10-06-2016, 10:25 AM
I have a somewhat different take on setting up commercial accounts than Lounge Lizards, but I want to be clear I'm not saying he is wrong. Mine is just a different perspective. FYI, my business is 100% commercial maintenance accounts using low-moisture.
I've found that if I offer too many pricing scenarios, the customer gets confused. I stick to 2; a one-time "as-needed" or "as-requested" fee and a maintenance cleaning fee. For the one-time price, in my market, I usually quote $0.15 per square foot but I'll go a little lower or higher based on many factors such as soil level, size of facility, a wide-open area with no obstacles vs an office with lots of cubicles, etc...
I also estimate prices based on how large the crew is that will be needed to clean the facility. I'm a fan of getting in and out quick. It makes the crew happy to get home sooner, and me happy to get them to the next job, or off the clock! I like to be at $125 per hour for 2 employees, $200 for 3, and $300 for 4. That's not something I share with the customer. I use it internally as a gauge to know if I'm generating the revenue that I want.
For regular maintenance accounts, the pricing becomes much more variable, but I generally do not have to go below $.10/sf in my market no matter how large the facility. I do change my price based on frequency and I personally feel it has nothing to do with lowering the value of my company or my perceived self-worth. It's a numbers and market share game for me. If I can take an account from a competitor and put pressure on them, how do you quantify that value? As long as I'm at the revenue numbers I described above, and taking my competition's business, I'm happy.
I don't ask the customer how often they want their facility cleaned when it comes to maintenance fee cleaning estimates. I make a suggestion based on what I observe about the particular accounts (what type of business it is, the soil load, the foot traffic, etc...). If I know it's going to get re-soiled quickly, I'll quote a more frequent cleaning, and vice versa. One of my negotiating tools is to break the facility down into high and low traffic areas, or high vs low visibility areas. If the customer pushes back on the price and thinks it's too high, I then discuss cleaning only high-traffic areas for maybe 3 of the quarterly cleanings per year, with only one full cleaning. This often seals the deal.
There is no exact science behind commercial maintenance accounts. There are known principles like the ones I have discussed, and by the way which Rick here at ES uses, that will produce really profitable accounts if you use them. Don't get locked into one strategy, stay creative and you'll be on your way.
Lastly, I started my business as a side project. I owned a completely different business that had stabilized and I was ready for a new challenge. In only my 2nd year, I generated $62,000 of revenue working only 3 days a month. I just revealed all the secrets of my business that took me a year of research to figure out and gave it to you for free. At the end of the day, success in business is all about execution, and that's the part no one can teach. Good luck.
I've found that if I offer too many pricing scenarios, the customer gets confused. I stick to 2; a one-time "as-needed" or "as-requested" fee and a maintenance cleaning fee. For the one-time price, in my market, I usually quote $0.15 per square foot but I'll go a little lower or higher based on many factors such as soil level, size of facility, a wide-open area with no obstacles vs an office with lots of cubicles, etc...
I also estimate prices based on how large the crew is that will be needed to clean the facility. I'm a fan of getting in and out quick. It makes the crew happy to get home sooner, and me happy to get them to the next job, or off the clock! I like to be at $125 per hour for 2 employees, $200 for 3, and $300 for 4. That's not something I share with the customer. I use it internally as a gauge to know if I'm generating the revenue that I want.
For regular maintenance accounts, the pricing becomes much more variable, but I generally do not have to go below $.10/sf in my market no matter how large the facility. I do change my price based on frequency and I personally feel it has nothing to do with lowering the value of my company or my perceived self-worth. It's a numbers and market share game for me. If I can take an account from a competitor and put pressure on them, how do you quantify that value? As long as I'm at the revenue numbers I described above, and taking my competition's business, I'm happy.
I don't ask the customer how often they want their facility cleaned when it comes to maintenance fee cleaning estimates. I make a suggestion based on what I observe about the particular accounts (what type of business it is, the soil load, the foot traffic, etc...). If I know it's going to get re-soiled quickly, I'll quote a more frequent cleaning, and vice versa. One of my negotiating tools is to break the facility down into high and low traffic areas, or high vs low visibility areas. If the customer pushes back on the price and thinks it's too high, I then discuss cleaning only high-traffic areas for maybe 3 of the quarterly cleanings per year, with only one full cleaning. This often seals the deal.
There is no exact science behind commercial maintenance accounts. There are known principles like the ones I have discussed, and by the way which Rick here at ES uses, that will produce really profitable accounts if you use them. Don't get locked into one strategy, stay creative and you'll be on your way.
Lastly, I started my business as a side project. I owned a completely different business that had stabilized and I was ready for a new challenge. In only my 2nd year, I generated $62,000 of revenue working only 3 days a month. I just revealed all the secrets of my business that took me a year of research to figure out and gave it to you for free. At the end of the day, success in business is all about execution, and that's the part no one can teach. Good luck.