Per Room, Per SQ?

Becker

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Man I know this topic has been beat to hell over the years.

I use to be a per room guy years and years ago.

Then switched to per sq....

Now I'm 2nd guessing myself and here is why.

Potential clients can be ignorant. Yes I said ignorant, not stupid.
Per room seems so simple for them to get an idea of price.

In a busy call volume week I give maybe 1-2 in home bids.

I get a lot of new clients to book online, no call etc.

But could I increase online bookings with a standard per room pricing, I mean give in to the ignorance of the avg client who has no idea how many sq ft are in their 20x18 foot bedroom that is really only 12x14?

Yeah yeah, I'd have to cap the sq ft per room, as I recently did 3 rooms, 1100 sq ft. But I figure in many cases the biggest rooms will make up for the smallest room. or ummm other way around.
 

Becker

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bensurdi said:
3 rooms, 1100 SF? Your a generous guy!

Been drinking Ben,
I charge by the sq ft..

Was using this as an example.

Last week I also cleaned a 600 sq ft master bedroom. ( not counting the areas under the bed or other furniture not being moved.) And yes, I charged it by the sq ft as stated earlier.

But I also cleaned traffic areas in another bedroom, 44 sq ft. Poor kid, no model train set space..
 

Jim Martin

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I have been per area since I started ....the only thing I measure is commercial and tile...wouldn't have it any other way..........
 

XTREME1

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I do 200 sq per room. Absurdi on the otherhand makes millions so I defer to him
 

Becker

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Jim Martin said:
I have been per area since I started ....the only thing I measure is commercial and tile...wouldn't have it any other way..........


How do you work it Jim?

Years ago I think I was per room 180-200 before an extra charge... Can't recall for sure. Might have been 220 sq.

But I felt odd charging the same price for a room flirting with the cap verses a traffic lane bedroom, 70sq.
 
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My pricing is close to Crowley's. $59/$29 max 200sf.

I'm soon raising the first room to $69...and it should be even higher.
 
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Welcome back Ben..

I wouldn't have time to go out and do estimates, so I like to keep it simple for customers and myself and charge per room. You can always define a room up to 250 sq ft and charge a sq ft price for the overage.

I was going to switch to sq ft but with all the driving, time and so on it doesnt seem worth it.
 

Jim Martin

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Becker said:
Jim Martin said:
I have been per area since I started ....the only thing I measure is commercial and tile...wouldn't have it any other way..........


How do you work it Jim?

Years ago I think I was per room 180-200 before an extra charge... Can't recall for sure. Might have been 220 sq.

But I felt odd charging the same price for a room flirting with the cap verses a traffic lane bedroom, 70sq.

like most I have a minimum call out....that will get you 2 areas cleaned..after that I have my price pre area....

living room/dinning areas are considered 2 areas....then I have a price for halls...and master closets

from there on......its all in the questions that are asked....any areas of concern...pet issues...red spots...ect..

when I walk up to the door..I have all the info I need...the price is on the work order...they know what to expect and so do I....

Its not perfect..some one will forgot about a spill or something so I will just adjust the work order...or every now and then I will get a over sized area......but you will always make it up some where else with no problems....thats a given.....
 

Becker

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I have a pretty damn tight service area for 80% of my work.

So most of the time bids are not an issue. And rare, but I'm looking at a per room thing.

Guess I will test it on the website.

Maybe look at past invoices and see how the pricing would work out, or start giving my per sq price, but working up a per room formula in my head at same time.
 
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Becker said:
I have a pretty damn tight service area for 80% of my work.

So most of the time bids are not an issue. And rare, but I'm looking at a per room thing.

Guess I will test it on the website.

Maybe look at past invoices and see how the pricing would work out, or start giving my per sq price, but working up a per room formula in my head at same time.

Jason and I did that for a while when we were working out the transition. I'd bid an empty, and he would also, then compare notes.

Price is seldom the main issue...and I don't make it so either.
 

