In every town

[adamh]

While traveling for BLUEline I had the opportunity to meet 100s of cleaners in 28 states. During the shows I would talk to all types of business owners. I always found it interesting that in every city or town I would meet the same guys cleaning in the same area but all had a different perspective on carpet cleaning.

There were always plenty of guys that told a very sad story. “You can’t get high prices in this area. Too many low ballers here and they drive the market down.”

However, there always seemed to be one or two guys that were different. Everything about them was different.. I would ask them how business was, and found they were getting a very high end price for a high end work.

Interesting that within the same area one company is getting .40 per. Sq. foot all day and many others saying “it just can’t be done around here!”

WHy do you think that is? I am certain I know the answer but I would like to hear your opinions.

Funny note. In almost every area there is always some chubby middle age guy telling stories of how many women throw themselves at them all day long.

 

[Royal Man]

Too many cleaners make the mistake of thinking that they should be chosen by the prospect based on price.

Smart cleaners promote the many other good things they offer that are far more important to most prospects and clients than price.

Additude is everything!


How do you want to position your company?

 

[juniorc82]

i think there are more cleaners that claim to be getting top dollar than are actually getting it.

 

[Mikey P]

"well if you ponied up and financed this here shiny new Vortex with a down payment from your worthless 401k than you too could DEMAND .40 to .60 a foot...."

-Adam Hale

the gates of hell, Idaho, USA, EARTH.

 

[Chris A]

There are also cleaners in every town who are charging MODERATE dollar and are busier than hell and netting more from their businesses, because they understand their market better than most cleaners. The ultra "high end" isn't always the golden ticket either, there are successful and failing cleaners at every price point...

 

[Dolly Llama]

i think there are more cleaners that claim to be getting top dollar than are actually getting it.

I've heard there are two things most lied about

income and sex life




'scuse me while i go clean Hef's mansion for fiddy a ft
and when done collect my tip in the hot tub from the picks of the harem .... 8) :mrgreen:


..L.T.A.

 

[Chris A]

'scuse me while i go clean Hef's mansion for fiddy a ft
and when done collect my tip in the hot tub from the picks of the harem .... 8) :mrgreen:


..L.T.A.

pIcS or it didn't happen!

 

[Dolly Llama]

There are also cleaners in every town who are charging MODERATE dollar and are busier than hell and netting more from their businesses, because they understand their market better than most cleaners. The ultra "high end" isn't always the golden ticket either, there are successful and failing cleaners at every price point...

yous a sharp young bid'ness man, Chris


..l.T.A.

 

[ACE]

Pricing advice from suppliers rubs me the wrong way. Most of them would fail in less than a year becuse they have no idea what customer service is.

 

[Bucey]

I made the best switch in our business when we believed in what we provided, and charged a fair market price. We took our focus off what other were charging and placed a value on our services with no comparisons to others in our area.

I do believe we still have a little more room for increase.

 

[MicahR]

You tell yourself what others are willing to pay.

They'd never pay that! Well if you think it you won't charge it.

We've all heard it before, and I'm reminded every time I fly.

The people that fly first class pay how much more to fly? Most of the time quite a bit.

It is the same whether your selling products or services. Don't tell yourself what your customer is willing to pay.

Those that swear you can't charge a certain price are ignorant or not marketing to the right clients.

 

[floorguy]

yea, i catch myself way to often wondering if they will pay that....

 

[Hoody]

yea, i catch myself way to often wondering if they will pay that....

Remember when we ate lunch and you some how found a way to get a free 5 piece with 4 different sauces ?


Utah is one of the more price conscious markets I've ever worked in, however you can get the higher dollar job tickets without having to clean a whole house. A lot of the people there know when you're trying to sell them something, but I think that rings true with everyone, but I guess I took more notice of it there. I simply asked for extra rooms/protector/upholstery, and usually people would say yes. I was told by the people I worked for that we couldn't get more than we were charging because no one would pay it. We didn't advertise protector, but I bumped it up 10 bucks a room just to see what would happen for two weeks. People still bought it, and it was an extra 500 bucks for the company in those two weeks.

 

[joey895]

I struggle with where my prices should be constantly. I decided very early that my business was going to be based on quality and providing a great value first and not necessarily the cheap price. I think my prices are pretty moderate but higher than average in this town to give an idea I'm at $99 for 3 rooms. I have excellent reviews on several sites Google, yahoo, Angie's List, etc. I also rank high on Google both organic and places but everyday and I mean literally everyday calls come in that don't book, presumably because of price. Of course some do book, enough to keep me in business at least.

