prices

[Matt Seymour]

Matt,

I hope that you don't feel that you are being criticised for the choices you have made. We all know that one of the reasons for running our own business is so that we are free to do thing our way.

Though at a higher scale, my pricing policy is similar to yours in that I base the charge on the requirements of the individual job rather than the area of carpet cleaned.

I agree John. It's about offering a service that is tailored to each individual customer and their requirements.

I am not of the mindset to say to some guy in a council flat: "sorry, but you are a pikey and you can't afford me. Go and get a Rug Doctor."

 

[John Dane]

Some of my best paid jobs have been council houses.
The ones I get are usually those who have bought their
council house for peanuts and made them look like an
oasis in the desert, there gardens are well kept and so
is there house. They don't mind the price they just want
a good job done. there also the best tippers.

 

[adrian marsh]

Adrian,

All my jobs are very specific to the customer - not my price list. I don't rigidly stick to certain prices.

If all a customer wants is a quick once over of their very small living room, then I'll give their carpets a quick once over and charge them accordingly. I will also advise that I can offer a deeper clean with better cleaning products, protection etc etc. These are generally the less well off customers who cannot afford what most carpet cleaners charge, who would otherwise go out and hire a Rug Doctor. I know most carpet cleaners turn their noses up at these kind of jobs but I don't. I give the customer what THEY want in these instances.

Most carpet cleaners seem to be only interested in getting into the homes of the well off so they can charge top dollar. Of course I try to get high end work, but I also offer a less expensive service for those who just don't have the kind of money to afford the full treatment.

Put it this way. Single Mum on benefits gets a quick once over with Extraction Plus and is advised that this is the bare minimum. She is happy with that because that is all she wants. The wealthy guy in the 5 bed detached house with white carpets gets far more attention to detail, eco friendly cleaning products and the offer of protection at a very reasonable rate... and is charged accordingly.

Basically, I will clean anyone's carpets and don't just go after high end because that is where the money is.

Hi Matt

I've been around long enough to know that every time the "Prices" debate crops up it always create's a large number of posts and opinions. I accept what you say as thats the right thing for you and your business... at the moment. We all have competition to cope with so you're not alone in that. I can only respectfully suggest you keep an eye on the longer term benefit of a higher ticket price. There are plenty who have gone before you and I thinking that a cheaper price is the way to go. Most aren't around anymore. All the best with your strategy though.

 

[Matt Seymour]

Hi Matt

I've been around long enough to know that every time the "Prices" debate crops up it always create's a large number of posts and opinions. I accept what you say as thats the right thing for you and your business... at the moment. We all have competition to cope with so you're not alone in that. I can only respectfully suggest you keep an eye on the longer term benefit of a higher ticket price. There are plenty who have gone before you and I thinking that a cheaper price is the way to go. Most aren't around anymore. All the best with your strategy though.

Thanks Adrian. Pricing does seem to lead to healthy debate!

As you suggest, I will steadily increase my prices as time goes by, but even now I do still charge a higher rate when it is merited.

My business plan is to basically provide a two tier service to those with a lesser budget and those with more to spend. I just don't want to price those with a lesser budget out of having their carpets professionally cleaned and see them ruining their carpets by hiring a Rug Doctor.

 

[Matt Seymour]

Some of my best paid jobs have been council houses.
The ones I get are usually those who have bought their
council house for peanuts and made them look like an
oasis in the desert, there gardens are well kept and so
is there house. They don't mind the price they just want
a good job done. there also the best tippers.

I couldn't agree more John.

I actually prefer dealing with those in council houses and find them to be a lot more friendly and trusting. I've certainly never had a customer on a council estate following me around watching my every move and questioning absolutely everything I do!

You're right, they do often give tips as well.

 

[Jamie Biles]

agree with john on council house tenants best tippers.done some of my first official few jobs last week.one was just lounge and gave 30 tip.other was lounge and rug,they gave 45 tip.starting off with reasonable prices but people begging for cards etc as they want to spread word for me as can't believe results.were bit cautious of initial quote but once started unloading the equipment they started to understand bit more and convinced them by explaining what i was doing and why.some are actually fascinated with theory/knowledge within industry.

 

[danny mosey]

i think that mat might be on to something here, i only price jobs at the moment using 1 pricing structure, if i were to offer 3 for example i would probably get much more work, eg basic clean with no frills, standard price for the average job and a premium service including stain protection and all the other add ons, the customer could choose how much cleaning i do and how much they are willing to pay. although i would need to be very carefull when it comes to the basic prices because i dont want to be spending 3 hours pulling stains out of a carpet for less than it would cost me to do the job.

