[john martin]

a one step clean is as good as any sometimes though 

wasnt this the groupon discussion a while back  ... and that passed ... or at least i havn't heard it mentioned in ages

Thankfully i exist in my own bubble  of repeats and referrals  , i dont even know what others charge in my area .

[Robin Ray]

I stopped carpet cleaning because of these kind of prices.

Just wasnt worth it.
 
In order to compete at that price point you need to turn up an extract and go, no messing hoovering or pre spraying etc, no testing fibres or agitating. Just the strongest solution you can in the tank, blast over it, looks clean, cash in back pocket and off to the next.

best to use a very small lightweight portable to blast through jobs,

The secret is to compete on service and quality rather than price.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

That’s a secret though and many enquirers will look for ‘value’ let’s face it if you go into Aldi for baked beans and you pick up value beans or big brand beans at more than 3/4 times the cost you have a visual item in front of you ok not a taste comparison test but with carpet cleaning it’s sold on the cleaners say so of how good they are so there’s nothing to visually back it up.

[Kev Martin]

All sales regardless of what are down to approach and how you identify and gain an affinity with the customer.  When we were Tiling our prices were often at least double the price of what everyone else cost but we were the busiest and most booked up company!

Why?  Because every Tiling Company I ever came across talked to their customers about one thing "PRICE"  things below never seemed to be discussed like:

The finish of the Tiles, Lay out, where insets ids applicable would be exactly on the wall, grout colour palette, silicone colour palette, etc etc.  They all worked on and concentrated mainly on one thing:

  "errrrr..........How much der yer charge per square metre mate!,,,?.."

Price has nothing to do with 98% of any sale regardless of what you are selling IMHO

[Stoots]

I stopped carpet cleaning because of these kind of prices.

Just wasnt worth it.
 
In order to compete at that price point you need to turn up an extract and go, no messing hoovering or pre spraying etc, no testing fibres or agitating. Just the strongest solution you can in the tank, blast over it, looks clean, cash in back pocket and off to the next.

best to use a very small lightweight portable to blast through jobs,

The secret is to compete on service and quality rather than price.

Yes, tried that, unfortunately these days its mostly about price...at least where i am, i suppose if you work in affluent areas and have the right demographic in front of you its much easier.

If you cant beat em join em.

[edward coller]

 Two weeks ago on an average working week,ie, 5 working days, the average age of my customer was 89, yes, 89 youngest 82, oldest 97 .....50% were repeats, others recommendations...none unsuprisingly facebook...not sure that any of them used the internet... I love parish magazines which the older members of the community still use and has a legitimacy of their own. I have not raised my prices this year, only on 3 commercial accounts that I do, and I guess im not chasing the money...being a mature operater I get knackered enough as it is. As soon as I hear,rarly, a young voice on the phone making an enquiry, usually asking price immediatly, I smile ,suggest a call to view to ascertain fabric type, level of soiling and access, and if they ask again about price , they are somebody elses customer, not mine.
If you have been going for a while and have a reasonable customer base , and treated them well, im my opionion ,they are the best customers. Regards Simon

[Cleanevangelist]

edward

well done. thats where i am going old skol marketing.

i would watch that age thing you only need a bad winter and thats your customer base gone. (joke) 

you should read

No B.S. Guide to Marketing to Leading Edge Boomers & Seniors: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Take No Prisoners Roadmap to the Money .

[JandS]

FB works for getting leads and a foot in the door you just got to convert them.

[Angelo]

I charge £50 for 2 bed house and I’m making a lot of money  , soon I will have my own private plain  ;

[MarkSutcliffe]

£40 first room, (standard terraced/semi), £20 a room after, standard clean vac, prespray, agitate rinse and up to 2 spots...if they're localish

Works well for me, but it's still more than most around here..

One who will drive an hour, do a three bed house and sofa for £90.. no thanks..

[Shaun_Ashmore]

How do you class hall/stairs/landing?

