Name one professional that will come out for less than $100-

[White-Magic rebuilder]

So many carpet cleaners go out for less than $100 dollars. I can't think of any true professional in any profession that will come out for less than $100 today besides a grass-cutter. Can you name any others???
Rob Jr.

PS:And how does a lawn service make a profit???

 

[Ricky Thurman]

Um, in this particular area just about all services do have a minimum charge. And all of them that I know of are below $100. most are $75-$85.

I'm sure they're broke though. That's why some of them have been around for 30+ years.




So many carpet cleaners think that their way is the only way. When are they going to learn that each area is different and each business is different.

 

[steve frasier]

appliance repairman, $85

 

[Jim Williams]

Most professional sevices around here are at about $60-$85 an hour. The Highend lawn guys charge about $60 an hour. I was a middle end lawn guy for 5 years. I made a good living at $35 an hour. Very low overhead. No advertising needed. Very easy to build a customer base.

I get your point though. Why do we work so cheap?

 

[Tony Neville]

Most of the ones here range 75-100.

 

[Jim Martin]

Me

 

[R W]

For my regular customers.......I will go out for that small job. If you can get $100, great. My minimum for water damage is $100. an hour......that's extraction only.

 

[Guest]

Pool man, window washer... the salt guy, grocery store, snow plower

 

[Numero Uno]

ME...2

 

[Kevin]

Carpet Cleaning is a want. A Plumber is a need. Big difference.
As skilled a trade you might think carpet cleaning is, no one needs you to clean their carpets. They might want you to clean them but it isn't a need.

The lady that has a leaky toilet needs a plumber to come out. She needs him to come out even if she doesn't want him too.

If you can't go do a 30 minute job for less than $100, than you need to look at where you are wasting money.

I would rather go bang out a few spots for $50 on my way home rather than get home 30 minutes early to watch Oprah.

It also lowers your cost to get jobs by doing more rather than throwing them away.

If you spend $100 week on advertising and do 30 jobs per week and turn away the small jobs, you spend $3.33 to get each job. If you decide to take those 10 small jobs per week in addition, that gives you 40 jobs at a cost of $2.50 per job. That is a 25% savings. This doesn't factor in the repeat and referrals that you get for free from the jobs you do.

The other thing many don't understand is their actual ROI. If an add breaks even, many think you lose money because of your cost of gas, chemicals and labor. But if you are a skilled professional, you will get repeats and referrals. So you are in that house several times a year for multiple years to come.

 

[Al]

The electrician came out and worked on the thermostat and charged us 63.60. I was SHOCKED!

Our minimum is 125. I rarely have to mention it because most jobs are bigger than that. 125 cleans and dries up to 300 sf of carpet cleaning (normal soiling) or a regular size sofa (normal soiling).

We try to stick to it but we would go out for 100 bucks to a regular client with a small issue, never for a new client.

Al

 

[encapman]

We just had an AC technician (owner/operator) come out to our office yesterday to perform a minor service on our system... He charged us his standard "service call" ---- $65.

 

[Steve Toburen]

"So many carpet cleaners think that their way is the only way. When are they going to learn that each area is different and each business is different."

With a little help from cut-and-paste let me add my thoughts in this spirit. (Nothing against this board. I just encountered the question on a different board. I'm not the only one doing "pasting', ehhh?)

I call it "Don't run your business emotionally". This includes your pricing.

Instead of casually pulling an imaginary number (like $100.00) out of the air and truculently sticking to your guns follow this procedure:

1. Carefully calculate ALL of your direct costs over a substantial period of time. Three months at least, longer is better. All of your direct costs include just that. I believe Chuck Violands calls them the "5 M's". If memory serves me:
Manpower (and Womanpower)
Machinery (all this stuff needs to be repaired/ replaced)
Mileage
Material
Murphy (Lets face it- bad stuff happens- calculate for it)

2. Now add in your Indirect Costs, other wise known as "Overhead", which should include a reasonable salary for your daily hard work in the company. (you do deserve to get paid don't you?)

3. And last but not least how much profit do you need (want?) to take out of your business over a given time period?

4. Add all these three numbers up and divide by the number of hours you worked physically on the truck and Voila! you now have your minimum charge- NON-EMOTIONALLY and without Internet puffing and strutting. All this male ego stuff really doesn't hurt anyone- unless you believe it and therefore hurt your business by trying to follow what someone is putting out there.

Remember three other factors when it comes to "minimum charges".

a) Loss leaders- WalMart does it all the time. People come in to buy the advertised 49 cent water pitchers that cost Wal-Mart 73 cents and walk out with a full basket and a final bill of 93.87! Now obviously you can go too far on this concept. But I can't tell you how many great, profitable, long term customers I acquired over the years by first getting into their home with a reasonable minimum charge that I calculated UNEMOTIONALLY.

b) Showing the flag- There is a difficult-to-calculate value in just being visible in the neighborhoods where you want to work. These small jobs let you be a presence there even if at best you are breaking even. Something to think about.

c) Keeping your people busy- As we matured into a larger company I was struck by how much business became something of a "shell game". Just trying to keep our people busy at times became the goal of the day. (All the more reason to make tons of money on some jobs because others ...)

My two cents as I am multi-tasking. Hanging out here while writing an article. back to work ...

Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success

PS I think the points are well taken above re: looking at other companies. Many send people to your home AND do at least SOME quality work for less (sometimes much less) than this mythical $100.00. (Including the legend-in-his-own-time Ken Snow and no, I am not being sarcastic here! If Ken can do a M/C for 49.00 AND justify it maybe we should put the magnifying glass on our own operations.) Should everyone jump into line like sheep and follow Ken's and the others lead? No. But at least open your minds and examine the possibilities ...