enlighten me.....

[bob vawter]

MIKEY .....let me remind you that in Michigan.....
mrs Phiffs husband jus got laid off...unemployment has ran out.......and she is applying for a job as a Piggly Wiggly greeter.........
Little miss black lady still has her dED husbands pension as well as SS.......steady money....

PLUS the rooms are so.......small

 

[Desk Jockey]

I don't know Ken, some of those characters on Hardcore Pawn look like they might make some loyal clients. I've seen Jimmy naked
eat yor heart out Werner

 

[FB7777]

Urban radio LOL


Yo Yo Yogopian

Axe about our $99 special

 

[Ken Snow]

LOL too funny Fred- I actually had an urban radio yep create a demo spot for me and you are not that far off. I laughed my ass off when I heard, followed by no thanks.

Bob, the demise of Suburban Detroit is grossly exaggerated, though there is definitely a big contraction. Taking market share has helped us a lot, and for that we owe it all to our fantastic employees~ from CSR's to Cleaners, to my management team.

Ken

Ps Bob that 5% still translates to 50-60 jobs a week in urban areas, sometimes closer to 75-100. I was probably low estimating on the 50%, closer to 7-9% on any given week. Still a lot of loyalty from those ole ladies.

 

[Mikey P]

Two men :?:

No upright vacuum :?:

No mechanical scrubber :?:




what in the hell is #2 doing besides pulling hose and blocking/tabbing uph?

 

[bob vawter]

Ken....whens the LAST time YOU drove thru Pontiac.......
it reminds one of Iraq on crack

 

[Ken Snow]

Pontiac is where I do my my animal rescue & service work Bob- I am in the shittiest parts of Pontiac frequently. These are not the areas that likely ever even paid you to clean for them. I agree it is like Iraq!

We liberate 20-50 abused, neglected and abandoned dogs a week and service very low income people bringing food, straw doghouses, collars etc.

 

[ruff]

Ofer- I on the other hand find it hard to believe that anyone would take longer to do an excellent job, again potayto/potaato.

My carpet never has shoes on it, doesn't get spills and crumbs and soils and is vacuumed thoroughly by me every other week and housekeepers the opposite week. I am so anally clean my dishes could be used after I am done precleaning them before they go in the dishwasher. The cleaning was done the day after my housekeepers came and yes I can easily clean & protect 1300-1400 feet of carpet in an hour and 40 and frankly that is way too slow in my opinion.

My ex is the same way I am and her black, tone on tone 16 ft (approx) 3 piece sectional just needed a "once over" plus some special attn to where her cousin had spilled some coffee (that she had cleaned up right away also). To me 40 minutes was just about right, not slow or fast. 3 minutes of this time was reapplying the Protasil Fabric Protector.
If my or her things were heavily soiled it could easily have added 30-100% more time.
Our price to clean and protect the sectional would have been $224.99 so even at 2 hours if soiled it would be decent revenue generated. I can't remember if I cleaned and Scotchgarded her carpet that time but that would have been another $293.99 and added another hour to an hour and a half to the job if I did it solo- both would have taken 1 of my 2 man crews less time as they would have worked independently and gotten the whole job done in 1-1.5 hours. Again, this is a cake job as she is as anally clean as me. Double, or 2.5 the time for very heavy soil potentially.Ken

Well, that makes sense, Ken.
And thank you for your non defensive response.

 

[Ken Snow]

equipment set up
furniture moving - we move almost all furniture
pre/post spotting as needed
applying topical(s)
replacing furniture
grooming carpet
packing up truck/equipment
on to the next stop and repeat above.

Is this your first day Mike?

 

[Ken Snow]

My pleasure Ofer and thanks for making it easy to not be defensive- truly.

 

[joe harper]

equipment set up
furniture moving - we move almost all furniture
pre/post spotting as needed
applying topical(s)
replacing furniture
grooming carpet
packing up truck/equipment
on to the next stop and repeat above.

Is this your first day Mike?

