Who offers only 1 service and only charges 1 price?

[Brian R]

You guys are killin me
Just because it has worked for 50 years doesn't mean that it works best or you cant' do better.

Each and every job has a different need for attention.
Charge accordingly.
This bull for one price is miscomunicated I think.

Charge to get it clean
If it needs scrubbin, charge for it. Give you price to the Custy and it's up to you to tell them why.

Clean is clean and there aint no cleaner.
If a trashed out job is done and a mildly dirty job is done at the same square footage why would you charge the same?

It's like going to the doctor and having a kidney removed or a hang nail. healthy is healthy...do you charge the same price?

 

[XTREME1]

if you were 1.75 yrs in and didn't have a huge base what would you do?

 

[B&BGaryC]

I do the ten step cleaning and call it a "Standard Cleaning" I compare it side by side with what I call "Brand X" which is a two step cleaning. Spray and suck.

I also offer a "Deluxe Cleaning" which is an eleven step cleaning. I swap a step and add a step. I swap rake agitation with a 175 floor machine and add post pad.

Because my standard cleaning includes an inspection, vacuuming, custom preconditioner, deodorizer, agitation, extraction and neutralization, spotting, drying and grooming I don't feel like I'm baiting or switching anything. If the carpet has been maintained there is no reason for me to break out the floor machine for pre-scrub or post pad. I only sell the Deluxe if I think they need it.

I offer two protectors. Teflon and Teflon with acid dye blockers and free warranty. Beyond that I will work up whatever custom deodorizing or specialty spotting quote they may need.

 

[Jim Nelson]

I do one price for cleaning one price for teflon.

 

[Royal Man]

Are you asking if anyone charges for

Clean

Cleaner

and

Cleanest?



IMO, a client calls a carpet cleaner to get his/her carpets CLEAN.

It would be like going in for a oil change.
$20 drain 1/2 the oil and refill no filter.
$25 drain 1/2 the oil and change filter.
$30 complete drain and filter.

They do charge for better grades of oil, better filter, other fluid replacement, wiper
replacement ect....

Most businesses have some kind of up-sale

 

[Loren Egland]

Truck Mounted 'Hot Water Extraction' 'Steam' 'Hydro-Cleaning' is my lone method, though with different attachments, chemicals, temperatures, etc. as needed.

One square foot price, then add protection or maybe a little deordorizing or upholstery cleaning.

In my 39th year now. That's the way I have always done it. Hard to change now.

Loren Egland

P.S. Maybe I should charge more for higher temperatures. If customer wants 160 degrees I can charge less than 200 degrees which would be less than 240 degrees. What cha think? :wink:

 

[Becker]

They do charge for better grades of oil, better filter, other fluid replacement, wiper
replacement ect....

Gunna sell an extra fine, but if you are selling clean carpet then clean the carpet.

Did you not read my post.

Partial oil change, a bit more of an oil change, and a complete oil change.



Tire repair $20.00
But only 10 psi, want that the job done right? Another $5.00 to fill to proper psi.

 

[MikeD00019]

24 hrs a week becks. They work less I am sure but I have them bookd for 24 hrs worth the work

I actually have some sound advice for you and green one. Concentrate on what is wrong with your business rather than what is wrong with my business because I have a guarantee for you guys. I have more money than you ever will in your entire lives no matter how successful you become and I didn't make it all myself. I nver have to worry about my pricing because I am capitalized well enough to take a hit once in a while

wow, got a good idea of his type of personality...

 

[XTREME1]

 

[Becker]

Thanks Mike,

I missed that..

I'm better than you are!

 

[XTREME1]

My wife and I are a team who have been earning for years.

The reason I made that comment is people criticizing my business and it is true.

 

[Becker]

Not about the money remember Greg.

For it not being about the money you sure bring up the subject of your money a lot!

Circle Greg.. You talk in Circles.

Some one sent me some quotes from another message board somewhere, she you promote your $99.00 4 room special all the time, and how low priced you are.
Must not be a carpet cleaning message board.

 

[Rex Tyus]

I missed the post leading to this thread so I really shouldn't chime in. But i will.

Time is money. More time more money. We often get hung up the price you charge. What really matter is is your daily average. If you do shit work that average will peak then taper off. If you meet the customers expectation and a fair value is agreed upon all is good.

Becker, I usually agree with you but not this time. The oil change scenario nor the flat tire is a good one. There are many different upsells on an oil change. One inludes vacuuming your car. My dumb ass step son even paid $80 for some sort of crank case flush once. Now the aurgument could be made that you really need that flush. But me, I just want my friggin oil changed.