Becker

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Besides that 95% of my work is so routine, maintenance, light soil stuff..

I was thinking a 2 room min, then a per room after that.

Guess I'll work it out, test it on new clients and go from their..
 

Luis Gomez

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If it is under 12x12 (a one car garage) $50.00, if over $65.00. It does not apply to
oversized rooms, I quote that to customers and they understand (the price does not apply
to a 1000 ft bedroom). I also I tell them that I will drop the per room price for small bathrooms and halls on sight, but quote the price over the phone on the same guidelines. They get a petty good idea of the total amount (it weeds out the 2/rooms for $25.00 crowd). If they insist, I will go and quote but will add an extra $50.00 for my time. The jobs that I go out and quote are higher than most because I am there as a salesman first. I look at upholstery, tile or stone and try to get it. Whereas if they book on the phone, I am usually on a tight schedule and only clean the carpets with out add on sales.

Luis
P.S. This is for new customers only, I do not quote to repeats.
 

Jim Martin

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Becker said:
Besides that 95% of my work is so routine, maintenance, light soil stuff..

I was thinking a 2 room min, then a per room after that.

Guess I'll work it out, test it on new clients and go from their..

once you get a good system down..learn the right questions to ask...it is so much better then driving around measuring everything....and if you are going to put it on your web site...don't put down pricing..to me that is the worst thing you can do...the object is for them to call you and then sell yourself...if you have the prices on there...then they have no reason to call...we find that when most new clients call....after Tia talks to them...price is no longer an issue...
 

Becker

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Jim Martin said:
Becker said:
Besides that 95% of my work is so routine, maintenance, light soil stuff..

I was thinking a 2 room min, then a per room after that.

Guess I'll work it out, test it on new clients and go from their..

once you get a good system down..learn the right questions to ask...it is so much better then driving around measuring everything....and if you are going to put it on your web site...don't put down pricing..to me that is the worst thing you can do...the object is for them to call you and then sell yourself...if you have the prices on there...then they have no reason to call...we find that when most new clients call....after Ta talks to them...price is no longer an issue...


Yes,
Like I said, I'm able to ball park most stuff over the phone, but I get those 1 or 2 a week that just need me to come out 1st.
On avg, it might be less than that.
But I'm not driving all over hell, like a bid I did today, 1.5 miles from house.
 

Mikey P

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open areas=.50

If I measured wtw I could charge 40 and make more but the explanation would take too much time and cleverness...
 

ruff

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I do by the sf and give a phone approximation (no on location estimates,) as discussed a zillion times here before, to each his own.

Though for the guys who've been doing this for a while: How hard is it, with a few questions, to get a very solid idea about the square footage?
I've been doing this for a while and I'm rarely off more than 10 to 15%.

Becker, from your posts I know that you follow your clients and statistics pretty closely. Just average all the jobs out and give a room estimate, whichever way you like. On a yearly base, it will average out just fine. Make it a little higher and you'll be ahead.
You can't fool with the law of averages and statistics.
 

Becker

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Ofer Kolton said:
I do by the sf and give a phone approximation (no on location estimates,) as discussed a zillion times here before, to each his own.

Though for the guys who've been doing this for a while: How hard is it, with a few questions, to get a very solid idea about the square footage?
I've been doing this for a while and I'm rarely off more than 10 to 15%.


I completely agree, but what I'm talking about is converting more internet traffic into bookings via the site, or calling.

Just trying to convert more web surfers into clients.
 

ruff

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Becker,
From your posts I know that you follow your clients and statistics pretty closely. Just average all the jobs out and give a room estimate, whichever way you like. On a yearly base, it will average out just fine. Make it a little higher and you'll be ahead.
You can't fool with the law of averages and statistics.

Also, what's your goal. Are you moving towards a multi van, employees?
 

Becker

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Working 2 locations now..

Honestly my goals are fogged.

Not sure I want to let go of the Seattle market, but not sure I want to live here full time or for ever.

