Scored 300 unit apartment complex

[daniel@procarpet]

Who says he actually has to do it for that price anyways. Most guys here that clean apartments are 30-45 dollars per unit as well, but they end up making close to 150 per unit on average. Water damages are always much higher. Red stains 20 dollars per stain. Repairs and stretching are priced high, and if the carpet needs restorative clean the price is around 100 per unit to rotary extract. My guess is he will do very few for the bare minimum price.

 

[steve_64]

im $50 to $60 for a 1 bedroom $65 to $75 for a two bedroom. ive been raising my prices for new accounts.

upcharges usually start at $25 and sometimes go up to $150 on top of the regular rate.

with no upcharges im at about 20 minutes for a 1 bed and 30 for a 2. i use a bane, all electric.

its pretty physical but i like it. i always say i get paid to exercise. nothing to move and for some i have keys some will leave them open so no extra stops.

some are a pain sometimes but it all works out in the end.

 

[Shane Deubell]

People successfully do apartments every day, your crew has to be trained/supervised at a high level.
Probably need a phone to take pics to justify the up charges and keep good notes.

Not for me but its your life....

 

[J Scott W]

I know some companies that have been profitable at those prices. They make $0 on the carpet cleaning but charge for every possible upsell - deodorization, red stain removal, all other kinds of specialty spotting services, carpet repair and restretch, water losses and so forth.

 

[tmdry]

Not worth it, and don't ask for flood calls at those apt complexes, they'll think you're 1k bill is high.

 

[JS41035]

I was high bidder @ $45 for a 2 bedroom and $30 for a 1 Bedroom. I plan to send 1 employee and the trusty vortex to service the account.

Not sure if it's going to work out well. The prices are way too low.

maybe i'm wrong. Has anyone had experience along these lines? Is there money to be made off apartment complexes?

Thanks

I hate to say it but...... Bid low or high , that will work itself out. You'll figure out real quick whether your making money or not. In this case you went to low. But the glaring mistake to me is........
Posting your prices on the internet. Had you bid it great and made money, your competition knows your price. It doesn't take much for your local competitors to figure out which unit this is.
This board is an amazing tool. But if it is something you wouldn't tell your competitor face to face be careful.
I'm not talking about general pricing or vague estimates. But a specific account. I know every biz with carpet within 45 miles of me. If a competitor boasted about getting a great price, my ears perk up. And I'm a nice guy .


....

 

[GCCLee]

I hate to say it but...... Bid low or high , that will work itself out. You'll figure out real quick whether your making money or not. In this case you went to low. But the glaring mistake to me is........
Posting your prices on the internet. Had you bid it great and made money, your competition knows your price. It doesn't take much for your local competitors to figure out which unit this is.
This board is an amazing tool. But if it is something you wouldn't tell your competitor face to face be careful.
I'm not talking about general pricing or vague estimates. But a specific account. I know every biz with carpet within 45 miles of me. If a competitor boasted about getting a great price, my ears perk up. And I'm a nice guy .


....

: )

Good Point Justin!


A lot of prying eye out there.



Sent from da parking garage of dee detention center

 

[steve_64]

im often under bid. some of my complexes let me know when they are being targeted. usually its a new franchise opening up.

ive been told by a friend of mine (another cleaner) when ive been price shopped. i still have the accounts.

i think if you are doing a good job and being reasonable people will stick with you whether its residential or commercial.

yes you will lose some and win some but thats business.

asking about how to price or run your business online to group who dont know you, your business model or your market is another thing.

i dont worry about what others are doing, i focus on what im doing. i figure if im doing it right ill make a good living at it. if the other cleaners are trying to compete with me and my pricing i figure im doing something right then. better they are concerned about me than me being concerned about them. but i highly doubt they spend much time thinking about me also.

 

[steve_64]

People successfully do apartments every day, your crew has to be trained/supervised at a high level.
Probably need a phone to take pics to justify the up charges and keep good notes.

Not for me but its your life....

upcharges get noted on the invoices. the companies need that to deduct from the deposit. there is a trust factor involved for me. i use to have to do walk throughs with the managers on upcharges but ive built a relationship with them now. but i still take pics occasionally, just in case.

 

[GCCLee]

upcharges get noted on the invoices. the companies need that to deduct from the deposit. there is a trust factor involved for me. i use to have to do walk throughs with the managers on upcharges but ive built a relationship with them now. but i still take pics occasionally, just in case.

You got that right!

A lot of times I demand they do a post walk through inspection. And they do.
Just wish they would give some online reviews : (

As far as trust goes,
They have pretty much stopped replacing and have built significant budgets so...
If I tell em to replace one, they do.

Its a Circus an I seem to fit right in : )


Sent from da parking garage of dee detention center

 

[Able 1]

I know some companies that have been profitable at those prices. They make $0 on the carpet cleaning but charge for every possible upsell - deodorization, red stain removal, all other kinds of specialty spotting services, carpet repair and restretch, water losses and so forth.

