High prices by the room?

[Jim Williams]

The pricing post below got me to wondering if anybody was in the high priced range charging by the room. I am a room pricer with a sq. ft. limit and by the ft. for the extra guy and I keep raising my prices. Right now I'm at about $50 per room. I don't advertise price, when someone calls I ask them what they want cleaned and give them a range based on what they tell me and give them an exact price before I start.

I know, everyone says go to sq. ft. pricing, but there are just not enough hours in a day for me to go out and measure each new customer.

Any high room pricers out there? How's it working out?

 

[Greenie]

I know there will be many sq. ft. fans, but I made as good or better money at the end of the day by the room (I saw their estimates) so none of that sq. ft. chatter will hit home with me. Plus I'm cleaning and booking the job while they are telling a story still on the phone.

then again most guys around here have the personality of a frog, so I guess you do what you can to squeak out a few extra bucks....might as well make your van look like a newspaper while you are at it.

 

[Rex Tyus]

I know, everyone says go to sq. ft. pricing, but there are just not enough hours in a day for me to go out and measure each new customer.

I say whatever works for you. I don't drive and give price quotes on residential either. If I am gonna be nearby I will stop by on occasion. But no special trips.

Most people can relate to "for example a 12 x 12 room is ...."

 

[Rex Tyus]

If the room is larger than 250 I just take the room size divide by 250 and thats how many rooms it is.

That is the most honest way to do room pricing I have ever read. I asked about room pricing on ICS several months back. I mostly got asshole replies with few exceptions. That is simplistic and brilliant. I like that. 8)

 

[Greenie]

that is pretty fair.

I simply had a Great room/Combo room price, it was 50% more than a standard room. Never one objection.

But we were 100% referral, it would probably be a bit different for a start up.

 

[diamond brian]

We'll get $50/rm in a decent size house. But, there's no way to average that much with all the small houses we do.

I suppose we could devise a strategy to do only larger homes and skew the average room price upwards, but our creditors don't care about my BB reputation.

 

[Jay D]

rebit......rebit...........rebit. First 2 areas 79.99, additional areas 33.00, stairs 3 a step. Up to 200 sq ft, billed by a 1/2 area after 200 sq ft.

 

[Jim Martin]

we have always gone by the room .........

I have sat down with so many cleaners that charge by the sqft and have found out that we make the same and in some cases more by the area.......

Tia drills them over the phone and lets them know if I find things like red stains or urine problems,.things out of the normal cleaning range that when I do my first walk I will let them know..99% tell her over the phone about problem areas.........So when I show up the client already know what to expect and so do I........

It did take us a few cleanings to get down a good program but after we worked the bugs out.it has worked very good for us

Plus after I do 3 to 5 jobs .at the end of the day I don't want to go do any
estimates .I want to go home..........I don't want to waste my time going threw the whole estimates thing and find out the called Larry low baller or have to wait and make another trip out just to clean a few areas.......to me that is just a 2 trip waste...........

There is and always will be a few rooms I eat a sqft or 2
but I make up way more then I will ever loose.......

Plus my prices for a empty are different then a full house..

There is no right or wrong way of pricing.It is just what works best for you.......

 

[steve r]

i started out by the sq.ft. cause thats what i did years ago for someone else but found it hard to sell on the phone. a friend of mine suggested the 3 rooms and hall for $99.00 since SS does 3 rooms for $99.00.oh yeah up to 600 sq.ft.$30 room after that. $179 whole house up to 1200 sq. i advertise this price in the newspaper and have got a great response and close over 90% of calls, in fact most just book the job no questions asked but i do inform them this does not include moving furniture or heavy soiling or spots or vacuuming. there are so many small homes here too and i can and do some for the $99 in less than an hour easily. i upsell protector and furniture and for the last three months ive over doubled my income and am getting busier and having more jobs in the 4 and 5 hunred dollar range. most of my customers are retired and appreciate those who work hard for a living. i hear the comment about high priced cleaners not earning what they charge. im making cheerleaders every day and i work hard for it.

 

[Guest]

Carefree,

When do you consider it heavily soiled for the upcharge? Aren't you there to clean dirty carpet?

Dave

 

[CleanEvo]

We all know the difference between going to someones home who has their carpets cleaned annually or the person who has it done once every five years. Charging extra for cleaning heavily soiled carpets is perfectly acceptable and I've never had a customer complain...they know when their carpets are "heavily soiled".

