[Shaun_Ashmore]

My finger nails will be black and blue, I think I'm turning into a southern softy back to eating tripe to harden me up!

Shaun

[Mark Roberts]

I base my quote from pictures email from enquiries.

Quick question Roger, do you find customers email pictures often as ive been thinking for a while to  let customers upload pics to me via the quote form on the website.

M

[*paul_moss]

Mark, I always ask for pic's on email enquiries ( if not local) as most are just price shoppers.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

That's a good idea Paul, do yo uask the same for carpets and fabric upholstery?

Shaun

[*paul_moss]

No not for cloth upholstery or carpets because I have every thing on the van to handle what ever I may come across. But for leather I may have to get some dyes/pigments made up.
So I ask for a few pictures of the leather and damage first so I can give an idea of the price. If the customer is happy with the initial quote then I will call around to confirm price and take a swatch.

[Roger Koh]

When I tell them to save $200 by sending in pictures with a free consultation they often oblige. When they are serious about their enquiry they will often send in pictures. This is my experience, even today they send in pictures first before they bring their cushions in. (A $1600.00 job to refinish a 30yrs old sofa). I do not have time to chase after jobs, they flood in.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

Roger Koh

[*paul_moss]

Roger do you make your own pigments or buy them in?

[Roger Koh]

We use high performance upholstery micro-pigment that is strong against UV light. Paul do this test (Have color pigments from all suppliers, make samples and place them against the sun, half covered and check every 3 months for degree of fading). We are not capable of manufacturing these pigments ourselves we only play with the concoction in our everyday work.

High quality aqueous low VOC (volatile organic compound) UV resistance micro-pigments are used for the following color coats:

napaColor84™
primeColor34™
semiColor64™
fineColor74™
nubuckColor94™

So we have 5 different pigment, why so complicated?

Of course all the above have different binders that hold these pigments that coat the leather with different degrees of strength and permeability for comfort.

Roger Koh
Leather Doctor® System

[richie]

Hi Mike,

I price fabric upholstery between £28-£35 per seating area & Leather between £34-£42 per seating area.  Both will depend on the actual size of the suite.

Richie.

[COLIN BRIGHT]

simon, i pride myself on my work, sometimes i wished that i had charged more, i charge what me and my custys think is value for money
these suites are £2500-£6000 each to replace, so a few hundred quid is a small price to pay to keep their suites in tip top condition
i believe that anyone who wants to charge less is doing their own business a diservice, cicumstances to play a part, for instance a lightly soiled suite that might only take an hour i would probably charge around £150
lets face it to take £100-£150 an hour for cleaning carpet is the norm, is'nt it?

ps i get most of the suites i quote for and all prices are fully inclusive of VAT

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Richie we could do you a make over with filler and dyes to make you look beautiful.

Well perhaps not you can't make a silk purse!

Shaun

[Joe H]

lets face it to take £100-£150 an hour for cleaning carpet is the norm, is'nt it?

Err!  No

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I used to charge around 100 for a typical suite but a couple of years ago I decided to charge 150 plus 50 for protection.

I get a reasonable number to do it's worthwhile.

If people don't want to pay then their are plenty who will do it cheaper.

As a consequence I have also raised my fabric prices to similar levels .

Cheers

Doug

[Roger Koh]

Colin, that’s the inspirational mindset to “Clean and Grow Rich in Leather”.

The more confident we are, the lesser the competition.

The higher is our charges to the satisfaction of our customer;
the better is our pride and satisfaction.

There is no doubt about it; it’s the only way to grow richer than we think.

Expensive Good quality leather service is “cheap in the long run”.

Cheap leather service only reflects our mediocrity and is “expensive in the long run”. 

That’s part of my sales scripts.

Tip of the day, to impress my customer I wear full leather suite when doing on-location jobs. I have a quick spray and wipe with leatherScent’B™ before I start out. When I meet my customer at the door close enough in most cases I notice the smile on their face…

How seductive sensuous leather can be…

leatherScent’B™ is more leathery than the leather itself…

It gives you the oomph…


Roger Koh
Leather Doctor® System

[Joe H]

lets face it to take £100-£150 an hour for cleaning carpet is the norm, is'nt it?

Colin did ask a question.

Any one else going to answer?

Is £100 - £150 an hour for carpet cleaning "the norm" ?

[Len Gribble]

Joe

It’s achievable but a lot depends, I should not be here don’t do leather as most of my customer are DFS.

Roger K

It’s funny about smell; I’ve often used Pledge.


Len

Ps looking into wipes.

[Joe H]

Achievable is different to "the norm"

[carpet guy]

Discussing charges is a sure way to argument and acrimony and comparing hourly charges is pointless as people who charge considerably  less per job will often earn considerably more per hour.

For instance some will complete an average fabric suite in around one and a half hours and charge around £65 to £85, or £44 to £56 per hour, slightly more for leather, which takes less time and therefore returns an even higher Hourly Rate.

Others will take around  four hours, charge around £120 and end up with an hourly rate of only £30 per hour.

While those who take longer will claim to be BETTER that is most certainly NOT necessarily the case !

So................from a BUSINESS point of view...............who is following two of the main disciplines of any business to best effect ; - TIME MANAGEMENT and  PROFITABILITY ?

How many four hour " working " slots are there in a day ?

How many 90 minute " working  " slots are there in a day ?

Also, you will almost never clean a suite, without the addition of at least one carpet, just how are you going to spend in there ?

My comment is not suggesting people should work CHEAP as I certainly don't think £50 an hour is CHEAP, but, if my garage, spark, joiner, etc was seeking £100 an hour for what is 95% labour, I would do what most would do and " shop around "

Only my opinion........................don't think so.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think that in our industry most customers don't want to know how long but how good it will be.

Shaun

[stevegunn]

My local Ford garage charges £85 an hour for labour.The public deem a machanic as a skilled craftsman and cleaning is only cleaning which anyone can do so feel if your charging prices like £100 an hour your ripping them off