to get the price lowered to make herself look good. Part of me would want to phone her and tell her you are already giving them discount and your price should in fact be higher. Tell her the benefits of using you and way you charge more than the nationals, your work is superior, your equipment better, you have training and experience and you are the best around that can clean and fix what others can't. You will be incrreasing the life of the carpet while someone else will be using chemicals that could ruin it.

In my opinion you can't possibly drop your price that much, as Mike said it will make it look like you need them and you have been taking the pee out of them. 

[M.Acorn]

Righty !!

It was not so bad after all,if she had told me when she called me it was student dig`s ,then i wouldn`t have got so irate.
The rooms were more like cells than rooms,all pretty small,furnished with cheapy le cheap furniture,did try and move a desk,which fell to bit`s,so left all the furniture in place,and just moved the beds,bathrooms were all lino..Job was 719 sq foot + i set of narrow stairs,so the other company are charging more or less the same as me.managed to get out all the stains,which was the first thing she said.
I did sit down with the woman who booked me,and went through my role,prices etc etc,just to make things clear,and not to give tenants a price until i have seen potential job.
so all in all it`s been another good day here