DON'T FORGET..!!!!

Their #1 duty as a "look-out"...while the Lead Tech...rifles through the pAnTy drawer...

 

[Billy]

equipment set up
furniture moving - we move almost all furniture
pre/post spotting as needed
applying topical(s)
replacing furniture
grooming carpet
packing up truck/equipment
on to the next stop and repeat above.

Is this your first day Mike?

DON'T FORGET..!!!!

Their #1 duty as a "look-out"...while the Lead Tech...rifles through the pAnTy drawer...

Reminds me of the house yesterday that had cameras everywhere

 

[Ken Snow]

I've seen Jimmy naked

 

[bob vawter]

Pontiac is where I do my my animal rescue & service work Bob- I am in the shittiest parts of Pontiac frequently. These are not the areas that likely ever even paid you to clean for them. I agree it is like Iraq!

We liberate 20-50 abused, neglected and abandoned dogs a week and service very low income people bringing food, straw doghouses, collars etc.

Kenny....i OWNED the south and east side of pontiac over twenty years...used to be "nice"......
but NOW....it's rough to even DRIVE thru some parts of town.........
you may make it at 7:00 AM...........but at 7:00 PM....yor chances ain't good................

 

[Royal Man]

I don't know Ken, some of those characters on Hardcore Pawn look like they might make some loyal clients. :

Google "ken snow, hardcore pawn"

 

[Ken Snow]

We always make sure w are out by 4p when the natives wake up. I am sure we shared a lot of the streets bob.

 

[ruff]

[quote="Ofer Kolton":32jlyvnu][quote="Ken Snow":32jlyvnu]
Here is an example of our pricing to help anyone who is delusional like Joe about it. My condo is about 2000 sq ft in total on the upper 2 floors. The bathrooms, large kitchen & foyer/hall being wood. The cost to clean the remaining carpet would be $246.49 and if Scotchgard is applied which I do when I clean it, the total would be $369.35. I live about 13 minutes from the office and my portal to portal time was about 2 hours and 5 minutes so call it an hour and 40ish from time I pulled into my driveway till the time I pulled out. This was without an assistant and my first cleaning of any carpet in a number of months so I am not in cleaning shape. When I had one of my crews do it they were done in just barely over an hour. Looked great, great production.

Ken,
I do not have an argument with your business decisions, ethics and or logic. Hagopian is a well established and reputable business and I find you to be honorable and trustworthy. I do with the time it takes you and or your crews to do the work in conjunctions with the claim for top notch cleaning results.

Let me qualify: Without knowing your clientele or seeing any of your cleaning results, based solely on your internet posts: I think that you offer great price for decent quality cleaning, which gives the client a good return for their money.
However, as someone who's been cleaning for many years: Your numbers and quality claims do not add up.
Even if we take the formula of 65%, your condo will have at least 1300 square foot. Doing that + ScotchGuarding + good quality in 1 hour and 40 minutes is unrealistic. And you are the "slow one."
As is your claim from a while ago, that you cleaned your ex wife's 16 (or was it 14?) foot sectional in 40 minutes and did a great job.
If you did that in 40 minutes- clean is not exactly what I would call it. And I clean a lot of sofas.

This is not a bash Ken response and I hope you do not take it as such.
It is just that in many of your posts, you present it as the norm.
It ain't.[/quote:32jlyvnu]
You have a CDS and an Apex and you can't duel upholstery tool a 14' sofa in 40mins with either TM? Do you have a helper, or a guy you could send on his own that works with you? Do you work by yourself? I find it funny all the guys that work by themselves and say "if you clean it THAT fast you are a hack", I on the other hand I think if you do it that slow by yourowndanmself you are a cheap retard! [/quote:32jlyvnu]

Keith, were you and Daniel C. separated at birth?

 

[Able 1]

[quote="Able 1":2d7kp6qb]

Keith, were you and Daniel C. separated at birth?

