High or Low? Which Way to Go

I give it to them.

In home estimates are nice but unless you have a tech or someone just doing estimates it's kind of a pain IMO.I just don't have alot of time to drive around estimating jobs that I MIGHT get.

I know my city quite well so I find out where the home is and I can give a pretty accurate estimate over the phone.

I make sure they understand it is a ballpark figure.

I will give in home estimates if that is what the customer wants.

I DO feel that % of booked jobs goes up when doing in home estimates.

I have sat down and figured out my costs.

which is why I have raised my prices

doug wrote: Stanley:  I hate to burst your bubble but you might just as well be using tide.  You cannot not properly clean the average soiled residential carpet that fast.  I only hope that your name is not on your truck.  This is not quality cleaing.  Now what you have is to shake that 1 price fits all attitude and explain just what it would take to do the job right. 1200 sq. ft an hour your truck cannot maintain heat working that fast.  I guess I have said enough

Well Doug ....I do...it does...I get more request than anyone in the history of this company....I get more referals...I bring in business...some people have the touch...the touch of gold...I can't help it I just do...I lucked out. I could use mud pre-spray and it would still come clean.....I can't figure it out...it must be the way I handle the customers....or like they say carpets are getting easier to clean.

oh yeah...I made a lot of modifications to my Legend....Like I said before I have to be careful it will burn hose...melt carpet...wreck vinyl...toast hardwood...the more I use the hottter it gets

Stanley

Boost your own company by doing something better and different. Be the first, buy a Hydramaster Jet Less Rotary Extractor.

Cleaning carpets better faster and dryer, and guess what. When you are in your 40's  you won't be complaining about your back and shoulders hurting from pushing a wand.

Stop scrubbing, work smarter not harder. Save your strength for handing money to a teller.

Steaminpile wrote: I'm a fairly new business (just over 1 year old) I'm in the middle of the road on pricing,,raised prices a little bit this year.

There was a day when in the spring we used to call the competition to find out what they were charging.  You have to sit down and figure what your overhead is.  You can't charge $10.00 per room if your cost is$15.00.

If you are running a tm I think you need to generate approx. $75. to a $100 per hour to make money.  Now you are only making money when the wand is going back and forth. So the truck will cost you about .15 a sq. ft to operate before you get any money and I think .15 is cutting it fine. Now this is why you charge more for moving furniture cleaning steps etc.  You have figure how much you need.  I had better quit because the big problem with production cleaners they have no idea if they are making money or not.

I'm a fairly new business (just over 1 year old)

I'm in the middle of the road on pricing,,raised prices a little bit this year.