[Shaun_Ashmore]

How do you define inflated prices? surely finding out what is being offered in the cleaning should dictate to what is value and what is not, Mrs.Smith wants a eco friendly clean from a specialist that knows all about it then she calls that expert and not a carpet cleaner with little or no knowlede of Eco.

Shaun

[M.Acorn]

I cleaned a h/s/l in a large house last week 800 sq foot,regular customer,I charged £300 customer happy,there were also 2 fitters there,they fitted some coco matting,put a z bar on the kitchen ,and fitted a bit of spare carpet where it had rotted ,due to a huge plant.
They charged £257+ vat they were there about 2 hours,so it's not just us cleaners charging decent money

[Neil Williams]

They charged £257+ vat they were there about 2 hours,so it's not just us cleaners charging decent money

But what was the cost of the products they brought with them and put down?

[Simon Gerrard]

Mark's bragging again zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Steve Rothwell]

really ??

how would you guess that     

[M.Acorn]

All they supplied was 1 z bar,the width of a door,and a piece of coco matting,2m square..the carpet they replaced was a bit that was taken from one of the bathrooms,when it got re vamped.
Here are some pics,I have nothing to gain from telling porkies !!

Hall way,there is about 15 ft behind me



Landing,again about 15ft behind me



Top part of stairs



Bottom set of stairs




Happy ?

[Simon Gerrard]

Mark,
Not disputing you did the job, just wondering why you feel compelled to mention prices all the time. Nice job tho

[M.Acorn]

Don't know really,suppose I started something a while back,posting big job tickets.
Just saying if I can earn this sort of money,then there is no reason why others can't too.
I am only using my porty,have no business experience other than running a kitchen,left school with 0 qualifications well art metalwork and geography,but they don't really count.
Suppose it's my way of patting myself on the back,as I don't give myself enough credit for what I have achieved.
I still get very quiet times,phone won't ring for an entire week sometimes.

[PaulKing]

Mark your getting very good money for this job more than me, I'd wouldn't be much cheaper than you but I'm taking Simon advice and not talking amounts.

Yes some people charge less but if  the competition is charging £100 he'll need at least three of them to make £300 and another one to pay for the running around. and if he doing it right it'll take a long time to do them all. I find it easier to find 1x £300 customer than find  4X £100 customers. Worked that one out a long while ago. John Kelly has a sheet showing the effect of discounting a job and how much more you have to do to make the same, ask him for a copy.

A lot of people think only of the short term making enough to live, and pay for van and supplies, it really does help to think where do I want to be in 1,2,5,10,20 years time.

If i break my leg have I got enough to pay the bill till I'm back at work?

When am I going to retire and with what?

As for bragging, well no one hears the man you shouts down the well, but here you just get people grumping because they think your expensive.

It would seem your getting your message out locally, which is were it really matters.

[PaulKing]

p.s I'm not seeing any foil card or poly blocks under the furniture?

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Where's the 'like' button?

Well said Mr.King.

Shaun

[M.Acorn]

The pics were pre cleaning,moved all the furniture into other rooms.
It's a customer I have been working for for around 7 years,I basically took on some of my wife' s domestic customers when I first started up,just to give me a regular income.
Was back there yesterday,really noticed the difference in the carpets,feel so much softer underfoot,it's good to get back and see what difference cleaning has made,as it's not something we normally see.

[Steve Rothwell]

I would rather £100 in my pocket than £300 in someone else's....

[Rob_Mac]

Mark

I set my stall out a long time ago to be exemplary at what I do. Nothing to do with carpet cleaning but the prinicples are the same.

I don't cut corners, stay till a job is done to my satisfaction and create excellent working relationships.

I have no need to say what I earn because the satisfaction is from the clients becoming reliant on my service.

When I first started with the supermarkets there was no external cleaning service (it was lumped onto the internal cleaning package and done in a fashion), now it is an integral part for some of the main players. That has been down to me!.

There is nothing wrong with your pricing and from my perspective most undervalue their worth or are led to believe that they can only charge the going rate.

Don't argue, don't be dragged into debate but use the energy that you would have argued with to fill the gaps with more days that will pay what you see as a deserved turnover.

You will not win by posting earnings on a forum. You are doing nothing wrong as long as you are offering the service for the price stated.

Be grateful that others limit themselves!!

Rob

[PaulKing]

I would rather £100 in my pocket than £300 in someone else's....

you missed the point

[Steve Rothwell]

really ?? how is that ??

[richy27]

the way i see it mark you have the right to charge what you like if the customer is happy to pay that lets face it though 300 plus domestic job tickets are not an every day occurence but its nice when they come along .

i am a strong believer in volume of work/ average price ticket    this can only be achieved by an affordable but sensible min charge . 

if your based in an area of high density population charging low prices can lead to success if you can keep up a high volume of work   but as with most customers who want cheap the next time a cc is required they will simply shop around again so that model is not built on repeat work.   but if a company is charging cheap and getting lots of repeats and ref they maybe missing a trick and under selling the service they provide .  I believe the term is called a busy fool.

with any business model you need to have a plan i have no problem with companys charging low prices because they are aiming themselves generally at the low end work because middle to high end customers in general will not pick the lowest price they will pick the company they judge to give the best service.

[M.Acorn]

It's not all roses for me.Halfway through my job,my k valve starts peeing out at 160psi,very hot water all over me.
The threaded part of the nut that holds the trigger valve in,snapped off.
Did think I was going to have to finish the job with my hand tool,luckily I had a small stair tool,which had the same nut on,so just swapped over.
What causes brass to shear like that ? Same thing happened to the heat and run,connector,just broke up into bit's.
Going to order a new one now,and hope the wand lasts until the new one gets here,booked solid all next week.
Going top stop posting what I am charging now.
I am only .28p per sq foot,people round here are .40 ish,possibly they knock a bit off for bulk ?

[PaulKing]

really ?? how is that ??

 The usual way,
 you failed to understand me, or I was not clear enough, possibly both

But thats not important right now and don't call me shirley...... Airplane 1980something

[derek west]

"surely you can't be serious"

"yes i am serious and stop calling me shirley" the old ones are the best.