how low will they go?

[prestige cleaner]

got a call last week from a custy said i came highly recommended, set up an appointment for an estimate this morning for 950 sq. ft of carpet to be cleaned, heavy traffic areas some pet stains, etc. Estimate came to 435.00 for cleaning assuring he was going to get a thorough cleaning pre-vac, spot/ stain removal. Customer then stated to me that he was going to get 2 other estimates from other companies. He calls me 4 hours later and said that they going to use someone else for the cleaning and they quoted him with sofa and love chair included for 200.00 dollars, told him that sounded like a great deal and thanked him for the opportunity.

 

[GeneMiller]

Josh,
You did exactly what I would of done. I also send a thank you note letting him know I would glad to help him out in the future.

Gene

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I always tell the customers when they are getting other quotes to ask the questions. Are they using a portable, TM, DC. IF there is extra charges for gas, pretreatment, blah blah blah. If they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee and the list goes on. I have had people just tell me to go ahead and do it. But that customer got a good deal and who knows he may get a great service out of it. There is a local cleaner here that is sooooo cheap, but he does a really good job. Hmmmm

 

[Dolly Llama]

950 sq. ft of carpet to be cleaned, Estimate came to 435.00 for cleaning .

expect plenty rejection at .40 cent a square

hang around the boards and it might seem like everyone gets that kind of money, but very few do in reality


..L.T.A.

 

[Art Kelley]

got a call last week from a custy said i came highly recommended, set up an appointment for an estimate this morning for 950 sq. ft of carpet to be cleaned, heavy traffic areas some pet stains, etc. Estimate came to 435.00 for cleaning assuring he was going to get a thorough cleaning pre-vac, spot/ stain removal. Customer then stated to me that he was going to get 2 other estimates from other companies. He calls me 4 hours later and said that they going to use someone else for the cleaning and they quoted him with sofa and love chair included for 200.00 dollars, told him that sounded like a great deal and thanked him for the opportunity.

Therein lies the dilemma. Do you wish to remain a prestigious cleaner who charges $435 for a small job and whines on the internet when customers balk at your prices, or do you want to work all day for more reasonable prices and satisfy many people and lead a rich life?

 

[Bob Foster]

If she said she was going to get two other quotes was that how she started the conversation or ended it?

If she lead with the question in my opinion stressing value to someone who is in a not too subtle way was pressuring you for a lower price would be lost to them. I would then keep it short and sweet give a quote and take off. You lost it before you started because she had every intention of shopping your quote. A cheap ass is a cheap ass - move on.

Now of course if you spent several thousand dollars on a retreat you could learn how to turn cheapo Deloris into begging you to clean her carpets with a simple coffee table flip chart presentation and an eye dropper .


Of course you probably could have used some of the slime ball tactics you hear about like mentioning dust mites, allergies and her kids playing on the floor after dangerous carpet cleaning solutions were used.

 

[prestige cleaner]

for those who are having a problem that i charge .45 sq. ft for cleaning it only applies to restoration cleaning, as in this case, normally would of charged for the 4 rooms 180.00 for the steam cleaning but no way this carpet was going to respond with that. needed to pre-vac thoroughly with my pv12, layed down a heavy pre-spray of the 02 boosted with the hot sauce, scrubbed with my 175 brush, extracted, not to mention all the red stain removals to be done. 435.00 dollars seems to be a bargain opposed to replacing the whole thing, Rainbow Carpet Cleaner.

 

[Spurling]

Hey Howard is charging over .60 sf in your city with more than 12 something trucks .. so .45 sf shouldnt be that hard to get .. right?

 

[TimP]

As soon as a customer says they are getting other quotes right then you needed to qualify what you were doing extra and that you could do it for less however you would be doing the same quality job as a competitor. And that the higher price was to do extra work that most companys don't do and that many don't have the expertise to do. And that they needed to ask what the other company would do and go ahead and get their price and if they would rather use you that you would match their price if you felt you could still do the job and be profitable.


