[Matt Read]

I do £35 ,been thinking about £40 but i agree with mike in that small jobs lead to good customers,i've lost count of the custy's i'vce done a favour for and its led to bigger things. A lot of people like to test the water first see your set up and it goes from there. With experience i think you can pick out the price shoppers who only want a cheap job and move on to another cleaner the next time.

[rich hand]

With a minimum fee of £35 you can still earn £50/h pro rata or even £1/min if you push it! The custs that require this sort of price do not expect a pre vac and are only familar with splash n dash so all though you will be charging more (yes more than splash n dash @ £15 min fee) you will be giving a better job and thats probably just fine  Just fit the job en route to elsewhere more prosperus.

[spickandspan]

So what you are saying if the customer just wants a small bathroom cleaned she would be looking about £40??
I also depends if you live in the south or north dont you think???

[Mike Halliday]

there are just as many  millionaires in harrogate as London (per % of population) when it comes to price there is no North-south divide,

Mike

[craigp]

i think your min charge will also depend on weather your using TM or portable,

you would'nt want to set up a 20k TM for £30 jobs to often, i had a lower min charge when i was using portable.

[Mike Osbourne]

Craig that's interesting. Truckmounters are forced to put their prices up because of running costs. Now do any custys think, he's got a truckmount and I'll pay more than if it was a porty?

Most people only see the person and book and repeat book on results/service, rarely does anyone say 'have you got a truckmount' they just say will you be - able to get that stain out?, will it be dry by.....? etc.

So porty operators could theoretically charge the same.

And if you say I've got a  20hp truckmount and what that means to you is blah blah blah is good salesman ship, but the sort of thing a porty owner could say to a custy anyway.

And if you ever say to a customer you need to charge high because of your monthly payments then that's no reason at all.

The main advantage is no. of jobs/m2 you can cover per day, not the superior results cos custy don't know no better.

[David_Annable]

Hi

What you havn't factored in is if when using a portable you earn £40 per hour.

But using a TM speeds things up, so on the same job you earn £60 per hour.

So you dont need to put you prices up.

Dave

[Matt Read]

I've been a truckmounter for two months...porty for 12 years and i would charge the same and use the truckmount every time possible...even for stain removal....its quicker and easier on the back plus its more impressive to the custy.

[Paul_Ashworth]

You also find that you get extra work from the t/m as the nieghbours hear the machine, see that you have invested in good equipment and ask you for a quote

[Neil Grainger]

If you Charge the right Money it should never be about speed.  This is getting a bit like the old days my Truckmount is better than your Portable.

The quality of work sells my business and I use a portable. People buy you not your equipment.

Off to the pub now.

Have a good one everybody.

Cheers

Neil

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Neil that's a 'stock' answer that's as old as the hills.

If you can do the same high quality job faster you could go to the pub earlier.

or like me put an extra job or 2 on.

Shaun

[craigp]

Craig that's interesting. Truckmounters are forced to put their prices up because of running costs. Now do any custys think, he's got a truckmount and I'll pay more than if it was a porty?

of course the customer does not think that, but i do need to charge more now regardless. just a financial reality.

but when they see it it does help justifi your higher price.

and yes a porty user can still charge the same, nowt stopping you.

[the red carpet]

£35, going up to £49 very soon.
Fast track recommend £85

[Mike Osbourne]

£85 min charge! Blimey

Ironically I think min charge is more applicable to porty users, TM just turn up and start sucking. So you just do a lounge for £60 then buzz off to your next job of 6/day.

[craigp]

even with TM i dont like to go over 3 jobs for one day,

hows it been going Mike ?

[craigp]

thing is i had 2 min order jobs other day, added together with travel time they took best part of 3.1/2 hours thats almost half a working day!

so they take up alot of time, for not alot, thats why i would'nt want any lower min charge thatn i got, and can see the sense in the FT min charge.

[Mike Osbourne]

Hi Craig,

I forgot to factor in travel, the other way to do it would be work more local. I guess if you get your marketing right you can eventually have a high CO charge, work local and cherry pick the best custys if you stay a one man band.

Business is quite good for me at the moment, Christmas and steadily improving leaflets/ads.

Only snag is it's bang in the middle of exam time for me, all over by the ninth though.

[rambly]

£40. Most times if you explain that you need to cover mileage, time travelling/setting up etc. people understand the logic.
Have a job booked in next week which would have been £20 if based on room size. After explaining reason behind minimum charge I now have a £125 job instead.

[spindle]

£50.............min charge............not worth going for any less.............time to get there..........time to set up .petrol/diesel cost........

[spickandspan]

No north south divide you must be joking???