6.95 a rm vs Per Area

[ErikG]

Hello Guys and Gals . Im new to The forum and my area is saturated with super low prices . Im a hour away from Tampa Fl but kind of in the sticks. I have a local Craigslist guy whos cleaning 59.95 whole house deep cleaned w/rotovac no hidden charges except for sanitizer,and protector . I also have alot of the bait and switch guys for 6.95 A room . Now my area has a ton of elderly people . I know you all have min carges 75 to 100 . But in my cut throat area where you almost have to be as cheap as the competition. Im thinking of runing a weekend internet special to match my 59.95 whole house and a 89.95 printed coupon to the flyr or value pac. Whats your feed back now remember im in the sticks now not the city where people have alot more money , and elderly folks and a ton of trailers.

PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR INPUT??????????

 

[bob vawter]

OK..but FIRST...is yor name connOr?

 

[Scott S.]

here, run an add " whole house cleaning $xxx.xx, no hidden charges, just top of the line service,anyone can shampoo your carpet but we know you Want someone who knows what they're doing"

"call me today to schedual your appointment"

 

[Brian R]

Move :mrgreen:



What Steven H. said.

If you put out a "High End" Ad, you will stick out from all those assholes. Someone is just dying to have a decent carpet cleaning. Chances are they used one of those scumbags and need "Real" Service.

Remember to live up to your pricing IE: quality work, clean van, clean uniform, clean face, cover your tats, cover your tits, don't be talkin all ghetto.

Professionalism my boy, go get it.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

There will always be bottom feeders.
The BEST thing you can do is DON'T worry about it, they will take care of themself. Focus on what your gonna do for YOU. If you have a good product as far as your business goes, then people will pay for what they think your worth and what your are worth.
I always tell my clients if this is brought up that you get what you pay for sometimes, just like with electronics, sometimes the cheapest way to go isn't always the best.
Those bottom feeders usually show up in sweats, t-shirt with paint on it and a beater van that backfires when they pull up. Can't imagine that will be much threat to your finely tune operation.

:mrgreen:

 

[joey895]

Steven, he's not in Tampa, he's in Brooksville. In the end though I really agree with Brian. Try to be the "anti-6.95" a room guy in Brooksville is probably the smartest thing to do.

 

[Ron Werner]

Position yourself as the "professional" amongst all the hacks.
Call around and find out who the "highest" price cleaner is that services your area. If you have to copy someone, copy a professional, not a hack or bait and switcher.
By positioning yourself as a top end cleaner you can charge more by delivering what other cleaners won't take the time to do. Find all the ways to separate yourself as far as possible from those cleaners.

Booties or butcher paper for after cleaning
corner guards
"pre-vacuum" - a simple one but something most cleaners are too lazy to do
sliders for furniture moving, "lift buddy" helps here to
as soon as you can get a glide for your wand, or a greenhorn wand, it will greatly reduce your dry times
fans to speed dry the carpet
Lots of archived info on here to help you both in positioning and marketing.

It takes some investment but it will pay off in the end. The other cleaners will need to go through 10 houses in a day, but if you are getting $50/ 100sf room, you can clean 1 or 2 and be way ahead.

And get used to having people say your price is high and be able to walk without getting the job. That was the tough part for me. I would lower my price to meet their budget thus devaluing my work.
You'll have to market to another target market than craigslist to get the clients you need.

 

[R W]

We just got a new cleaner in town that is a little more "high end". He advertises at $9.95 a room. He left town a few years ago, but he has shown up again in this area.

Of course, everything is "extra".

 

[Greenie]

Perfect place for the "WE FIX $6.95 a room Jobs" on your next flyer.

 

[Fred Homan]

I love that response Greenie......Ron W. "How about Dry when I leave"

 

[Brian R]

and what Ron said.

 

[ErikG]

Thanks for all the great info ,Greenie and C&S you guys have the best info sofar

 

[Brian R]

Just be carefull not to "knock" the other cleaners too much. Negative advertising only works in the pissed off mind of a carpet cleaner.

Stick with the positives
"Quality work"
"We care about..."
"Carpet stays cleaner longer"
"Certified specialists"
"Kid safe, pet safe"

you get the idea.

 

[Ron Werner]

I agree, go with Greenie's and Scott's marketing lines. Combine the two, Greenie's sort of puts it right out there. Those will get you in the door.

Now you have to be very different from the last guy.
I highly suggest purchasing a few of the things I mentioned. A couple $100 investment and you won't need to say a word about being different, they will tell you how different you are from the last guy.

Its more powerful for your client to tell you what they noticed than for you to tell them what to notice.

