Who offers only 1 service and only charges 1 price?

[Ron Werner]

Dusty was often telling me I need to offer a "budget" cleaning so that when I get those move-out calls I can still make money. Question is: DO I really make money at those lower prices? The answer is NO. So if I lose money on one job, I can't make it up in volume, I would just lose money in more jobs.
Also, being an owner/operator, I find it really difficult to go into one place, move furniture, prevac, spot clean, all that work you can see in my vids, and charge .55/sf
and then go into another place, start skipping steps that I KNOW would get the carpet cleaner, and charge less. I can't "switch" myself like that.
I offer ONE cleaning. CLEAN. I do the best I can at every job I'm at and even if I get talked into doing a "quick" clean, I look at it as a charity job, and I still do what I KNOW needs to be done.

If you can get a carpet "clean" with a rotovac plus a few other steps, great.
If you can do a BETTER job than just the RV, then do it, and quit pissing around.

Charge for what you do and if they don't want that high a priced job, can you really afford to offer less? You company has its reputation and thats IT. Once that's gone, may as well change names.
I know if I do a half-assed job, I can't guarantee my work, and I KNOW someone will ask, Who was the cleaner? I can't afford to have my name attached to half-assed work. Thats where I separate and position myself from the competition. People hire me and will pay extra because they KNOW I will put the work into getting it clean.

SOmeone should start a company called Half-Assed Carpet Cleaning. We'll clean one half and charge more for the other!! You have to wipe yourself.

 

[Curtis Pennington]

Its not lowering your price dorks its adding,scotch,post padding and grooming easy upsales on the menu for your custy to pick out.,,,no I dont groom rednecks down here like the "V".

 

[XTREME1]

I am taking advantage of the economy. There are plenty of people who can not afford $100.00 a room Ron. Do they not desrve to have their carpets cleaned?
My steps on my truck are
1. Vac
2. prespray
3. rake in and treat spots (or prescrub with 175)
4. extract (rinse with all fiber)
5. Groom

what is wrong with that?

Prescrub is $7.00 a room more because it is a restorative clean

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Greg is right someone has to take care of the lower income clients. I wouldnt want to, but its nice seeing someone doing it.

 

[bob vawter]

HEY...that's what I'M for!

 

[XTREME1]

They aren't lower income or low priced homes but money is tight for alot of people. The millionaires are have less cash flow now than the lower income people.

Higher expenses in a down market it is tough for the upper middle class

 

[renegade_cowboy]

HEY...that's what I'M for!

Well bob he is taking over, so you are gonna have to raise you prices.

 

[Larry B]

I am taking advantage of the economy. There are plenty of people who can not afford $100.00 a room Ron. Do they not desrve to have their carpets cleaned?
My steps on my truck are
1. Vac
2. prespray
3. rake in and treat spots (or prescrub with 175)
4. extract (rinse with all fiber)
5. Groom

what is wrong with that?

Prescrub is $7.00 a room more because it is a restorative clean

Since I cant get BAWB to do it at ghetto pricing, will you come clean my carpets for $25.00 a room?

 

[bob vawter]

Come closer...listen!
Until further notice we can jus assume that the rich jus AIN"T gonna get up off no money...and it's left to the poor retired pensioner and welfare receiptiant that gets a REGULAR CHECK to buy stuff!

 

[XTREME1]

If you were closer Larry I would be delighted to come clean your carpets. I will guarantee you would be amazed at how clean I get them and my system top to bottom is awesome.

There may wind up being hoses laid out near the front door though because I don't roll up the hose while I work I only use what I need and pull it off at 50 ft increments

 

[Mike Draper]

[quote="Matt Murdock":217vrf24]true and I let the customer know and make the decision

Yeah but you dont tell them until you get there, after you already baited them. Do you understand that is what we are talking about...

:mrgreen:[/quote:217vrf24]


When you buy a car, do you just buy the very nicest, high end one available? Or do you look at diffrerent packages and decide what best fits your budget?

 

[Mike Draper]

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.