So, don't know.


Might test per room with Spokane, About to release a website.
 

Able 1

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Mikey P said:
Never did per room.


Do you think $99 per would fly?

Yeah, I wouldn't ever go an do 1 room for $50.00 either (putting it in perspective)...
 

ruff

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Becker said:
Working 2 locations now..

Honestly my goals are fogged.

Not sure I want to let go of the Seattle market, but not sure I want to live here full time or for ever.

So, don't know.

Might test per room with Spokane, About to release a website.

Becker,
At the risk of sounding like a Chinese fortune cookie: Once the important stuff will be clear, many decisions will fall naturally into place.
I'd wait before making any changes till things were clearer. Some of those decisions may have long term consequences.
Hope it works well for you.
 

Billy

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We have been SQ' almost since we started cleaning thanks to an early Mentor. We prefer to do less work for more $$$$s so we can do our BEST work & have plenty or family time.

Now we have also been able to grow during the bad economy & we didn't lower our pricing which is one of the primary reasons we have seen our business grow. If we wanted to be a large multi-truck business we most likely would need to at minimum adjust our business model which may or may not mean room pricing or lower SQ' pricing.

You have to decide where you are wanting to go with your business then you can make an informed decision on the Business Model you will pursue. I wouldn't change all at once if I was thinking of that drastic of a change.

Also we rarely loose money on in home estimate/inspections because we now charge for most if no work is actually done.
 

bensurdi

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Youll make more charging per sf. We went to room pricing and have remained very profitable but I'm thinking of adjusting back to sf pricing.

We charge $200 min
$67 for silver up to 200 sf
$77 for gold up to 200 sf
$97 for platinum up to 200 sf

Very easy to sell with room pricing.

Hey billy, we had a meeting recently discussing charging for inspections. We currently charge for urine inspections but charging for carpet inspections makes sense too. How has it gone charging for your estimates?
 

floorguy

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AS i remember reading a while back someone mentioned that per room is lower $$$$ which as i started thinking about it, it is...more so on open areas....

because even say @.40 (based on mikeys w2w) and you get a call to clean say a 3000 sqft home....less say 1/3 for kitchen, maybe dining, bathroom laundry, etc.

so really you would get $800 to clean said house??? I've seen Jimmy naked I've seen Jimmy naked I've seen Jimmy naked I've seen Jimmy naked I've seen Jimmy naked

and that would roughly be $200-300 here..based on a 25-30 per room charge....

no granted most jobs are asked to prevac...instead of us doing it....and that covers everything but reds and pets...for the most part...some citrus, and power gel, or cobbs. ppog...take damn near everything else out...

For me i would rather take the 4 semi easy to get jobs at 200, then try to figure out the best way to track down the few 800 jobs.... but thats me...

and for me..unless i work out a "ill be around your area this day, so ill knock off $25" i have a $100 min..with that said, i make exceptions for frequent customers, etc...i do these 2 bed and liv for a PM guy, that are like 3 miles away for $75 check left there....takes about 45-1 hr to do....

i think ill stick with room pricing, and as it goes now....."yes mam that area looks to be bigger then a normal room, is (double the room price here) ok?? yes, ok we will get it done.....

never had anyone argue with it....and i have said....hey we got 2 bigger closets, this bigger area that leads to the rooms, a little longer hall...that makes up a room area dont you think?? oh yea, that sounds fair...
 

Becker

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bensurdi said:
Youll make more charging per sf. We went to room pricing and have remained very profitable but I'm thinking of adjusting back to sf pricing.

We charge $200 min
$67 for silver up to 200 sf
$77 for gold up to 200 sf
$97 for platinum up to 200 sf

Very easy to sell with room pricing.

Hey billy, we had a meeting recently discussing charging for inspections. We currently charge for urine inspections but charging for carpet inspections makes sense too. How has it gone charging for your estimates?

If you have a $200 min, how does one take advantage of your $149 3 room special? :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:
 

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