I found this and thought it was pretty good.

An average cleaner may or may not be certified.
An average cleaner has picked one method of cleaning HWE, Dry Chemical, Bonnet.
An average cleaner feels his method is best and all others are trash.
An average cleaner uses his method exclusively.
An average cleaner justifies his method and its superiority to the client.
An average cleaner manipulates his method to fit the task at hand.
An average cleaner sets his price in relation to his competition.
An average cleaner competes on price.
An average cleaner will drop his price to close a sale.
An average cleaner is in business to make money.

Get certified.
Learn all methods
Use the appropriate method for the task at hand
Recognize all methods have their purpose
Explain to the client why you selected the method you are using
Set your prices according to what it costs to produce your result
Compete on quality and service not price
Adjust amount of area cleaned to fit clients budget dont just drop the price.
Serve the client and make friends, the money will take care of itself.

As a newbie, just getting into business, I can really appreciate this post. I think I'll print this and hang it on my office wall.

Thanks,

Lance

Comfort Cleans It
"In Upstate NY"

Wow what a perfect world you must live in.

In NJ it's compete or don't eat, I have to compete. But again in your world you might not have to do that sort of thing and business falls into your lap with the price you ask for.

You mention to get certified, why not say get educated. Understand all the different cleaning methods, better yet understand their strengths and weaknesses. Certification is easy to get, education not so easy.

Don, I agree it is not so much the certification as the education but certification classes are a great place to get started on your learning. Taking what I have learned in class and using it in real life situations has added to my education and built my confidence.
A lot of these ideas/concepts are taught by industry leaders.

For the record I found the piece and think its pretty good.

I don't live in a perfect world and I complete as hard as the next guy but not on price. I used to routinely drop my price to win a job. I found out that it didn't always work out the way I thought it would. The client who "demanded" a lower price liked my quality and service he just didn't want to pay for it. He usually keeps on demanding, pushing ever further so as to squeeze every ounce of value out in his favor. Life's too short to work like that. When I started raising my prices I started cleaning cleaner carpet and eventually started cleaning clean carpet with a water view. Its an attitude shift.

BTW: This is food for thought and a way to liven things up here a bit. For the record I wasn't calling anybody average but suggesting we could raise the bar, starting with me.

NEVER be afraid to walk away. Took some time for me to learn that. Allowing people to coerce you into lowering your price is like being bullied. Bullies never stop until they get busted in the nose, real good. Bust your price gouging customers in the nose with an explanation of your quality and reputation, then politely walk away. Leave your card with them, along with an invitation to call you again if they aren't pleased with their lower priced choice.

Heres my rule - If they don't respect you and think every service is created equal and you can't explain the difference in a convincing manner - walk. (You might even ask for your business card back.) But if they're dealing with legitimate budget constraints then negotiate. Find out what they are trying to accomplish and work with them. Just don't act desperate and don't lower your hourly rate. Give something and take something.