I hope you never start an oil shop, you'll go out of business pretty fast. Every single lube center out their sells packages from basic to the best. Our entire economy runs on this principle, it's the American Capitalist way. People are always going to want more, more, more. That's why communism has always failed. Packages are everywhere, in almost all products and marketing.

 

[seahorsecc]

Hello everyone. I reply to pricing,I would like some feedback.
The way I feel I should market my service is to do the best job I can given the usage of state-of-the industry techniques and to also not forget about the other side of the carpet cleaning equaiton----dry time, I use airmovers on every job. I am also certified in Water rest. so I communicate to the customer that I will be brining that knowlege to the job in order to get the DAMP carpet as dry as possible before I leave. I make sure to mentionto them that the airmovers will be the last thing that I will be loading onto the van, so if they would like me to hanga roung a bit longer for the usage of them, a cocktail or two might work in their favor.

I try to communicate to my customers that the CLEANING of the carpet is a foregone conclusion, I am there to clean of course,but to respect there humble abode and the contents therein. I want them to be customers for 10-15 years,not only one time.

 

[Derek]

as to the original question, i do.

well of course protectant is extra...that's a gimme.

 

[Greenie]

Its not lowering your price dorks its adding,scotch,post padding and grooming easy upsales on the menu for your custy to pick out.,,,no I dont groom rednecks down here like the "V".

Curtis would starve out here, plenty want nothing to do with scotch, post padding, and grooming, they just want Clean carpet, and would hold you to your initial price.
You would probably just be better off to come in 50% higher and not upsell anything cept maybe Scotch, that is a legit upsale and people understand.

As for value pricing, I'd stay away from $100 jobs, they will eat your lunch in the long run, find a way to hook some $300 jobs or it's gonna be a loooong road to retirement.

 

[Curtis Pennington]

Its not lowering your price dorks its adding,scotch,post padding and grooming easy upsales on the menu for your custy to pick out.,,,no I dont groom rednecks down here like the "V".

Curtis would starve out here, plenty want nothing to do with scotch, post padding, and grooming, they just want Clean carpet, and would hold you to your initial price.
You would probably just be better off to come in 50% higher and not upsell anything cept maybe Scotch, that is a legit upsale and people understand.

As for value pricing, I'd stay away from $100 jobs, they will eat your lunch in the long run, find a way to hook some $300 jobs or it's gonna be a loooong road to retirement.

Thats why you give them a choice..the only benefit with post padding is which I tell them is post padding cuts your dry time in half and helps reduces wickbacks. In other words I clean as well with one method but here is your benefit doing it this way if you EXPLAIN , the additional method they see it and will chose it.............................................scotch and grooming goes together.

people like a menu.

You couldnt pay me to move to the rAiNBOw state.

 

[Wayne Miller]

We want repeats and referrals because they're delighted with the cleaning, not the price. And, we wanna make a living without having to upsell every job. One price, one standard service inclusive of all the usual and customary like basic furniture moving, spot removal (but not necessarily specialized processes like red stains, large rust stains, etc.), grooming, 2 to 3 hour dry times, yada, yada, yada.

Consistency from one job to the next is a big thing, too. Seems like that's a little hard to control if Mrs. Piffleton's pocketbook is the final word on how thorough the standard service is going to be.

 

[Guest]

I am with Jim; I do same; I set prices; My Powermate does scrubbing; so unless I am doing cgd i use Powermate; but my secret recipe does real good losening dirt and grease.

 

[XTREME1]

the only upcharge is prescrub with a 175 if needed. I have a great customer retention rate. No one said don't get it clean but there is a difference between a restorative clean and cleaning and I don't charge for red spots or rust stains or urine stains I don't have any of these upcharges that should be included in a carpet cleaning That is the scam. If the carpet has alot of stains they can usually be removed with a full prescrub and i treat the stain with my stain kit if they don't before rinse/extraction. Do you prescrub carpets with a 175 wayne?

I tried the edic it folds under the suction of my machine and oly has a 3/4 inch opening

 

[Wayne Miller]

How can you do a nasty, uglied out traffic lane, especially olefin or polyester, without it? If it needs it, we do it.

