How can someone stay in business with this?

[Ross Buettner]

Coupons:

5 rooms of carpet. Deodorized, Scotchgard... $69.95
This has no size restrictions, all furniture moved and tabbed.

Additional rooms $20.00

For the guys into this... I want to know:

How many man hours are in 5 rooms alone?
How much Scotchgard are you "giving away"?
How in the HELL do you stay in business doing this?

I am looking into stepping into the residential market this year. I've done over 50K in commercial in my first year. I read these forums often and look around... but I see no profitability.

But if someone calls me with that coupon I am a moron to even turn the key on my van. Even with 3-4 jobs a day like that!

 

[Ken Snow]

Never seen one that low- can you post the ad so we can see it?

 

[Royal Man]

Many cleaners think you can clean for free and make it up in volume.

Most client however know that if the price sounds too good to be true......
Or they have been burned before by buying services based on lowest initial price.

It's better to not have client use price as the main reason they picked your company.


Most of my prospects don't ask about price or just want a general idea. Because, I don't draw them in on price.

 

[Connor]

I don't think it mentioned cleaning, just deodorizer and scotchguard. :mrgreen:

 

[Ross Buettner]

I may be a dick for doing this. I know of 3 CCr's here from Wisconsin.

http://www.savingcashmagazine.com/coupo ... igecarpet/

 

[Ross Buettner]

I'd appreciate your input Ken. You do large volume... maybe some of this makes sense?

 

[daniel@procarpet]

That price doesn't include scrub which is probably extra, chemical boost extra, sanitize extra, and pet stain treatment extra.

Looks like a bait and switch to me.

No way they can make a money just cleaning alone at that price.

Some people never learn. They mail coupons and keep mailing them trying to grow all the while never making a decent profit.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Some people are happy making $15 an hour, I think its called owning a job.

 

[ACE]

I don’t get it.

I was talking to a friend who sold 300 livingsocial deals ( 3rms up to 600sqft for 44.50) He nets 31.50 for each deal and is driving all over the KC metro to do them.

I got a call yesterday asking if I would price match Stanley Seemers 2 Rms for 69.00 deal. I told her I would rather stay home and break even.

I’m missing something or these low ball offers are the desperate attempts of companies circling the drain.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Wow 7.4 cents a sq/ft, including scotchguard.

My father started cleaning in 1967 for 10.sq/ft.....that was 45 years ago! :shock:

 

[Ross Buettner]

Keep in mind there's 116k people here in this town.

There's 12 listed CCr's.

There's PLENTY to go around, it makes no sense to me!

 

[Desk Jockey]

You lucky we probably have twice that with nearly the same population. :|

 

[Royal Man]

You lucky we probably have twice that with nearly the same population. :|

You lucky, we have double the population and over five times the number of cleaners.
(70 Cleaning companies and 250K pop)

Only 12 cleaners and 116K would be a blessing. Almost no competition.

 

[Ross Buettner]

Okay...well... how do you compete with that?

The 43 jobs I did last year were simple. 35.00 a room. If I can move it alone, it gets moved and tabbed. I prespray, ask them to vac before I get there, charge up to 25.00 per nasty stain (kool aid or ink). I'll scrub it if it's bad.

If they toss me 5 or 6 rooms (the whole house) I don't charge for hallways.. I think that's pretty silly.

Upsell the Scotchgard for 25.00 per room. But the rest is what it is, aside of bad stains.

Something tells me I will get better repeat customers and word of mouth rather than bait & switching people... which I do not believe in.

 

[Royal Man]

Pricing is just a function of how you advertise and represent your company.

Price should be one of the last reasons for a client to choose your company from the rest.

Sell the other things you offer and develop a USP for your company.

Then you don't have to be a price merchant or get into price wars to the bottom.

 

[Ken Snow]

Re: Re: How can someone stay in business with this?

I don’t get it.

I was talking to a friend who sold 300 livingsocial deals ( 3rms up to 600sqft for 44.50) He nets 31.50 for each deal and is driving all over the KC metro to do them.