Then it's a good idea to know your competitors. So that way you have an understanding of their cleaning methods and business models. The way things are right now I'd never let one slip by if I can help it even if it means I make less money on a job, however I'm not a prestigous high end cleaner.

I'd love to get 40 cents a ft but my market wont allow it. I even roto scrub when needed at my low prices and figure I get some easy and some tough. I feel the referal that's highly possible will pay me back for my extra effort. And face it a roto scrub and extra chems isn't costing me that much nor taking that long to do. Red removal can be costly and time consuming, and I agree with you there.

 

[Kevin. McCreary]

I always had to quote prices before I did the job, until I found the right clients.
Now that rarely happens. Some people want a ballpark but not too often. I think
they just know we charge more from the person that referred us.

 

[Doug Cox]

By trying to justify your prices after the fact, I think it just makes you look bad. I would have given the quote and left it at that, and I sure wouldn't have scheduled the job under those circumstances. I believe you wasted your own time by doing so.

 

[TimP]

By trying to justify your prices after the fact, I think it just makes you look bad. I would have given the quote and left it at that, and I sure wouldn't have scheduled the job under those circumstances. I believe you wasted your own time by doing so.

I call it educating your customer to the differences between cleaners. Let them make the call when they find out that the other cleaners don't do everything that's quoted and they will understand why you priced it higher.

Don't forget that SFS teaches you to ask if you need to overcome objections and rework quotes to their needs and remove extra work to get a job within their budget.

 

[Mikey P]

Win some, you lose some.


but you have to be in the right demographic to charge more than .20-.25 and stay busy all day/month/year.

 

[Dolly Llama]

for those who are having a problem that i charge .45 sq. ft for cleaning it only applies to restoration cleaning, as in this case, normally would of charged for the 4 rooms 180.00 for the steam cleaning but no way this carpet was going to respond with that. needed to pre-vac thoroughly with my pv12, layed down a heavy pre-spray of the 02 boosted with the hot sauce, scrubbed with my 175 brush, extracted, not to mention all the red stain removals to be done. 435.00 dollars seems to be a bargain opposed to replacing the whole thing, Rainbow Carpet Cleaner.

no need to justify your pricing to us, Josh.
You should of justified it to Mrs Phiff before she got away.

all you told "us" was a pre-vac and stain treatment.
that's a vac and pre-spray to us...pretty basic stuff

If you did mention "all" the steps you were doing to restore her carpets, well and good.
It's possible she simply wasn't willing to spend 4 bones to have her carpets restored.

Indeed, if they were that trashed, it's even possible she didn't CARE if they were "restored" or not.
She'd probably be tickled with a rookie with average skills, good work ethic and nuke pre-spray

Just might be what the other dude was doing.

..L.T.A.

 

[alazo1]

I'd bet the other company is not going to spend much time on those red stains. Maybe a mist of some red remover /reducer and some dwell time. If that doesn't get it out are they going to take the iron out? Doubt it.

Albert

 

[Chris A]

I'd bet the other company is not going to spend much time on those red stains. Maybe a mist of some red remover /reducer and some dwell time. If that doesn't get it out are they going to take the iron out? Doubt it.

Albert

Don't feel bad Josh I would have bid just over $1,000 on that job... but I woulda got it...

 

[Mike Draper]

I would have bid 2500 and got it!

 

[Mike Draper]

On a more serious note, WE are sometime triple the price of others in town. Many times we will come in and give the first bid, then the hacks will come in and bid as low as 3 to4x less than I did and more times than not I will get the job. It's all in the presentation. They need to see value in what you do in comparison with the others hacks in town. We have very nice literature made up for each type of cleaning we do. So when we leave the house, the wife has one of these brochures to look at and show their hubby. Emotions are what make the sale. People don't want a base model car, they want the luxury model with all the goodies, it's your job to lead them to this conclusion. And when you do, you are a hero and they love you and give you referrals, and you make money, it's a win, win situation.

