[Mark mackenzie]

Hi everyone

I’m mark I’m just about to start my carpet cleaning business. Waiting on my Airflex storm 600psi ,Sebo duo,  Sebo vac and other bits and bobs arriving. I’m having trouble getting my pricing right, my area seems mega low. Also what chemicals are everyone using what are must haves in your van

Regards mark

[Mike Halliday]

Where do you live? (Basically when you tell me I will look where the nearest BMW dealership is and homes above £200k) then I will lecture you about how every area has people who will pay top prices.

I bet you are reading Facebook and seeing carpet cleaning for £15 a room and thinking thats the right price. How about charging £80 for the first room then every other room is half price only £40 (a bargain!!)


Chemicals....... a good prespray and rinse with mild solution of Chemspec Formula 90

[Mark mackenzie]

Mike thank you very much for your reply.
I’m based in Ayrshire but can travel as far as Glasgow. I’ve been looking into how to target higher income areas, I know my way around Facebook ads to target my best customer avatar but still struggling with pricing. As you said I have been on Facebook and local cleaners websites and there prices are low.  One has a special offer of 3 tons for £60 😐
I’ve been looking a lot at rob Allen’s TMF chemicals  they look great.

[Mike Halliday]

I live 2 miles from the town that was voted ‘biggest pooh0le in the UK’  3yrs running, it has one of the lowest average incomes in the UK  the average  house price is also one of the lowest in the UK.

but this town still has a BMW & Mercedes Dealership, it has a bespoke furniture store that sells £10k suites, we bought our carpets from a shop that sells carpets that’s cost over a grand for just a living room.

NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH LOTS OF MONEY

The area you live has no bearing on how much you charge or how much you earn, the price you charge is based solely on the words that come out of your mouth... you can say "your living room will cost £23 to clean" or you can say ‘your living room will cost £83"  .........it’s not what you say it’s who you say it to.

Say £83 to a single parent living on benefits from Messenger on Facebook a you will not hear back from them. Say £83 to a couple In their living room in a nice home after chatting to them for 20mins and you might have a better chance.

Quality homeowners with money do not find service people on Facebook , neither do retired educated people, (and be careful listening to people who tell you they get all their work off Facebook, this statement means nothing unless they are getting high paid work off Facebook.... which very few are)

Rob Allen’s chemicals are good but their are just as good chemicals made by other companies Prochem, Chemspec etc.  i would call  Restormate or the Chemspec supplier on Penrith (sorry forgot his name) have a chat with them your chemical choice is not important they all pretty much do the same thing.

Ps; only work with 6 miles of your front door, unless you live in the middle of nowhere there will be enough people in that area to keep you busy, and it makes life so much easier

[Mike Halliday]

This is my local Facebook, I couldn’t careless that they will clean 3 rooms for £50 ....let them clean At this price. good luck to them I wish them every success in the world, but their prices don’t dictate what I charge. If I had to clean at this price I would pack in carpet cleaning

[RPCCS]

That bloke cannot ne operating a professional carpet cleaning business at those prices. My guess is is he is a shift worker doing it on his rest days or spare time.   Mike a bit of advice from yourself please, I have a fb page, but don’t have prices on, I sometimes get messages asking for prices, I always follow the advice I was given by both John and Derek, don’t price over the phone or via the net, only price in person. This is because I could put the customer off by over quoting ,or robbing myself by under quoting.  However most of the enquiries I get from fb ask for a price, I always say I need to see the carpet in person before I can give you a price because of x y z. 9/10 times they just say I’ll get back to you or they never reply.. Would you agree with this , or should I say, well my minimum charge is £x, depending on room size and level of soiling? I just think I’m possibly losing potential business as people think I’m going to come and give them the “hard sell”.

[Mike Halliday]

Just a quick reply before I go out to work.... I will answer more fully later

I know all these companies, they are full time carpet cleaners

[Mark mackenzie]

I’ve bought these at the minute, going to purchase stain removers and deodorisers as well.

As for pricing is it a good idea when you are just starting out to try and be the most expensive cleaner in your area or is it wise to start round about the same price point to build customers and then start raising your price as you build and show the quality of your work?

[RPCCS]

Mark I'm relatively new to the industry myself, having been trading for 17 months  but when I did my training, John told me forget about what anyone else is charging, its your business, you decide what you want to make from it. Reverse the maths, work out how much per month it costs for your equipment, running costs of the van etc etc, then break it down to per week, per day per hour. Once you have that figure in mind, that's the minimum per hour you need to be making.

[Mark mackenzie]

Yeah that’s the way I’ve been thinking but it’s a scary thought. I admit I do get caught up in other people’s prices Facebook likes etc I just need to blank that out and move forward. Where did you do your training I’ve got a carpet and upholstery cleaning course to do with clean smart that I get with my Airflex.