 

[danny mosey]

jamie i get that a lot as well, i am constantly asked for cards and leaflets, the down side is that i keep running out so lately i have been printing my own to fill in between batches and i have already burned out 2 printers trying to keep up with the demand.
i have also found that peole living in council houses are more likely to buy our services because they just dont have the money to replace there carpets.

 

[John Bolton]

Danny,

Quite a few CC's offer Gold, Silver and Bronze options!

Regarding the extensive stain removal issue - stain treatments are not cleaning, so you are entitled to levy a separate charge but the customer should be pre-warned.

 

[danny mosey]

thats a good point john, i am building another website at the moment, i will try and include this in the new website, but being away from carpet cleaning for a while i am a little unshure how to price for stain removal, at the moment if there are heavy stains on the carpet i add £7.99 per room for the extra work involved with treating them,
while we are on the subject of stain removal what about stains like barrs irn bru that are near impossible to shift, do you know of anything that will shift that kind of stain,and if so how much should i be charging for stains like this.
some local pubs refuse to serve irn bru because the carpet cleaners they have used in the past just cannot get the stuff out of the carpets, if i could get irn bru out of a carpet without damaging it in any way it would open up a whole new level of cleaning for me

 

[adrian marsh]

Hi Danny

Funny you mention Irn Bru. I posted that very question on another forum a while ago and only had one reply to tell me that it's impossible. Where did I put that blow torch and matches?

 

[David Rogers]

I price each job based in it's own requirements; but ultimately my 'tarriff' is my time, charged at £40-£70 per hour. Most domestic work I will charge based on an estiamte of £40 per hour, so 2 hour job = £80. But my 2 hour job is very, very, hardworking and thorough (I know... everyone would say that!). I will get every stain out that will come out, will work on traffic lanes until they give, and willl not leave a carpet unless it looks at least 400% better than when I arrived. Of course, if I get the timing wrong and a 2 hour job takes 4 hours, so be it - I never change an agreed price.

Commercial work same principal but higher tarriff. Ie... I am cleaning a small 40m2 office for the local authority this week - 1 hour job, £70.

£50 is my minimum charge for domestic work
£70 is my minimum charge for commercial work.

In my area, most are cheaper than me, some more expensive. I get a lot of people coming to me becuse they don't want the 'cheapest' in their homes........

 

[Neil Legg]

£8-99 scammers

Matt, had a very interesting talk with trading standards re that group. I would imagine they will be getting a knock on the door fairly soon! Apparently the file on them is fairly thick.

Re pricing, I have noticed a steep down turn in work since August. Virtually no calls apart from established customers and quotes I have given appear to have been undercut. Meeting with my accountant not much better. He reckoned that 90% of his customers were experiencing the same problem and several in danger of going under.

Just about to mail all my old customers and give them a gentle nudge to see if that brings in anything.

 

[Matt Seymour]

Very pleased to hear that trading standards are looking into Enterprise Cleaning. They are a disgrace and deserve all they get quite frankly.

I have to say that things are pretty quiet for me too. Trouble is with me being a new business it's difficult to know whether this quiet period for me is purely because I haven't been operating very long or simply due to the over all situation with the economy etc.

I see it as a challenge I have to rise to in one way or another, so I will thinking long and hard about new ways to bring in business. Just about to completely overhaul the website and pricing structure too, so I am hoping that works. I'm also going to spend a great deal more time going after commercial work, which is something I've not done a great deal of so far.

 

[steve derry]

Not sure if trading standards give a monkey's.

The £8.99 scammers as you put have been advertising for carpet cleaners in Cardiff of late and guess what they've been doing it through the BLOODY JOB CENTRE.

Can't believe that a Local Authority/Government Department would let the unsuspecting public get ripped off or help good established businesses go to the wall.(we actually I can)

Sooner they get busted the better.

Would be good if the nice men at the NCCA had something to say about it, shouldn't be too hard to get on Watchdog or Rogue Traders with a genuine public interest story.

Fingers crossed
Steve

 

[Matt Seymour]

I might just report them to Trading Standards myself.

I agree, this is a definite case for Watchdog or Rogue Traders.

 

[steve derry]

As I said it would be nice if the NCCA picked up the baton.

 

[Matt Seymour]

Has anyone reported them to the NCCA?

 

[steve derry]

Well I haven't but I'll ring them in the morning and have a chat with Nicky to see if they're aware of it and what they can do if anything.

 

[John Bolton]

Matt & Steve,

Lewis Scroby is a regular visitor to these pages, so the NCCA will be informed by you posts. An extra nudge will do no harm though