Per Foot or Per Room debate

[Mikey P]

I want to hear all it.

If square foot, do you charge to clean under the furniture or measure around?
For residential at what point is there a price break?

Per roomers, when does a large room become two?
How about closets and small halls?



Where you a Roomer and switched? Are you making more or less now? More money but fewer jobs?

and vise verse?

 

[hogjowl]

Didn't I see you give a knew guy some advice, awhile back, to search the archives on a question we'd beat to death years ago?

 

[Mikey P]

Yeah, but now Im interested.

 

[hogjowl]

No, you're bored.

And probably on medication.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Did sf pricing for decades. During those decades our customers became much busier people, and THAT was the prime reason for simplifying pricing.

About 1997 when many gurus were selling the switch TO square foot pricing we found reason to switch FROM it.

We didn't do it to make more money, but for the convenience of our typical customers.

I visited a very successful multi truck company in Nashville who kindly gave me full run of his daily operation. It was extremely eye-opening. Steve Smith has since sold that business and is now doing well with Vac away.

There are a number of tweaks to make this work well in a quality oriented company.

 

[Mark Saiger]

We have done sq ft for years....

We only charge for the actual square footage we clean, so if just open areas (paths of Bedrooms) we just measure those path areas and adjust up as needed.

We do move furniture such as couches, lazy boys....etc., but not large hutches, etc....

Sometimes they don't want us to move a large sectional....so we don't argue and just shorten up the measurements.

In our area, we can have some pretty surprising big houses and such a variety, that we are still sticking to square foot pricing.

 

[ruff]

 

[Lee Stockwell]

We used to do a lot of measuring. Jason and I would sometimes test our consistency by separately measuring and quoting to see how close we came at the end.

Thus when we transitioned we'd each compare our quotations for consistent pricing. Like Saigers and many of you we have lots of large lake homes and such that might seem harder to quantify than the typical doublewide.

It's NOT a problem. The first trick is to NOT focus on the big areas with such fear. They know if an area is 3x or more than a neighbor...they bought it for that reason. Don't act like you've never been in a house like that.

Even more importantly, the second trick is to not GIVE AWAY the small areas. Put it all on the quote.

"Lots of little numbers".

 

[Ron K]

It's NOT a problem. The first trick is to NOT focus on the big areas with such fear. They know if an area is 3x or more than a neighbor...they bought it for that reason. Don't act like you've never been in a house like that.
Even more importantly, the second trick is to not GIVE AWAY the small areas. Put it all on the quote.
"Lots of little numbers".

"Well put"

Most larger rooms we charge maybe 1.5 rooms and most people understand. We have a lot of over the garage bonus rooms and they can be pretty large
most times 2 to 3 rooms is the charge. The little numbers do ad up though and we have started charging for halls and walk in closets.

 

[Donwand]

Square foot guy here. I only charge for the areas I clean although sometimes It would be easier to charge wall to wall. I give price discounts at 300-600-1200 sq ft. I did charge by the room/area 20 yrs ago. Thank god I switched to sq ft pricing it was the best decision I could of made for residential.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

It should NOT affect pricing in itself. If you need or want more...charge more. That's true of any pricing system.

 

[jcooper]

It's all the same, you charge 40 bucks to clean a 10x10 other guy charges 40 cents.

Per roomers, when does a large room become two?
How about closets and small halls?

With us we kinda do both. Makes thing very easy to understand for mrs smith looking for a phone quote.

40$(example) per room up to 150 sqft. Larger than 150 sqft are charged a sqft price. So an open basement would generally would be measured.

Halls are based on length anywhere from whatever to whatever. Closets(who gives a shat) are free, assuming it not some huge thing.

Stairs are per stair.

It's just how we do it.


SQFTers... How long would it generally take to measure an entire(avg.)house loaded with furniture(not moving)? Accurately(exact) and honestly seems like it would take forever.

 

[PrimaDonna]

I wonder what prompted this post?

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I wonder what prompted this post?

It is revisited semi-annually.

 

[hogjowl]

He's got a broke uncle in Mississippi.

 

[Nate The Great]

SQ pricing here... Moving furniture is more... Measure wall to wall and can also give them a bid to replace flooring (if needed)... It works for us...

 

[Brian H]

Room pricing here in Michigan. I think if you are running a larger operation, it's easier to do room pricing in your marketing.

Rooms over 250 square feet are additional charge.

When we give a price over the phone it ALWAYS ends with ... "as long as the rooms are less then 250 sq ft".

 

[PrimaDonna]

Price per room or area. Our cut off is 250 sq.ft (about 15x16). Anything over puts it at our two room rate. We price large areas (finished basement) by the room using 250 sq ft increments. Many basements end up being a triple or quad.

