[lisa123]

Hi all a bit of pricing help is required if you dont mind too much.

I had an enquiry today to clean an empty 1 bed flat, Top to bottom, not sure if thats to include ant cookers or whatever, i'm assuming there will be absolutely nothing in there, just carpets i suppose.

What sort of price should i be aiming for? The job is a little bit out of town, so travel is to be accounted for, aswell as all supplies and materials and equipment, i'm thinking 2 staff (me and the biz buddy), havent done this type of clean before so don't really know where to start.

[keen2clean]

hey lisa one off cleaning is what ive found my self doing a lot of i would charge £14 per labour hour and a charge ontop for oven cleaning if needed
thanks alot hope all is well
ray

[lisa123]

Hiya Ray,
Thanks for replying. I'm fine just very very busy 
£14 per hour per cleaner?
I might charge it as 12 man hours and put it as a job price to the customer £168 that will more than cover won't it if we manage to do it in less.
My trouble is that i never know how long things will take, i haven't seen the property yet, its a deceased persons house, their neices are binning all the furniture and belongings the weeks before we **hopefully** get to do the cleaning.

[shelton]

Hi Lisa,

Definitely get the scope sorted as this will have an impact on the time and price.  You don't want to get caufght short if the carpets need doing and you have to hire soe kit in or pass onto someone else.

What is the end goal for the flat?  Are they looking to rent it out, sell it, live in it, etc, etc . . ..  Whatever the answer, it can only help you price up accordingly.

You can never have too much information and your (prospective) customer will feel more comfortable if you are asking all the "right" questions.

Good luck.

Shelly.

[lisa123]

Thanks Shelley
I'm not sure whta they are going to do with it.

It's just that their aunt passed away alittle while ago and they are sorting out the flat, the nieces sorting it out live in south wales, and they just want it cleaned when they get the belongings out. Thats all i know at the moment.
If its been left to sit for a while (october she died) (hopefully not in the flat) then i should imagine cobwebs spiders dust and filth has mounted up.
They must be wanting to re-let it i think.

[The Great One]

Hi

I just cleaned a 1 bed flat in the S.E.

I charged them £225 (£90 for the clean, £135 for the carpets)

The whole job took 9 hours.

Regards

Martin

[keen2clean]

hi lisa i just cleaned a four bed house and it took 4 hours labour  i think 12 is quite high, but then again im no specialidst lol after all i am the baby of the site lol
where do u find most ur domestic clients have come from?
thanks ray

[dustdees]

Hi Lisa,

how's it going.

Just a massive piece of advice!!  For gods sake go and see it then give them a price, I never quote over the phone because each property is diffrent!!

Don't price by the hour cause you could get stung, for instance if you say 12 hours and you have completed it in 9 then the client is going to expect a charge for nine hours!!!

I have done a one bed flat. which had to be ready for re-let it took 12 hours, which included pulling out fride freezer cleaning everything in site, windows, frames, cupboards, etc.

Properties going out for re-let are required to look if no one lived in them,, if the client wants a good thorugh job then they are going to have to pay for the ma hoursto do it thoruoghly.

Hope this helps,
but of course peole have different opinions!!

[IdentiClean.co.uk]

As has already been said, you need to see the property and have a good look around, don't be afraid to tell the clients that you need to do this after all you are the specialist. I find that most smaller cleaning companies feel like they have to act like second class citizen because they are 'just the cleaner' but the sad fact is if you act like this then they will treat you like it is a fact.

You are not just the cleaner you are a cleaning specialist and should act accordingly by asking to see the premises, not just to check the work that needs doing although that is very important, but you also need to check the health and safety side to make sure the area is safe for you and your employees to work in.

[lisa123]

Hiya
Dont worry, i havent quoted over the phone  
I have just arranged a survey to do a quotation for them.
Waiting to hear back if the day is ok to do it, as they have to travel from south wales to  north shropshire.
I'm not a carpet cleaner, so i hope they don't want carpets cleaned, they did find me at the website and i don't mention any carpet cleaning, and they never said anything to me on the phone about it.  

anyway 6 hours total (just guestimating) (but 12 man hours) at £15 per hour should do it i think. That gives me a few quid if they want to haggle. I won't mention hours, that was just me working it out, i would just give them a cost for the job. £180, absolute minimum would be £150 for the job. (basing it on 12 man hours)

[lisa123]

Ray? how quick are you at cleaning if you did a 4 bed house top to bottom in 4 hours? You are super quick.

It took us 8 horrible long hours to do a conservatory, very greasy manky kitchen, nicotine stained living room and entrance hall in a 3 bed semi not so long ago, it was filthy, and there were two of us.

[Paul Kettless]

The very first piece of advise that I was given when I first started in this business was to never quote for a job without inspecting it first.  How on earth can you give a genuine and accurate quote to the custy, if not

Ok so I have used my time, and petrol to go to quite a few quotes that have never had a return, but that is just part of the game we play.

If the custy could not attend, I would make sure that I could obtain access by other means, neighbour, agent etc.  Once my inspection sheet had been completed, I will call the custy and go over the finer details.  When we first started out we were not able to deliver a carpet cleaning service, but I had a good business relationship with a CC.  He would then price his side of the work, on my behalf and I would add 20% for my trouble .

I think the advice that you have been given for costing sounds reasonable, although for my area (suffolk) our charges are between £10-12 per hour.

Good luck, and I hope you win the contract.....

Kind regards
Paul



 

[keen2clean]

lol i cleaned all the carpets first not included in four hours lol then all that needed cleaning was kitchen fridge freezer cupboards were okay an dmopped hard floor cleaned 3 toilets done and dusted lol.
i think the client wanted a quick job done lol

[lisa123]

sounds like you get all the easy ones 
where as i get all the flea infested, ant crawling, doggy haired, greased up, nicotine stained manky ones 

[Art]

lol i cleaned all the carpets first not included in four hours lol then all that needed cleaning was kitchen fridge freezer cupboards were okay an dmopped hard floor cleaned 3 toilets done and dusted lol.
i think the client wanted a quick job done lol

Ray,

As i seem to remember you've got a website and you work with a team of cleaners??

[keen2clean]

i do at times but this job i was on me own last minute end of tennancy and all that.
i get my fair share of maky lisa lol
ray

[shelton]

You get your fair share of manky Lisa?

That's not nice . ..   

 

[keen2clean]

You get your fair share of manky Lisa?

That's not nice . ..

 

okay then sheely no ned to try and get me in trouble lol
it always feels like harder work wen ur cleaning the house you live in lol
probably coz i havnt got pound signs in the back of my head lol

[lisa123]

hey you guys, i'm not manky 
ray you definatly know how to woo the ladys with your dirty talk 

[keen2clean]

lol i definately do lisa, lol sarcasms an art