The struggle is that a vast majority of the companies that ,at least on the outside, appear to be successful are lower priced companies, I'm talking along the lines of 3 rooms for $75, 4 for $99, etc. Lately I've been thinking that with the number of calls I've been getting from my website if I just dropped to that rate I could fill my schedule. I'm even kicking around the idea of a whole house special.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[floorguy]

yea, i catch myself way to often wondering if they will pay that....

Remember when we ate lunch and you some how found a way to get a free 5 piece with 4 different sauces ?


Utah is one of the more price conscious markets I've ever worked in, however you can get the higher dollar job tickets without having to clean a whole house. A lot of the people there know when you're trying to sell them something, but I think that rings true with everyone, but I guess I took more notice of it there. I simply asked for extra rooms/protector/upholstery, and usually people would say yes. I was told by the people I worked for that we couldn't get more than we were charging because no one would pay it. We didn't advertise protector, but I bumped it up 10 bucks a room just to see what would happen for two weeks. People still bought it, and it was an extra 500 bucks for the company in those two weeks.

funny thing is, thats how i get a lot of work....throw out that nugget and see what happens...

gave a guy a $25 break on his 2nd place he had done....granted not big ticket places...but we will see what happens...how i picked it up is funny

Got a call from a "lead generator" off the web...(found out the guy called 5 other places and no one answered, on the 6th was this "carpet cleaning company" :roll: :roll: :roll: ) anyway they called me and said "here you can have this one for free"....while i was doing it...another guy in the same apt building did a walk up :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Hi Jim shiteatinggrin shiteatinggrin ....

it just goes to show....you dont know where its going to come from

 

[floorguy]

I struggle with where my prices should be constantly. I decided very early that my business was going to be based on quality and providing a great value first and not necessarily the cheap price. I think my prices are pretty moderate but higher than average in this town to give an idea I'm at $99 for 3 rooms. I have excellent reviews on several sites Google, yahoo, Angie's List, etc. I also rank high on Google both organic and places but everyday and I mean literally everyday calls come in that don't book, presumably because of price. Of course some do book, enough to keep me in business at least.

The struggle is that a vast majority of the companies that ,at least on the outside, appear to be successful are lower priced companies, I'm talking along the lines of 3 rooms for $75, 4 for $99, etc. Lately I've been thinking that with the number of calls I've been getting from my website if I just dropped to that rate I could fill my schedule. I'm even kicking around the idea of a whole house special.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

I keep it simple....$25 a room...been thinking about going to 30. but....

Larger rooms are of course more....Most times I throw in halls, unless they are longer, and there are 2 of them...then its $25 for the pair....

I ask them to vac first....and if its not as good then i will do it again.....

I just keep it simple.....

My next thing...how to price for red stains, and pet stuff??????

 

[Jim Nelson]

While traveling for BLUEline I had the opportunity to meet 100s of cleaners in 28 states. During the shows I would talk to all types of business owners. I always found it interesting that in every city or town I would meet the same guys cleaning in the same area but all had a different perspective on carpet cleaning.

There were always plenty of guys that told a very sad story. “You can’t get high prices in this area. Too many low ballers here and they drive the market down.”

However, there always seemed to be one or two guys that were different. Everything about them was different.. I would ask them how business was, and found they were getting a very high end price for a high end work.

Interesting that within the same area one company is getting .40 per. Sq. foot all day and many others saying “it just can’t be done around here!”

WHy do you think that is? I am certain I know the answer but I would like to hear your opinions.

Funny note. In almost every area there is always some chubby middle age guy telling stories of how many women throw themselves at them all day long.

What I would like to know as a suppler do you give a different price to different parts of the country ? What I want to know is a cleaner that get's $25 a room pay the same for gear and chemicals as a cleaner that get's $75 a room? thank you Jim.

 

[machinejjh]

If people believe they are getting exceptional VALUE, price is rarely an issue. Believe in your product (which believe it or not, is a common mistake for CC'ers), convey that to your customer, wow them with service. It's amazing how simple it can be.

 

[Desk Jockey]

You want to know where to get something cheap......ask a carpet cleaner.

Broke ass mofo's, champagne dreams on a beer budget. :mrgreen:

 

[joey895]

Re: Re: In every town

If people believe they are getting exceptional VALUE, price is rarely an issue. Believe in your product (which believe it or not, is a common mistake for CC'ers), convey that to your customer, wow them with service. It's amazing how simple it can be.

Right, but you have to get past that initial phone call, before they've experienced your exceptional value and that's easier said than done.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[juniorc82]

There are also cleaners in every town who are charging MODERATE dollar and are busier than hell and netting more from their businesses, because they understand their market better than most cleaners. The ultra "high end" isn't always the golden ticket either, there are successful and failing cleaners at every price point...

I couldnt agree more

 

[machinejjh]

Re: Re: In every town

Right, but you have to get past that initial phone call, before they've experienced your exceptional value and that's easier said than done.

