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I want to get a feel for how most of us price our services.
We all probably have our basic price for our normal cleaning – perhaps an average of $.25 per square foot or $40 per room. And then we all likely hope to sell protector for maybe $.10 – $.15 per square foot or $15 per room.
Basic cleaning plus protector services are more or less obvious. I am interested in learning what most operators do concerning the following:
– Spot removal. For spots that won’t come clean with our standard 101/buffing/pro-spotter/buffing, what kinds of spots do you clean as part of your standard cleaning price and what kinds of spots do you charge extra for? For example, would you remove rust spots w/o any additional charge? Pet spots? (I’m especially interested in how you handle pet spots as those are an issue much of the time for all of us.) Blood spots? Etc. If you charge extra, how much? Most, if not all of the extra effort spots require one or more of our specialty solutions and extraction with a smaller spot pro machine, the uphostery mate, or ninja. I’m interested in learning how you handle all of these extra efforts spots that require extraction.
– Furniture. Do you move furniture? If so, do you charge for moving it? If you charge, how much?
– Excessively dirty carpets. I know how good our standard 101/buffing is, but we’ve all seen the home that hasn’t been cleaned in years or perhaps never with the food spills and drinks spots all over the place – the ones that leave you wondering how some people live like that. Do you charge extra for such a job? If so, how much?
Please be specific not only with your pricing, but in how you present your pricing to your customers.
I do understand that there must be some flexibility. I will go into some houses where they have me clean most or all of the home. I obviously am not concerned about removing a couple of rust spots with our rust remover and extraction on large jobs. However, other jobs seem to require me getting down on my hands and knees with my spotter extraction maching for half the time I’m on that job.
Overall, I like having a price that is mostly all-inclusive, however, I would like to hear how many operators handle the issues I’ve listed.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Mike
@Mike Bishop wrote:
– Spot removal. For spots that won’t come clean with our standard 101/buffing/pro-spotter/buffing, what kinds of spots do you clean as part of your standard cleaning price and what kinds of spots do you charge extra for? For example, would you remove rust spots w/o any additional charge? Pet spots? (I’m especially interested in how you handle pet spots as those are an issue much of the time for all of us.) Blood spots? Etc. If you charge extra, how much? Most, if not all of the extra effort spots require one or more of our specialty solutions and extraction with a smaller spot pro machine, the uphostery mate, or ninja. I’m interested in learning how you handle all of these extra efforts spots that require extraction.
We will charge extra for pet urine or feces obviously. It depends on the quantity of said item. I have an employee now so if I can get paid to remove certain tough spots I jump on it as my goal is to compensate for my employee, however I do not go out of my way to make up a story. If I see red dye then I’ll ask the customer if they would like that removed if not already set.
I will attempt to get rust or ink out but not wood stains. I usually charge a minimum of $10 for the spot if it’s justifiable. I charge a minimum of $25 for RDR.
Furniture. Do you move furniture? If so, do you charge for moving it? If you charge, how much?
We move furniture upon request and we do not charge for it.
Excessively dirty carpets. I know how good our standard 101/buffing is, but we’ve all seen the home that hasn’t been cleaned in years or perhaps never with the food spills and drinks spots all over the place – the ones that leave you wondering how some people live like that. Do you charge extra for such a job? If so, how much?
I will charge depending on how much extra time it will take me. I try to keep it to around $70-$80 an hour.
My goal is to always look at the job before giving a price. With that said, I start at .30/sq. ft. and work up or down from there. (Mostly up). If I see stains that are going to take time and specialty products I move my price up accordingly. If I bid correctly I am at $100/ hr. with two people working and $50/hr. for one.
I almost always add extra to move furniture especially if the furniture has to be moved within the room. It is like cleaning two rooms instead of one. I usually add around .05/sq. ft. and sometimes I don’t think this is enough.
Of course all this depends on supply/demand. If I am very busy I can charge more and If I need work I charge less in order to make sure I get the job.
I treat every job differently but these are “guidlines” I use.
Ron and Don,
Thanks for your input. Your comments are exactly what I’m looking for. I already realized that I needed to adjust my pricing concerning the issues I outlined, however, I want to see how others charge before deciding what pricing to establish.Ron,
I don’t want to get off subject, but I noticed that you mentioned you don’t attempt wood stains. I have tried a few with our wood stain remover and I haven’t had very good success. I accidentally tried our rust remover on a wood stain recently and it actually got most of it out. With that in mind, I tried it once more with similar success. Perhaps those two wood stains were less “set” and would have come out with the wood stain remover anyway or I just got lucky.Please keep the comments coming everyone.
