Whats it worth!?

[Ron Werner]

THought I'd start a thread on this topic.
We've talked a LOT about how much someone should charge, knowing our expenses etc. Lately, I've had someone complained my price was too high, someone had a guy quibble over a $35 travel charge, and theres a thread about whole house packaging.

Excluding for now the other cleaning methods and just discuss HWE,
and if we use the Standard for HWE as a baseline
groom
vac
pretreat
groom
rinse
groom

What is this worth? I'm not asking how much we can charge, that depends on a lot of local and economical variables. We've got guys charging from $100 to $500 for a house. But what is it worth? If we can establish a "worth", then if someone wants to do ALL steps, he can determine better how to charge. If someone wants to do less steps, they'll know better how much lower they can go.

What say yee?

 

[roro]

groom
vac
pretreat
groom
rinse
groom

What is this worth?

Not trying to be a smartarse Ron but to me it's worth only what someone is prepared to pay.
Then it is only you that can determine whether you are prepared to put in that effort to extract the worth that your customer has put on it.
How else can you see it or am I missing the point you are trying to make?

roro

 

[Ron Werner]

Yes, move beyond that.
I understand about what the market will bear and about what someone is willing to pay. Thats where I'd like to take this AFTER we discover what its worth. Think of it like determining the Standard for pricing like we've done with the actual procedure.

If we start with a percentage, ie how much is each step worth by percentage of the total price.
ie is the first pregrooming worth 5%
is the prevacuuming worth 20%
is the rinsing worth 50%
etc

 

[XTREME1]

a lot of factors Ron people have different expense on machines, chemicals tools etc plus a bunch of tools do a wide range of things so the break down would be diffeent let say on vacuuming quickly with an electric broom than a pile lifter. If I were to indulge your percentages on what I do and it is a guessing game

vacuum 20%
Prescrub 35%
Rinse 45%

not sure why your grooimg the carpet so much, is it going to a wedding

 

[Desk Jockey]

Vac 10%
Precondition 20%
HWE Rinse 50%
Groom 5%
Move Furniture 15%
block & tab

 

[Ken Snow]

$15-$75 a room for normal size rooms.
Very subjective question on so many levels and we are not our customers. It only matters what our customers feel it is worth or what we can convince them of its worth.

Is a Capital Grill steak worth 2+ times an Outback Steak or 100+ times a White Castle hamburger? Yes and no, it all depends on the value the client puts on it and they can all do well serving those that find the value proposition right for them.

 

[Royal Man]

I think Ken nailed it.

All a company can do is instill value.

Most companies prefer to find value in things other that price.

Some clients may choose a company because they have the lowest price and other clients will seek out the highest priced company in their area.

Many ways to skin this cat.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Outback did a remodel of their store here this winter. They also got new dishware. Funny how the smaller plates fit the smaller portions. :x

Instead of raising their prices they decided to give you less and hope you didn't notice. :shock:

So the Capital Grill is now worth 4X more than Outback!

 

[Ken Snow]

LOL Richard! I just went to Outback last Saturday and 6 of us got stuffed out on appetizers steaks, shrimp etc. and the bill came to under 200 with drinks. At Capital grill it would have been $600+ and I would not have enjoyed the aptmostphere as well, nor left with as much gas :mrgreen:

 

[XTREME1]

When I was younger I dated a gorgeous model who was in love with so I wanted to show how great I was and her dad took everyone to Mortons in Boston for dinner and at the end I said I would pick up the check for the 6 of us $950

2 weeks later she left me for a black guy and then a month later left him for a woman

 

[Desk Jockey]

With my family (6) I can't do to many places for under $100.00. We use to really like Outback, their steamed veggies and Chicken on the Barbie are excellent.....but now much smaller. Even the appetizers are smaller and they took breaded mushrooms off the menu.

Old Chicago has taken their place lately, about the same price but I don't feel like they are getting to me as much. :mrgreen:



Greg can you blame her, which you you rather have a woman or a guy that looks like you.

