[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

It's been mentioned many times before about going into commercial premises and offering to do a small  free test-area clean to demonstrate your abilities. Well read on.....

I was contacted by the FM for a large company (FTSE All Share) and asked to come and do a 20 square metre patch and they said that I would be paid for it. The FM also said that they were contacting 3 companies all to do the same thing and from which they would choose a preferred contractor to work with.

So no pressure there then.

All I've been told so far is that there are upto 9000 square metres of carpet in varying levels of condition.

There has been no discussion about pricing-they just want to find a cc who can actually clean their carpets!

Rog

[Helen]

How refreshing!

[justin 88]

my rug doctor will show 'em a great job!! :

[Neil Williams]

I was contacted by the FM for a large company (FTSE All Share) and asked to come and do a 20 square metre patch and they said that I would be paid for it. The FM also said that they were contacting 3 companies all to do the same thing and from which they would choose a preferred contractor to work with.

Gives me an idea for a new TV programme.
We'll call it The aX Factor (axminster...oh never mind!)
And in the second round CC's will visit the judges homes to see who can talk the best storey.
 

In stark contrast to the gropon idea at last customers are searching for the best proven results where price comes second. Can't argue with that.

[davep]

I did same for 700 sq m. Was told out of 3 test areas mine was the best.

They where unhappy with previous clean last year as it didn't look any different and carpet was full of residue.

Put price in £1150

They had another 1250

They decided to go with last years lot for £350
 

[Colin Day]

I did same for 700 sq m. Was told out of 3 test areas mine was the best.

They where unhappy with previous clean last year as it didn't look any different and carpet was full of residue.

Put price in £1150

They had another 1250

They decided to go with last years lot for £350
 

Sounds like they'd have been better off saving the £350 and not getting it done at all.... Muppets....

[wynne jones]

I did same for 700 sq m. Was told out of 3 test areas mine was the best.

They where unhappy with previous clean last year as it didn't look any different and carpet was full of residue.

Put price in £1150

They had another 1250

They decided to go with last years lot for £350
 

Says it all.

 Don't get too excited just yet Roger.

[peter maybury]

£350 may be a little bit cheap for 700 square mtrs but £1100 is a lot for a days work. If I priced myself at that rate I would not get a lot of commercial work at all. I would rather be busy making money than quiet and dreaming of earning £1000  per day................
Commercial work is difficult to price  but you must be realistic people who give out regular work do not pay £1000 per day salaries to people.
peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[davep]

It was 2 days work (9-3) as quite bad


Tm followed by bonnet 2 men

Plus as we all know the money taken isn't a salary!

[John Milnes]

I got called last week by a company ''small but large'' does well known apps for anderoid and I phone.
How much for 35 sq meters test area they ask . I say £90 = 1 hour work. They say, thats good, we phoned around and you are the cheapest.

Does the job today....easy accsess, carpet comes up brill.....one hour.

They say, well done, we'll want you to quote for the rest.....unmeasured but looks like around £1500

Not sure why some companys ignore a good opportunity which can be slotted in between jobs?

These jobs don't come every day. Granted most commercials are not worth bothering with.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Commercials are worth bothering with but if you take into account quoting, invoicing inc waiting for payment, weekend/evening etc then it has to be a good price or you might as well have the day off.

Cheers

Doug

[JandS]

700sq m is a good 2 days work with a porty.
£700?

John

[garry22]

£350 may be a little bit cheap for 700 square mtrs but £1100 is a lot for a days work. If I priced myself at that rate I would not get a lot of commercial work at all. I would rather be busy making money than quiet and dreaming of earning £1000  per day................
Commercial work is difficult to price  but you must be realistic people who give out regular work do not pay £1000 per day salaries to people.

Interesting point of view.

So if someone wants a large hole dug, is it only good value if a navvie spends five days digging it by hand? Surelyy a JCB taking half a day is a better option?

If I do a carpet job over a week with a rug doctor or Simon G comes along with his multi wand set up and takes a couple of hours, how is the rug doctor approach better value?

[Neil Williams]

, how is the rug doctor approach better value?

It's what they portray.
We can bang on all we like about how skilled/knowledgable our profession is, sadly this is not how the rest of the consumer world see it, because it has the word 'CLEANING' in it.
If someone is going to pay £1000 they sure as hell don't expect it to be done in a day or possibly even two, and it doesn't matter what fan daby dosy machinery you have set up in the carpark.
Yes there are exceptions who buy on quality, but mostly just want some sort of presentability to the carpet tiles not something that will be suitable for a new born baby to eat its food off.

[garry22]

Neil,

Perhaps I did not explain that very well. I was using the RD against Simon's truckmount as an illustration of how long a job could take using different equipment

If say, it's a 1,000 sq M @ say £ 1.50.

If you turn up with five helpers and knock it off in a few hours, why should the client worry about the job cost compared to one man taking a few days.

[clinton]

I think Most would still be not wanting to pay a large sum out even if you have 4 or 5 guys in to do the job in a day ..

[Neil Williams]

If say, it's a 1,000 sq M @ say £ 1.50.

If you turn up with five helpers and knock it off in a few hours, why should the client worry about the job cost compared to one man taking a few days.

Playing devils advocate here from a commercial customers point of view.
5 helpers x 4 hours @ £10/hr
The main guy with the skills/knowledge etc 4 hours @ £50
Total value in the customers eyes for cleaning = £400 but probably figure in tax, insurance, paye, fuel, chemicals etc and he wouldn't argue with £700

That's the bottom line, depending how well it is sold at quote stage and explaing time issues because all the kit has to be taken up 4 floors would get it a bit higher.
Like I said this is not my view but what I expect the customer to think about cleaning.

We do a bit of contract cleaning and you'd be surprised how many jobs we lose to £7.50/hour crews. And this is what the commercial customer thinks is acceptable for cleaning?

[peter maybury]

The salary thing is the type of comment you will get from customers. Being in business for a long time and getting about 60 % of my turnover from commercial work I do understand quite a lot about things.
What I am saying is that 700 sq mtrs is not a very big area and with a truckmount should not really take more than a day. If you are doing it over 2 days 350 sq mtr a day is not very productive. 
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com][url]www.carpetcleanercardiff.com[/url]

[wynne jones]

, how is the rug doctor approach better value?

It's what they portray.
We can bang on all we like about how skilled/knowledgable our profession is, sadly this is not how the rest of the consumer world see it, because it has the word 'CLEANING' in it.
If someone is going to pay £1000 they sure as hell don't expect it to be done in a day or possibly even two, and it doesn't matter what fan daby dosy machinery you have set up in the carpark.
Yes there are exceptions who buy on quality, but mostly just want some sort of presentability to the carpet tiles not something that will be suitable for a new born baby to eat its food off.

For some commercial work it's a selling point that there will be less down time because of your specialist equipment and knowledge.

They may lose more money than the difference in quotes.

[davep]

Went back to look at this carpet they had done on the cheap, not a great pic but you can still see my demo patch after the job has been completed  :

Think they used a mop and bucket