[/quote:2d7kp6qb]

You read that? Here I thought I was on your foe list.. yes, I really clean up pet shit for a living Dad.. Thing is I read almost every post on this board and have learned ALOT from you vets and I greatly appreciate it! That being said you guys are also set in your ways and don't want to hear from the younger crowd as to easier more efficient ways to clean(what do they know, right?).

I haven't duel furniture tooled anything yet, but I will be soon. Just makes sense cause it only has a 4" vac slot and you will see no vac or heat issues, actually we will be running hotter..

Helpers are key, and one that can wand just like you are priceless!! LIKE!

 

[ruff]

[quote="Ofer Kolton":2m3j6ayx][quote="Able 1":2m3j6ayx]

Keith, were you and Daniel C. separated at birth?

[/quote:2m3j6ayx]

You read that? Here I thought I was on your foe list.. yes, I really clean up pet shit for a living Dad.. Thing is I read almost every post on this board and have learned ALOT from you vets and I greatly appreciate it! That being said you guys are also set in your ways and don't want to hear from the younger crowd as to easier more efficient ways to clean(what do they know, right?).

I haven't duel furniture tooled anything yet, but I will be soon. Just makes sense cause it only has a 4" vac slot and you will see no vac or heat issues, actually we will be running hotter..

Helpers are key, and one that can wand just like you are priceless!! LIKE![/quote:2m3j6ayx]
Keith, I don't have a foe list. That's like putting my head in the sand and if someone does not agree with me or whatever I can take it. This is why this board is so much fun.

Ken was not talking about dual wanding or dual cleaning the sofa. His examples and times mentioned, that I referred to, were about him cleaning by himself.
As far as two people cleaning the sofa at the same time, I do that occasionally and it works fine. I do not dual wand with the CDS, as the machine is not powerful enough. It could save time with some of my jobs and won't help much or potentially waste times with other. However, I am all for it where it works.

 

[Ken Snow]

Yep my example was all solo, for our customers it is all 2 person crews but we don't do a lot of duel wanding cause there is plenty to do for tge assistant to keep the wand moving.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

With the proper floor-tooling techniques and a few other tricks I could clean a 14' sectional in 40 minutes easily. It would be clean too. I often roll them over or use short sawhorses to speed production on big projects.

 

[ruff]

Tell us the secret Lee.
What do you eat before?

 

[Billy]

Tell us the secret Lee.
What do you eat before?

Lee is the man eat shit!

 

[Jim Martin]

so in a nut shell.....

high end cleaners are not limited to big ticket jobs....your a fool...or just have no type of business since if you turn down a job that you can MAKE money on even if it is not considered a " high end job "..........we do this to make money... secure our future and provide for our families........not watch it pass us up.....

high end jobs...can also be found at mid range income...they may not pay as much as the high range income families...but there is still money there to be made...

limiting yourself is stupid....grab the booty while you can...you don't know what tomorrow may bring...

speed is a factor for some...but yet being efficient....is where you are going to make the money...so a cleaner who is very efficient can make more money...and spend just about or maybe a little more time doing a job or 2 more a day then the " I only do one big job a day" cleaners.....and make more money....how much time one cleaner spends doing a home V/S how much time another clear spends does not really prove to much...the other cleaner just have there shit together better..........???

work smart..not hard...comes on different levels.................

 

[joe harper]

Jim.
Define "High-End" cleaning.... :?:

Do you perceive it ONLY to be about the "actual service" or the "ticket price... :?:

 

[Mikey P]

I define a High End job as one that is willing to spend .50 a foot to have us do our thing.

They want the best results form a company they can trust.


these types of people live in single wides, shitty rentals apartments and homes, paid for 3/2 culdasac specials, golf course estates, and 200 million dollar mega mansions.


I dont let anything pass me by due to some internet born snobbery.




but that being said if I had to start over I'd live in a smaller home, in a cheaper area, charge less and run three or so vans and be well off the truck by now.

 

[Jim Martin]

Jim.
Define "High-End" cleaning.... :?:

Do you perceive it ONLY to be about the "actual service" or the "ticket price... :?:

some seem to look at it as both......

