[ABLECLEAN]

Sherlock, you charge £80.00 for a three piece suite and you say that it takes an hour and a half (£53.00 per hour) I take five hours for a ten cushion reversible for £150.00 (£30.00 per hour) so I think that you are overcharging!!!

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

i think ive read this before somewhere. but to answer you you are right i can do a great job and be well paid for it at the same time. i reckon im worth £40-50 per hour and more ARE YOU WELL THEN WHAT ARE YOU MOANING ABOUT

[COLIN BRIGHT]

advising some people NOT to have things cleaned, always reeps fantastic benifits for me, people want to know they can trust any workman they invite into their homes and want good, honest advice, if a carpet is well past its best then the results of cleaning it will not benifit the client very much, and most will be dissappointed in the results. it's better to be open an honest about said results at the start. i have gained numerous recommendation by being fair with my potential clients.
remember we are not in this business just to earn a quick buck but to grow a lasting, honest, reliable and YES a very Profitable business.
anyone who knows me , knows how hard it has been to not drop prices and do jobs just for the sake of a few quid, especially at the start when money was really tight, but by sticking to my gunns and delivering a first class service,
well now i can pick and choose the jobs i want to do and not chase, and try to match every c/c prices in the area ( it seems every spring these guys come out of the woodwork for a couple of months, then disappear untill xmas, funny that)

[COLIN BRIGHT]

oh and P.S most of the client  i work for do have 2,3,4 & even 5 grand suites and are more than willing to pay a couple of hundred quid to restore it to near new standard, pehaps you guys are marketing to the wrong people

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Honesty is only 1 part of the carpet cleaners make up, spoke to AJW on Thursday and he's charging £325 clean and protect for a 3pc but he is cleaning in the higher end of homes.

If you are patient and selective you will find the right clientelle to market to, and provided you know how to talk thier talk as in tell them the facts and a bit of what they want to hear then you are in.

He may only do 1 job a day but for that money he may be there for 4,5 or 6 hours not that he is doing a better job (respectfully) but he is taking his time and LOOKING more thorough not a spot missed or a cushion unturned, it's a bit like when Don Atkinson says in his special days, think before you answer and then talk slowly, your response sound more thoughtful.

When I spoke to Colin the other night his voice had changed so much that I thought it was the speaking clock, very thoughtful, very measured, very sure.

As for Dave Lee he doesn't clean into the corners

Shaun

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

well then you are entitled to protect your view as to how its done. i am pleased to see a man that has worked himselh into a high value situation , you should post more not telling us your secrets but let the people who are not doing so well see that it can be done. im happy with my work and you with your mazeltov ron

[HolmansUKLTD]

I think Colins right. Marketing to the right client is essential, most of the fastrack guys are operating in 4-5-6 bedroom a-class homes, and most of these homes have generally clean carpets and suites. You cant get a better client than one whos got fairly clean furnishings, most of the hardwork is taken away.

Nick

[ABLECLEAN]

Colin, I agree with you, I advise customers that it would be wrong of me to charge for cleaning a furry foam-backed bedroom carpet that was ten years old and looks like a road-killed cat and would cost about £60.00 to replace. The customers look on this as a breath of fresh air in this rip-off world and I get brownie points and usually steer them towards having another carpet cleaned instead.

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

but then dont we all market to the right client, we decide the direction and operate our work basis based on that theory. i chose cheap so i get cheap work but a previous post says im not cheap. it would be good to know what categorie price wise im in. and i presented with the same carpet would of done it straight away.

[HolmansUKLTD]

yes Ron but LESS IS MORE would you not like to get paid MORE money for LESS work?

I myself fell a little uncomfatable in high class homes but i seem to be getting more and more, the jobs are eaiser as the carpets are cleaner and of a higher quility, and FINALLY i am becoming more relaxed in their company.

These people dont mess about they want a good job done for a good price and thats why they are succsessfull in life with this attitude

Nick

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

from the sounds of im not cheap and i finish a job well don fast so maybe i an not going to wrong as by looking at im doing less work

[HolmansUKLTD]

I think im going to give up posting on here :

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

is that to partake more in darts and improve your no 2 seeding

[ABLECLEAN]

I know how you feel Nick, I think I will join you.

[eco freindly. peoples champion ron .sherlock]

all the more reason to stay boys . winning is paramounrt. and just because you are not happy with the way things are going , dont give in go forward. leard to be openminded learn not to be dissalusioned by people like me. you have  a right to say what you want otjers have aright to disagree. dont run stand and be counted so what if you dont like the answers, change i of importance to all of us

[homenclean]

We live in quite a well off area in the suburbs of Leeds, and having cleaned carpets for 15 years, encountered many differant people. The one thing we have noticed is often the well to do always quible over the price, if its £100.00 they want it done for £80.00 etc. How have they made there money, not by giving it away!
The little old lady in her council flat very rarely argues the price.
Make the customer feel confident with service you are providing at a reasonable cost and you will turn a good percentage off enquiries into sales.
We recently cleaned a small local restaurant and charged £100.00 for 2 hours work, the owner had previosly paid £300.00 and was reluctant to have it done again by this company. We charged him £100 and now do it 3 times a year!
If you rip people off they eventually realise.

John.

[Adrian Makel]

well said couldn`t agree more.charge a fair price,do a good job and you will be asked to return.

[Dave_Lee]

Yeah, John, he's a cheeky sod, show him what you were like BEFORE the diet.
Dave.

[Dave_Lee]

Ron,
£2,000, £3000 plus suites are everywhere. They are no longer the possesions of the well off alone, DFS, Sofa Company etc. etc. have made it so easy for anyone to purchase these items. I live in a Northern market town and these priced suites are the ones I get asked to clean all the time. I know Colin Bright, I taught half of what he know's  he could now teach ME, the other half. His overheads are really low, his prices high. He doesnt only make a good living, he makes a good profit too. A good profit CAN be made working on low price, if you rush around doing the many jobs required, to make it possible, but people like Colin DO NOT rush around, in fact work at a liesurely pace, making a liesurely lot of money. People will make their own minds up, who has got it right and who has got it wrong. However I firmly believe that CCs, working the high prices are criticised or disbelieved mostly, purely because those doing the criticising lack the knowledge and ability and the mind set, to get the same price.
Dave.

[COLIN BRIGHT]

well said Dave