How we price ourselves

I can e-mail a nifty little price sheet I made up if you guys are interested in seeing it. Just let me know.

Currently doing 3 rooms at $135 plus tax, no size limit.
1 room at $65
2 at $95

After 3 rooms=$25 per room after 3.

Hotel Rooms= depending on what they want done or how they want it done= $12-$25 per room.

And so on.
Will e-mail the list if you guys want. Has nice logo and nice look and hand to customers before we start cleaning so they can see the other services we offer and how much they will pay.

Mike

Mike

E-mal mail your nifty little price sheet, Love to have something to compare our prices with.As always thanks for sharing with all of us!! nh03gagne@gmail.com

Ron I like your price range! Although belated glad you are staying with Heavens Best!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Currently my prices are as follows but I am going to change this ASAP, read on…

3 rooms = $129
each additional room = $30
Stairway counts as a room
Protectant = $15 a room
Sofa = $99
Sofa & Loveseat or Chair/Ottoman Combo= $149

Minimum of $99

Like I said this is all changing very soon…I am coming to grips with a concept that is very simple that has been explained by Brian Sutton many times here on the board and was reiterated by Jamie Calloway this weekend at our regional seminar. INCLUDING PROTECTANT IN YOUR PRICE!!!!

This is the reasoning behind it (and I pulled these numbers out of a hat BTW)…

Let’s say that a Heaven’s Best operator averages $199 per job and does 400 jobs a year resulting in $79,600 in gross sales.

Now lets suppose this operator quotes every job with protectant included in the price and loses 15% of customers who call in due to “high prices”. But on the same token, this operator increases the average job to $275.

Now the operator is doing only 340 jobs per year but is now making $93,500 in gross revenue, a difference of $13,900 which equals more $$$ in pocket, more time for good networking and marketing, more time with family, etc.

I think that if an operator is pulling a majority of business from referrals/word of mouth, networking, and being face to face with potential clients then 15% is a very realistic number that can be expected to not want to pay the higher prices. Whereas, if most business comes from flyers, yellowpage ads, coupon magazines, or other such advertisements then 15% may not be as realistic since I find that most coupon clippers and yellow page shoppers are price driven.

This is my two cents and where I plan on taking my business as soon as I figure out the best way to present it to the person on the phone. I’m thinking the best way is to go with a flat per room rate instead of 3 room pricing set up.

Grant,

I like it! I only wish that I would have started my business with this concept. As it stands now, after 7 years, my customers have become accustomed to the “other” way. They have the choice, but I still sell protection on about 50% of my work. I’m afraid if I’d do this and my customer’s bill increases from last time by $60 and more, I will lose a lot of them.

I wish I did . . . but I ain’t got the guts right now to do this. Good luck, and give us some updates on how this goes.

Who else out there has changed after operating the other way? I’d love to hear about it.

I was real scared to take the jump, the previous owner of the area I bought was constintaly advertising 3 rooms and a hall for $99 (up to 500 sq ft.)
so to start things off we gave a 20% off special when they had protecter applied. basicaly selling the protecter at half price.
after we did that the last part of our first year
the following spring our price was .40 only if really bad urine or allota red dye would we charge more then that. did end up losing quite a few customers during the transition (most of the nasty jobs we dont want)
another thing to consider

I count on word of mouth for advertising I also give them a large spotter bottle to thank them for telling there friends and family about heavens best

so if your used to advertising prices you might want to try educational ads like we were shoed in corperate.

so in summary we make mose money and have nicer carpets to clean.

good luck
Pat

I include protector in all my prices – not optional. I sell as “package” – we do it all – concept. My minimum is $89.95. I start 3 areas at $159.95 and basically add $40 for each additional area. I very rarely add additional costs for spots, etc. as I feel it all balances out for the most part, and I automatically cater to upper end due to higher pricing so it’s usually not that bad! For commercial, I bid by the sq ft at .35 per ft as a starting point unless the job is unusally large (and not trashed), then I will bid as low as .30 (including protector). I usually charge 99.95 for stairs as they are time consuming and require a lot of product if done thoroughly. My standard couch price is 129.95 and I add 10-15$ per ft depending on style of couch/cushions for over the reg. size. Usually do chairs at around 49.95-59.95 depending on style/size. All include protector. Sell 32oz spotters for 14.95. I always tell callers that I won’t be the cheapest – followed by an explanation why. I also tell them to ask anyone else they speak to about vacumming, spot treatment, water-soluble vs detergent cleaners, protector, grooming, and drying time. Usually that makes the point. I have helped many customers “recover” from Steamatic and Chem-Dry. They can not believe the difference!

Grant,

I understood the example that Jamie gave during his presentation. Gross is one thing…net profit is another….along with risk. (I have a Health and Safety background…with OSHA as well as industry.)

Two of the most important questions, not asked at the regional meeting was this….”Just how much more profit do you make with the added protector for those 340 jobs, and how much added risk have you given to the children, pets and babies in the home/apartment, with the addition of protector when you are supposed to open the windows for ventilation of the vapors?

The comments regarding the fresh citrus odor after cleaning quickly evaporate, no pun intended, when protector is added….it stinks and I have heard this from several customers.

An operator can get to the same place as Jamie described, by raising his pricing alone…yes you will lose some customers, however, the increase in profit/job is intact without any additional expense.

One thing we did differently this year is to remove that pesky 15% discount coupon from the Y Pages…locked into a 15% discount on every job is a bummer…so we only offer a discount or special is by customer and situation, senior always receive 20% off.

To date,this year, we have given far fewer discounts.

I will never make as much as others possibly, but I will not be spraying protector without plenty of ventilation. Something very difficult or impossible in the winter in the north.

If asked for, I will spray only when the home/building will not be occupied for some hours as the vapors are removed or dissipated.

We charge $45/room/area…steps are an area and so is the normal hallway. Larger than 250 sqft is more

Lr/Dr combo is two areas

$90 minimum charge

$89 sofa $69 love seat $39-$49 Chair

$15/room for protector (Never discounted)

Other pricing pretty normal to others… as mentioned in another thread some time back, keep in mind that the cost of living varies greatly from NY, NJ, PA, NC, SC,TX, CA, IN, WY…etc. all have different costs of living and competition to drive pricing up or down…

Sorry for the long-winded nature of this.hope it helps someone.
Dave