Minimum charges

[Ken692]

Hi I'm new to the carpet world, we just got the dry tech system, my boss has started this $89 a room campaign, most due to Stanley steamer at $99 I get calls for one room and just seems to low to even do it, I really need help with pricing

 

[Mikey P]

Hey Ken


You are correct, way too low, especially in an area like Boston


It does not take much to provide a better cleaning than Stanley does. If you just pre vacuum the carpet, pre spray the carpet and agitate in the solution some how, and use a lot of dry strokes you'll be out cleaning SS ten fold...


Is it your boss' desire to run a bunch of trucks and force his tech to up-sell like crazy ?


If so you'll never be happy there. Either find a quality conscience company to work for or consider starting your own.

 

[Ken692]

He really gave me half of the company, and I'm just getting up and running, so far I'm getting great feedback from the work I do, it's not easy but I'm getting used to it fast, just getting on here has got me some great ideas, the pricing is were I need to get better. I keep hearing it its $70 we will do it, I hold strong at $89 and tout the dry tech, I just feel like it's s lot of work have to travel and I have a helper

 

[Mikey P]

Are you up selling on most jobs?


You'll soon see if you watch your numbers that even at $100 per hour, you'll need more to turn a decent profit. Especially with a helper



If you advertise with low rate coupons, you will catch the wrong customer.

I understand the being new, it's hard to find any clients, so low ball offers will get your phone to ring.

I'm not sure what the Dry Tech System is but why not try touting it's virtues more and maybe offering a buy three, get one free sort of deal $150ish. in other words so you don't go broke running all over MA clearing $ 10 to $15.00 after it's all said and done.

 

[Ken692]

Ok so upsell like spot cleaning or fragrance sorry I'm really green right now, like steps $3 each or size of the room? There is a lot to it but till you get to know,
Thanks for the help this is awesome

 

[Mikey P]

more like upholstery cleaning, extra rooms, tile and grout sort of stuff..


Is that an EDIC machine?


imo, you should never charge extra for (easy) spot cleaning or adding a deodorizer/perfume into your rinse water.

Leaves a nasty taste in the customer mouth.

Charge enough per room or square foot to cover stuff like that.







now big urine puddle are different...

 

[Mikey P]

Is this the machine you use?

http://alphatechpet.com/edicpolaris801psself-containedcarpetextractor8gallon.aspx

I assume you can attach a hose and hand tool to it?

 

[FB19087]

Looks like it..............

also looks like "dry tech systems" is more or less a scam............running an affiliate/mlm type program
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Dry-T...Tech-Systems-They-will-STING-you-North-438089
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dry-tech-Systems/109547762526815

or they were

http://drytechsystems.com/


Edit: has nothing to do with the machine of course

 

[Ken692]

Yes you can add the wand (hand tool) he got it all the large unit in the photo, a small unit, and a unit that runs just the hand tool, he got every chemical they had must of spent $10,000 the van is his. I just walk in and clean. I see the scam and I told him, stubborn I guess, he got the equipment, I had to fix it a few time, the pto connection snapped off. The switch on the brush broke,

 

[Russ T.]

We have a residential minimum of $150. I do a fair amount of 1 roomers for that. They get prevac (if necessary), pre spray/spotting, rotary extraction, deodorizer (in rinse) for that. Sometimes I throw in a Maxim Fiberguard treatment to help add value for the smaller ones. They get a fair deal and I make a profit.
If I was in Boston, my prices would be north of what they are here in Iowa.

 

[FB19087]

The reason I mention it is I wouldn't tout a system that has such a shitty rep whether it be the equipment/cleaning side or the sales/marketing side in the age of instant access to info.

Create your own system and tout that.........hell use theirs and call in Kentech............at least then if people look it up their isn't a bunch of bad reviews

You have an Edic machine anybody can buy and I can't imagine there is anything proprietary about the "dry tech system"......build your brand not theirs (unless there is some agreement in place)


I know that doesn't really help with the min charge question......

 

[Ken692]

Yes edic looks like the smaller unit
The larger is a sc7 fasts tract

 

[Ken692]

That is a great idea, don't like all the bad info on it, but seems to work well, I guess he has it we use it and grow into better equipment,
No real contract but he keeps getting chemical from them at an exorbitant price, how come a fool and his money is never around when I need him

 

[FB19087]

Yes edic looks like the smaller unit
The larger is a sc7 fasts tract

http://www.edic-usa.com/index.php/products/self-contained-extractors/polaris/polaris-1201ps.html

http://www.ipceagle.com/products/sc12-fastracts-extractor#.VaIIuVVVhBc

but enough about the equipment........................charge more for a minimum or it will just end up on craigslist if you're doing mostly minimum jobs

 

[Ken692]

Is this the machine you use?

http://alphatechpet.com/edicpolaris801psself-containedcarpetextractor8gallon.aspx

I assume you can attach a hose and hand tool to it?

That's it

 

[Ken692]

Is the per room pricing a bad idea, go with the hr charge?

