After 21 years of doing it my way, I am going to have to do it their way.

If you haven't noticed a trend, keep watching, it is comming fast.

I was taught by Bill Bane to never advertise price, because I would live to regret it.

Not bad advice 20 years ago. Today's customer expects easy access to information and that includes the "price" The quickest way to get that info to the customer is the WEB. If you do not have a web site yet, Why not? It is quickly becomming the quickest way to new customers, that is if you want new customers.

IMHO it is the best way to tell "your story" and that is why you advertise, to get a chance to tell your story. When you do your story, don't try to romance everything, cut the hype, just say it with truth and clarity.

If you tell a customer about a product or service and they wonder what it will cost, and they learn the only way that you will tell them the price is if they give up certain information, they immediately think;
#1 You charge too much and you know it.
#2 you want an opportunity to overcome objections,
#3 They think you want them to give you a credit card number
#4 your planning to contact and control the conversation with rigged questions under the pretense that you're consulting them for their own good. (I may be stretching it a little here)

Most all business owners I talk to these days tell me that sales are off. It is true here.

Yes it is partly the economy, but is it also partly us?

We've got reasons for not disclosing our prices. We don't want to give our competitors "the edge" or something or other.

But I am beginning to believe that companies, mine too, with good prices and service should not be afraid to share them. In our ads. Over the phone. On our websites or from the housetops. At least that is how it seems to me.

Not sure I agree with giving a price Ray, without first qualifying the job.

I DO give all customers an estimate over the phone.

I Do tell them that I am probably pricing more than the job is going to cost.

I DO tell them that I would rather give them a high estimate until I see the job, then I can adjust the price down according to the situation.

I give my callers an analogy,

"I want to buy a car, how much is it going to cost me"?

"Ma'am, Sir, that depends on what sort of car you want. Do you want a Mercedes, or a Hyundai"?

It's the same with carpets and upholstery and the people who clean them.

Same are top of the line cleaners that have been trained and know what problems are going to cause grief and explain it prior to giving a price and starting a job.

Others usually want to get in & out as quickly & cheaply as possible. They find problems as they are cleaning, then offer excuses for for their cheapness.

Not all situations are the same, just like customers, & I like to assess both as I go about my inspection.

A lot can be sussed out over the phone, & with those I do not want, I pass on.

Life is far too short, to be unhappy with our efforts to satisfy some peoples ego.

Cheers,

Shorty.


PS ::: I Do agree, the web sites are an excellent source of work, both new & repeat.

I promote my web site at EVERY opportunity, & it has paid off nicely, thank you very much.

I've seen the light, and changed my wicked ways.
www.get.shorty.com.au

I agree about the website, all of my advertising includes website address as does my voice message many have viewed the site prior to my return call makes for easy sell and converastion possailbe add ons. Pricing 2 things I use "we charge by the square foot to ensure fair pricing" " we currently have a special offering 2 rooms and hall up to 250SF for $69.95, how many rooms are you interested in having cleaned.... I let them know prior to beginning we will porvide a exact price and there will be no addtional charges. Seems to work well

Rambo, seems like after all your years in the biz you would have referrals out the wazoo without having to worry much about how you advertise.

Whats so hard about pricing resi work with a firm price. I do 3 rms for 99.00 thats it. Firm. No sq ft price. That includes pre vac, basic spottiing, low moisture cleaning and post vac or rake if needed this is for about a 15x15 rm larger rooms will count as two.

Why do cc's make it harder then what it is for the customer. You buy a gal of gas for 2.77 not for how long it takes to be pumped into your car, you buy bread by the loaf not buy a slice.

Some little old lady does not want to hear well Miss Smith I charge .20 per sq ft up to 250 sq ft.

No I can understand for comm work you need to estimate and see the job before hand. But for resi work I think that a firm price up front is the way to go. People dont want games, life is hard enough with out guessing what your cc'er is going to charge you on the invoice.

