Response to Last Weeks FAQ

A comment on last weeks CleanTip:
From: Mark Violand
Subject: Re: Pembertons CleanTip - Customers Asking for Price Cuts?

"Some of my commercial & residential customers are starting to ask for price cuts". So, as you suggested in your CleanTip article about reducing the service offered is excellent advice.

However if the cleaner truly does follow the S100 Standard for cleaning and truly does dry soil removal prior to cleaning and suggests to his customer that to save money -- why don't you do the pre-vacuuming?

HAHAHAHAHAHA, have you seen the vacuums people use in their homes? I can guarantee you 50% of the vacuums in our customers home do not work, ask me how I know?

I know because I inspect them every time I go into a home inspecting a carpet for shedding or loss of texture.

People don't vacuum as they should, they are too busy. You know the rule of thumb, one time per week per occupant in the home (and that includes dogs and cats).

Either the filter is ready to blow, the brush is worn, the belt is broken or the vacuum is simply not suitable for deep, thorough dry soil removal like a good commercial vacuum that is meant to handle the heavy soil.
can do.

One idea that I would suggest (as I have done), is that the more furniture you have removed from the areas we are cleaning means the faster we can clean, and the less it will it cost you.

Mark Violand
IICRC Certified Senior Carpet Inspector
IICRC Approved Instructor
CFI Inspector/Technical Certification
ITS HardSurface Inspector (wood, laminate and resilient)
CTEF Ceramic Tile Inspector

FAQs - My Customers are Asking for Price Cuts, What Can I Do?

Q - Hey Jim,
Some of my commercial & residential customers are starting to ask for price cuts because of the current financial situation. I only factor in a modest profit margin to start with & really can't afford to cut my price.

What can I do?

A - Trust me, you are not the only one facing the same situation. With the recession, and budgets being tight, customers, including yourself, want to find a way to get a better deal.

In this current economic climate, many of us would find to find a way to knock off a few dollars, go the extra mile and hope this would translate into more work down the line.

But this would be a serious business mistake.

Here is something I learned from surviving years in business. If you are asked to reduce your price, you need to make a corresponding reduction in the value you provide.

It is that simple! Reducing service hours will translate into cost reduction. However, cost very carefully to make sure you are reducing cost areas that are labor intensive rather than product intensive.

Only the reduction of labor costs will allow realistic price reductions.

How Do Your Stats Look?

Hi Jim,

I share the following in case it would help your CLEAN TIP, blog, or a workshop. It shows; where my business came from in 2008, that I must do the job right, and what I need to "sell" when at the job.

71% were repeat clients
26% from referrals
3% new clients from the phonebook
Average per customer $306.85 (minimum service charge $150, .40 sf for carpet clng)

52% carpet cleaning
11% upholstery clng
11% carpet repair
11% odor control
11% floor care
4% color repair

I did not use a marketing program last year (and still had a decent year) but plan to go back to the postcards as these have always paid off with one job, (less than $100 to make, print, and stamp my own) AND I will not be in the phonebook this year and from now on. As recent CLEAN TIPS have used the word "trust", in our current world of fruits & nuts, "I" don't know if I can trust most of the strangers calling from the phonebook. Besides, my muscle and bones are getting older and I feel that my clientele is well established. I can survive without the 3% by using the postcards again constantly putting my name in front of my client's face that will remind them to have me and/or refer me.

This decision to discontinue the phonebook is partly from the suggestion made by YOU to keep such statistics as above, the recent CLEAN TIPS, and the YOU TUBE video you sent (thanks). I know that it is the right thing to do.

AGAIN I thank you for your commitment to the industry and helping the "rookies" to make it in this business.

See ya soon,
Ken
----------------------------
Hi Ken

Thank you so much for the statistics. They parallel the experiences that other cleaners like you have shared with me over the past year.

Of course, there are not a lot of cleaners like you, so it has been a unique minority of owner operators who have built their businesses "a mile deep an inch wide", rather than the majority who have built their businesses a "mile wide and an inch deep".

Those latter types have not done as well as "your type" has.

Jim

Is Your Service "Worth It"?

Most marketing programs designed for the cleaning industry at the end of the last century (seems odd to read that, doesn't it?) focus on helping cleaners convince prospects to pay a higher price for cleaning services than they expect to pay.

These programs have often helped cleaners who would otherwise not survive in the competitive world of cleaning. With higher prices, these cleaners have met professional and personal financial goals and many have become leaders in their market places.

I've noticed, however, that some cleaners have learned to "market" a higher price, but are not DELIVERING a higher value. This short sighted practice results in declining repeat business, and little, if any referral business.

How can you be sure you are not "overselling and "underdelivering"? Here are a few points to consider:

Do you list several "cleaning steps" that might not truly be beneficial to your customer, or should be expected without "selling them" ("soil level testing", "demonstration of (add on service), etc).

Do you list cleaning steps in your sales material, but fail to do them?

Look for an article exploring this trend and how it can hurt your business in an upcoming article in Cleanfax Magazine.