[MarkSutcliffe]

How do you class hall/stairs/landing?

case by case, landing i'll normally include into the stairs unless it's daft huge, hall seperate..

WIn some lose some, tend to find most jobs are around 60/70 quid anyway, book 2 in a day minus expenses and i'm happy. I can't really push above that as people won't book in.

[Mike Halliday]

Yep it’s a race to the bottom....

Now it’s 3 room for £45

[julianb]

I almost never get jobs from Facebook people are a actually offering £20 for two rooms. It gets a bit silly easier to clean windows or any else at that price. Having said that if you went to a multi millionaire and did such a low quote they would think that you are an idiot.

[Marius Alexandru]

If i was running a cowboy business, £20 a room works and here is why, £20 minimum £60 booking. You get 3 jobs per day, you give them arrival time of 12-4 but will confirm on the day arrival time, So in the morning when you have all the jobs you just book them in at what time suits you and closer to the other job (Yes ! I know companies which do such thing....good thing they don't say, We will come monday-friday between 9-6, wait for us )

£60 for 3 area (you tell them to vacuum and move their stuff), pre-spray and extract, easy 1 hour

You could easily do 4-6 jobs per day like this

3 jobs =£180, £900 5 days, £50 diesel, £20 chemicals

[Mike Halliday]

But for that formula to work you are hoping for a number of things,....

That every job wants 3 room cleaning

That’s you will get  3 jobs every day

One man it’s hard to do 3 rooms in an hour even with a truckmount & very little complicated stain removal  and no big rooms.

But I agree it is possible, 

but why work yourself to death doing it?  There is a quote often used In marketing  ( which I actually hate) .....’charge twice as much, do half the work =but earn the same money’ .......but in this scenario it actually rings true. 

EG: In most people’s catchment there are 1000 people willing to pay £20 to have their living room cleaned but also in that area are at least 500 people who don’t mind paying £40 and at this low price range they are just as easy to find. I don’t think you would need to change your marketing too much to find those 500 just give A slight incentive or reason to justify the difference. So why not aim for those 500 instead of the 1000?

Where it get interesting is...... in your  catchment  area there will be 6-8 people willing to pay £130  and even  2 or 3  willing to pay £180 but ignore them ( they are the ones I want😂🤣😂)

[Shaun_Ashmore]

There was a guy on a pod cast I was listening to while I was on holiday and he sets up franchised or chain eateries such as  Pizza Hut, he says that there’s a price and formula to sell to everyone in different markets so Pizza Hut is more middle but Pizza Express (same company) offer a better experience but more expensive but has far less footfall for more or less the same food.

[RPCCS]

Strangely enough I was just discussing this with a mate who did the job 30 years ago. He was asking about prices and I said what I charge approx. He quoted a fb ad and I said, at those prices the advertiser is probably a part time cleaner. Anyone can buy a rug doctor or vax type machine and call themselves a carpet cleaner, but will they do a professional job? Have they been trained? Are they insured? Will they come back and re clean if the jod doesnt come up to customers expectations?

[Mike Halliday]

Problem is some of these Facebook cleaners are lying gits, got one  near me who I know, He was a baker until  February  this year but he says he’s got ‘20 yrs experience of carpet cleaning’ 

They all say fully trained , years & years of experience etc...... it’s all just lies,  they talk the talk but it’s all bullsh11t. But unfortunately the general public don’t see it

[RPCCS]

Problem is some of these Facebook cleaners are lying gits, got one  near me who I know, He was a baker until  February  this year but he says he’s got ‘20 yrs experience of carpet cleaning’ 

They all say fully trained , years & years of experience etc...... it’s all just lies,  they talk the talk but it’s all bullsh11t. But unfortunately the general public don’t see it

Should be  asked to,produce their certificates.  Thing is though, someone such as yourself, who has been in the cleaning trade,obviously for a long time, will likely get repeat customers anyway?  Should you be worried? I would have said it’s more the likes of myself,new to the industry who should be concerned,despite the fact I have  done two training cours3s.