[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Im going up about 20% on average. Who else is going up and by how much?
John

[mike townsend]

you need to be careful upping your prices unless your very busy or looking to target a different sector of the market

inflation is on its way down, so everything, including wages will drop next year

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Well I can always put them down if I think it's not working out. I tend to market the higher end domestic properties so hopefully a fiver or tenner here and there wont make that much difference. Anyway my overheads have gone up dramatically so need to up the prices for that reason alone.

[mike townsend]

my overheads have gone down, chemicals are cheaper
(vat drop) diesel has gone down in the last few months, suppliers are trying to be more competitive, advertising companies are practically giving ads away, i think its the cheapest things have been for a long time, my mortgage has also gone down due to lower interest rates, heating and fuel bills are slowly dropping and food and living costs are coming down too.

hence the inflation will be de-flation next year

[pete sween]

Mike,

Hope you don't use Prochem products as their prices are going up dramatically as from 1st Jan.

Pete

[Ken Wainwright]

For domestics I have a pricing policy. One year I'll put carpets up, the next year I'll put upholstery up.  On 01/01/09 it'll be upholstery by 6.5%.

Commercial is slightly different.Most of my commercial work is Dry Fusion. Chemical costs are a larger part of the overhead with DF than with some other systems so I need to watch this carefully.  By changing from Activator to the new Fusion Pure I have effectively halved my product costs so there is no plan to increase my charges in the forseable future.

As a small service business, it is difficult to increase volume to compensate for lower charges, so your pricing and costs need to be watched carefully. As was once quoted, Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity  It is sometimes more cost effective to stay at home rather than work for next to nothing.

Safe, happy and profitable cleaning
Ken

[clinton]

Hi john

Are you just going to put up every job then or just the letting side

Ken

How do you find the fusion pure against activator

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hi Clinton

Putting my carpets up by 5p per square foot and upholstery up by £3 per seat. Might not sound a lot but it should mount up.

John

[carlton care]

By pricing each job individually, you don't have to state a set price for A / B / C and to keep down prices without reducing your returns, you just have to be more efficient.

Is pre vacuuming really necessary
Which and how much prespray are you using
Do you really need an acid rinse
Etc, etc.

Don't clean way beyond client's expectations, when meeting them is adequate and probably more profitable.

This is NOT being mean, or SCRIMPING. It's maximising your return for time and effort.

I almost never prevac, so I save a considerable time per job and I have retained a very high proportion of clients over the years.

PROFIT is about ROI and how effectively you manage TIME and PRODUCT ( consumables ) has a major bearing on PROFIT.

[derek west]

Don't clean way beyond client's expectations, when meeting them is adequate and probably more profitable.

don't agree with that bit carlton.
you'll get far more referals from cleaning beyond expectations and you'll also stand out from the also rans.
i always clean to the best of my ability regardless of my clients expectations, and when there gobsmacked by the results, i rub my hands knowing they'll be talking about me to there friends.
derek

[JandS]

Like you carlton I rare pre vac, usually they ask me over the phone shall I run round with the vac. In some cases they just do it anyway.
Always ask them to clear the room of any small items of clutter though like magazine racks and kids toys.
Generally find if it's a living or dining room everything bar the 3 piece and immovable objects have been shipped out.
One even put the 3 piece on the patio this Summer.
Do try to clean the place above there expectations though, as Derek says, maybe then they'll put in a good word for you with the neighbours.
Upped my prices in December.

John

 

[clinton]

Hi john

As long as you are confident in puting your prices up

Am sure you will soon find out if you will loose regulars as they usually vote with there feet :

[clinton]

John

Forgot to ask you did you get the leaflets done

[carlton care]

Derek

Been taught to suck eggs many years ago.  Client expectations are nearly always unrealistic and it would be foolish to promise something you can't deliver.

My results have almost always exceeded client's expectations, but I never assume they will, so when presented with an unexpectedly good result, they are delighted. It's just using psychology.

Been running for the past 6 years, or so with no advertising, don't even give out cards, but people still phone and refer me to others.

[derek west]

carlton
you said dont clean beyond clients expectations, NOT! dont promise beyond clients expectations.
i was giving my views on that basis.
now your changing the goal posts.

so did you mean don't promise or clean?, as your first post says clean.
derek

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Who would win in a fight between Carlton and Derek?

FFFFIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[carlton care]

You missed one very important little word in your tranlation of what I wrote Derek. Completely changes the message.

To clarify for you.

The use of the word " way " in this post was intended to convey, in a word............" far above reasonable expectations "

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Clinton

To be honest mate Ive still got a box of 6,500 of the old ones here that will be going out next week. Not needed to do much advertising over xmas. As soon as they are picked up Ill buy 20,000 with the new special offer on. Print Carrier have upped their prices for 20,000 by about £30.00! Good job im upping my prices!!

John

[Mike Osbourne]

For those who think putting up prices is risky with the crunch an all, simply take a small part of your business and test it out. If it creates more profit you can apply it to other areas if it don't work don't try the same thing elsewhere.

Or just add 5% across the board, then another 5% a few months later. Don't really see the 'risk' unless you only work for lower income homes and do a blanket 10%+  to everything.

[richy27]

Don't clean way beyond client's expectations, when meeting them is adequate and probably more profitable.

don't agree with that bit carlton.
you'll get far more referals from cleaning beyond expectations and you'll also stand out from the also rans.
i always clean to the best of my ability regardless of my clients expectations, and when there gobsmacked by the results, i rub my hands knowing they'll be talking about me to there friends.
derek





derek are you ever wrong