[Mike Halliday]

That bloke cannot ne operating a professional carpet cleaning business at those prices. My guess is is he is a shift worker doing it on his rest days or spare time.   Mike a bit of advice from yourself please, I have a fb page, but don’t have prices on, I sometimes get messages asking for prices, I always follow the advice I was given by both John and Derek, don’t price over the phone or
via the net, only price in person. This is because I could put the customer off by over quoting ,or robbing myself by under quoting.  However most of the enquiries I get from fb ask for a price, I always say I need to see the carpet in person before I can give you a price because of x y z. 9/10 times they just say I’ll get back to you or they never reply.. Would you agree with this , or should I say, well my minimum charge is £x, depending on room size and level of soiling? I just think I’m possibly losing potential business as people think I’m going to come and give them the “hard sell”.

The only time I give a price over the phone is if they sound common, young  or it’s a single Bedroom then I give them a big price.

Giving phone quotes ( or selling your services over the phone which is actually how you should see it)  is a science, its a massive subject.

Often the only question a customer knows to ask is "how much"  you need to put other questions into their mind, you do this by asking questions yourself.  Imagine asking them "do you have pets or children?" If they say "yes 2 kids" if you respond  "ohhh so you will want our child-safe clean then"  this puts a question in their head (what’s the child-safe clean)

You need to engage them in conversation  it’s harder to do across Facebook Messenger but tell them you can give them a price but you don’t want to guess so need to ask a few question.

[RPCCS]

Yeah that’s the way I’ve been thinking but it’s a scary thought. I admit I do get caught up in other people’s prices Facebook likes etc I just need to blank that out and move forward. Where did you do your training I’ve got a carpet and upholstery cleaning course to do with clean smart that I get with my Airflex.

I did my first course with John Kelly at Restormate,,, who are local to me. After doing it ,I got totally scared as there was so much more to take in than I imagined.
Then I did a follow-up with Derek at Cleansmart to decide whether or not to continue. Obviously I did. John is my local supplier and always happy to advise via f b messenger or text. He's also a member on here.

[RPCCS]

That bloke cannot ne operating a professional carpet cleaning business at those prices. My guess is is he is a shift worker doing it on his rest days or spare time.   Mike a bit of advice from yourself please, I have a fb page, but don’t have prices on, I sometimes get messages asking for prices, I always follow the advice I was given by both John and Derek, don’t price over the phone or
via the net, only price in person. This is because I could put the customer off by over quoting ,or robbing myself by under quoting.  However most of the enquiries I get from fb ask for a price, I always say I need to see the carpet in person before I can give you a price because of x y z. 9/10 times they just say I’ll get back to you or they never reply.. Would you agree with this , or should I say, well my minimum charge is £x, depending on room size and level of soiling? I just think I’m possibly losing potential business as people think I’m going to come and give them the “hard sell”.

The only time I give a price over the phone is if they sound common, young  or it’s a single Bedroom then I give them a big price.

Giving phone quotes ( or selling your services over the phone which is actually how you should see it)  is a science, its a massive subject.

Often the only question a customer knows to ask is "how much"  you need to put other questions into their mind, you do this by asking questions yourself.  Imagine asking them "do you have pets or children?" If they say "yes 2 kids" if you respond  "ohhh so you will want our child-safe clean then"  this puts a question in their head (what’s the child-safe clean)

You need to engage them in conversation  it’s harder to do across Facebook Messenger but tell them you can give them a price but you don’t want to guess so need to ask a few question.

Thanks Mike

[Cleanevangelist]

Mark

as far as products you need to know about  emulsification and more importantly Surfactants.

surfactants are the cool science that lifts the dirt into the water, they come with different charges. use the wrong one and the dirt with not move. so when picking detergents you need to know what type of dirt or soil you are dealing with. look at any product and you will see which one it has in it.

sometimes you will read cleaners talking about what product is best, normally the person asking is using the wrong surfactant and method of cleaning. The very best course is prochem as they teach you about cleaning products and methods in a cool way that leaves out the science part.

These methods are called, preventive, corrective, and salvage.

Good Luck

Respects

ian harper

PS. regarding pricing. there is a thing in marketing called USP. you need to find yours, that way prospects cant compare your price with others. we offer 3 years after care included. add value to your service. cleaning packages help give your prospects the choice of three prices from you and so takes away them just comparing your one price with other cleaners. Plus it makes them think about the other cleaners price and what they are really paying for. lets face it as far as they think they are buying a cleaning carpet that is way its easy for them to compare price. method and process does not matter because that just how you get to a clean carpet.  this is why we have gone for the after care.