[Dave Roelants]

The Parish of Cambridge city centre is huge !!
I did a church hall a couple of years back,they were astounded at what I did for them,carpet came up like new,did them a reduced price on the proviso of getting more work out of it,did I ? No.
Can't carry on running my business on the promise of loads of repeat bookings from people.
Heard it all before many a time,what I do now is say full price for the first one,reduced price on any additional work.
Just got back from doing a 3 story 3 bad house for a letting agency  £250,out in 3 hours,word get's around,why should I do reduced rates for some and not others,makes me disshonest.
Would rather do 3 jobs for a grand,than ten at £100 each,less miles,less wear and tear on my gear,less wear and tear on me.

With all do respect,

I have heard this argument soooooooo many times and what a load of bollix it is.

How often do you or anybody else on here get £1000 jobs ?? I would wager not very often or not at all. So according to your theory you would turn down the lower priced ticket as its beneath you.

But lets suppose you did get those 3 £1000 jobs  

You (and others) would turn down ten other jobs to wait for three, think about it for a minute, 3 jobs over ten.

Those ten jobs if you carried them out to a high standard and marketed well would generate more income than your three jobs,

how's that I hear you scream    7 x more referral opportunities 10 x more visits, your £1000 job would not be in to much of hurry to get you back for other smaller jobs that might occur as she would deem you too expensive to get in for just a spot clean or a single room.

On the other hand your ten jobs would not hesitate in getting you back for said work or passing on your details to friends and family as you do a very good job at a competitive rate, so over a longer period you would generate more customers and more cash from the ten.

I know its a nice thought to believe that you are so exclusive and so brilliant that everyone is just queueing up to use you with wallets and purses bulging fully prepared to be charged top end rates ,but in reality we all know that's tosh.

A fair price for a good job and you will be kept busy, stupid price for the same job and your equipment will be on the sale section before long.

This is not a pop at you by the way but a general comment on the ridiculously high prices I see posted on here by cleaners who aren't really doing that but just wishing they could  

that's possibly the most sensible post I've seen on a forum for some time, well done Hilton.I personally have never met a carpet cleaner who earns £1000 a day(let alone one who hasn't reached the dizzy heights of padding yet!).  Working 5 days a week 48 weeks a year that's £240,000 pa. per operator What's on your tax return guys?

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

The Parish of Cambridge city centre is huge !!
I did a church hall a couple of years back,they were astounded at what I did for them,carpet came up like new,did them a reduced price on the proviso of getting more work out of it,did I ? No.
Can't carry on running my business on the promise of loads of repeat bookings from people.
Heard it all before many a time,what I do now is say full price for the first one,reduced price on any additional work.
Just got back from doing a 3 story 3 bad house for a letting agency  £250,out in 3 hours,word get's around,why should I do reduced rates for some and not others,makes me disshonest.
Would rather do 3 jobs for a grand,than ten at £100 each,less miles,less wear and tear on my gear,less wear and tear on me.

With all do respect,

I have heard this argument soooooooo many times and what a load of bollix it is.

How often do you or anybody else on here get £1000 jobs ?? I would wager not very often or not at all. So according to your theory you would turn down the lower priced ticket as its beneath you.

But lets suppose you did get those 3 £1000 jobs  

You (and others) would turn down ten other jobs to wait for three, think about it for a minute, 3 jobs over ten.

Those ten jobs if you carried them out to a high standard and marketed well would generate more income than your three jobs,

how's that I hear you scream    7 x more referral opportunities 10 x more visits, your £1000 job would not be in to much of hurry to get you back for other smaller jobs that might occur as she would deem you too expensive to get in for just a spot clean or a single room.

On the other hand your ten jobs would not hesitate in getting you back for said work or passing on your details to friends and family as you do a very good job at a competitive rate, so over a longer period you would generate more customers and more cash from the ten.

I know its a nice thought to believe that you are so exclusive and so brilliant that everyone is just queueing up to use you with wallets and purses bulging fully prepared to be charged top end rates ,but in reality we all know that's tosh.

A fair price for a good job and you will be kept busy, stupid price for the same job and your equipment will be on the sale section before long.

This is not a pop at you by the way but a general comment on the ridiculously high prices I see posted on here by cleaners who aren't really doing that but just wishing they could  

that's possibly the most sensible post I've seen on a forum for some time, well done Hilton.I personally have never met a carpet cleaner who earns £1000 a day(let alone one who hasn't reached the dizzy heights of padding yet!).  Working 5 days a week 48 weeks a year that's £240,000 pa. per operator What's on your tax return guys?