 

[XTREME1]

screw everyone else. Don't let them run your company. Get the price you want...stick to it...Don't negotiate unless it is a ton of commercial... Get your uniform set, your ad plan in place, start getting your name and logo everywhere, build referals, edge your rooms scrub when needed(or everytime like me), make sure you pull your vacuum out of your truck everyday and use it, tell everyone you see what you do and who you are, make sure all your friends are pushing your business, don't waste your days keep moving forward write your schedule out. Idf you plan an 6 or 8 or 10 hour day write down what you want to accomplish daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and stick to it. Be a professional not a bottom feeder. Being a pro doesn't mean you have to get top dollar you decide what you want out of your "company" not job

 

[Mike Draper]

So you are saying everyone in that town drives 20 year old piece of shit cars because they are all poor. If that is the case, move. But since it's not, start with high prices work 1 quality job per day for 200 instead of 8 shity jobs for 200 like the other hacks. Just present yourself as a premium service. If people bitch then say "sorry, we just don't do business that way". WE are proferssional and different, put a guarantee behind it!! Advertise form day one as a premium service, and don't start with low prices, that will be your biggest mistake. Notice that in life higher priced things are usually better quality, make this the case with your business.

 

[XTREME1]

I disagree there. I can buy a machine a week from a high priced guy going out of business. There is alot more to it than high price.

You want to work but not slouch. You need to build a reputation my prices went down from where they were and then bounced right back up when I started working and people said they just aren't going to call anyone else. You need to run your business as a business not a job. You make the decision on your pricing. 1 job for $200 in a day is low. So make sure that when people tell you they are high priced your working on the same scale I ave around $615 a day and I am a low priced cleaner and that is 3 jobs

and since I bought all that chems from Larry Cobb my costs went down significantly. I still do have a a ton of CCS stuff

 

[Mike Draper]

1 job for $200 in a day is low

Yes it is, I was referring to just starting out. Don't start out doing western family jobs for western family prices!!!

 

[XTREME1]

I live on the east coast and just started full time a year and a half ago

 

[Able 1]

I started low 55.00-2 rooms and hall, 3rd year at 80.00 and i'll just keep going up to the point where it almost hurts for my custy to put there hand in there pocket.

I wouln't start at that mark again I would start at the 80.00 for two rooms and FREE hall.

Keith

 

[XTREME1]

I don't suggest you use my pricing but 3 rooms $84.95
4 Rooms $109.95 add vacuuming if they don't so it and scothguard you will do alright

 

[Ron Werner]

Matt said something very true. Run your busn like a busn.
Take a look at your costs and ALL your overhead, which includes your insurances and every $ that it takes to keep you in busn. Then figure out what you want to be paid. Then figure out what you need to make a year to pay for all that to happen. How many weeks you want to work, how many days a week, how many jobs per day, then how much per job do you need to make.

eg. Work 45 weeks out the year, taking 7 weeks off for holidays, courses, sickness, etc.
Work 6 days a week, take one day off.
3 jobs per day. That works out to 810 jobs per year.
If you want to make gross 100,000, divide by 810=$123/job or $370/day

Ellen Rohr has some great busn info at barebonesbiz.com

The guys above know what they are doing. Learn your busn #'s. Vary the numbers to how you want to work. Some guys here have $400+ job averages. Keep asking questions and put into practice what they are telling you. You won't go wrong.

 

[Brian R]

Yes, but generaly you don't dictate the size of the job you are doing, hense the square footage prices or God forbid, room prices. You have to Look at your area as far as house sizes and income and figure out what the average priceper house would be given a sqft price. If you do that, then you can do a yearly average. But, with a growing company these sqft prices would go down gradually with this idea...but of course that won't happen.
As it is difficult to average you should always have a goal per month (money goal) and figure that into your budget. If you beat your goal? Bonus.


Commercial? That's a whole other story.

 

[ErikG]

WELL WHAT ARE SOME OF PRICES GUYS IVE ONLY SEEN A FEW POST WHATTHEY CHARGE . ARE THERE ANY BAIT SWITH GUYS IN HERE. DONT GET ME WRONG I USE TO SUB AND THATS WHAT I DID OFF A 5.95 LEAD AND WHEN I GOT DONE WITH MY ESTIMATE I WAS 250 FOR 4 RMS..

 

[Brian R]

Square footage price on all carpeted areas to be cleaned.
36 cents a sqft for cleaning
20 cents for deoderize if needed.

I know it doesn't seem like a lot but I am pretty good about not screwing around on the job and gettin to the next one.

 

[Able 1]

I doubt there is any bait and switchers here, there is up sells but no surprize to custy I hope.

A group of people that would spend this much time talking about there work, why "bait and switch"!?

JMO

Keith

 

[Brian R]

You say tomato and all that.
upsale is upsale but if you have the mindset of price gouging (sp) before you even get to the house and lure them in with a low ass room price..that may be bait and switch.
I think you all know who you are.

If you advertise five bucks a room and you leave with 300 dollars...and they don't have 60 rooms.


you might be a bait and switcher.
:mrgreen:

 

[Ron Werner]

I charge 0.55/sf for my basic cleaning, which is the average cleaners deluxe. I price the whole room and lower the sf price accordingly if I'm cleaning just traffic areas.
If it has an odour issue, ie a source that I can treat, 0.20/sf or by the area.
Half the cleaning price for protective finish.