As far as the tire goes you can have it plugged for a bout 10 bucks or you can have it patched for 25 to 30.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I missed the post leading to this thread so I really shouldn't chime in. But i will.

Time is money. More time more money. We often get hung up the price you charge. What really matter is is your daily average. If you do shit work that average will peak then taper off. If you meet the customers expectation and a fair value is agreed upon all is good.

Becker, I usually agree with you but not this time. The oil change scenario nor the flat tire is a good one. There are many different upsells on an oil change. One inludes vacuuming your car. My dumb ass step son even paid $80 for some sort of crank case flush once. Now the aurgument could be made that you really need that flush. But me, I just want my friggin oil changed.

As far as the tire goes you can have it plugged for a bout 10 bucks or you can have it patched for 25 to 30.

It stems from another post. He offers a low price and when he gets there he says they need the "prescrub or it wont come clean". He says he does it on every job, because he says that is the best way clean carpets. So we mention that is kinda a bait and switch marketing. He also said his low price is subpar and not very good and that we are all hacks because we dont prescrub every job. You can catch up on the other post. So we just mention he should not offer the "subpar" service and go with the superior cleaning all the time and charge for it.
Then it went downhill from there.

 

[XTREME1]

promoting my special is bad?

keep googling me Becker. I am beginning to think your queer for me

 

[Rex Tyus]

I don't see anything wrong with offering a different price for additional work. If everything is on the up and up. I do think if one is marketing unusually low prices just to get in the house then pressure the up sell it would be bait and switch. I knew i shouldn't have gotten in to this.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

promoting my special is bad?

keep googling me Becker. I am beginning to think your queer for me

Just be sure to tell them when your promoting your special that you think its "subpar" and they should pay more than the $99 if they want it really clean. :roll:

:mrgreen:

 

[Becker]

Rex I agree with what you are saying.

What it boils down to is.

Caller responds to a coupon price.

Tech, Sez, yes I can clean those rooms for $99.00 as the coupon sez, but if you want them really clean I could charge you an extra $30.00

I have no problem with up sales.
All services do it.

I've never went in for a straight oil change to discover I had to pay extra to have all the oil drained and replaced with a new filter. Yes, If I want them to do extra things like replace wiper blades, or flush something, then I understand that is extra.
I also understand I will have to pay extra for the oil change because my van, or truck holds more oil than the coupon allows. ( because it sez so )

But when you advertise a cleaning for a set price, and the advertiser knows they will down play the couponed service and try to sell something like prescrubbing for more money. That is bait and switch.


IMO, clean is clean...

Not, somewhat clean, then really clean.

For the record, I don't care what anyone sells their service for.

You can do a whole house for $99.00 or $999.00. That is the freedom of owning your own business.
What I have a problem with is, companies that advertise a low price, but push a method that is not included, because the advertised method will not do the job.

Honestly, I don't think Greg is intentional using a practice of Bait and Switch, otherwise the upchrage would be much more.
I feel Greg wants to do good work for his clients, and does do good work for his clients, as most of us on the boards do.
But if he feels prescrubbing is a required process to get the carpets clean, then include it as the standard cleaning.

Keep in mind. I'm only talking cleaning. Not stain protector, or deodorizing, or even special stain removal that requires expensive products, or a lot of labor.

 

[Becker]

Oh Greg,

I don't have to Google you.

I don't know if the quotes sent to me are even real.

I pretty sure on email I got was completely false.


So, where are the pics of you white van?

I've been known to Google cleaners vans online.. Get ideas for set ups, letting etc. Sometimes even late at night..

Van porn.

 

[steve frasier]

I swap rake agitation with a 175 floor machine and add post pad.

not to bag on you Gary but if you are gonna take the time to scrub a carpet, it seems ass backwards to me to bust my ass using a rake when I have a rotary out in the truck especially if I had a shower feed on the rotary then I can eliminate prespraying the carpet

I think I would charge the customer the same price just because using the rotary is so much easier and faster, talk about removal of steps

not really what you would call work smarter not harder

what do you do if you charge her for the scrub and then it still doesn't come clean, what does the bait & switch guy do then

 

[joey895]

or even special stain removal that requires expensive products, or a lot of labor.

If charging to pre-scrub a carpet is bait and switch because clean is clean then certainly charging to remove stains or spots would also be bait and switch because after all clean is clean and a spot left is NOT clean. You can't have it both ways. Stain removal requires a lot of labor well so does pre-scrubbing.

Personally I have no problem with charging for either as long as it's up front, meaning the customer knows about it before the work is started.