I got a call yesterday asking if I would price match Stanley Seemers 2 Rms for 69.00 deal. I told her I would rather stay home and break even.

I’m missing something or these low ball offers are the desperate attempts of companies circling the drain.

I don't think you can stay home and break even if you have any fixed costs. A profit can be made at that price.

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[joeynbgky]

I have 3 rooms and a free hall deal for 79 bucks. I make good money at them..

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[daniel@procarpet]

Joey I'm not buying that you are making good money doing three and a hall 750 sq ft for 79 dollars.

That is kind of ridiculous.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Your coupon looks really good though.

I think you should put under the print 300 sq ft total and charge 25 cents for each additional sq ft after the first 300.

You will double your PROFIT

 

[joeynbgky]

I do a lot of 5 rooms and a hall to. Plus add ons like sofas and tile. So.... even if I didn't have add ons id be ok 5 jobs a day per truck is ok

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[joeynbgky]

Daniel I run this one to which is a bigger ticket

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[daniel@procarpet]

If it's working for you stick with it. They look good for sure. I am just not a fan of coupons and if I did one I wouldn't hesitate to advertise three areas for 169 just because I would want to stand out. But that's just me.

Still I liked Don Becker's method of doing three areas for 89 dollars with a 300 sq ft max. Price is 30 cents per sq ft. Fair and reasonable and your profit will double.

 

[Ross Buettner]

Thanks for sharing that, Joey.

I am a little more than that with what I spelled out before. But I suppose if I went into advertising I'd need something to catch the eye.

I am totaly with free spotters. They are great for call backs in the future!

My goal was to average 150.00 per home, and 3 jobs a day. I realise some days would be less or more than others. I can handle that kind of work as long as my wife is doing the janitorial end of things.

But my goal is to get out of janitorial "business" as they call it (it's not.. it's utter bullshit). However, the income from the franchise has allowed me to get my truck... so I can't diss it.

Spring is coming fast... and I am still banging my head into a wall trying to get a plan. I have the rig, the chems, and most of the experience... I just need to make it happen.

 

[Ken Snow]

Joey's pricing is very similar to ours- there is definitely money to be made and 10's to 100's of million prospects looking and expecting that range. Daniel- save your marketing budget, you will not only not stand out but not get a response using coupon marketing at those price points. You could certainly get calls with a nice ad without prices, but don't waste money putting high prices in.

 

[Royal Man]

Ross, You need to do first things first. Get your webpage and places lising it order.

 

[greentech]

I have 3 rooms and a free hall deal for 79 bucks. I make good money at them..

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From the minute you pull up to the house, till you are packed and paid, how long does it take you to do the 3 room, free hallway deal?

By myself, setup, pre-vac, pre-spray, agitate, HWE, pack up, it would take 2 hours.

Do you carry water on your truck?

 

[joeynbgky]

1.5 to 2 hours. But never agitate.. Why would I? I have an awesome prespray. Very rarely do I use the rotovac. I carry water

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[Royal Man]

1.5 to 2 hours. But never agitate.. Why would I? I have an awesome prespray. Very rarely do I use the rotovac. I carry water

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Then how do you also add on the tile, sofas and extra rooms and do 5 a day as you state?

You must be on meth.

 

[Out of Character - 0]

One of my guys worked for a company in Chicago that would do $10 a room and included most stuff for that price. Scrubbing was $5 extra per room. They would do 12-16 jobs everyday with one van. He said they averaged about $700 per day and %30 went to the crew.

 

[Royal Man]

One of my guys worked for a company in Chicago that would do $10 a room and included most stuff for that price. Scrubbing was $5 extra per room. They would do 12-16 jobs everyday with one van. He said they averaged about $700 per day and %30 went to the crew.

I'd rather just do 2 jobs per day to get to the same $700 and be done by 1:00

You don't have to be a price merchant to be a carpet cleaner.