 

[XTREME1]

excellent

 

[Greenie]

Greg, I honestly don't know how you could include all those specialty stains in your low priced service, each stain takes time, I'd have to charge more for the basic service, it's a business not a job, you won't be immortal for ever.

Just curious, how do you know they won't pay if you never ask?

 

[B&BGaryC]

How can you do a nasty, uglied out traffic lane, especially olefin or polyester, without it? If it needs it, we do it.

A better question is how can you put a 175 scrubber on a newer cleaner carpet that still has a warranty? Won't that scrubber ruin the warranty?

Why use something you don't need to on a carpet if it's gonna ruin the warranty?

 

[XTREME1]

no it won't gary. Your drinking the checkmate cool aid

 

[Art Kelley]

Consistency from one job to the next is a big thing, too. Seems like that's a little hard to control if Mrs. Piffleton's pocketbook is the final word on how thorough the standard service is going to be.

Exactly, Wayne. I would never ask a customer how I should clean her carpet. If an area of a room requires a prescrubbing, how the hell would she know? After all these years I still can't always tell if a room will clean better with the 175 until I start rinsing with the steam wand. More often than not everything comes out perfect without scrubbing. It's absurd to offer scrubbing as an option. All they want is for you to clean the @#$%^&* thing. To leave a dingy traffic lane that would would look great with 3 minutes of agitation with the 175 because she won't pay the extra $7 is not a business model for anyone concerned with their reputation.

 

[XTREME1]

I guess all the tests that have been done are wrong that a carpet comes out better prescrubbed with a machine than raked or groomed in. I don't care if you wand every job and prescrub just traffic lanes it will never be as clean as a full prescrub. Since no one just goes in and prescrubs every carpet there should be a premium on that service. You guys talk in tongues you charge one price to get the carpets cleaned but charge for certain types of stains what happened to clean is clean

 

[Art Kelley]

Greg, I'll scrub entire rooms if that's what required. The point is there is only one way to clean a carpet, and that is the best way you can (we're not talking encap here). You use all the tools at your disposal. If a Gumgetter was your best tool on a gum or tar spot, would you scrub the whole room with it?

 

[Wayne Miller]

Gary, if it's cleaner, newer carpet it probably doesn't need a pre-scrub, right? And, like Greg said, it won't void the warranty done properly. Carpet is pretty resilient stuff. You've got to work at it to cause damage with a rotary.

I'm curious what kind of stains people charge for. Other than red and rust, most of what I run into comes out with general cleaning.

Art, maybe the point is what do we guarantee? The spirit of our guarantee is simple, we want people to be delighted. Period. How we get there is totally up to our discretion. I can't imagine doing business any other way. I'll guarantee you'll be thrilled when I'm done but I'm gonna charge a living wage to make that promise. Plenty of folks are perfectly happy with that kind of exchange. And, folks like that ain't that hard to find.

 

[Ernie G]

Greg, I don't know why you don't charge more for your service, but everyone knows what their product and service is worth and if your happy with what you charge then who cares what anyone else thinks. Myself, I would rather do less jobs and charge more for each one and not kill myself. We seldom do more than 3-jobs a day per truck, monday we had one truck that only did one job, but it was a 1950.00 dollar job. I could care less how many jobs I do a day as long as they are profitable.

 

[XTREME1]

you know I am taking all the info in. I have been in business 5 years but only fulltime for 2.

My Xtreme Carpet Cleaning will hit its second birthday this month. The first company was a part time thing I set up for on of my sons. I know what you guys are saying about price point and I appreciate it but looking around and talking to the guys on this board and in my area they aren't doing half the numbers I am. I feel it is working.

The prescrub thing is ego and no matter how hard you try I am not convinced that all carpets can't benefit from a prescrub. I may drop the prescrub all together, I did it for the second truck. It does make life easier and that would be my fourth job instead of three

I take what every has said very serious and I think most are looking out for the best interest of all of us carpet cleaners. I do take offense to Art and Green one making such blatant false statements about my company.

I do have to thank everyone it is very educational learning what others do and how they have set up their companies