 

[Brian R]

[quote="prestige cleaner":3w0c6j0p] 950 sq. ft of carpet to be cleaned, Estimate came to 435.00 for cleaning .

expect plenty rejection at .40 cent a square

hang around the boards and it might seem like everyone gets that kind of money, but very few do in reality


..L.T.A.[/quote:3w0c6j0p]

I concur.

 

[Mike Draper]

[quote="grouNd meAt":10wya61h][quote="prestige cleaner":10wya61h] 950 sq. ft of carpet to be cleaned, Estimate came to 435.00 for cleaning .

expect plenty rejection at .40 cent a square

hang around the boards and it might seem like everyone gets that kind of money, but very few do in reality


..L.T.A.[/quote:10wya61h]

I concur.[/quote:10wya61h]

I completely disagree, I bet I have less rejection than the cheapest guy in town has.

 

[TimP]

I doubt he has less rejection just less referalls/repeats.

 

[Mike Draper]

I doubt he has less rejection just less referalls/repeats.

yeah, ure prolly right.

 

[Brian R]

A sensible price and an awesome job seems to make good money.
We keep our prices higher than average...not the bullshit board average... and we are doing well.

 

[Guest]

That happen last to me , I bidded 2 rooms sofa, love seat, chair for $285
and she said NO WAY, she could get it done for $95. Well I called her back a few days ago
and she said it turned out to be $495!

 

[tracywalker]

Steve, Haven't seen you around Charlotte lately. How is your new west coast company doing?

 

[Dolly Llama]

[quote="grouNd meAt":a954g4kg][quote="prestige cleaner":a954g4kg] 950 sq. ft of carpet to be cleaned, Estimate came to 435.00 for cleaning .

expect plenty rejection at .40 cent a square

hang around the boards and it might seem like everyone gets that kind of money, but very few do in reality


..L.T.A.[/quote:a954g4kg]



I completely disagree, I bet I have less rejection than the cheapest guy in town has.[/quote:a954g4kg]


how many new non referral sales do you close a week at .40+ a square?
(not including protectant)

how much rejection the "other" guys gets isn't relevant to my comment.

It's also a true statement that the overwhelming majority of CC'rs don't get .40 cent-o-square.

Sq Ft pricing doesn't mean squat in and of it's self anyway.
There are dudes that do indeed get that and more.
But their production times are such, that the "normal" priced jamoke that's knows how to be efficient is making more dough



..L.T.A.

 

[Bob Foster]

"But their production times are such, that the "normal" priced jamoke that's knows how to be efficient is making more dough"


Bingo!

 

[Mike Draper]

Last year we did .50 on about 178 new custy's. Then we have other packages that some people choose for less. Everything is relative, and yes many guys can make the same money working faster and going to more jobs and cleaning more square footage. That's great for them. I choose to be the opposite. I may only be able to clean 450-75 sq. ft an hour + stairs with a helper at a job, but we might be at that job for 3 hours, and 3 hours of working at 225+ is great. I certainly agree that there is good money to be made at the bottom to though. I clean apt's for way less and make good money on them to. like i said, everything is relative. the only reason a normal priced "jamoke" ( whatever the hell that means) would making more is because he has been is the business longer and has more clientele built up, eventually , I'll pass him up.

And YES, .50 doesn't include protectant.

 

[prestige cleaner]

I guess Howard Partridge is just making false statements when he says charging .65 sq. ft. bringing in over 2 million in revenue with his 17 trucks. Howard's not the only one charging that here in houston,tx i know a couple of cleaners charging .50-.55 sq.ft. and getting jobs charging those prices ,fourth largest city in the nation, bound to be people with money in this city.

 

[Guest]

Hey Tracy, good to hear from you!
On the phone a lot!

Our first week we did $1200, not bad coming out of the shute.
I have been mailing post cards to a lot of people for the
last 30 days.

We have a Lurthern church to on Tuesday its our first big job at $3675
and 4 residential jobs on Thursday and Friday.

I will be joining my partner out there on the week of the 15th