Last year I cleaned a three story office complex. The office management was impressed with my results and promised to use me again. So this year they contacted me and wanted me to go through the entire bid process again. They said they had removed some carpet from some areas and I would need to remeasure. It turned out that they had removed only about 200sqft of carpet. Then they removed a stairwell and added in another stairwell.
So I wrote up the bid and emailed it to them. I had raised my prices by $.02. Even with the 200sqft of carpet missing the estimate was only $20 more than last year. This afternoon I got a snarky email from the lady managing the bids. She said that she noticed that I had raised my price from last year and that will reflect in their decision process.
I felt a spike in my blood pressure. I responded back the following:
"Yes, Prices went up. Are you paying more for fuel, insurance, materials, and services than you did last year? I sure am. Most carpet cleaners price themselves to go out of business. I price myself to stay in business so I can continue to offer my customers the best cleaning possible. I appreciate the opportunity.
Thanks,
Damon
A Plus Carpet Cleaning. "
Honestly, If I don't get the job, I'm okay with that. I'm so busy and have taken a page out of @Mikey P 's playbook by offering quality cleaning and building my book of business with people that know the difference. It took a few years, but I got there eventually.
So I wrote up the bid and emailed it to them. I had raised my prices by $.02. Even with the 200sqft of carpet missing the estimate was only $20 more than last year. This afternoon I got a snarky email from the lady managing the bids. She said that she noticed that I had raised my price from last year and that will reflect in their decision process.
I felt a spike in my blood pressure. I responded back the following:
"Yes, Prices went up. Are you paying more for fuel, insurance, materials, and services than you did last year? I sure am. Most carpet cleaners price themselves to go out of business. I price myself to stay in business so I can continue to offer my customers the best cleaning possible. I appreciate the opportunity.
Thanks,
Damon
A Plus Carpet Cleaning. "
Honestly, If I don't get the job, I'm okay with that. I'm so busy and have taken a page out of @Mikey P 's playbook by offering quality cleaning and building my book of business with people that know the difference. It took a few years, but I got there eventually.