 

[Goomer]

Hi I'm new to the carpet world, we just got the dry tech system, my boss has started this $89 a room campaign, most due to Stanley steamer at $99 I get calls for one room and just seems to low to even do it, I really need help with pricing

What's your salary structure?

What's your cut on one 89 dollar ticket?

89 bucks for a single room is fine for a owner/operator, but without ticket increases and upsells to compensate for your bosses cut, it can be a tough go.

Lots of potential additional charges with SS besides their aggressive upsells.....Sq ft limits, highrise charges, etc which increases the take for everyone involved, which can often be a necessity when there is more than one hand in the pot, and under certain salary structures.

It's very important to never underestimate what a 1 room job can potentially lead to in the long term, especially in the beginning when you are trying to establish a customer base.

Are they going to call you every 3 months to do it again?
Will they call you when they need their couch cleaned?
Will they refer you to friends and relatives with bigger jobs?
Will the husband want you to come clean his office/business?

If your in it for the long term and serious about building the business, you can't think of it as being only a measly 1 room job, but more as another valuable new connection, additional experience, and an opportunity to hone your cleaning and overall sales skills.

Not to mention when winter rolls around and your starving, your going to be wishing for as many 1 room repeats as you can get.

 

[Ken692]

He has me at 30% I do feel I can build it up. And after seeing the edic at the price here it looks like something reasonable. The last 4 jobs and I did get one lady asked me to get my own setup and she has 100 rooms from her daughter. We did a hall that was oil dirt a really bad rug, it came out great and she was really please. I have received 1 or 2 calls for sofas but I shy away I'm just not sure I won't ruin them till I get more expirance

 

[Mikey P]

That machine is really intended for large areas in a commercial setting

It must be tough in small furnished rooms.
Let alone a bathroom

Are you using the hand tool to get to tight areas? What about staircases?

 

[Ken692]

I did see in the corners it's missing but so far no complaints. I'll get a photo of the hand tool unit, I have not used it yet. I think that will be much better, for the most part we have been getting move outs with emptie rooms

 

[Mikey P]

That's the problem Ken.
People moving out have no residual value as customers. You're working for peanuts for people who will never call you back for a larger, more profitable job.
A carpet cleaning company can't survive on that buisness model unless you're in an area that has a constant supply of transients.

Which I highly doubt is Boston.

 

[Dolly Llama]

if the bulk of the jobs are min charge jobs using the WRONG type porty, you'll be better off getting a "real" job at Barnacle Bills cooking crAb cakes and slinging Hoo Hash


..L.T.A.

 

[Mikey P]

Lol...


Ken do you have the $ means to go another route?

This situation sounds horrible to be honest

 

[Buck1955]

I base my minimums on drive times starting at $89.00 up to $200.00, the farther the higher the minimum. Profit is not a dirty four letter word!

 

[Mike Draper]

like mike said, if you are getting moveouts, you are probalby the cheapest readily available cleaner around. Moveouts only care about spending as little as possible to get their maximum deposit back.

 

[Russ T.]

College apartment move outs are different for us. We have special apartment pricing that is often below our $150 Residential minimum.

It's a wand only cleaning that I've become pretty efficient at. I wouldn't want that kind of work with a portable.

20K can go pretty far with a used TM and some equipment if you know where and what to look for. Having a TM changes the scope of EVERY job. SO MUCH easier.

 

[Dolly Llama]

20K can go pretty far with a used TM and some equipment if you know where and what to look for

as broke d1ck myself, Russ, i can tell you that's insurmountable start-up cost for many folks .

More realistic would be a few thou$and for a "decent" porty, used rotary and a few cases of juice .

he'll make more right out of the gate than 30% (I'm ASSuming the jasper he's with is classifying him as a sub) meaning no bennies, no workers comp, no taxes, no nuttin but $27 bukz for a $89 job that probably takes him an hour or two to do with set-up and drive time

he may as well pack his OWN porty in his Pinto and collect the whole check ....

..L.T.A.

 

[hogjowl]

Even my elite property mgmt account started applying subtle pressure for me to lower my charges this year. Which is how they ended up in the situation they found themselves in that caused them to approach me two years ago.

Low price is an alluring lover.

 

[Russ T.]

as broke d1ck myself, Russ, i can tell you that's insurmountable start-up cost for many folks .

More realistic would be a few thou$and for a "decent" porty, used rotary and a few cases of juice .

he'll make more right out of the gate than 30% (I'm ASSuming the jasper he's with is classifying him as a sub) meaning no bennies, no workers comp, no taxes, no nuttin but $27 bukz for a $89 job that probably takes him an hour or two to do with set-up and drive time

he may as well pack his OWN porty in his Pinto and collect the whole check ....

..L.T.A.

Maybe in the beginning. I think you're right.

BUT when the work starts coming in, running a TM will be the more PROFITABLE thing to do. You can simply get more work done to a higher level with better equipment.

 

[hogjowl]

Maybe in the beginning. I think you're right.

BUT when the work starts coming in, running a TM will be the more PROFITABLE thing to do. You can simply get more work done to a higher level with better equipment.

We've been having to remind them of that since the early 70's.