[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hi all

I am thinking of increasing my minimum charge from £50 to about £75. The reason being Im sick of going out for small jobs. I get loads of them and even though they mount up, just dont think theres enough in it for me.

I did a job last week. Kid was assaulted in a  night club and bled all over the nubuck sofa. He told me (after I quoted him my minimum) he had rung another Newcastle firm who quoted him £110 which he obviously thought was too much. I know for a fact however, I could have gone to £75 maybe even a little more. Sofa came up brilliant and he was stunned with the result by the way!!

Might try it for over the xmas period and see what the outcome is. What do you guys think?

John

[robert meldrum]

You have to set your own pricing  Sky' but I'd avoid mentioning " minimum price " to clients as it can give them something to object to.

Just price by the job but try to avoid dropping below what you regard as the minimum you'd work for.

I personally reckon a minimum of £50 is fine.

[JandS]

I'll clean single, averaged size lounges all day
for £50 a pop.

John

[derek west]

big jump that, i'd increase to £60 first and see how it fairs, my min is £60 and i'm fine with it but occasionally i'll drop to £50 if its on my doorstep and is a very small job.

if increasing to £60 has no effect on turning enquiries into jobs then you can think about another jump up to say £70.

[gwrightson]

my min is £45  but most of the time do try to get them to have more work done , works 75per cent of the time

geoff

[garyfindlay]

John
My minimum is 4.99, and I`m snowed under. I`ve even been on the telly. Great publicity, bbc too.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Seriously, If you can edge up your minimum, get the same work rate and get away with it, without mentioning what the minimum is to the custy, then jobs a goodun. You could this periodically. hows things anyway?

Gary

[richy27]

I have a minimum charge which is 65 but never tell the customer i have minimum because alot depends on where it is and quickly i can be in and out an on to the next

[clinton]

Worth a try john but maybe go in at 60 for a start n see how it goes mate..good luck

[absolutecleaning]

You have to set your own pricing  Sky' but I'd avoid mentioning " minimum price " to clients as it can give them something to object to.

Just price by the job but try to avoid dropping below what you regard as the minimum you'd work for.

I personally reckon a minimum of £50 is fine.

I see what you mean about not mentioning the minimum charge Robert but what do you do when a job falls well below your minimum - eg a small hall and stairs.  I usually go along the lines of "well min charge is £75 so would you like one bed doing...." - what else would anyone suggest?

Cheers

Simon

[Bob Allen]

You are allowed to have 2 seperate minimum charges depending on wether it is carpets or upholstery

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think Ill whack it up to £60 for now and see how it goes. ill keep it at £50 for my old customers tho.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Personally I'd up it for the existing customers-they know how good you are.
It's the new customers you should keep it at £50 for. They will be more sceptical about paying a higher minimum until such time as they have experienced the quality of your work.

Rog

[Hilton]

If you hike it up it up do high only to find no ones taking it up and have to lower will it not seem like you were just profiteering?

If you get a call to clean a small hall area do you refuse it or try and charge £50.00 ?

Our minimum charge is £19.99 , we hardly if ever charge this amount , it usually becomes a larger ticket.

Having such a high minimum charge is bound to alienate potential new customers, the perception being that any work you do will be too high a price to pay if your minimum is £50 -60 -70 whatever.

You will tell me that you get plenty of work and the minimum has never been a problem, I would beg to dither and you would probably have got even more business had you set your sights a little lower.

Others will say you will only get low end work, rubbish only if you want it.

By the way when I say 'you' I am generalising and not referring to any one in particular, it just makes me laugh when people seem to be in competition with each other as to who can set the highest minimum charge.

[Mike Halliday]

I think minimum charges can be a bit misleading.

 if you spend  £120 on an advert in the paper and get 4 jobs, then each job has cost £30. So if one of these jobs is a £70 living room then that job is really worth only £40, so what has happened to your minimum charge?

what if you do a job for £30 but they recommend a friend who has a suite and carpet cleaned for £140?

 If you are working 8hrs a day on high priced work then have a minimum charge. but if  you would be sat on your bum at home you might as well do A £30 job.. it might lead to even more work next time

minimum charge and how they relate to distance now thats a different kettle of fish.

[garyfindlay]

I have cleaned an oap`s  kitchen for £10 for the last couple of years. I was on the way home, nobody else wanted it, and it has led to 2 regular customers (her daughters). I have also travelled 45 miles to clean a regular customers carpets that had moved house. As Mike says sometimes beggars can`t be choosers.

[jasonl]

Went and did a job today at a 4 star hotel in the New Forest ,  the rooms are of a very high standard , 3 years ago they were £80/night , tonight you can stay for £30 ,   if you need work prices have to come down in this climate to stay profitable.   If you dont need the work , raise them.

[ianharper]

Jason

well said.

I have a theory about this and it relates to marketing and the type of customer you serve. what do you want to be

"big fish little pond, or small fish big pond"?

response rates are king in whatever part of the market you serve. how good are they or how much money have you available to spend each month?

its time to get some regular work that way you can keep in the game.

respect

Ian

[davep]

Put prices u and down depending how busy you are?

So you clean a lounge for mrs jones last year for £60, this year it's £65, her daughter wants same next month and it £45. Bit silly that?

[wynne jones]

Went and did a job today at a 4 star hotel in the New Forest ,  the rooms are of a very high standard , 3 years ago they were £80/night , tonight you can stay for £30 ,   if you need work prices have to come down in this climate to stay profitable.   If you dont need the work , raise them.

This is a capacity problem not a demand problem. If you are a cleaner with 2 or 3 vans then yes you need to fill them hours and pricing to fill capacity is fair enough. A hotel has empty rooms and filling them at almost any price will help offset fixed costs. Like wot EasyJet does.

If you are an established one man band however there will ALWAYS be FAR more demand than you can supply and it's not a capacity problem it's your businesses marketing problem if you can't keep yourself busy at a good price point. 

[Hilton]

Not necessarily,

If you are a one man band and you are working to capacity not needing to advertise etc then you have reached critical mass, there are very few cleaners out there who will be at this level.

As for hotels and rooms at any price, I can tell you that they may lower the price but not at any price, there comes a point when it costs them to sell a room, you will never reach that point booking a room.