As far as your oil change scenario. You leaving spots would be the equivalent to the oil change place only putting in 5 quarts instead of 6. It wouldn't blow your engine up but it wouldn't be right either.

 

[Becker]

LOL,

You do make a good point.

But no matter how much scrubbing you do that Kool-aid stain is not coming out.

What is the difference between a spot, an stain and soil?
What is repair vs cleaning?
I advertise koolaid stain removal as an additional service such as deodorizing, and protector.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I swap rake agitation with a 175 floor machine and add post pad.

not to bag on you Gary but if you are gonna take the time to scrub a carpet, it seems ass backwards to me to bust my ass using a rake when I have a rotary out in the truck especially if I had a shower feed on the rotary then I can eliminate prespraying the carpet

I think I would charge the customer the same price just because using the rotary is so much easier and faster, talk about removal of steps

not really what you would call work smarter not harder

what do you do if you charge her for the scrub and then it still doesn't come clean, what does the bait & switch guy do then

You're telling me carrying a 2 lb rake into a house and running it over the high traffic area in the room for 60 seconds is just as easy as carrying a one hundred pound floor machine inside, setting it up, pre-scrubbing the floor, pulling the cord out and rolling it into the next room? If the carpet doesn't need scrubbed you just work the pre-spray into the pile where it needs it and move on.

More importantly:
Why subject a carpet that is still under warranty to a devise that can void the warranty?

 

[B&BGaryC]

what do you do if you charge her for the scrub and then it still doesn't come clean?

Hasn't happened yet. If there is damage to the carpet I note it in the pre-inspection. Not only that, I get down on the floor and explain it to her. "As you can see here the twist is coming out of the yarn in this high traffic area and it's starting to pill, and as you can see here the yarn still has it's twist and it's standing upright. My cleaning will take the dirt and soil out right here just as it will over here, but you will still be able to see where the carpet is damaged. As for this spot here, it kind of worries me. These can be difficult to remove, and I want to make sure you know that there is no difference between the Deluxe and Standard cleaning as far as spot removal goes. With either option you choose I will do my best to use industry leading techniques and spotting solutions to remove any cleanable spot."

Maybe I'm just lucky. One of these days I'll scrub the daylights out of a carpet and it's still look like a turd. I suppose I would have to give a refund.

 

[XTREME1]

I don't ever charge for stain removal.

And becker I will get you the pics this weekend I won't be seeing the van til possibly monday. It gets parked and garaged at my Cape House. Since I mostly do residential I don't get to see it but once a week.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

It all comes down to how you are marketing. If you offer a price and then go out there to *every job* and say it wont come as clean unless you pay me to prescrub, then that is a form of bait and switch. Greg state that is how he rolls and that is why he is being picked on. Greg this is tough love, we are just trying to help. I'd hate to see you on the next 20/20 episode regarding this topic.

If you advertise *extra charge may apply* for prescubbing and specialty stain removal than you are OK...

Bottonline is if you feel that pre scrubbing is needed on every job that is ok, then do it just, market yourself like that and *be* that high end cleaner. I think I understand what you are trying to do, i feel it just needs a few kinks worked out.

:mrgreen:

 

[Curtis Pennington]

Bronze pkg-prespray and hwe
Silver pkg- prespray hwe and post pad
Gold pkg- prespray, hwe ,post pad ,scotchguard and groom

Red and rust stains extra

we do suggest certain pkgs on location pending on the situation but offering different cleanings is the way to go ..for us.

 

[Becker]

Wow, if you are not charging extra for kool aid type stains then you really are cheap.

I did one last week, no less than 10 red stains.

Ya think I'm gunna do that for free?

 

[XTREME1]

I just explain I feel that is the best they can get. I am not baiting and switching if someone said they don't want it I won't charge them. Call it what you want. I see $7 as a reasonable charge.

Becker I never charge for stains, spots, etc. well I can't say never because I have charged for addtl spotters that I have used on heavily spotted carpets but again that is up to the customer, each job is different.

My prices are what they are and they are layed out on the price sheet. Referrals call specifically because of the prescrub but I am not going to work double time for the same money.

If someone wants there 4 rooms cleaned for $99 I have no problem with that, do I explain the benefit of the prescrubs absolutely and does basivcly everyone I explain it to make an educated decision and purchase.....YES

I don't care what I make per job, so add ons are no big thing. I count at the end of the week for the most part

 

[ErikG]

Helen and I offer 1 service ------ The Best

We charge One price _______ The Most we can

There I answered your question without beating around the bush!!!!

What do you do for that one price Vacum, prespray, scrub, extract , protect . What are charging a area rate or how many cents for your one price , just curious....