Just my 3 cents, due to rising cost my 2 cents has now gone up a penny.

Joe

Like what Rambo has observed in his area the trend in our area has moved to giving the price. I think the customer doesn't want to know how much per foot (or try to do the math) they just want know how much total. As a result most of the companies in the valley have been listing their prices and now we do to. I've found that we get a better response. For example most companies advertisements will read something like this: "3 rooms and a hall for $69.95!" then in parenthesis (up to 400 sq. feet regular price thereafter). So in this way you are guaranteed your minimum and still allow for your square foot price because you "up to X number sq feet" is what you charge per square foot.

You would have to adjust your info to what the average size of home in you area is and what your willing to to get out of bed for and adjust you pricing accordingly. For example if you won't work for less than $100 per job list your price as $100 for what ever your willing to do for that amount.

THe other thing I like about the "competitors" listing their price is that I can make sure I'm not the cheapest guy on the block. I noticed that the cheaper I was the grungier the carpet.

I don't really see your point Joe M. Your way, you still have to explain to Mrs. Smith that this price only counts if you are under a certain sq. footage.
I see your point about customers wanting a fixed price over the phone but it just is not practical. There are too many variables.
If a carpet cleaner is going to advertise room prices then they should stick to it. Three rooms for $99.00 goes for Mrs. Smith in her $40,000 house and also for the "Blood-Sucking" lawyer in his 2 million residence.
That is why I have never room priced. I don't want to explain to the little old ladies why it's gonna be more than they thought because their room is 310 sq. ft. instead of 240 sq. ft.
By the way, how much does it cost to fix a car, get a operation, mow a yard, build a house, build a bridge, fix my plumbing, put on a set of tires, refinish my hardwood floors?
Too many variables, right?
If a customer is so dumb that they can't understand that bigger means more work and more time (not to mention that the dog pissed everywhere) which equals more money then I hope they call somebody else.

i agree with joe m. im $99 3 rooms and a hall 600 sq. min. because ss is 3 rooms no hall. also a freind told me not to do 2 rooms because then you get more min. calls $65.

most homes in my area are small so i can do this in under an hour. also i sell protector, furniture cleaning and stuff like that.
in the bigger homes its the same but i usually do a LOT more than a couple rooms. plus their carpet is usually nicer and easier to clean less spots and stains which i do charge extra for unless they are low income retired in which case i go out of my way for.
i find its coming back in referals and it makes me feel good.either way im building a nice business for myself.

i was charging by the sq ft but found it hard to sell. once i started advertising a price my income doubled but i did join bni at about the same time too.

sorry dion i just noticed i repeated some of what you said.

I am not so sure that the customer wants an exact price, more than they want some assurance that what you quote and what you charge them once in the home is not a mile apart. We try to give them a maximum price and never ever exceed that even if we are wrong. Most are fed up with bait and switch tactics and just want some assurance that we are not in that game.

i like to give a max price estimate before a lower price, because it's easier to come down in price than go up in most cases. knowing the avg. size of different homes in your town is also important!

They want to do business with:

1)  Someone they trust.  People buy from friends ALL the time.

2)  Someone who won't screw them over.  They will pay more to not have risk.

3)  Sorry, but if you HAVE to sell on price ALONE you have not established #1 and #2.  That will make some people mad.  I suggest if you are offended by it be open minded and reevaluate and you will find another way to do it.  YES, it may take more time and effort, but in the long run much more profitable.

Make you own luck,

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

del it doesnt bother me actually i agree with you. im new to this so it has helped me a lot to get started.like i said im building a buiseness.i started with nothing ,no reputation or experience (well just a little) so i have to get in their home so they can learn to trust me.
advertising price is not the same as selling only on price it just helps get the phone ringing but you still have to sell them on why to use you. it takes practice so the more calls the better.
actually all 3 on your list mean the same thing.

I would like to move to your area because every customer I have delt with that gets my name from a friend or my biz card (and I dont advertise in phone books or news papers, its all word of mouth)dont care about either 1 or 2 of your examples, all they ask for is how quick can I get there and how much will it cost.