I do the same, but in reverse.. I get good money to clean and throw in the other stuff, it's a way more honest way to do business. To tell you the truth 1 out of 50 need special stain remover...

 

[ruff]

People successfully do apartments every day, your crew has to be trained/supervised at a high level.
Probably need a phone to take pics to justify the up charges and keep good notes.

Not for me but its your life....

Yea. I'm with Shane. You betcha. You gotta streamline.

• No more fluffy disgusting stuff like: Hello Ms. Jones nor a smile. From now on a one syllable grunt while hurriedly passing through, will have to do.
• Disagree about the phone and photos. Plenty of ready made on Goog. Photoshop is your friend, my friend.
• No notes. No time. Outsource notes to India.
• Ain't his life. No time for that!

 

[Desk Jockey]

I do the same, but in reverse.. I get good money to clean and throw in the other stuff, it's a way more honest way to do business. To tell you the truth 1 out of 50 need special stain remover...

I like that Keith. I would think that would be a much safer risk. Making little or nothing on the cleaning and hoping for the upsell to make money on sounds risky. What if they notice everything is a continuous upsell? If I were the manager and noticed that I'd can the company. Or I'd tell them I only want cleaning and then I'd get someone else for the repairs

 

[Mike Draper]

When u buy a car and go to sign paperwork and the dealer adds a bunch if $$$$$ in the back end do you feel that's honest or that you've been taken? Honesty is always the best approach IMO.

 

[jcooper]

I get good money to clean and throw in the other stuff, it's a way more honest way to do business.

That's pretty much it...

 

[hogjowl]

I was thinking about that very thing on Friday. I removed a couple of red stains and a dog urine stain at a customers house. I didn't charge her extra. That's the way I have always done things, BUT ... how will my employees ever make a living wage without up sales?

When I get employees, that is.

 

[GCCLee]

When u buy a car and go to sign paperwork and the dealer adds a bunch if $$$$$ in the back end do you feel that's honest or that you've been taken? Honesty is always the best approach IMO.

I flat feel Violated about it!



Sent from da parking garage of dee detention center

 

[bildung]

I think apartments work best for O/Os. Having to put a wage into the equation really cuts it close.

Also, CCs are going to have to learn to master vinyl cleaning, particularly the quick removal of widespread paint splatter, especially around the perimeter.

I've developed a technique that's as fast as carpet cleaning and its giving me an advantage over the traditional apartment service model b/c property managers are going increasingly to vinyl and its starting to look rough after a few turnovers.

 

[steve_64]

I do the same, but in reverse.. I get good money to clean and throw in the other stuff, it's a way more honest way to do business. To tell you the truth 1 out of 50 need special stain remover...

so you over charge 49 out of 50?

if you give them the upcharge upfront before you clean how is that dishonest.

just dont do it after the job like closing on a car sale.

the more work i do the more i charge. whats dishonest about that?

 

[Able 1]

so you over charge 49 out of 50?

if you give them the upcharge upfront before you clean how is that dishonest.

just dont do it after the job like closing on a car sale.

the more work i do the more i charge. whats dishonest about that?

For me, I like to average every thing out.... Less things to remember with my paper work(blue stain,black stain, red stain). I don't over charge for anything it is all part of my service, if they don't like my price or how I service them they can find someone else that can serve them better(fat chance). No matter how many stains we treat it still takes me the same time! So you charge them more just because you work by yourself? Your inefficiency shouldn't be your custy's problem!

 

[steve_64]

i was just razzing ya. i have someone working with me. i dont charge much per room and work at that rate mot of the time. but i do clean a LOT of nasty units so those i charge extra for. a few stains here or there no, i throw those in. i make money even if without upcharges simply because they dont take as long and dont use as much product. i also get repeat work and rferals much more that way.

i tried the higher price thing and got a lot of rejections when i first started up. once i went to this price structure things took off. different market i suppose.

 

[Able 1]

I know, we went round about this before.. My market (mostly) is sick of the up charges. I do have one that I'm working on to get them up to price they are $5 cheaper then the rest of them, just a pain when you charge different prices for different properties.. There are a lot of companies that go low to get in the door then find out they actually can't do the cleaning for the low ball price, and charge extra for every unit.

 

[GCCLee]

I guarantee that our services won't exceed a certain price.
The opening price is for a fairly clean unit and they know that. Don't let em sucker ya. To restore some of this crap to livable conditions, holy moly!

Mine is $350 and I have never had to come close to it. In the grand aspect of things it is all about them Not having to replace it : )

Seriously guys, for $35 I might Inspect a 1k sq ft unit but to clean it? Tell em to rent a rug doctor!


Sent from da parking garage of dee detention center

 

[steve_64]

for my apartments they want a lower up front front price. i still make money at that price, its not super low. they want the upcharge so they can deduct damages from the deposit. it keeps their prices lower and strengthens the cases against those who trash units.

i tried doing one price for other complexes with no upcharges but it didnt work out for me. they still want a deal but the average unit was trashed so in the end i wasnt making much.