[absolutecleaning]

we have quoted for daily clean of one of our local pubs.

they seem happy with it and have asked us to quote for three other pubs which the same family own locally.

i know that they own 30 or so other pubs and that they want all of them to be cleaned by the same company (hopefully us!) in the future

would you go in low price on all of them, agree a percentage reduction as the no. of pubs grows or not look to give them any discount?

hope this makes sense

simon

[peternathan]

hi
i would only agree discount if they will give you all the pubs to clean. if they seem happy enough with your first quote!!!

[Paul-T]

I disagree and advice that could end up losing all of the proposed pubs!

My opinion is that now they are happy with the first quote I'd now offer a small discount on the further three. I would advise against discussing further discounts on the next 'lot' until necessary - never give too much away at once or you leave yourself with nothing to bargain with.

One step at a time! 

[absolutecleaning]

cheers for replies

i was thinking of 5% discount if we get these first 4 and then work way up to 10% if/when we get the others

at the end of the day it is better for them that they are only paying 1 invoice and and have 1 point of contact for all their cleans so wouldnt want to give much more than that - agreed??

[Bertie Boo]

I am not so sure what people really think when they are offered a discount on a price that has been 'made up'. What i am saying is that when a product has been advertised and sold for 'Y' and they get it at a discounted price of 'X' they they know its a proper discount.

But when a 'service' is 'discounted' (the price being an individual quote to begin with) i know many many many people (myself to some extent) automatically assume that the quote was inflated to cover any 'discount' that may be given or requested.

I would not mention a discount unless they ask for it. For all you know they MAY think you are cheap already and if you are a lot cheaper then it may cause alarm bells to ring if you then offer to discount further...have they hinted that they would like a discount or are you assuming they will? why do you belive you should be 'discounting' just out of interest?

cheers

stephen

[mark dew]

I'm from the otherside of the forum but i think the advice about not offering a discount (yet, maybe) is a good one.
They will benefit anyway by having one point of contact like you say.
I personally distrust people that offer discounts without prompting as i think i should be getting a good price in the beginning.
They will know anyway that the mark up on cleaning isn't that great and as pubs are a focal point for the public i would expect them to be more concerned about the quality of the clean and especially the reliability of the cleaners.
Hang back and wait. If they mention discounts then 5-10% on the overall cost isn't too much for you to give up. 

[Art]

Simon, just be careful mate that there not dangling a carrot to get a cheaper price on a false promise.
Offer to do the first 4 at the same price and tell them if there happy after say 6 months, you'll talk discounts on the lot. Then do your sums.
Another thing to do is try and get them to sign upto a 12 month contract if you end up with the lot.

Arthur

[absolutecleaning]

the reason i was thinking about discounts is that the guy i spoke to today seemed to be hinting along the lines of give me good prices as there may be a lot of work there.

i suppose i could wait until they are talking about more than just the first 4 before discounting but dont want to scare them off if they are expecting one.

i dont think we have gone in too high - £11.50/hr for a 2 hour clean each day is not very expensive but if we had 30 of those on the go then i would be prepared to go lower for sure

[Kwackers]

Just hold your breath and don't look to needy, when you start to see them flowing in, maybe comment you'll drop the rate, and if they don't start flowing, give them a courtesy call and ask if there is the possibilty.

[Art]

the reason i was thinking about discounts is that the guy i spoke to today seemed to be hinting along the lines of give me good prices as there may be a lot of work there.


i dont think we have gone in too high - £11.50/hr for a 2 hour clean each day is not very expensive but if we had 30 of those on the go then i would be prepared to go lower for sure

That's exactly my point about false promises. The guy you spoke to is running a business and if he can get you to clean for £6 per hour then he will.
Hope you get my point or you'll end up getting your fingers burnt.
When you put in your price did you cost for weekend working and bank holidays?

Arthur

[absolutecleaning]

i priced for weekend work and holiday pay but not bank holidays - i have only quoted verbally so far and was going to see what they had in mind re xmas etc

[Paul-T]

I would simply ignore the fact what further properties they have for now. Concentrate on the original quote which they were happy with - quote for the further three giving a discount - since they (verbally?) acknowledged they were happy with your quote then there is nothing wrong in giving a discount based on that.

Remember, they have only stressed that the further properties are within the future - they may want to see how you get on with the four already mentioned.

I personally think you are thinking way to ahead of yourself, with all due respect, if you're not careful (as someone pointed out) you will look needy.....and not very professional.

Be patient!

[Robert Parry]

You need to be very careful with this,

Lets assume that your client signs a contract for one pub, pubs are open 7 days a week 52 weeks per year.

Lets further assume that you can staff this pub with 1 member of staff working 2 hours a day.

Actual hours worked is 14 hours per week say at £6 per hour, are you going to offer time and a half for Saturday, double time for Sunday and Bank Holidays?

Within the industry it is recognised that staff are off due to sickness between 4 and 8 percent of the time, have you costed this?

Holiday pay means that each staff member will be entitled to 28 days paid holiday, have you allowed for this?

Then there is the task of actually running the contract, PAYE, Payroll, Insurance, Chemical & Equipment Costs, all of these costs will increase the more work you take on, and this is before any profit.

You will find that if you offer min wage, staff will constantly let you down, working 7 days is a big commitment, Christmas and Bank Holidays, are normally family days, WORK or FAMILY? Which one would you choose being paid min wage.

If the numbers of pubs increase, could you arrange cover if staff members called in sick, often at very short notice?

Just some of the things you need to consider, different on a single site I know.

Regards,

Rob

[absolutecleaning]

as paul t said i think may be getting ahead of myself - i was just trying to make sure i dont make mistakes at this point which will jepordise(sp?) any future business

we pay min £7/hr and was intending to do time and half on sundays.

holiday pay has been allowed for.

chemical and equipment to be provided by customer.

i dont think it will work with having someone doing 7 days a week. the sickness would definitely be at the higher end.  i think it is better to have someone mon-fri and someone sat and sun even though there is slightly more admin.

covering sickness is the main concern if this does actualy happen.  the pubs are spread over a fair distance and as robert says the sickness is likely to be at short notice.

i am going to quote for the next 3 and then wait a while and see where this takes us.

thanks for the advice people.

simon