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I’m posting this to help the new operators avoid a situation that I am in.
When I first started nearly 4 years ago, I felt guilty charging “Better than average” customers the going rate so I discounted some of these jobs. Now, my full time employee doesn’t discount like I did in the past, therefor, I now get phone calls from somewhat “upset” customers who wonder why their bill was $100 more than last time. My advice is to stick to your price from the beginning so they will know what to expect next time. Secondly, you need those bid invoices to stay alive!
error on last line, should read (big invoices) not (bid invoices)
Good advice Brian. Customer’s tend to forget about inflation when it comes to carpet cleaning also. One thing we sometimes do to avoid this with our “regulars” is to not discount the price, but rather, if we are going to give them a deal we throw in extras. If the cost to clean the carpet is $200, keep it at $200. If you want to give them a discount, throw in a room of protectant, don’t charge them for treating the one pet spot, or something like that. Something that is small, but still makes them feel special. You are still walking out with $200 and the customer got a deal, and instead of losing the money you would have discounted, you only lose the “cost” of the product and time you spent on giving them the added bonus (pickle). If you do go this route, always write on the ticket what you gave them for free/no charge and put the cost of what it would regularly cost them. Yes, throwing in extras may still lead you to a situation like Brian’s, but I think it is easier to deal with in the long run than offering to discount your regular cleaning price.
Ultimately, when it comes to the final price, no matter how high it is, remember that you are worth it and don’t be afraid to charge it!
I’ve been finding myself in these situations from time to time. For instance, yesterday a repeat customer had us out. We cleaned and then presented the bill and he hands me a print out from our local website a 10% off coupon. I had to explain to him that it was for new customers only. I’m certain that he would try to use it over and over again if I had allowed it. Stick to your guns but be gentle.
I agree with Dave. It doesn’t hurt to mention that the cost of gas and inflation raise the prices from time to time. Every month, we have deal going of some kind, so there is really never a “set price” and has never been a problem when it’s $100 one time and $150 the next time. Our repeat customers and those who send us a good amount of referrals, I will do a little something for them every now and then. We started at $65 for 3 rooms, no size limit back in the begining, which was June 2004. Today, our 3 room price is at $105, no size limit. You do the math. I still clean for every customer I had that first year. No problems. Only problems I do have are with the ones who want it done cheap, cheap, cheap. I tell them I will come down if they move the furniture, pre-vaccum or if rooms are small then we can work out a deal. If they don’t keep their end of the deal, they get charged full price. Especially with commercial accounts. They will often NOT keep their end of the bargin and we charge accordingly. Still keep the job because of the service provided and they know that. Next time, they will keep their end of the deal. Be firm and yes curtious and professional as well. Just to give you an idea, Chem-dry here in South Texas, according to a home-depot customer rep, is charging a minimum of 129.99 for three rooms, NOT including heavy duty stain removal, deoderization, per stain removal, etc. So what the hel* are you paying for. Anyway, don’t get me started on that. Pray a lot.
Mike
I like this.
A side from our pricing is our competetor’s pricing. The more you know the more life goes smooth. In my bidding for jobs I find I was loosing some of my bigger jobs and gettting almost all the smaller ones. It was a customer that filled me in on what was going on. My main competitor would discount 10% if the job was over $150 and 15% for over $300. I have found myself doing the same on people who ask for an estimate. If nothing else it’s something to concider.
I do like the subject. Thanks BrianOver the phone I ask how many sq ft are in your home? then ask them what % of that would you guess at what you would like cleaned. then I do the math (including specials that I have out there) then say something like this. So your by the numbers you gave me it comes to 650 sq ft, right now I have a special out there 3 rooms and a hall up to 450 sq ft. so it would be 150, the only thing we charge extra for is food grade dye removal, pet contamination, and protectant. we also have another special out there that you might want to take advantage of…….(furniture, 15% off bill when you have protectant applied, get you neibor to clean on the same day both will get a 10% discount)……..when at the home I Always measure first (looking over the carpet and educating the customer about the problems i see) present bill, then they tell me yeh or neh, (most say yeh) do job give them pickles along the way. at the end of the job I love to hear them say (i didn’t expect you to do…….)
Pat
p.s usualy phone bid is within 15 dollars or so of actual. if its not then they didn’t disclose special situation, or had no idiea on sq footage then just explain what the reason was, usualy not a problem w/ customer.Yup,
I agree with everyone. I dealt with a customer this week that told me he had a few pet (urine) stains in his carpet. I beat a local competitor “Stanley Steemers”.
MY BIG MISTAKE WAS GIVING A FIRM PRICE ON SOMETHING I DID NOT SEE FIRST HAND. I TRUSTED THIS GUY, BECAUSE HE WORKED WITH ME ELSEWHERE!
I went to do the job and I used color chips as a visual for me and the customer to count the spots. There were over 23 spots, and I still missed a few. I spent almost two hours using the upholstery mate to get the stains up, and still used an additional 45 minutes or so to clean the rooms. Two rooms took up over a gallon and a half of enzyme, so I charged an additional $25.00 for the enzyme.
To make a long story shorter, the cost became an issue for the client. After a long discussion I decided to refund him his cost to be free of this character.
By the way, he mentioned that I did a heck of a lot better job that the “steemer” guys. Well of course, I spent 3 hours there trying to do a quality job.
Without question I underpriced the job, and ended up with a complaining customer. I’ll never give a firm price without seeing the job first again. It was the first time and last time.
Nev
404-421-7445
Nev, we’ve all been there. As long as you learned from it, it is a positive experience. Just consider it “batting practice”.
I’m not afraid to quote a firm sqft price over the phone, however, I let them know that pet urine has a $5 per spot charge, up to the size of a dinner plate. Above average staining may also have an additional charge. Nev, for future reference, don’t let your compassion over-power the cost of time and enzyme. 23 spots = $115. Dave is right, I’ve been there and I am a slow learner! You did the job 10 times better than Stanley!
$5 a spot? Wow that is a deal. I charge minimum $50 for the first spot and usually $100 for up to 5. I will usually base it on the amount of time that I think will be invested based on $80/hr.
Hey Ron, you must have an extremely high end market. I think it would be cheaper to replace a square of carpet than what you charge for pet stain removal.
Mike Nowlin
I’l go out on a limb and speculate here. I would expect Brian was referring to dealing with spots when he is already there for normal cleaning and the spots are extra. I doubt he will drive to a home for spots only and charge as little as $5.00 per spot.
I charge similarly to Ron if I’m going on a job for spots only. However, I charge more like Brian when it is part of a normal cleaning. I have been charging $8.00 per spot as extra charges when I’m there for a normal cleaning and $25 each for the first two spots when there for spots only.
Of course there is some flexibility in my pricing. If I’m there for a large normal cleaning, I may not charge anything for a small spot or two – especially for a regular customer. And for a dump, I will add on more. I recently charged about $250 for a small two bedroom apartment and only cleaned the open areas – no furniture moving. It was the worst place I’ve cleaned to date by far. It worked out to about $.75 per square foot.
By the way, Brian — I like your way of defining a standard spot as up to a dinner plate. I have struggled a bit on how to say when a spot is over-sized. Thanks for the idea!
Mike
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