How to charge for stain removal?

[Rick4Life]

Hey Everyone,

Let me go ahead and establish my reputation, which isn't much to this board. I joined this board in December and mentioned my interest in being a carpet cleaning entrepreneur and everyone advised against it. Well, guess what, I did it! I also flew out from Houston, TX to Nashville, TN to attend Mikey's Fest to get some knowledge, which worked out awesome! I had purchased a minimal spot and stain removal kit prior to attending, but also won a kit at the convention.

I had my first three customers yesterday and today.

My questions is, how do you know when and how to charge for spot removal? What is a good way to prep the customer for an extra charge? Do you include certain stain removals in your standard going rate?

I have obtained great knowledge from this forum and all of you. I would love more!

Thanks!

Rick

 

[ACE]

As a rule of thumb, all pricing should be based on an hourly $ average goal.

15 min extra for red food coloring removal cost an extra $25.00 of you hourly goal is $100. per hr

 

[Marc Imbesi]

I include all stains except red stains, soil filtration and urine. Those require specialty spotters, different equipment and time. That constitutes an additional charge in my business plan.

 

[Rick4Life]

I ran into a situation where a dude had been smoking cigs for 5 years in his living room and I told him no matter what I wouldn't be able to get the matting out and the discoloration out... was I right?

 

[Mikey P]

So Rick, are you glad you came out?

 

[Rick4Life]

Hey Mike,

I learned a lot... I honestly think I have a huge competitive advantage over those people at my level who are in the start-up phase. I'm glad I talked to you the night before I got my ticket. One thing I wish I gained was the ability to obtain initial customers for a lower cost. Right now I'm paying about $20 per customer from my door hangers and google adwords. While that might seem like a good price to many people, I'm making about $90-120 per sale. Before I can integrate grout and upholstery into my product diversity I have to reduce my marketing cost.

Any ideas?

 

[Mikey P]

How are you coming up with the $20 figure?

 

[Rick4Life]

Mike,

I distributed 400 door hangers at $0.10 a piece, got two sales. Spent $58 in google adwords and got 3 sales... it's obviously very early (and a small sample) to take a result from it, but with my minimal budget I have to decipher what to do quickly. I still have 2000 door hangers... which takes an hour to distribute 100 of them... (which i value as more money)... I will distribute 500 more on Thursday. One problem I'm finding myself in is that I live in a very nice community. They have a no solicitation zone in effect. This is a gated community, however I have access to all the gated areas. I called the community association and they say they report people who pass out flyers/door hangers and will call the police. This is a great target market for me as it is home values of $150-$1000k. People in this community frown upon solicitors... however I don't view myself that way since I'm not knocking on their door to sell them something, I'm giving them the option.

 

[Rick4Life]

The reason I make that point is because I had a resident call me out for passing out door hangers.

 

[Mikey P]

Do you have a wife or cute kids who can hand them out with you?

Id did that when I first stared with good success


Get a Well Formulate site up quick, get it to the top 3 of Google and you should be seeing free clients in no time.

Feel free to swipe stuff of my site.

 

[joeynbgky]

I include all stains except red stains, soil filtration and urine. Those require specialty spotters, different equipment and time. That constitutes an additional charge in my business plan.

Same here

 

[prestige cleaner]

I ran into a situation where a dude had been smoking cigs for 5 years in his living room and I told him no matter what I wouldn't be able to get the matting out and the discoloration out... was I right?

you should of had your customer call me, i would restored those matted fibers, you told him you couldn't do nothing about.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Hey Everyone,

Let me go ahead and establish my reputation, which isn't much to this board. I joined this board in December and mentioned my interest in being a carpet cleaning entrepreneur and everyone advised against it. Well, guess what, I did it! I also flew out from Houston, TX to Nashville, TN to attend Mikey's Fest to get some knowledge, which worked out awesome! I had purchased a minimal spot and stain removal kit prior to attending, but also won a kit at the convention.

I had my first three customers yesterday and today.

My questions is, how do you know when and how to charge for spot removal? What is a good way to prep the customer for an extra charge? Do you include certain stain removals in your standard going rate?

I have obtained great knowledge from this forum and all of you. I would love more!

Thanks!

Rick

I dont have much opinion on pricing stain removal.

But

I believe to be successful in this industry..any really, you have to be a entrepreneur that owns a carpet cleaning company.. So many get caught up in thinking they are a carpet cleaner, that owns a business... gotta break away from that mold.

 

[Jamesh921]

People in this community frown upon solicitors... however I don't view myself that way since I'm not knocking on their door to sell them something, I'm giving them the option.

People WILL NOT BUY from someone who breaks the rules in their gated community. They live in that community for several reasons, one of which is to not be hassled by unwanted solicitors. If you want to sell to these people you're going to have to find another way to get their business.

Do they have Homeowners/Community meetings you could attend?

Do you know someone in this community that would be willing to start referring/recommending your services to others?

Maybe someone else could offer more suggestions. But, I can assure you that trying to gain their respect by breaking their rules is a no-win situation.

I'm sure someone here will have more ideas.

Good luck.

 

[mirf]

See if the homeowners assoc. send out mailings. Sponsor a mailing by paying a donation or postage.

 

[Marc Imbesi]

See if the homeowners assoc. send out mailings. Sponsor a mailing by paying a donation or postage.

Some even have newsletters with ad space....thats really where you belong.

 

[Rick4Life]

Thanks guys this has been helpful!

 

[randy]

Hey Rick, Door hanging or distributing flyers door to door is not soliciting if you are just leaving a door hanger and not knocking/ pitching the homeowner. It's actually protected under the first amendment. Look up U.S. Supreme Court ruling Lovell v. City of Griffin . It invalidates any law that bans distribution of any kind of literature door to door. Private property owners shopping centers etc can ban the practice (ie. putting leaflets on cars etc.

