is .60 per sq/ft.......

[NobleCarpetCleaners]

no pre-vacuuming, drag wand HWE, no protector and a warning not to place furnishings on carpet for 48 hours a fair price?

 

[lance]

In a place where all the automobiles are Bentleys....then yes.

Under normal circumstances, and with the internet giving potential custys so much information.....then no.

 

[John Watson]

Fair for whom?? If the cleaner can charge more and get it for what he offers I say go for it. It is all precieved values the client is recieving for the money spent. Most know when they have been bent over and don't return unless they like it like that..

 

[Royal Man]

Is .12 cents fair then?

That is what I charged for a job this week.

 

[davegillfishing]

i am still stuck on the not putting furniture on the carpet for 48 hrs..who the hell wants to live with their house

in shambles for 2 days?

 

[kingjoelking]

no pre-vacuuming, drag wand HWE, no protector and a warning not to place furnishings on carpet for 48 hours a fair price?

Personally if you can get it charge them $2 a sf. But I think that if you are going to ask for any premium price. You should be able to have their carpet dry in 2-4 hours at the most.

 

[sam miller]

Ya 48 hours on the furniture?? really how about blocks and chips? then talk about price!

 

[Ron Werner]

I remember someone telling me money value 1/2's every 10yrs.
So if someone was charging 20cents in 1980
that would be 40cents in 1990
80 in 2000
1.60 in 2010

If you can sell yourself and your service at 60/sf, go for it. Too many cheap cleaners around still charging 1980 prices. But its better if you are providing top service for top dollar. 48hrs is too long. The Standard requires carpets to be dry within 24 at most, ie overnight. Blocks and tabs are a given.

 

[sam miller]

Ya cause minimum wage was $4.00 an hour in the 80's and doubled to over $8.00 today. Should be like $20.00 by your standard.

 

[Ron Werner]

watch candy bars.
$4 could buy a lot of candy
$20 today would buy the equivalent

 

[mirf]

It is unfair. Way out of line with the poor service preformed.

 

[idreadnought]

a candy bar was about 25 cents in the eighties. It is about 75 cents now. Milk was about $1.00 a gallon and now it is 2. Gas, well thats another story. Clothing has about doubled but that is a result of china and cheaper manufacturing. Consider this though, in the late 70s my neighbor bought a brand new toyota pickup truck. It cost him $6.000 What does a new toyota cost today? Keep in mind though that a new toyota truck is much larger than a 70s one.

 

[ruff]

Maybe the joined assembly will finally put two and two together.

While salaries for the poor and middle class have not kept with the cost of living, the salary of the top 1%, have gone up far (exponentially) more than inflation.

But on this board, acknowledging this simple fact is called: Communism.

I guess, Go NUTE!
(For a................ well.............neutered nation.)

 

[Jamesh921]

a candy bar was about 25 cents in the eighties. It is about 75 cents now. Milk was about $1.00 a gallon and now it is 2.

Things must be alot cheaper in California where you live. Out here in Oklahoma a candy bar will cost ya over a dollar. And milk is OVER $4 dollars per gallon. I'm guessing that your wife does all the grocery shopping.

 

[Ron Werner]

just within the last 10yrs, candy bars have gone from 2 for $1 to 2 for $3
Just because minimum wage hasn't doubled every 10yrs doesn't mean the value of the dollar hasn't decreased by 1/2 every 10. That just shows how much struggle it is for someone on min wage to survive.

if all you are going to do is spray and suck and leave it wet for 2 days, I don't think you'll get 60 cents. too many cleaners doing it for under 15.
You might, once, or until word gets out. If you do a LOT of marketing and good at bait and switch, may get even more.

 

[Loren Egland]

I have often thought that the price per square foot should equal the price of a first class stamp.

 

[Ron Werner]

interesting way to work it.

that would make it 61 cents here.

Now define what should be done?

 

[Dolly Llama]

Now define what should be done?

make the custy happy and want to call you back next time, of coarse !gotcha!


..L.T.A.

 

[Ron Werner]

that makes it very vague, wide open to "opinion", and almost impossible to come up with any std. This in turn makes it very difficult for a customer to make an informed decision since the bad cleaners are saying all the same things in their ads as the good cleaners. I've looked at a LOT of websites and ads, and other than layout and design, they all pretty much say the same thing.

The best advertisement, which would then help every good cleaner, would be to suggest getting a referral.

That would be a great way to eliminate the B&S and hack companies that make their living impersonating a professional which charging way more than 60cents/sf by the end of the job and still don't leave a happy customer.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Charge by your age. 24yers old. .24 ----- 60 years old. .60 simple.

 

[Dolly Llama]

that makes it very vague, wide open to "opinion", and almost impossible to come up with any std.

