[Elite (Ben)]

Hi,

i was wondering what people in the south tend to charge per m2.  I have noticed a huge variance in my own neighbourhood, starting at £1.50 per square metre up to £3.50.  I am currently charging £2.20 (with my 20%discount ) and feel this is a bit cheap.  However there are guys who will happily undercut me by 32% and more. I am fairly new to the area so work is still a bit slow and i cant pick and choose.

On friday i quoted £40 for small lounge which was pretty nasty, afterwards i wish i hadnt, but i needed the work!!

I use a powermax and have 6 yrs experience in the industry (mostly part time).

ben

[Len Gribble]

Ben

You will hear a lot of!!!! And possibly could be mine?  At the end of the day most have minimum charge and most don’t do surveys unless requested or they are local to that customer at that time! Then you got, you know the road customer lives in. one can look at it another way hourly rate, which can be more attractive depending on location.

Yes a lot of price shoppers out there, ant we? I find telephone manor is a big key to getting the job still trying to prefect it, but still can be price dependant, so you need to tell what they are paying for (need to know) and your equipment dose play apart not that they would know best to educate them! One thing coming up the other company is guaranteeing stain removal, word it correctly and you may get the job.

Len

[boshravie]

Hi Ben
I am very close to you (Brighton) and our starting price for carpet cleaning is £2.70 m2. and most of the time we get the job.i think you should defenetly put your price up specially now that the petrol prices have gone up.

[Neil Grainger]

In Camberley we tend to use feet still because most customers can relate to this better than meters. I used to do my pricing in meters but found that the customer thinks that they are paying to much at 3.50 per sq m so changed to sq ft and charge 33pence and this works a treat. Add protecter to this and you can get more

Cheers

Neil

[ollie]

I come from a relatively low income area and my competitors charge around 1.60 per sq metre. i charge 2.50 and get 95% of the jobs i quote for simply by doing a good quote with lots of checks and showing myself to be a proffesional. and as i tell my customers "you pay peanuts and most of the time end up with a monkey"

[Elite (Ben)]

sounds like theres room for movement in my pricing then, i might well start adding a price per square foot for those that prefer metric.

all good advice, thanks

[ABLECLEAN]

Hi Ben

I never price in Sq Mtrs or Sq. Ft. I give a price for the job!!!

[Neil Grainger]

How do you know the price is correct because most properties are different

[Ian Gourlay]

Personally I think when you start telling customers how much you charge per goot or Metre you lay yourself open to complecations.

Do you knock of the bit round by piano that is two heavey to move etc.

Personally I work out Aprox room size and base my price on that.

In reallity I achieve a higher price per square metre ore foot than the figure I use in my callculation.

My callculation also includes factors such as travel.

State of Carpet,

Value of Carpet,

Client
And do I want the job?

[Neil Grainger]

Hi Ian, I find that hard to work with because a lot of my customers want to know the ins and outs of everything. The System i use will take off footage for areas that we are unable to clean.

I would not let anbody into my house without the breakdown of the pricing and to pick a figure out of the air for a room just does not seem the best way to do it to me. I spend between 20-30 minutes with clients at Carpet Audit time running through everything with them on my Laptop, showing them each different price option(Show them what they are going to get and I dont lose the customer).

If they feel that if they understand what is going on, it makes them happier to pay the higher prices. I'm not selling to myself and that is the big hurdle I have had to overcome.

[poles apart]

I charge by the hour. No measuring for me! £35 - £40 per hour on domestic and if you know your area you can guess how long it'll take without a visit. I prefer to see the job first though just for those 'surprises' you often get under the rugs! 

[Len Gribble]

Should have add to my previous thread, I do this on commercial what is you budget to have the carpet/carpets cleaned, all customers have a £ or ££’s in there head!

Len

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I agree with you Len when it comes to a budget but some commercial customers look at that statement as "how much can I get out of them".

Perhaps another way round would be to give them a verbal price (because usually we know how much before we leave the premises) and then say "does this fit within your budget?" and wait for the answer, you can always alter your price or deduct areas to fit within the budget and you'll get a feel if you have won the quote or not.

Shaun

[Len Gribble]

Shaun

I was more or less generalising Domestic = commercial, Doms also know what they are willing to pay as they also have a budget, how many times have we heard, you too dear, there perception of quality only comes after you clean at there dictated budget!

Len

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think it is easier to get higher prices from Doms as they have had to sweat hard work for the items you are quoting for so they may be prepared to pay extra to get a better result or a safer clean all actually saving money in the long term.

Commercially unless you get a building manager that fits above usually price is the biggest factor as the company hold the cards as 30 days invoice payment usually means you will get paid only if we are pleased.

Shaun

[Chris Bailey]

When I price a job I always conduct a survey.  Carry out my tests ("being very thorough, not like the other company I phoned, they asked if there was any stains and gave me a price!")

I then measure the room(s) and calculate the price based on a sq m price and give the custy a room price.

nice and easy

Chris

[Neil Grainger]

Hi all

Thanks for this, I will ring the customer and advise that if he wants me to clean he must sign a waiver.

Thanks again

Neil

[Len Gribble]

Shaun

Wont and can’t disagree but every customer be it Dom or com has a price in there head is it worth it!

Chris

Wish I had the time to do a survey, (yes we all do) do you guarantee stain removal on your survey? (What’s the betting when you phoned me I gave you the third degree? and quantified)

Len

[Chris Bailey]

Hi Len

me listen very carefully to man at front of training room and to others.....

Never, Ever, Ever guarantee complete removal of any stain! of course I put it politely to a customer.

As far as quoting over the phone is concerned then I have never secured a job without a survey, other than recommendations/referrals so don't put too much effort into trying and concentrate on the survey sell.

Maybe I’ll ring you one day as a mystery customer..... pick up a few tips..... so watch out for the stammering buffoon on the phone!

Chris

[Spiceman]

Ollie my standard price is £4 per m2 but i usually find a reason to discount this to £3 if its not to much of a pig of a job.
I too have been findin it difficult to compete whenever i get a phone quote to do, so i have now stopped giving prices over the phone . How can i tell what condition the carpet is i am going to take on?
I am seriously considering dropping my price to perhaps a more competative £2.20 mark but i always pre survey and i never ever give a guarantee to remove stains 100%.
John