I think you'll find Mark said in his original post that the initial costings would have put the job in at over £1000 but he was realistic enough to know that he'd never get it at that price and therefore he was offerring to do it for £600 with the possibility that he may come down from that figure depending upon other circumstances.

There are many times when i'm sure we've all been there on a job and thought along the lines of "this is my pricing structure but if I'm to be succcessful in getting this job I'm going to have to be more flexible on my pricing"

I think Mark has taken a more than pragmatic approach. It'll be interesting to see what the final outcome is.

rog

[M.Acorn]

At last someone who understands where I am coming from !!

I am not mental,of course I am going to work around what they want,but it's a 2 way street,they also have to accommodate what I want too,..

[wynne jones]

You could always just trust your own judgement, stop dithering and decide what you are going to do either way.

There's little point arguing on here to defend a position you are obviously uncertain about anyway. Some on here will do it for £150 and some won't get out of bed for a grand, I don't see how that helps you.

[JandS]

They don't have to accommodate you they
just go elsewhere.

John

[Hilton]

I wouldn't say he's being pragmatic more procrastinating, which in business is a killer.

I had already in an earlier post advised Mark to stop dithering and get on with it, he has family connections there and despite what others have said the contacts could be useful.

Of course this is only my opinion  but why would you bother posting at all if you did not want advice and opinion, sorry if its not what you want to hear, but there you are.  

[Steve Rothwell]

I think that everyone has missed a very important thing in all of this..................

Another poor carpet cleaner has been in and given his time and money to do what he thought was a bone fide quote for a church,      just for a confirmation if you like that Marks price was justifiable.....

This other carpet cleaner was NEVER going to get the job, and unknowingly gave up his time and fuel money to stroke Marks ego.

I think that is terrible,

 but as Mark has in his signature "what goes around comes around!"

[garyj]

For someone that isn't fussed about getting the job or not because they are 'stacked out with work', you seem to be making a lot of noise.

You even say you will drop the price as long as they use you in the future at a period set by you!! Who do you think you are??

Sorry Mark but this just smacks of greed and the fact you have inside information on the pricing has just lit up pound signs in your eyes. I seriously question whether your mother is fit to hold the office of church secretary. What would her church think if they knew what was going on?

[M.Acorn]

Don't know,I have done smaller commercial jobs in the past and charged day rates of £700. and been booked no questions asked,when I say a day at £700.that means I am there until completion,if it takes me 16 hours then so be it.
Have just booked a big 5 bed house £450 inc protector,so it's not that unrealistic.
They want it doing H,W,E with a bonnet clean after 6 months

[richy27]

I have done loads of church halls , methodists , baptists you name it .  Mark your more than entitled to quote as you wish but should you really have tunnel vision about size areas and price   . these jobs 9 /10 are a piece of pi**. large single room same carpet througout  , generally pay on the day.

Amazing how quick you can get through these sorts of jobs .

ps i would of done it for betweeen £3-400.

[M.Acorn]

Well I didn't get this one,due to the fact that my mother has not got a clue,and told the elders I was away on holiday,for the date they wanted it cleaning,she needs a dam good slap.
They booked the job at £480...
On the upside I have just booked a 5 bed for £450,which is going to be much less hassle,and won't involve a church,so it's all good....
The organisation of that place makes me fume,too many fingers in pies,and not one member of their staff has a clue,including my mother

[from edge2edge]

No warm milk and a farleys  rusk  for you tonight i guess then Mark        ............Alan(swindon....centre of the unkown universe)

[M.Acorn]

Ha Ha,used to love those farleys rusks ,had one not so long back and it turned my stomach..

[clinton]

Mother always knows best mark

[M.Acorn]

In most cases yes Clinton,as far as mine goes though,well that's another matter

[Helen]

Mother always knows best mark

Perhaps she was "saving" you from a hassle ridden job

[M.Acorn]

Possibly yeah,although she is currently in Malaysia

[Helen]

Possibly yeah,although she is currently in Malaysia

Did she phone them from Malaysia and tell them you would be on holiday then I guess it may have been before she went

[M.Acorn]

Just before she went.
The exact words were,we wanted to use you,but had been told you were away on the date we wanted it doing,so we used someone else,we will however,be in touch in the  future.

That's the problem,too many people involved,not just me and the one booking the job,but me,my mother,the other sectary,2 of the elders,and my wife for good measure. 

[clinton]

Sounds like too many people invloved too mark.