Do you charge by the square foot or by the room?

[Mikey P]

The thread on ICS had me wondering what is more popular.


I've never done the room thing and can't imagine how it could ever be more profitable. Certainly less hassle on the phone with shoppers for your phone help but for the OO who enjoys the challenge of a good sale I dont know why one would resort to Room pricing.

 

[hogjowl]

We all realize if you've never done it, nor thought about it, then it's just not worth doing.
:roll:

 

[vincent]

I do room pricing, but exclude steps and baths. I will measure larger rooms and justify on quarter, half, 3/4 and full. I count a room as 200 sq.ft.

People here don't have time for estimates.

 

[steve r]

i started out sq ft pricing and was making more money for the work i did but i was growing to slow.i switched to room pricing as a marketing tool and it has paid off like i hoped it would.

same price for empty or full of furniture but i only clean empty floor.i will move most furniture for a price though.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Like Vinny and Steve we were influenced for years by Bane toward sq ft pricing (which I still prefer).

However like Vinny noted people are getting too busy in many cases for for us to use sq ft pricing, so we've become better at packaging a pretty close approximation dollar for dollar with room (or "area") pricing.

If we get the chance we will measure and see how close we get. We often get more "by the room" if we don't give away areas.

Thanks,
Lee

PS Due to rising fuel and other expenses "Free Estimates" are four times as free as they were just ten years ago.

 

[Becker]

Sq ft.

I give maybe 20 in home estimates per year.
( 2 so far this year )
So far 180 jobs done in 08.

I know the homes in my area pretty well and because I have been charging by the sq ft for more than 10 years I'm pretty good at ball parking a job.

 

[Harry Myers]

I charge by the sq. Ft.

 

[Wandslinger]

square foot and wall to wall

 

[Mikey P]

For those of you that switched from one to the other how did the transition go for your long time clients?

 

[B&BGaryC]

Are you sure this is a mikey poll. What happened to the other options

Sq Ft
Room
Both
No
Maybe
I thought this was a petition to ban Chris
None of the Above
All of the Above
Multiple choice questionnaires cause me to have manic breaks
I am exercising my fifth amendment right to not incriminate myself
Sq Ft (Again)
Option three and Five
I forgot what the original question was

 

[Mikey P]

I'm just full of surprises.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I almost forgot option #14

What's this?... Anybody seen ODIN lately?

 

[bob vawter]

$44.95...two rooms and a hall.......!

 

[Jim Martin]

I go by the room......

you may eat a little bit in a larger living area but you will make it up in a crowded bedroom some where ........we charge per stair and extra for closets...

 

[Ken Snow]

I don't know any large multi truck co's (other than maybe HP) that charge by the sq ft. Trust me Mikey, any pricing structure can be profitable or not.

 

[LeeCory]

Take this for what it's worth.

I priced by the square since the beginning. That is until about a month ago when I wanted to test per room pricing.

I advertise a per room price for empty or traffic lanes. I am amazed to find that it is more profitable for me than by the sq. Mainly because I am now seeing people move their own stuff and I am able to get the jobs done faster.

Seems to be more profitable and easier on my body.

So far I like it!

 

[Guest]

I thought this was a petition to ban Chris

WHat DID i DO NOW????

 

[Guest]

OOps, I mean to say L-O-V-E.

Too bad I can't edit that.

 

[joey895]

I charge by the area but I've been considering going to sq ft. My draw back is I don't want to schedule to do an in-home quote and then schedule to come back later for to do the job. If I could go to sq ft and still book most jobs over the phone then I would probably make the switch.

 

[Greenie]

For any knucklehead that says you make more by the sq. ft. I say Charge by the Yard and you will roll in the dough.








sarcasm implied above


Room pricing works in our area just fine, and frankly I'd rather clean a larger room of light soil than 20 sq. ft. of gnarly traffic lane.
...and I agree with Ken and the others above, making good money in this biz isn't all that hard, just don't use your self as a target client mentality and you will do fine, cause we can be a bit frugal.

Someone is gonna ask, so I'll tell ya our basic structure when we got off the truck, $20/40/60 , that was it, I plainly laid it out to the customer just just like that, no games, no spiel.
Twenty was for halls and tiny rooms, 40 for normal bedrooms, 60 for great rooms and combo rooms etc... and if it was a particularly large room I just told her it was 3 bedrooms worth....never a single complaint.
If I were still on the wand today it would be 25/50/75.

