Minimum

[Ron K]

So what is your minimum Charge? Don't lie. Is it the same for a new Customer as it is for a 15 year Client.
Does it change based on what, where, and how much, and who,or PIA factor....ie 3rd floor coffee stain at 6pm fresh water 200ft away.
This subject can be directly related to all the Snow pricing debate.
Shouldn't we all just be charging by the hour with a trip charge included?
How do convince your customer you're worth 150 per hour to vacuum?

 

[Brian R]

No minimum. I charge what it takes to make money...Even if that means charging a little less to make a little more.

With that said...Dallas area- I like to stay around $75...Sacramento area is $100

I WILL run deals for new customers to give some incentive to do more work...See the "charging less to make more" above.

It certainly depends on distance and some other things as well.

Image is very important when discussing your price with a customer...Even if that is the image in your voice on the phone. If you're a bit better spoken, you may earn a bit more money. If you're "look lady, do you want your F'n carpets cleaned or what?" type...Then you may not command a higher price.

Just Sayin.

 

[Ken Snow]

$49.90 min within our normal service area. It goes up for some outlying areas to $75 or more but they really have to be quite a ways away to be higher. We really have very few min jobs done, most people want more than 1 room or 1 piece of furn cleaned.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Desk Jockey]

$148.00 but I think we need to raise it. We get too many minimums and if there is no add on or upsell it makes it tough to operate at that price.

$180.00? :shock:

Does it change based on what, where, and how much, and who,or PIA factor....ie 3rd floor coffee stain at 6pm fresh water 200ft away.

8)
Yes above ground level is an up charge, after hours up charge, hose length not normally but I probably would over your 200-ft.

We will bend over backwards for a client, however along with special job requirements come special pricing.

 

[Dolly Llama]

So what is your minimum Charge? Don't lie.

I won't lie, cause at this stage in my life, i don't GAS what anyone else thinks

"in general" $89 min for res , $72 for empties

Is it the same for a new Customer as it is for a 15 year Client.

not the same for our "good" regulars.
matter of fact, some of them may get a very minimal , or no charge at all "depending" on what, where and how long they can wait

Does it change based on what, where, and how much, and who,or PIA factor....ie 3rd floor coffee stain at 6pm fresh water 200ft away.

yep..see above

Shouldn't we all just be charging by the hour with a trip charge included?

we "sorta kinda" do actually .
Anyone that's been doing this for awhile has a pretty good idea of their production times .
Ask the right questions and they should be able to nail down most of the "variables" related to time needed too.
if not, they're probably too stOOpit to be in biz anyway

if you mean specifically minimum charge or spotting jobs , there are "intangibles" involved and less cut and dried .
example; one of our regular custys called me a week after we did her carpets .
She knocked over a candle and spilled wax .
I took care of it for free .
the $40 or $50 i lost on that job has been made up ten fold in loyalty and referrals

How do convince your customer you're worth 150 per hour to vacuum?

welp, tha'd be a tough one if that was ALL you were doing .
I'm also "pretty sure" I could cut your throat on pricing, make a great profit and take all but your most fiercely loyal custys



..L.T.A.

 

[bob vawter]

$44.95

 

[The Great Oz]

Strictly information, not a commentary on anyone's way of doing business:

So what is your minimum Charge?

$125. The tech has the option of dropping it to $95 if he can get the problem solved in 20 minutes. He will always suggest doing something extra to give the customer their money's worth if they have one easy to remove spot.

Is it the same for a new Customer as it is for a 15 year Client.

Yes.

Does it change based on what, where, and how much, and who,or PIA factor....ie 3rd floor coffee stain at 6pm fresh water 200ft away.

Not on "PIA" factors, but after 5PM minimums increase to $175.

Shouldn't we all just be charging by the hour with a trip charge included?

Maybe, but hourly punishes efficent techs and and ineficient techs punish customers. That being said, quotes can deviate from published pricing because the estimator can see that the job will take more or less time than normal and adjust accordingly.

How do convince your customer you're worth 150 per hour to vacuum?