Don't answer I know, you picked yourself! :mrgreen:

 

[XTREME1]

I have created several lesbians
I am as close to a caveman as the world can get

 

[Ron Werner]

$15-$75 a room for normal size rooms.
Very subjective question on so many levels and we are not our customers. It only matters what our customers feel it is worth or what we can convince them of its worth.

Is a Capital Grill steak worth 2+ times an Outback Steak or 100+ times a White Castle hamburger? Yes and no, it all depends on the value the client puts on it and they can all do well serving those that find the value proposition right for them.

Ken's pegged the issue in another market. And not to digress on Greg's love history
The Price is subjective, the worth of that steak is the same, THEN you add on not the perceived value of the steak, but rather the perceived value of the experience and atmosphere created around the steak creating a environment where people will pay different prices.

SO in our case, HWE by Ken, or by Stanley, or by Big Mike, or by Mikey, all has the same worth,

BTW all that grooming is listed in the Standard for Carpet Cleaning; THAT IS the procedure.

But then each company puts their own spin on it, they put their own value on it based on how much they want to/need to make, how much effort they are willing to put into each step, or even which steps they will do and which they won't.
Indulge the choice of words, I may not be expressing it right, but do you get the idea?

 

[XTREME1]

why does ken get credit did you read my post

 

[Royal Man]

Companies can only instill value with the way they structure their company and the service experience they offer from the first call from the prospect all the way to the after care client contact/follow-up.

But, it's the clients that make the final value judgement.

It doesn't matter what WE think about theoretical value.

The clients that make the call.

 

[Burtz]

big deal Ron

you got your ass handed to you on a plate and your butt is still sore

get over it

 

[XTREME1]

I would love to be in Rons area because his custys would learnafoorable quality carpet cleaning

 

[Royal Man]

Ron,

You really...... value your service. Nothing wrong with that!


Maybe you should re-address what value proposition(s) you express to your prospects and clients. So, they will value your service greatly as well. If done right they will do this before they even meet you.

You should be able to condense it into one or two sentences and then you can express it simply with every customer contact.

Mine is that I let my client do my bragging. I have the most positive client reviews in my area by far. (It is a USP and a value proposition that builds in trust.)

They know this before they even call me.

Which really puts the ball in my court from the start.


What do (Can)you do?

 

[Burtz]

ask yourself this

would you pay your prices to have your own carpet cleaned

would you see the value of having some guy there with a vacuum for two hours

 

[Ken Snow]

Sorry Ron if I didn't respond how you intended. I personally just don't feel there is any purpose to us putting a value on it- we don't matter. All that matters in any business selling any product or service is that the customer feels what they are getting is worth the price being asked. Everything about the product, the experience & marketing leading up to the sale can enhance or support that, but the marketplace consumers decide if the "worth" is there.

 

[Ken Snow]

ask yourself this

would you pay your prices to have your own carpet cleaned

would you see the value of having some guy there with a vacuum for two hours

Not sure why you posted the above or why it matters. It is what Ron's customer will pay that is important- he may or may not be a prospect for his own service.

 

[Burtz]

no shit

my guess he would hire Nation wide to clean his own carpets

 

[Ron Werner]

Sorry Greg, credit to you too.
I get so many cleaners telling me I'm charging too much but then when I compare what they are doing, they are basic cleaners, prespray rinse, MAYbe a scrub, MAYbe move furniture. And they charge upwards of 40cents/sf or around $50/room (25 cents/sf). Well shit, there were cleaners charging 25 cents back inthe EIGHTIES!!, TWENTY YEARS ago. SO is that all its worth?? 20yr old pricing?? Is that all its worth to you??

What chews at me Alex is not this idiot that only wanted a lick and spit cleaning, I get calls from guys like that all the time, my mistake was not prequalifying him. Its when I encounter someone that had a PROFESSIONAL that was in and out of the house in an hour, carpet LOOKED ok for a day or two, but they really weren't satisfied with the cleaning, and they're calling me to FIX the problem.
They paid GOOD money for this fool to come in and pretend to clean and got NOTHING of value. Now they are paying me twice as much as the last idiot, to do what he, as a "professional" should have done in the first place!