 

[hogjowl]

Is that 25/50/75 with moving of furniture or without?

 

[diamond brian]

I price by the job, rather than by the room or square foot.

We don't clean by the room or by the foot, so why charge by it?

 

[Rex Tyus]

I started out room pricing. I sucked at it. I went to square foot pricing and have done well with it. Lately I have begun thinking along the lines as Greenie says (I actually got the idea from him sometime back) a small med and large price. When you factor the time spent measuring and calculating you can actually come out ahead. Having a min. room price has it's advantages as well.

 

[diamond brian]

Bob's Carpet Cleaning above:

I wonder if the 300 sq ft is total or per room?

If it's total, then Bob's got his foot in the door and it's a big up-sell just waiting to happen. He's probably doing OK.

 

[LeeCory]

Like I said, I was by the square foot up until this month. I will use sq ft pricing if needed, but to be honest with you I don't think I'm going back. What Greenie says is pretty good.

I am charging 35 per room empty or traffic lane only up to 240sq. Over that and add additional. $50 per room with any furniture moving again up to 240 sq.

It is working very well, and I am moving less furniture that I ever have and the bottom line is better. I feel better at the end of the day also.

I just got back from 2 jobs this morning where I didn't move ANY furniture in either...... they had everything crammed into the kitchen to save the money....


Try it

 

[Ron Werner]

Greenie answered my question, a little.

I can see the benefits for both myself and the customer if I charge by the room (BTR) However, with the speed I clean (turtle speed) I've been charging BSF to get a high enough $/hr.
At 55cents/sf 200sf is $110.
Traffic areas in a 150sf bedroom I would put at .30-.40/sf -> $45-60

One house I just cleaned:
LR/DR Combo 297SF wall to wall@.55/sf= 163.35
Bdrm 110sf t/a @.30 = 33.00
Hall 60 @.55 = 33.00
Bdrm 110 t/a @.30 = 33.00
Bdrm 80 t/a @.30 = 24.00
657SF total
$286.35

Protector I do at half cleaning price 143.17=429.52



Versus BTR Pricing
(and I'll use Greenie's #'s since they are handy)
1 Combo Room $75.00
1 Hall 25.00
3 Bdrms @ $50 each 150.00

$250

+ Protector at 1/2 price 125.00=375

Initially I had to make the drive out and measure and quote. But that gave both me and my client a heads up as to any surprises. Plus I can upsell furniture THEN and it is scheduled accordingly. Since he is now a repeat client, I can give him an exact price over the phone for any cleaning he needs.

I would have lost $54.52
I would sacrifice 12% , $12000/yr
With a $340 job ave less 12%=299.2
I would need to clean another 40 homes to make up for it.

SO, yes, its easier, and I might book those 40 jobs because of that, but I would be working harder.

Keep in mind, had I cleaned the whole house, wall to wall
657sf @ 0.55/sf = $361.35
Thats a loss of $111.35 just in the cleaning!

OR my "turtle" job, 490sf@ 0.6 = $294
vs 3 Bdrm equivalent = 120
My min is $150. If I would have taken the same time, you guys would have really thought I was nuts!!!

 

[Greenie]

Is that 25/50/75 with moving of furniture or without?

Our customers were normal reasonable people, so we moved the stuff they wanted moved, or sometimes I moved something "I" wanted moved if I thought it would make cleaning easier. Usually just the small stuff, it's actually something we didn't think much of, we just moved stuff to get started, if it was a PITA I would have bitched and charged a fee...lol

edit:
Oh...and I closed 95% of my phone quotes, there is some time savings in there somewhere, but mostly I did the above for my sanity.

 

[joey895]

But Ron why couldn't you just do 30/60/90 if that meets your price goal?

In your example that would be $300 for the cleaning and for $450 if you include protector. An increase in price plus you saved yourself an extra trip.

 

[patch]

Hey guys, I am new to the boards here but just wanted to throw my own 2 cents in. I have done both. Pricing by the room is just a quick way to schedule a job on the phone. I never will do that again. Don't know what to expect on the clean.

 

[R W]

Most of my residential jobs is by the job pricing. I will also room price, if needed. But for commercial that is new, I measure, usually by counting ceiling tiles....the customer thinks that is so cool.....they never realized that the ceiling is, in most cases, the same SF as the carpet.

Now my regular commercial custys .......I charge by the hour, from setup to tear down.

Oh.....I charge by the SF for insurance claims, since they insist on EXACT measurements.