I also use it as an opportunity to encourage them to get their carpets cleaned annually. I let them know that I keep my prices reasonable for my annual customers to create a win/win situation. They get clean carpets that last longer and I get an annual customer.

I also charge by the room and have whole house packages as well as whole house packages that include upholstery. Works very well and most who call are booking, avoids the price shoppers and as an owner operator who has to answer the phone while cleaning, this is priceless.

 

[B&BGaryC]

Doug Heiferman Explained how he did his room pricing... Worked great for him. I think room pricing is a good idea, but I choose to go by the sq. foot because it's what I'm used to, it's what I'm comfortable with, and when people realize I am charging them anywhere between 35 and 85 dollars a room they are less friendly with me. :shock:

Check out http://www.DHseminars.net

I am sure you can contact doug. He in some cases was charging $300/room and his customer base was fine with that. He would explain how it goes better than most. He also has a good program for startups. It's simple. It doesn't do as much as some of the really expensive programs, but it gets you all of your paperwork and marketing materials and contracts that you need. Documents that help you demand a higher price. (And keep you out of court) I think it's about $169.00, but if you ask him nicely, or as he says, "Approach me like a gentleman" He will most likely throw in a bonus DVD on spotting techniques or marketing.

 

[TimP]

I kinda like the per room idea....makes it easier to figure for some. But I'd say if you charge up to 250 ft at x dollars that equals y per sq ft. If you go over charge by the foot. At the max rate. That would make a lot more sense and an easier sell I think in my mind. So you could say at .25 a ft 200 sq ft max 50 bucks a room. That would make it easy to bill you would be in 50 buck increments and can be a 2 room min or 400 ft for 100 bucks. Then if they move their stuff in bedrooms beds and all give them a 10-20% discount depending on the size of job?

 

[Jim Williams]

Thanks for all the replies, definitely some good pointers above!

 

[diamond brian]

We price by the job.

 

[XTREME1]

anything over 200 sq ft 22 cents a sq ft

 

[Dolly Llama]

Not sure what a "high price" by the rm is.
High price per room might be 40, 60 or 80 bukz to some.
others, like the ICS cleaners and Mikey board highrollers, $100 pr rm is paltry to hear them talk.

Our prices are based loosely on room pricing and custy's needs/wants.

one size DOESN'T fit all.

When asked "how much" I ask specific questions then give a ball park phone estimate.
Firm price is given when we arrive.
Most new custys are referrals and don't even ask for a price

BTW, we don't have any published/advertised prices


..L.T.A.

 

[Kevin]

I charge by the area. Any room, hall or set of stairs is an area. Over sized room count as multiple areas. Customers understand it and I can price over the phone. No down time doing an estimate with hopes of closing the deal. Just book the job and get it done.[/u]

 

[Steve in Omaha]

mostly charge by the hour. 100-150 per. protector extra.

 

[Spurling]

We used to be afraid to charge too much .. we wanted every job we could get .. by the room charging was the easiest way to book the job over the phone .. 5 yrs ago $20-25 per room got us all the nastiest carpet around ..we went to $35 per rm last yr .. we got some good some bad not too bad .. now that we charge .50 a sq ft to clean and .25 to protect .. we're getting clients who have carpets so clean to begin with, we either take our shoes off or put on booties to do the pre-inspection walk-through .. so who do you want to clean for .. raise your price and work less ..dont be afraid ..youre missing out on what you deserve..

 

[steve r]

dave rampage,

when the color of the carpet is beige and it looks black, or if i need to prescrub(same thing i guess). some folks dont know what a vacuum is.typically move outs.

cleanevolve,

i approach it like you. im actually working on a price list that i could advertise or show customers what my services cost other than the 3 rooms for $99. i think it shows honesty and your not pulling the price out of your ass. i am a start up and have been getting great results with advertising my price. no coupons just a reasonable price for the service. ive also been getting a lot of bigger jobs lately too. $450 to $650 and have done 2 a day like this.

i say just be honest with yourself and people will pick up on it and treat you well. i even get a few tips here and there and they know its my business.

hopefully next year i will hire someone to help and maybe add another truck since i have the equipment now to do that and have been busy enough to justify, besides the doctors tell me i wont be able to do this in 5 years due to my health.