Here's the thing that sticks in my craw yet as well. YOU say YOUR cleaning is WORTH $x, and your customers pay it. YOU tell ME that I'm bullshitting customers with my vacuuming and all the time it takes me and that I'm charging too much. So to you, what I do isn't "worth" it.
So NO product or service has any inherent "value", only what you can "sell" it for?

You talk about the vacuuming like every place needs 2hrs, YOU really should get over it. I give it what it needs, if it needs 30 min, and hour, 2 hours, thats the effort I put in. Are you willing to do what it takes or do just do what you do and thats it?
Love to give you my vacuum for a week and after seeing what comes out then tell me if you can go back to "basic" cleaning? I wish I could go back, I could clean as fast as you and tell people its clean, charge them less and get less hassles over price, and go home with a cheq in hand. It'd be so much easier to clean that way, IF I didn't know what I was leaving behind. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Dolly Llama]

if it needs 30 min, and hour, 2 hours, thats the effort I put in.

let me preface by saying, i don't care what you charge or how you do it.
It's your bid'ness, not mine
but I'm curious.....
if you charge a flat fiddy cent-o-ft.... Mrs Immaculate's carpet that took 10 minutes to vac got ripped off compared to Mrs Furball's dawg house that took 2 hours to get last fleck of dog dander, no???


..L.T.A.

 

[John Buxton]

You also have to look at your market, your demographics, etc. We have all done the same quality work for 3 different people with 3 different opinions of how our price reflects. In my market Stanley Steemer is the one to price shop. But there are cleaners that get .30 just for protector (or at least used to).

In todays market, high quality work is a given, but price is also an issue at least with me it is. I used to like Craig Jaspers thought. He had a high quality company and a bait and price point company, both made money.

 

[Ron Werner]

if it needs 30 min, and hour, 2 hours, thats the effort I put in.

let me preface by saying, i don't care what you charge or how you do it.
It's your bid'ness, not mine
but I'm curious.....
if you charge a flat fiddy cent-o-ft.... Mrs Immaculate's carpet that took 10 minutes to vac got ripped off compared to Mrs Furball's dawg house that took 2 hours to get last fleck of dog dander, no???


..L.T.A.

I see where you're coming from, so are the "easier" jobs "worth" less, or am I losing money on the Furball's house? Gets back once again to what's it worth.

Keep in mind for inflation. Dollar values halves every 10yrs. Charging 20cents/sf in 1980, 40cents in 1990, 80cents in 2000, 1.60 in 2010. And we're barely clearing 50cents.
Gas has gone from 30cents/litre to 1.30/litre (or your price/gal)
A chocolate bar has gone from 25cents to a buck PLus!
ANd there are still cleaners charging 1980's prices and saying they are making profit!??
Average 1200sf house (600sf of carpet), $120. Clean 3 per day (2hrs each), $360. You'd be rich in 1980, today you're breaking even. We look at this and think that'd be great to make that!

the customer has really devalued our work.

 

[Royal Man]

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/[/url]

 

[Ron Werner]

What cost $.20 in 1980 would cost $0.52 in 2010.

You have it inflated by 3 times@ $1.60.

In the 80s many here were going $.10

That would be less than $.30 today.


With the world in turmoil today before long it will take a wheelbarrow of money to get a room cleaned soon.


http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

Going by THAT calculator, a 25cent candy bar would only cost 65cents,
Not exactly accurate, is it? The more accurate calc is to HALF the value every 10 yrs. Gives you a more accurate picture of what your dollar is actually worth. Or is the govt selling it for more value?

GUys that charged 25cents back then should be at 65cents. AT 20 cents, should be at 52cents.
There are STILL cleaners charging less than 30cents, some even 20cents ($50 rooms = 20cents)