I personally see it as how someone conducts them selfs and how they run there company...
the bottom line after the day is done and knowing how to make it the best as possible.......having enough business since not to let things pass them buy just because they only do "big ticket jobs".....we will start there.......

 

[joe harper]

Mike,

I concur..!

However...your .50 a ft. is relative.. :idea:

If you were cleaning in Fl. @ .30 ....you would RETAIN the same profit..

I would guesstimate the average TM cleaning price here is .20 to .25 sf.

Our base is .40 so we are HIGH END ...pricers... LIKE!

 

[joe harper]

I am not trying to come off as arrogant in this thread. There is a very simply reason our
prices are higher than most. OUR OPERATING COST ARE HIGHER...! We are family run operation. We demand higher salaries than most... :idea:

I have owed this company 35 years. My son's 1099 two years ago was 6 figures...!
He earns every penny of it. If our market would not bare these rates....we obviously
would be out of business a long time ago.!

We have a bottom price that is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Once the client has refused that price...
"WE CANNOT AFFORD TO DO THEIR JOB..!" We don't make money on 3 jobs...to LOSE money
on the 4th.. :idea:

I have learned over the years...every time we CUT our price...IT BITES US IN THE ASS...!

MY ass had not been on a truck for at least 10 years...! I structured the business to leave it
to my son. He retains a BULK of the profits....I own all assets....and LEASE it to him for a
FIXED figure... :idea:

I am completely out of the day to day operation's... LIKE!

I realize you do not want to divulge your prices on the board..."that's cool"
But an operation of your caliber should be cleaning @ a rate of no LESS than $60. to $75. per room. "IMO" If it is more.. GREAT !! If NOT..."imo"....:You are "walking away from MONEY on
every job...!!!!" jus -sayin ...... eat shit!

 

[Jim Martin]

I am not trying to come off as arrogant in this thread. There is a very simply reason our
prices are higher than most. OUR OPERATING COST ARE HIGHER...! We are family run operation. We demand higher salaries than most... :idea:

I have owed this company 35 years. My son's 1099 two years ago was 6 figures...!
He earns every penny of it. If our market would not bare these rates....we obviously
would be out of business a long time ago.!

We have a bottom price that is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Once the client has refused that price...
"WE CANNOT AFFORD TO DO THEIR JOB..!" We don't make money on 3 jobs...to LOSE money
on the 4th.. :idea:

and there you have it...business since..you know what your bottom line is...you know after that you are just going to lose money....Not saying that you have to negotiate your price...I don't do that with mine....But lets look at this as an example... you were in the area and there was a few jobs that you could of picked up not exactly in your pricing structure but you stood to make a few hundred dollars more by doing them...would you just stub your nose at them because it does not fit your pricing range..or would you just knock them out and pocket the extra coin..?.....( and before everyone goes blowing all kinds of holes in the..It is only and example )
I have learned over the years...every time we CUT our price...I BITES US IN THE ASS...!

MY ass had not been on a truck for at least 10 years...! I structured the business to leave it
to my son. He retains a BULK of the profits....I own all assets....and LEASE it to him for a
FIXED figure... :idea:

I am completely out of the day to day operation's... LIKE!

I realize you do not want to divulge your prices on the board..."that's cool"
But an operation of your caliber should be cleaning @ a rate of no LESS than $60. to $75. per room. "IMO" If it is more..? GREAT If NOT..."imo"....:You are "walking away from MONEY on
every job...!!!!" jus -sayin ...... eat shit!

posting prices has no bearing on any conversation as far as I am concerned...everyones market is different.....very few can have the same....you will find this even in your own town let alone different states...I had a guy call wanting me to buy his client list here in Tucson...his pricing structure was much lower then mine...it would of not made good business sense ....

But...I don't walk away from money...I did not get into this so I can shoot myself in the foot....I know exactly what it cost to run my company...the harder I work at getting rid of that over head...I am making more and more each time..