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Justin,
Could you give us a synopsis of what the study found. I read the page and got lost in all of the technical jargon. In other words could you give us 3 or 4 things we need to sure put in our sites.
thanks,
JamieBarry,
We charge 50 cents per square foot for cleaning only. We charge $1 per square foot for cleaning and polishing. I use the word polishing most when talking to customers. I have only done 5 or 6 jobs in a couple of years but those went well. It is very hard ot schedule the time. Some floors are nice and go very quickly, some are harder and take longer. A nice floor will take about as much time as carpet for us. 45 to an hour. extra coats will add time waiting for the wax to dry, especially if you do not have additional rooms.
JamieWhen talking on the phone we tell customers we move most furniture. NO piano’s, no entertainment centers, china cabinents, if they want us to move the chest of drawers we tell them to take the drawers out because we do not want to be in their drawers. 😆 Other than this regular price 55 dollars. NO furniture in the room take off 15%. If we only clean the traffic areas we take off 20%. These rates go for all size rooms. I can not charge one price for one person and another price for another person. Everyone knows everyone here. So send me your huddled masses. Rich, Poor needing their carpet cleaned. They all get the same service at the same price.
JamieP. S. Sorry I was waxing poetic for a moment
We price by the room for all rooms under 180 square feet. 55 dollars including protector. Any room over this size we price at 35 cents a square foot. This way we make on the smaller homes and the larger ones as well. It does take a little more time on the phone but has worked well for us. We only have one pricing structure for everyone. Easier to keep up with.
JamieI will take some of that rain. It is so dry here in North Carolina. I am watering my garden. Worst drought in over 100 years.
JamieThanks to everyone who has responded. I agree about the rug cleaning not being clear. We will work on that one. I was so blessed to have a person who could design the site for me, who is also my wifes best friend. The Dr. and Vet recommended comes from a local Dr. and a Vet that we cleaned for. We asked them to review the MSDS sheets for 101 and fab pro, (we include it in all of our sales) and then write us a recommendation. They were satisfied so we put it in all of our advertising. I think we are the only carpet cleaner that has this. Devlin, I have cleaned a sisal rug or two, things went pretty well the customer seemed happy.
Thanks again,
Jamie and LisaThe only thing I can find on the web is the yodle web-site. Any one else with any experience with this company, or know any one with experience. Seems like a possiblity for promoting my new web-site and new areas.
thanks,
JamieMike,
You want to sweep and vacuum well. The buffer will just push most of the dirt around. Then I use 101 and a regular pad to clean. When you finish you will see swirl marks on the floor. Use a polishing pad and the floor will brighten right up. I you do not have one you can use a towel but the polishing pad works best.
JamieIf you notice the spelling of my name Calloway and the spelling of the golf club Callaway is slightly different. The “O” in the middle of my name shows that we have no money and work for a living. Unlike the others who own Callaway Golf and Callaway Gardens in Georgia.
As far as the “were” comment there was not slight intended. I am sure both of you are aging like fine wine and cheese. Just getting better and better with age.I sent almost the same card with25% off for the first two weeks 20% off for the next two weeks and 15% off for the last two weeks. the returns have been great, not sure of the exact amount but I will let you know.
Also going to start a letter writing campaign in which I will get 4 names of neighbors from a customer we just cleaned for. Write a letter stating we cleaned for your neighbor and would love to clean for you. also include a nice discount to build our customer base.
I was wondering about the breeding on those thouroughbreds. Were they show champions or race champions or both? LOL
You might want to stay away from mattress cleaning. We have tried 2 jobs and both have been trouble. The problem is wicking from inside the mattress. We have to go back to a much larger yellow spot than we cleaned the first time. It of course will not come out. We still clean for guardsman but no longer do mattresses.
JamieHad a dog with Alzheimers one time. Whe was fine as long as you stayed in the house. Everytime you went outside she wanted you to reintroduce yourself. After your little meet and greet with the dog whe was your best friend until you left again. The dog needed to go outside to relieve herself so I let her out (no porblem I have had dogs my whole life). Went to put her back inside and she bit me. Even after I had introduced myself for the 7th time. Hope she got back in the house.
JamieI have found that if I pay for high performance the employee will police themselves. The pay schedule I use is based on what the guys in DC use. I pay a flat rate per hour. This includes every minute on the job, in the van, washing pads, mixing solution or even washing the van. They are then paid a commision based on the amount they earned the company for the week, divided by the hours. If the employee did 2000 dollars in 40 hours that is 50 dollars an hour and they are paid on that percentage. This is top wages for where I live. About 13.50 per hour. If the employee earned 800 dollars for the week in 40 hours that would only be 20 dollars per hour and they are paid my lowest wages about 8 dollars per hour. Their customer evaluations are also tied into the plan just let me know if you want to see it and I will email you a copy.
Now to really answer the question. I have the most honest hard working employee in the world. I am not able to work him but about 30 hours per week which hurts his average. For the last 6 months he has averaged between 40 and 45 dollars per hour. My basic rate is 35 cents per square foot.
Every quarter I will have a meal with the employee and we do an evaluation. It includes an overall averge earned per hour. It also includes a customer satisfaction report. If everything is in good shape I bonus the employee 1 percent of the gross sales. Good shape is 95 percent customer satisfaction or higher and at least a 40 dollar average per hour. If my employee does this he can earn anywhere from 25 to 35 thousand dollars in the year. I build trust, loyalty, and good faith between us because he knows the more work he does per hour the higher his pay check will be.
Hope this helps,
Jamie
Make sure you set goals for you, your business, and your employee. Make the employee part of the process. Then evaluate quarterly and work on strategies to improve.
You don’t get what you expect you get what you inspect.
