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What are your sqft charges? I have been charging by the room and I think im losing money. I am thinking about measuring everything out again. Any suggestions?
Brett,
I measure every sq. ft. of every room I clean. Once you measure several times, you will get fast. I don’t mess with inches, round up or down depending on conditions. BR traf is measured by measuring the entire room then divide by 2. Seems to be fairly close. In the very large BR’s, 50% may be to your disadvantage. Adjust as needed. I charge 50 cents per sq. ft. to clean and protect but almost always run a 10 – 20% discount. Commercial jobs are also bid per sq. ft.(adjusted per condition and volume) Cubical offices should be measured wall to wall as more time is spent going under desks on your hands and knees to vacuum. Base rate for commercial is 30 cents to clean and protect. Range is from 20 cents to 50 cents.
Hey Brian thanks fo the quick response. I am very impressed .50 per sq ft is amazing. When you started your business what were you charging per sqft.
The real question is what your average ticket is. I don’t care if I charge .01 a sqft or $5 a room, but that my average ticket is $x.
Brian really charges .40c sqft (after 20% off) but only charges for 1/2 the room (well BR’s that is) where as I charge $120 for the 1st three and $35 each additional. So if the room is say 12×12 then I’m charging .25c a sqft and he is charging .20 sqft and he’s throwing in stain protector which takes it to .17c a sqft. I try to focus on making $100 an hour via cleaning or up-selling. Our per ticket average went from $180 to $225 in February. After the seminar.
Brett,
In my opinion it comes down to the size of homes you are cleaning. If you are regularly cleaning large homes/rooms, you will on average make more money charging by the square foot. If you are in smaller homes, you will make more charging by the room. Once again, this is just my experience on average. Just look at your average room size (or start measuring if you haven’t since you’ve been on a room basis) and see what you are coming up with and go from there. Also, if you have a lot of people wanting a FIRM price over the phone, you may want to stick to per room. I, like many, can give them a pretty accurate estimate over the phone, but am not 100% and have probably lost some jobs because of them giving me poor info to start with. Over the next week (if it is a typical week), you may want to figure out the sq ft of every job you do and then compare what the difference is and see if it is worth the switch. The majority of our work is in newer/larger homes, so we’re sticking with sq ft.
Brett,
I have only raised my prices a nickel since I started 4 years ago.
Ron, I don’t understand your math when you say 20 cents and throwing in stain protector making it 17 cents. Keep in mind that I was stating prices for residential and commercial. My average invoice is also well over $200. All pricing stuctures are good as long as you make them work for you.
If you are charging .50c minus 20% that is .40c. You are cleaning only 1/2 a bedroom so based on cleaning the entire room you are charging .20. If you are including SP then that is costing you about .02-.03 a sqft.
Ron, I understand what your saying, I’m sure if Brian is charging for only 1/2 a room he is only cleaning 1/2 a room. What he is saying makes perfect dollars and cents to me.
Ron,
I understand your philosophy, but there are pros and cons to all pricing structures. I am certainly not saying one is better than the other but some work better in some situations than others. For example: You charge $120 for the first 3 areas and $35 for each additional area. My first 3 areas average 500 sq. ft., costing the customer $200 – $225. Any additional area would be per sq. ft. as well, adding anywhere from a $10 bathroom, several $25 – $100 bedroom taffics, or a $400 lower level family room. In small homes and small rooms, you obviously have an advantage. My advantage is the larger homes with large rooms (sizes we are all trying to target). You and I each have set a goal to gross $100/hr. We both reach that goal most of the time. We are both successful operators comfortable with our own pricing structures. The advantage that I see that I have over you is I feel you probably have to work harder than I to achieve your $100/hr. goal. All is good!!
@bsutton wrote:
The advantage that I see that I have over you is I feel you probably have to work harder than I to achieve your $100/hr. goal. All is good!!
This is obvious. I work harder than every HB operator. 8)
No but seriously I do work a little harder than the average operator as I have more dirt to get out of carpet than most others. Plus we charge extra for highly soiled carpet and 80% of my jobs are highly soiled. I think the homes in your area are slightly larger than in mine.
Just my two cents worth. We decided to include the fabric protector in our pricing for everything starting in January of this year. We went with 50 dollars a room. If the room is over 250 sq ft then we charge 35 cents a sq ft. This allows us to charge more for those larger homes with the larger rooms. The 50 dollar charge comes out to about 28 cents a square foot overall.
JamieRon: I’ve been reading this bulletin board for many years now. I have learned so many things that has helped me grow in person and in business. I am truly grateful for it.
It is obvious that humility is not one of your strong points.
Don Rudnick
Nor a sense of humor for you apparently.
I changed my pricing structure about 3 weeks ago and what a difference.
I am now measuring every job out before i clean and I charge as follows,Repeat customers
.25 psqft no furniture moving
.30 psqft some furniture movingNew customers
.30 psqft no furniture moving
.35 psqft some furniture moving.12 psqft protector for everybody
I measure the entire area in every room. By giving the two differrent prices it gives the customer a break for the area im not cleaning if we dont move furniture. This has worked amazingly well.
Thanks for everybodys input I really appreciate it!!Brett it is good to hear that it is working so well for you.
My 2 cents for what it is worth is that what works well for one operater might be different for others. I have been in this for 7 years now and was pretty set in my ways for a long time. What I have realized over the last few months was that I was doing somethings wrong. I have opened up to new ideas on marketing and pricing. I am trying out products like FAE that I never tried before. I hated the new shirts and voiced it loudly all the way up to when I walked in to the thunder from down under room and saw what a statement the new look made. I felt so out of place wearing jeans and new shirt just out of the box that day I went out and bought new pants (tan wrinkle free) and dress shoes as soon as I got home. I have not worn jeans to work since and bought all my employees the same. My point is that if it works for you great, but what harm is there in trying out another approach just to see the other side.
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