Thanks!!
Mike
I’ve always heard that if you spend more than 10-15 mins on a spot, you should charge for it. We don’t usually charge for rust spots unless they are huge. Animal spots and red dye removal are normally a minimum of $25 for us and go up according to numbers and severity. If there is one small dog spot that will not require much time, we may just throw it in (pickle), but note on the invoice as regularly a $25 fee at no charge. This would be for good repeat customers only.
I don’t even try to get wood stain out anymore. I do give the customer the option, but I warn them the success rate is very low and the price is very high ($50 and up). Mike, are you sure the “wood spots” you cleaned weren’t the metal peg that sometimes exists in the center of wood legs? Assume you are probably well aware of these, but just thought I’d throw it out there. I know we come across spots we think are wood stain and then after examining the furniture leg, notice it is not the wood that bled, but rather the inside metal that caused the spot.
We don’t charge for moving furniture, but we charge per the cleanable square foot ($.30/ft) so if I am moving furniture, the price goes up accordingly. I try to talk most customers out of moving couches and chairs as you just increase the chances of wood finish or rust from the legs, or black dye from a low hanging black dust skirt. A lot of times, we move them just to vacuum under them and then move them right back. If a small spots exists underneath it, we hit it with pro spotter. This seems to keep most customers happy and keep us relatively efficient.
If we are extracting and buffing, we bump the price up to at least $.35/ft. If carpet is heavily soiled, we bump the price up. I tell all customers our price starts at $.30/ft. At least 90% of all our jobs are at this price, but if their carpet is heavily soiled, it may be more.
I charge per sqft. I encourage the customer to let me move the sofas, loveseats, recliners and DR tables. This maximizes the ticket. I try not to move anything in a BR as this seems to be a time loser. If a carpet is way dirty and stained, I try to estimate how long it will take and charge $100/hr. instead of per sqft. I also don’t charge for common staining if they buy protector. It always seems that the people that really need protector try to decline it. I then say, ” Well, we can remove the stains for $100 w/out protector, or, we will pull the stains and apply protector for $100. Your choice.” This is a great way to sell protector and a great way to save yourself time next year.
when you guys are talking about average hourly income are you talking from the tim you get to the job sight till you leave? our are you including travel time? my average is $ 66.77 including drive time, I am also spending alot of time educating the customer, or just BSing with them.
My average ticket is $169, just looked it up.
Good format Brian
Any special spotting such as pet enzyme, wax, red dye, wood, we get about $2.00 per minute.
Sofa $79.00
L Seat $69.00
Recliner $59.95Our minimum is $80
Our pricing goes as follows:
$89.95 for the 1st 400 sq. ft.
.27 anything over 400 sq. ft.
.11 Stain ProtectorFull rate for super soiled carpets
Any special spotting such as pet enzyme, wax, red dye, wood, we get about $1.00 per minute.
Sofa $75.00
L Seat $60.00
Recliner $39.95Our minimum is $65
I had an interesting conversation w/ a customer who is a professor at our local University. He is originally from New Hampshire, having a hard time w/ the Iowa mentality of trying to give him a “cheaper price”. So I asked him, if this is the case, then why did your wife ask me for a quote on the phone? His reply was, “We were looking for someone who wasn’t affraid to charge for quality service”. He choose me because I gave the highest quote and he thought the picture of my wife and I in the yellow pages was nice. I know what what my competitors charge and I am near the top, but, my quote included stain protector, making it, by far, the highest. Only if all of my customers had this guys mentality. My price for clean and stain protect is .45 per sqft. As of the first of June, I am increasing to .50.
Sectional
$200 clean & protect
Pillow back sofa– $125 c & p
Reg. Sofa
$100 c & p
Love Seat
$ 75 c & p
Recliner
$ 65 c & p
Full retail prices:
Carpet cleaning $0.25 per sq ft. Protector $.12 per sq ft. I go down from there with discounts. No charge on basic stain removal (Pickle) unless it takes over 10 min to remove then it is based on $80 per hour. Pet stains $35 to whatever it takes. Excessive soiling depends on amount and time required again the $80 per hour rate. Couch $75, Loveseat $65, Chair $45.
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