How do you answer: How much do you charge?

[gimmeagig]

Hi,
I may need some help. When I get a call for carpet cleaning I usually get asked the question:
How much do you charge?
I usually say:
" That is difficult for me to determine over the phone because each carpet is different, there are lots of factors that determine the price. I would really need to see it to be able to give an exact price. I can give you a range which for a home of your size would be......Does that sound acceptable to you? "
So that's what I have been saying but I think that there might be a better way do deal with those questions.
Once I say the price I get the feeling that people the use that info to comparison shop.

What do you guys say to prospective customers? Are there any secrets on how to get a yes on these calls?

 

[GCCLee]

I don't like to give prices over the phone. If forced to we call it a min. charge. Always try to look at them unless they are a previous client, or be able to make the assesement via phone well enough you don't loose yur hiney.

 

[Desk Jockey]

.35 sq/ft depending on the conditions, such as: light, moderate, heavy soiling, furnished, unfurnished, ground floor or above ground level.

 

[Nate The Great]

Q: How much do you charge?

A: How much do you have?

We don't advertise and most of the work is from word of mouth and previous customers... We do corrections for carpet manufactures and cleaning up other companies screw ups... I joke about wanting to change the business name to Problem Solvers Inc..

 

[bob vawter]

Q: How much do you charge?

A: How much do you have?

We don't advertise and most of the work is from word of mouth and previous customers... We do corrections for carpet manufactures and cleaning up other companies screw ups... I joke about wanting to change the business name to Problem Solvers Inc..

Damn it Nate...
you took my best line........!

 

[jcooper]

What do you guys say to prospective customers? Are there any secrets on how to get a yes on these calls?

Try to tell them what you will do before giving a price. Price is last.

Example: The first thing we will do Mrs Smith when we come to clean your carpets is pre vacuum, after vac we will pre spot, after spotting, we will pre treat carpets and so on.

Use terms like: generally, average, approximately, in general and so on.

We book all res. jobs over phone. Have a script so you say the same thing to everyone.

Example: In general Mrs Smith most hallways cost between $10 and 30 dollars, I'd say the average hall we see 75% of the time is normally 15 to 20 dollars.

 

[FLYERMAN]

I tell them $30 per room up to 200 sf and let them price shop if they want there's nothing you can do about that. You just need to make the phone ring enough to get the kind of jobs you want.

 

[Royal Man]

Price should be one of the last reasons a prospect chooses your company. If it is. Then you are not advertising your USP correctly.

 

[Ken Snow]

Unless price is the USP Dave.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Royal Man]

Unless price is the USP Dave.

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That's right Ken. Unless you choose to be a price merchant. I don't want to be that guy. Too many others here treading water by playing that game. Also, as a O/O I can't or don't want to do the kind of volume it would take to make it work. like it does for you.

 

[ruff]

If the only thing they ask is "How Much?" and they do not seem to care about anything else.

I ask: "Is price the only criteria by which you are going to decide?

If they say YES, I respect that and tell them that we may not be the right company for them. Sometime, that alone opens it up to engage them and explain how I clean and what makes us special and well worth the money.

Otherwise, why bother. They are telling me exactly what they are looking for- absolutely the lowest price. I respect that and it is not what I offer. So why waste everybody's time?

Long ago I have given up on my carpet evangelism and realized that the devout lowest price shoppers are not likely to convert. Some of you though, may have much better preaching ability in your genes

 

[Royal Man]

People ask price. Because that is the only question they know to ask. It doesn't mean that they want the lowest price. Usually a low price is way down the list where: trust, not rushing the job, reviews from your past clients, guarantee, years in business, credibility etc... are far more important to most prospects. People that have been around the block a free times know that receiving the lowest price often transfers into buying an unwelcomed, inferior product. If low price was king. We would all still be driving Yugos.

 

[Derek]

" That is difficult for me to determine over the phone because each carpet is different, there are lots of factors that determine the price. I would really need to see it to be able to give an exact price. I can give you a range which for a home of your size would be......Does that sound acceptable to you? "

drop the line in red. otherwise you are offering them an easy "out."

if they say the line in red, i ask them to measure each room wall to wall and get back to me. otherwise i tell them i need to drive out and measure it. or if they then give me guesstimate numbers, i tell them, "i'll give you a quote based on those numbers. when i arrive to clean i will 1st measure all carpet and the price that i then give you before i clean WILL go up or down if there is more or less sq. footage." - i have done that many times and never had a problem. just make it very clear to them.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Create an outline of questions {really its a script but cleaners hate that word} you need to know to complete a job. What kind of carpet, furniture moved, where are they located, time/day frames, pets,last time it was cleaned, how they found you etc.

As you ask questions look for opportunities to make a personal connection, for an example after answering the pets question if yes ask what kind and share any knowledge/experiences. If they mention they live in a particular subdivision you can share a recent job you have had or whatever.

You can show prospects you are a professional by asking questions and listening to the answers, then ask follow up questions. This will be far more effective then giving people the usual spiel "we are the best, we guarantee our work, we use the best..." yada, yada yada.

The key to sales imho is listening, nobody likes to listen anymore.