Yours truly was arrested for violation of a literature distribution ordinance, failure to obey a lawful order given by a law enforcement officer and trespassing. I was distributing flyers in a townhouse community at the time. Represented myself in court and beat all three charges easily.
1) The ordinance was illegal
2) an order by police to cease lawful conducts is unenforceable
3) There is no such thing as trespassing in a residential community unless its posted at each home and even then judges are tossing the charges in great frequency.

Flyer away until you can afford other marketing method.

Best of luck with your business.

 

[Marc Imbesi]

Hey Rick, Door hanging or distributing flyers door to door is not soliciting if you are just leaving a door hanger and not knocking/ pitching the homeowner. It's actually protected under the first amendment. Look up U.S. Supreme Court ruling Lovell v. City of Griffin . It invalidates any law that bans distribution of any kind of literature door to door. Private property owners shopping centers etc can ban the practice (ie. putting leaflets on cars etc.

Yours truly was arrested for violation of a literature distribution ordinance, failure to obey a lawful order given by a law enforcement officer and trespassing. I was distributing flyers in a townhouse community at the time. Represented myself in court and beat all three charges easily.
1) The ordinance was illegal
2) an order by police to cease lawful conducts is unenforceable
3) There is no such thing as trespassing in a residential community unless its posted at each home and even then judges are tossing the charges in great frequency.

Flyer away until you can afford other marketing method.

Best of luck with your business.

Listen...I'm not doubting Randy's claim, but we are in the middle of this very instance, here in Surprise, AZ. There was a do not solicit law in May 2010 passed that covered it all...soliciting, peddling and canvassing...in other words, no door hangers. The Chamber put pressure on Council to repeal. They did so, December 2010, with the intent to come to compromise, but no so harshly. What I'm saying is not every law will be just for solicitors...be careful. I wouldnt want me and my company in court even if I win.....not worth the negativity IMO....

 

[joeynbgky]

Many different options

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

 

[randy]

Hey Rick, Door hanging or distributing flyers door to door is not soliciting if you are just leaving a door hanger and not knocking/ pitching the homeowner. It's actually protected under the first amendment. Look up U.S. Supreme Court ruling Lovell v. City of Griffin . It invalidates any law that bans distribution of any kind of literature door to door. Private property owners shopping centers etc can ban the practice (ie. putting leaflets on cars etc.

Yours truly was arrested for violation of a literature distribution ordinance, failure to obey a lawful order given by a law enforcement officer and trespassing. I was distributing flyers in a townhouse community at the time. Represented myself in court and beat all three charges easily.
1) The ordinance was illegal
2) an order by police to cease lawful conducts is unenforceable
3) There is no such thing as trespassing in a residential community unless its posted at each home and even then judges are tossing the charges in great frequency.

Flyer away until you can afford other marketing method.

Best of luck with your business.

Listen...I'm not doubting Randy's claim, but we are in the middle of this very instance, here in Surprise, AZ. There was a do not solicit law in May 2010 passed that covered it all...soliciting, peddling and canvassing...in other words, no door hangers. The Chamber put pressure on Council to repeal. They did so, December 2010, with the intent to come to compromise, but no so harshly. What I'm saying is not every law will be just for solicitors...be careful. I wouldnt want me and my company in court even if I win.....not worth the negativity IMO....

I hear what your saying, local governments try all the time to pass ordinances that are illegal. It took a year after beating the case for them to rescind the unlawful ordinance. That was after pressure through the county supervisors office and the knowledge that I could sue for damages (false arrest, violation of my fourth amendment right). Local governments can be as arrogant as the Federal Government.

Bottom line though, Supreme Court Rulings apply to all governments even down to little towns & home owner associations.
Thelma Lovell fought this battle for us and we are obligate to assert our hard won rights regardless of the inconvenience.
If I lived in Surprise, AZ I would be writing complaining to the ACLU. They have a 100% victory rate on beating these anti-canvassing laws. The Supreme Court has ruled you can't prohibit the distribution of any kind of literature. That includes door to door religious canvassing, political and distributing literature for your business. The rulings are incredibly clear. They arrest you for something the Supreme Court has ruled is constitutionally protected, you sue the police and qualified immunity doesn't stop the action because the Supreme court has already ruled on it.

Freedom isn't free folks, don't let some government bureaucrat keep you from exercising your Constitutionally guaranteed rights.

That being said, soliciting door to door can require a licence in some areas if you are actually peddling something. Knocking on the door etc. Distribution of literature door to door can't be regulated, it's clearly protected by the 1st amendment.

Interesting fact about Lovell v. City of Griffin, Thelma was the granddaughter of a slave that lived to see the end of slavery as a young girl. Thelma's grandmother having been a slave for the first 10 years or so of her life understood the importance of liberty & freedom. She was self educated and made her children and grandchildren study the Constitution and memorize the Bill of Rights.
That's how Thelma knew she could hand out her flyers advertising her baked goods & laundry service. She is one of my personal heroes.

God Bless Thelma Lovell

 

[CDRX]

I also only charge extra for red stains, pet stains and filtration.

 

[Rick4Life]

I am starting to realize that I'm advertising at a low price point (which takes trial and error). I am penetrating the market and am receiving customers who have f'd up carpets.

As you know, they have no respect for their carpets at all...

How do you convince these people who haven't cleaned their carpets in years to spend extra money to improve their carpets when their carpets don't have much life left?

 

[Rick4Life]

However my initial question hasn't been answered. At what point do you prep the customer that further costs are probable and then sell them on the extra costs?

 

[CDRX]

When you do your initial walk-thru or when you come accross the stain.