[paulchambers]

A hotel  i quoted for carpet cleaning has rang and told me they have a budget to stick to and can i drop my prices.  Though i need the work i said no sorry i believe i gave them a fair price. They then said that i am 5 times higher than the chap last year.  I pointed out that they werent happy with him due to quick resoiling. I will stand my ground i have offered a free carpet clean to show them what i can do , but 5 times higher seems a lot

[Mark Betts]

Paul

What was your price again?


Mark

[paulchambers]

.30p a sq ft total was £2600 ish

[PeterH]

Paul,

30p sq ft for hotels is very high in my experience.  They are notoriously tight.  Also you will need helpers if you get the job as there's loads of bucket work if you use portables.
Truck mounts are very suited to this type of volume work, not that I have one myself.

Ta,
Peter

[paulchambers]

Yes i thought about the bucket thing its a big job if they dont want to pay they can call the cowboys in. i estimate it was going to be about £35 an hour so price is reasonable . They charge £85 for b & b per person and are fully booked with a 100 rooms evening meal £22 and lunch £12.50 if they want to be tight so be it but i dont believe in dropping prices especially with the amount of work .

[PeterH]

Paul,

Why not team up with another carpet cleaner and try to find a couple of helpers for the buckets.

Your productivity will go way up which will mean that you can lower your price and still make a good rate per hour.

I used to do this in central London with another cleaner ( we were both Proclean members - same machines and chemicals ) and it worked OK.

By the way, I used to stay in B & Bs in Penzance for less than £20 a night.  Alright this was 10 years ago but the place your talking about must be 5 star!

Ta,
Peter

[Mark Betts]

Paul

I agree, too high for the amount of carpet involved.

With commercial eg large areas you will find you can work quicker than say in a residential setting thus your "hourly rate" will be higher.

Go in at a little lower price, mind you 5 times lower is a bit too low  

Work it out at say 20p sq ft or something and I bet you still hit £35 an hour.

Mark

Or

Another thought, how many days do you think it would take you?  Then work out how much a day you want to earn.

[Doug Holloway]

Paul,

£2.70 a square yard is a high quote for this type of work.

I think you could work for half this and still do £200-£300 per day which would not be too bad for someone who needs the work.

Try negotiating on the basis that the the last guy was'nt very good and you are much better BUT as a gesture of goodwill you are prepared to go half way.

Good luck,

Doug