 

[Ken Snow]

I didn't say that price was our USP Dave, it certainly isn't. I was just pointing out that it could be for someone. I would have to drop our price about 50% for it to be our USP.

 

[gimmeagig]

.35 sq/ft depending on the conditions, such as: light, moderate, heavy soiling, furnished, unfurnished, ground floor or above ground level.

I can see how that kind of answer would make it impossible for a customer to comparison shop because it is so vague.Is that what you are aiming for, and is that often enough to get past the price question and get the appointment?

 

[gimmeagig]

A lot of great tips here, thanks.
When I get asked for price before i say anything else I usually say "One Million Dollars" that gets them laughing and breaks the ice. Then I follow up with other things.
I will look at all of this info you guys gave me and try to develop something like a loose "script" from that.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

People are busy. Make it easy for them.

Usually we charge $69 for the first room and $29 for each additional room, including deodorizing.

For twenty plus years we did the whole "estimate, measure, song and dance" on the first trip thing. We only do that for commercial and the rare odd-vibe residential now.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I can see how that kind of answer would make it impossible for a customer to comparison shop because it is so vague.Is that what you are aiming for, and is that often enough to get past the price question and get the appointment?

Yes, I'd prefer to give an estimate on location if they are a potential client. We win most on location bids so that's a better chance for us. I'd also like to separate tire kickers from clients asap.

Realizing not all caller are clients, we can't be all things to all people. Some simply can not afford us and I'd prefer not to attempt some slick line to try and hook them only to have them complain later about price.

 

[Jimmy L]

Using terms like , "first we'll PREVACUUM and then we'll PRESPRAY"

Sounds so STUPID to the customer.

In their mind they're saying, "What the hell is PREVACUUM?"

For Gawd's sake...........tell them you'll VACUUM the damn carpet!

PRESPRAY..............we'll APPLY a cleaning solution to loosen up the soil.

PRESPRAY.......also a STUPID term to the customer.

 

[GCCLee]

Talk like its laundry : )

 

[Shane Deubell]

Have to agree with jimmy about avoiding industry jargon.

Overall it's no different then becoming a master cleaner, practice, practice, practice. Nobody is born good at this stuff.

 

[Mikey P]

I agree with Ladwigs.


Now he should get rid of that lame pre-menstrual girly wand of his.

 

[Jason del Norte]

Say whatever it takes to get in to do a free estimate, then let them meet you and buy you. You want to check them out too. Build relationship.

 

[Royal Man]

Say whatever it takes to get in to do a free estimate, then let them meet you and buy you. You want to check them out too. Build relationship.

Why should you and how does a client have the time to set up one appointment for the price and then an other for the cleaning? I could see it for commercial. But, for Residential forget about it. I ain't rocket science to clean and then get a check. When you want something to eat. Do you have to go to the restaurant one time to get the price and than an other time to eat?

 

[Desk Jockey]

We get very few that request the estimate and the cleaning the same day. Most have already made up their minds about using us when the request the estimate. They merely want to confirm the price and to show you and speak with you about their concerns.

After that they schedule it when it fits their calendar. I'd say we get 50/50 that want the week we gave they estimate and the others a week or more later.

 

[TomKing]

We price over the phone by the room, hall and stair.
We also price basic upholstery.
We give a range on rugs but leave them open to inspection for final pricing.
Tile and wood must be seen to many variables.

When people call us they don't want to wonder How will this end up?

We sell over the phone to Quality and Service. We then send out a email estimate through service monster. We want the customer to be in control.
We do after a phone evaluation leave our self open to adjust if things are not as they described.

We get reviews all the time where customers say " and the price was what they said it would be"

Let's be honest 90% of what you clean is not hard or difficult to talk care of.

We do wool 1 out of 200 cleanings
We do silk 1 out of 500 cleanings

We clean in the 7th wealthiest county in the USA so it's not like we are not in some amazing places every day.

Now remember we are talking marketing and sales when you read my next comment.

The SS location prices the same and they find it such a poor way to do business they have only been able to grow their fleet to 20 trucks.

I may be wrong but we have not seen quoting over the phone as a negative. I believe it is about how you handle the phone.

We don't go to a home to clean carpet.

We go to begin a relationship and expose the customer to our other services. It is our other core products that have the higher profit margins.

I had a tech go to a house for a $500 carpet cleaning. He brought back $1500 in rugs to clean.

When we do a carpet cleaning that has pet stain. We use cordless uv lights. We do a courtesy check of all rooms. We had a tech do this twice this spring. He checked the whole house. He found the owner did not realize the pet had peed in almost every room. The cleanings both went over $1000 both of the customers called the office to thanks us for how thorough our tech was.

This tech is so good with this he covers his paycheck every week from offering our other core services.

I just looked at our missed estimates for the first half of the year. We missed only about $40,000 residential work. I am completely pleased with our booking rate.

Just how it works for us. Might not be for everyone.

 

[Dmreed4311]

WHAT IS USP?

 

[TomKing]

It is Dave's favorite term to use when he is talking marketing his business.
Unique Sales Proposition.

Don't worry if you don't have one written down it wont stop you from being successful.
Lot's of people have one and it hasn't turned them into a multi truck empire.
Figure out what your market needs and fill that need.
You will do just fine.

WHAT IS USP?