And for the most part its how much is first then followed by how quick.

In my area I wish I could sell by the sq ft for .30 but there is always some one waiting to do the job for 49.95 for 3 rms.

I work almost exclusively on referrals and I rarely get asked price first (if at all until I give it to them on the written estimate (thanks Quickbooks!).  And that estimate by the way ALWAYS includes protector price on it, unless I have pre-determined that it is of no value to them (Only about 5% of the time).

Do you test fibers in front of your potential client?

Do you have written and/or video testimonials from previous customers that address the fact that they HAPPILY paid you more for your service then the last guy?

Do you build and GIVE value BEFORE you give the written estimate?

Do your referring sources tell the people that they refer "He is more expensive, but damn is he good"?

Are you knowledgable enough to make most any other professional carpet cleaning company look as if they did not know what they are doing? (They may have, just didn't show it to the client well, but many are not well trained and educated).

Do I book every single job- no I do not, but I have well over a 90%+ booking rate on my Free Estimate/Carpet Audits.

My HWE rate, ironically, is .30.  Protector at .15.  So I quote almost every HWE job at .45 total.

EASY way to sell that rate: Get a copy of the Cleanfax carpet cleaning study and reference it.  The 2006 average rate was .34.  VERY EASY to sell .30 in 2008, when compared.  2 years later and still .04 cheaper AND you are better then average- WHAT A DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make you own luck,

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

I like your reasoning Del. Good Stuff to put in the pocket.
I must get busy applying those so i can answer yes to all those ??????'s.

Thanks
Your Servant Alex

Cultivate the "OCCD" you had at first for the industry!

I like them. Matter of fact, I love them.

there are two basic kinds:
1) jelly beans found at Wal Mart
2) Gourmet Jelly beans.

The first kind all taste alike. Not bad. Close your eyes and eat one at the time and the flavor varies little from the red ones to the black ones.

Now, pick up a bag of Jelly Belly Gourmet Jelly Beans...

Close your eyes and eat one at the time. BIG difference between each and every one.

did you know they have a hot pepper one? Root beer, coconut, tobasco, lemon, orange etc....

did you also know they give ideas on the back of the bag about how to mix flavors and get new flavors?

One bag costs a lot more.

Now....buy some bags of each kind...and take both bags to your clients house. Ask em which bag THEY want to keep.

I have "jelly bean" clients...and I have Gourmet clients. One cares little about more than price.

Very well said Phil- almost like a magician there buddy (couldn't resist that one).

Make you own luck,

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

just had a referal client the other day who told me her friend told her i was a delighful man to have in her home. she said she was right. had nothing to do with anything else i guess. its about the 5th referal from her in about 5 months.

oh yeah they are all wealthy retired folks.

i know iknow i need to charge more and i will when im ready.

im just having too much darn fun.you guys are too serious for me sometimes.

oh by the way i do average $100 hr on residential. ive heard of cleaners around here brag about $50 an hour.

also del ive noticed with my referals the only thing they ask is when can i be there.no selling needed i just answer their question and get their info.
this thread was about advertising price. you say you work mainly off referals so there is a difference in what you do.if someone has no customer base or a small one waiting for referals only would put me out of buiseness.its about making the phone ring and booking the job first then you can dazzle em or baffle em.

It must be great to live in the area that you do, because here in NJ its one thing and one thing only PRICE. People around here dont care about if I test the carpet fibers or what names I have cleaned for in the past.

We have two phone books in our area each has at least 3 pages of cleaners in them. The big cleaning co in our next town who I might add has been in biz for years offers 49.95 for three rms.

Things might be different in your area but in South Jersey its PRICE and only that.

Sad to say but the cleanings I get dont care about value added services or making a friend, they want there carpets cleaned cheap and quick.

So to eat and make a buck I need to run with the pack. Its either I work for 99 for 3 or someone else does.