Ron, Ron, Ron...., it's not vague at all...the ONLY "opinion" that matters is that of the prospect .

you can believe this or not, but it's MORE important that the prospect trust and LIKE you than being the greatest CC'er that ever massaged a fiber

the "standard" is not vague either
the "standard" to achieve ( besides being profitable) in EVERY service biz, is to make the custy happy and call you back year after year.


Nothing more, nothing less


..L.T.A.

 

[NobleCarpetCleaners]

and no pre-spray and no furniture moving.

I would like to offer more details on this but don't want to pick a battle, especially in my own back yard. My thoughts go not so much to getting every penny you can on a job, but to what Larry said in getting the customer to invite you back and refer as well.

 

[Ron Werner]

The Std infers the "cleaning" of the fabric/carpet, which would make the customer happy.

If the goal is just to make it look clean, hec, what do we need with TM's when this can be accomplished far more effectively and profitably with pads and encap?

 

[Royal Man]

The best advertisement, which would then help every good cleaner, would be to suggest getting a referral.

That would be a great way to eliminate the B&S and hack companies that make their living impersonating a professional which charging way more than 60cents/sf by the end of the job and still don't leave a happy customer.

Then why do you only have one online client review and it's a year old?

With all your attention to every microscopic soil particle. You must have more than one happy client. ?

Or does 2 hours of vacuuming drive them nuts?

 

[Ron Werner]

you put way too much stock in defining someone's work by online reviews
you DO realize that not everyone is online savy
My website also sucks, does that mean I'm a lousy cleaner?
your so full of sh when you make those comments

how bout we start lookng up the worst cleaners and view their reviews, bet they have lots

 

[Dolly Llama]

If the goal is just to make it look clean, hec, what do we need with TM's when this can be accomplished far more effectively and profitably with pads and encap?

there are more than a few that have done just that
but I'd disagree it could be done "far more effectively"
Especially on a soiled carpet

but as a practical matter, it comes down to several reasons .


1.) perception of the prospect that spray 'n suck is better than spray 'n wipe
2.) productivity is increased w/TM on soiled carpet
(don't forget the time and hassle it takes to launder pads either)
3.) appearance is better* w/TM cleaning on most soiled carpets
*There are exceptions to that, especially in com ...but "in general"...
run a wand over a freshly cleaned spray 'n wiped carpet and you'll see an instant appearance difference .
Run a pad over a fresh cleaned TM job and you'll get some soiling on the pad, but no improvement in appearance

..L.T.A.

 

[Ron Werner]

but if the customer is "happy" with the change in appearance from just spray n wipe, esp considering they won't have any reference point to say it could be "cleaner", ie they won't know any different, why shoot for "cleaner" with a TM. Its the same argument to improve steam cleaning by prevacuuming, ie why bother when you can't "see" any difference.

would you charge 60cents for spray'n wipe?

 

[Royal Man]

you put way too much stock in defining someone's work by online reviews
you DO realize that not everyone is online savy

If your clients are truly happy. Let them do your bragging.
Just you saying you are the best doesn't mean crap to prospective clients.

If you dazzle your clients with your anal retentive cleaning.
They should be stepping over themselve to rave about your services.

If you don't get online reviews you are missing out on a very valuable resource.

 

[Dolly Llama]

but if the customer is "happy" with the change in appearance from just spray n wipe, esp considering they won't have any reference point to say it could be "cleaner", ie they won't know any different, why shoot for "cleaner" with a TM.

guess you're not paying attention to what I wrote

"perception"
"productivity"
"easier" to achieve desirable results on soiled carpet

Its the same argument to improve steam cleaning by prevacuuming, ie why bother when you can't "see" any difference.

nossir..it's not the same at all .
You won't see any difference on a moderately soiled carpet between vac and no vac.
(ASSuming a good TM )
You WILL see a difference when padding compared to TM on moderately soiled cut pile with plenty spots/spills and/or Mrs Phiff's years worth of Resolve reseedoo

would you charge 60cents for spray'n wipe?

if i could get it? HELL YEA
but I'd still rather use a TM unless i cleaned "clean" or minimal soil carpets regularly



..L.T.A.

 

[Ron Werner]

You WILL see a difference when padding compared to TM on moderately soiled cut pile with plenty spots/spills and/or Mrs Phiff's years worth of Resolve reseedoo

The OP machines seem to be doing really well on heavily soiled carpet, not just moderate.

I've gone into a LOT of homes where had I just PS-Rinsed, would have looked fine.
But I prevac'd and twice filled the canister with stuff I wouldn't have removed with a TM, once it got wet it would have stayed. Nothing special, just taking some extra time.