Do you have a receptionist, an answering service or do you answer your own phone?

 

[Brian R]

Pricing is a funny thing.

What I've found is the guys that charge the high high price spend a ton of time in the home.....and need to.

Steve T wll tell you that you need to charge more...But you have to make it worth it to the customer.


The low price guy is in and out as quickly as possible....If he has integrity, he will still do a great job.

And all the levels in between.

So at the end of the day (literally and figuratively) it's really what you're bringing home after expensese....Which I would venture to guess if given the same amount of work hours in a day...The low price and the high price will make about the same money.

Only difference would be if it were one big job.....Maybe.

My goal when TMing was to make $1000.00 per day and I hit that mark on a consistent basis. Sometimes it took me all day...But not usually. Maaaaaybe 8 hours of work.

Now that I OP...My goal is to only do a couple jobs a day and get a way with around $400 or $500....But I don't schedule work for me every day except when running a deal.

I think we can all agree that carpet cleaning is really good "now" money no matter how you look at it.

Don't get caught up in the sqft price wars....That's for the marketing. Get caught up in the dollar amount at the end of the day...and then month...and then year.




The moral of this story is.....Relativity.

Do a great job and charge for the amount of time it's going to take you. Yes, keep track of expenses...But time should dictate that as well.


Time is still money.

 

[hogjowl]

I agree, Brian.

And NEVER get caugh up in pricing by board posts.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Interesting that within the same area one company is getting .40 per. Sq. foot all day and many others saying “it just can’t be done around here!”

WHy do you think that is?

the simple answer I reckon, is simply cause they've never tried to get that much

there does come a point where the pool of prospects willing to pay "more than average prices" (what ever those are) gets smaller...and the service area chasing those prospects willing to pay hi-end prices generally gets larger

truth is though, it doesn't matter what price point you're at.
Be it the low end, either side of the middle price scale , or hi-end pricing ....there's competition out there chasing the same prospects.

in the end, it all comes down to dollars and $en$e
the outfit that can bang out empties @ 1000ft pr hour makes as much at 20 cents a sq as the outfit that messages Mrs Phiff's bootie for 40 cent-o-ft @ 500sf pr hour

Funny note. In almost every area there is always some chubby middle age guy telling stories of how many women throw themselves at them all day long.

did i ever tell you about.......


..L.T.A.

 

[Brian R]

No kidding Marty....The board has a way of adding zeros out of nowhere.

I'm pricing $35 per room and $45 for a staircase right now.

To make $1000 I need to clean about 23 rooms and 4 staircases.....or approx 4 houses




But that's straight cleaning...Which is very rare.

Pet treatment or stain protection or upholstery almost always come into the mix.

Not to mention Electricity now. :mrgreen:

So I can do it with 3 whole houses fairly easily....But again.....Not always a whole house cleaning either.....


But you get the picture.

 

[Royal Man]

Many of these post still seem to be hung up on price.

Price should be one of the LAST reasons why a client chooses your company.

Sell value!! The lowest price (As we and most client know, if they have been around the block a few times) Most of the time delivers the LEAST value. With products and services getting the lowest price usually leaves the customer with crap that doesn't live up to their expectations and disappointment.

Clients already know this. You just have to remind them.

Service is a big variable.

We are not selling a commodity.

But, Don't put down your competition.

Bring yours up.

Offer and emphasise the great things that set your company apart!!

 

[Shane Deubell]

Cleaners spend too much time screwing around with equipment and not nearly enough on marketing/sales.

 

[Brian R]

Dave....It will ALWAYS be price for customers....Even when they want quality.

At some point...it will be too high for what you're doing and nobody likes to get screwed.

And yes, sometimes guys are really screwing the homeowner no matter how muc they massage the bootie.



A smart homeowner will pay more for the right job....For sure....but that same smart homeowner is smart enough to know better than to pay too much.


Most customers are green.......Amost all of them when it comes to carpet cleaning.

Either they've never had it done or it's been well over a year and they've forgotten or didn't care.....I mean who else thinks of this crap except us?? Or just on that day the homeowner is paying?


There is no such things as a high end clean....You may have bells and whistles, furniture tabs and "High end service".....But cleaning the carpet is the last thing that most "high end" cleaners are charging for.....And I kinda think that's a little on the wrong side.....NOT always....But sometimes you're screwing them just a little with your pinky toe.

There I said it. :shock:

 

[machinejjh]

We are not selling a commodity.

Exactly. You're selling a relationship. Whether it be residential or commercial, you're selling yourself to someone. It's in the way you speak, the way you act. Do you appear genuinely concerned? Do you appeared passionate? Do you appear professional? The last thing discussed should be pricing.