If our desired gross per-hour rate were $150, I guess the portion of the job that required vacuuming would be charged at $150. Wouldn't discuss the per-hour rate with the customer.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Oz is that a one man crew or two?

 

[The Great Oz]

One man.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We could do that with one man.


Ron was this a minimum about spotting or cleaning? Or is there a difference in how you charge? We are generally a 2-man crew unless it were for some spotting.


Especially if we had recently cleaned for a client (with in 30-days) and they had a spill or something tracked on to the carpet. I could do $95.00 with 1-man.

 

[Brian R]

I'm not sure my minimum would change from 1 man crew to 2 man crew...As long as I had the work to support it.

Instead of doing 4 jobs a day on a 1 many crew you could do 6 or 7 with a 2 man crew.....Minimum jobs....maybe more.

Time can be cut in half with a 2 man crew on a minimum job....As the job get's larger it's still faster with 2 guys.

 

[Ron K]

Richard you ask what kind of job? Does that matter? A truck..a guy... and stuff. Isn't it all just Time? A small spot. A small room. What I'm getting at is the big boys, have it figured out. "yes mamm we have a truck in your area almost everyday" Well us small OO's. don't have that luxury. I guess the answer to my own question is charge enough to make it worth your while. Well I'm off to do two small jobs after a day of washing rugs. Oh yea MeAt I'm sure you do great work but I know you'd be out of business if I moved to Ohio and charged more than you.

 

[Noidios]

$70 for vacant rentals
$100 for residential

 

[Chris A]

Oh yea MeAt I'm sure you do great work but I know you'd be out of business if I moved to Ohio and charged more than you.

I'm pretty sure meAt would put YOUZ outta business, capisce? I did one of his student rentals last week and had to put 4 new tires on my van over the weekend thathurts

 

[GeneMiller]

50 but if a regular and i can just swing by sometimes nothing. its the best advertizing.

gene

 

[Able 1]

75.00 for a regular, 80.00 for a new custy is what I like to stay with. Sometimes I will do it cheaper if I have nothing else going on and they are a real good customer.

Now for an account that is worth 20-30,000 I will do some free work once in a while.

 

[Gary Taylor]

I used to worry about a mimnium and what customers may think, until I realized what my appliance repair guy charges and my plumber. I have no worries now what I charge.

 

[ruff]

$169.00 for easy set up.
$219 for difficult set up (3rd floor and up or any job with a portable.)

No difference if just spotting or up to 300 square feet.

A good client that has been with us for a while and cleans regularly, I'll drop the price if something happened close to our previous cleaning or if it is something really small.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I lowered mine, raised my per sq ft price, went to estimates only, and my income has doubled.

Haven't had a day off in 5 weeks.

 

[Warren Wallace]

$125.00 here

 

[Ron Werner]

150 min,
I will adjust depending on what needs to be done. Nothing under 100 though.
Its not JUST the vacuuming :roll: , truck time, travel, other expenses/overhead

 

[KevinD]

This thread takes me back (did I just say that) to when I first started (some 30+ years ago).
Had a 20 dollar minimum but lowered it to 18 dollars because 20 seemed to high.

But you could buy 30 gallons of gas back then for 18 dollars.

 

[Brian R]

First job I ever went on with my Step Dad back in 79 was $12 Dollars :shock:

It was a learning experience.

 

[adamh]

$95 min. fee. Its not worth driving anywhere for less.

 

[John Watson]

Just raised ours to $150, Guy who does my work started to whine.....

 

[ACE]

My Min charge is only $70.00 and I still get resistance from price shoppers. I am going to raise it soon for residential customers.

I think the min charge depends on how big of an area each crew services. If all the jobs for one truck are within five or ten minutes of each other the min charge could be very small.

 

[ACE]

$44.95

How long ago was that?

 

[Desk Jockey]

20-minutes ago of course Lamar was 420!

:mrgreen:

 

[ACE]

8) Must be nice. I hope to get off the truck someday and be a dirty old man full time like Bob and Joe.