Min charge/1 room. $150
First two rooms. $180
Additional rooms $80
Stairs $5 each, runner stair $6 each. Landings $20
Hall $55, $75, $110 depending in lentght and comfiguration. Most are $55 halls
Walk in closet $35
Scotchgard $35 per room, $3 per stair.
Maxim $50 per room, $5 per stair

We move furniture, block and tab. Large pieces we will move if clear/empty (contents or drawers removed from dresser). If customer wants under bed done, they have to remove mattress and box spring. Will not move anything with electronics or breakables on it.

We charge the same for an empty room or one with furniture. Rational is we are either cleaning more carpet, or it's more labor intensive when moving and cleaning under some furniture. Customers seem to get that and don't push back. In some cases if it is a double size room as they don't want any furniture moved we will only charge for a single room.

It works well for us this way because we are able to give very accurate quotes over the phone. Also not wasting time once we get there measuring out every nook and cranny and around furniture then calculating.

Most people have NO IDEA how much sq ft of carpet they have in their open areas of they don't want furniture moved. They can't conceptilize what $0.45 sq foot means in terms of total/final cost. I have 4 bedrooms, hall stairs and family room. How much would that be, I'm looking for an idea? Kind of hard to give them if you don't know how much furniture or cleanable carpet is in those areas when you price per sq ft. By he room or area I can give them a price.

With a detailed phone "interview" about the spaces, I'm usually spot on for estimate price. And I tell them a range of they aren't sure if a room is double or not. So they know the high or low end of cost.

When really large or multiple services (there are some things we do price by sq ft) we will offer to go out and give estimate if I sense that is what they want or need or if they ask if we can come out. But that is pretty infrequent. And usually only with a first time customer. But, many new customers are from referrals so they are cool with the phone estimate cause they know they want to use us, but just want an idea.

 

[Brian H]

Didn't I see you give a knew guy some advice, awhile back, to search the archives on a question we'd beat to death years ago?

No, you're bored.

And probably on medication.

Wow, who is on medication? Reread that first post...

 

[hogjowl]

What I've noticed over the years is that, as a general rule, there's an inverse relationship between the size of the company and the number of sf pricers.

 

[GeneMiller]

Most get a price when done. Occasionally we stop by or give phone estimates. I look at the room and give a price. We have a lot of neighborhoods built by gl homes and I have set prices for those based on model. Been here so long I know most neighborhoods. Lots of custom homes here and if they go to price on the phone I just change the subject. I'll give a price before I start when asked otherwise I do the job and hand them a bill. Plenty of rich people here that just don't care. Did I mention it will be close to 80 tomorrow. It's been a tough winter

Gene

 

[hogjowl]

Wow, who is on medication? Reread that first post...

Shut up.

Let me hear from you when you have a lower mileage Butler for sale.

 

[Wing It]

I am working on building the resi side of my biz. I average about 3 homes per week. Most people calling have already chosen me because of reviews or a referral but want an idea on price. These people are more concerned with quality. I try to use ofer's interview system to get an idea as to the size. To this point people have been honest. If they know sf I will use total sf but most don't so I have to use per room. I am too cheap at this point but I want to build my resi experience and custy base before I start making people question paying more for my services.

 

[Carbonated Carpet Woman]

We always priced per sq ft and only charged for what we actually cleaned. With the discrepancy in the size of people's homes, it made sense for us. We felt that once our minimum charge was met it allowed the home owner to plan their cleaning according to their budgets, something they really appreciated.

 

[realclean]

In the end are we not trying to make X amount per hour?

With some of the crazy setups these days and difficult jobs does it not make more sense to charge by the hour? ( just wondering)

 

[Desk Jockey]

I remember as a kid seeing a local Steamatic estimate for $75.00 an hour (the mid 70's) and it showed 1.5 hrs x $75.00 =$112.50

I was shocked to see pricing like that.

You're right it still comes down to the same thing but I think hourly could be a punch in the nose. ???

 

[Mikey P]

There was a square pad cleaner guy in the bay area who let the home owner pick how many hours they wanted them there, sort of like a Fittle Bug deal.

 

[Steve T]

I try to keep it simple. I measure the rooms, hall etc...to get the sq footages.

Moving furniture: .50 cents sq foot
Open & exposed Areas only: .40 cents sq foot. If I can clean under the furniture I will.
Empty rooms: .40 cents sq foot
Stairs: $4.00 each step
landings: $5.00 - $10.00 each
Small closets I don't charge extra, Large walk in's I'll add $15.00

I don't generally give a break/discount unless they are using one of my postcards. I've tried the room/area pricing and found that sq ft pricing works better for my business. ( more money )

The homes in my area come in all shapes and sizes. From average size 2000 sq ft to 8000 sq ft mansions along the coast.

 

[Wing It]

Those of you who charge by the sf I assume go to every home to take their own measurements. When you go, are you ready to work if they agree to the price right then or schedule a second trip for the work?

 

[hogjowl]

No.
They have to wait.
Just because.