Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL EP 184 The Client Isn’t the Problem—Your System Is (And How to Fix It Before Raising Your Rates)

Transcript

CBL EP 184 The Client Isn’t the Problem—Your System Is (And How to Fix It Before Raising Your Rates) · Cleaning Business Life

• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Two one.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, Miss Jamie.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Hello.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's so nice to see you.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the cleaning business life.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: I am your co-host, Jamie Runkel, and I'm with Shannon Miller.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are going to be talking about if you haven't raised your rate in the last six to twelve months, you are already underpaid.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Period.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I think a lot of us people that are listening, they haven't done anything about it yet.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know I hadn't.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know I haven't.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: I just started sprinkling them.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not everybody at once, but sprinkling them a little bit here and there.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not talking huge astronomically high profit.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking like a couple five bucks here.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: But whenever you have 50, 60 clients, that adds a lot to your bottom line.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, because they're bi-weekly clients, 27 visits a year, you know, that's a lot of money.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna break it down and we are going to talk about how to raise your rates the right way without overthinking it and over-explaining and without blowing up your client list.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Let's begin.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: For those of you who don't know, this is cash.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: For real.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Let's not have cash, right?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: And this is where people get it wrong.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of anxiety that comes with raising rates, and it should be done every 12 to 18 months because everything continuously goes up.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right now we're in a gas crisis because of things that are going on outside of our control.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's not really a pricing problem.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: This is a postpone positioning and confidence.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And really positioning yourself as the number one provider in your area is something that constantly takes work.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of systems in place for that.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And confidence doesn't come easily.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Learning how to close a deal and learning how to sell comes with confidence.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then after that, the next step is like, hey, by the way, I got to raise your rates for a long time.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm guilty.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't raise rates for probably the first five years.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: I just didn't, I didn't know, right?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So getting the confidence, and no one likes to be rejected, right?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because when you're you're you're in a position where the person can drop you, or there's you know a thing that you can do to help move things along, but you don't know if that person's gonna say yay or nay.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just like it's nerve-wracking.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's why we always recommend sprinkling them and not doing them all at once if it's your first couple tries to get them conditioned to that, hey, Shannon and Jamie raise the rates at least annually.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Here it comes again, no big deal.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And there is a threshold.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Jamie and I were talking about this before we came on camera.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, that threshold is a five-dollar increase.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: About the 10$10, she's getting some resistance.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: So if you have a legacy client, that's a different story.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah, and that's what happened.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what I went to because this person was so low and kept taking hits.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Was if ever you know everybody that I use, jobber, and it will tell me what my numbers are to me.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: They it speaks to me, and it tells me what my labor rates are, how fast my production rates.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I was in the red with these with these clients.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'd never with this legacy client.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I said, you know, uh moving forward, we are uh increasing your cost to from it was what 57 up to 170 or 177.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we look forward to hearing from you know, I I just made it quick, short, simple, and she dropped me.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna tell you the relief that I had.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you I know people are like, what you dropped.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: I did a bi-weekly client, it was such a relief because now the person that's gonna come in and fill the spot.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because remember, you guys, your leads are gonna come in, never stop marketing.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: We already know that.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: But whenever they come, you now can give that new client that knows no difference at all.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know that that's the new price increase.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to tell them that from here on out.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my minimum is$200.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Wherever you're at, um some of you are at$150, it don't matter.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was a relief to have that client, that legacy client, drop off.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it was it was a ten dollar price increase.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of knew in the back of my head that I'm more than likely gonna drop drop the lose this client, and I was okay with that.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Before I even went in, I was okay with losing that client.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: So sprinkling is the best form of doing it.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you actually sign up from my email list, the the price increase boot camp, it comes free when you sign up.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: You just have to go to my website, and that's Clean Freaks University.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: But um, you are you you train your clients to certain expectations.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're not giving that that annual or every 18-month price increase, they're just gonna think that their price is gonna remain the same.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's always helpful to audit your clients because we found one who hadn't had a price increase in five years.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, how did that happen?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's because I switched bookkeepers, I have a really long time.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so they ended up prepaying for another year, which gave them the same price point, but they know that next year for sure, which gave me a bump because I got all that cash at once because I only took it in a check.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I was happy to do that because I wasn't in the right.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: If I had been a client where I was paying for the privilege of cleaning the home, I wouldn't have been able to do that.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I've done that too.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of us have done and then you realize, what?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm basically paying her so I could come or them so I can come and clean their house.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: After you know, you you start looking whenever you get a little further in, you start looking at your numbers and realize that you're you're cleaning for peanuts and you're mad about it.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing like angry cleaning.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Going there's nothing like showing up to a house just dreading walking in that door because you know you you've undercharged.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you haven't given them a price increase.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, it's always we've had several podcasts about this topic.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: You can go back and reference them, but it there really is, it's expected.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: We are all professionals, we all have if you're a legitimate business right now, and I'm not saying you're not a legitimate business, but most of us here want to scale.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't want to scale, that's fine too.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: But you have costs, whether you add them in or not, you have insurance costs at the very least, you have chemical costs, then you have cost for your car, you have cost for your cell phone.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: If you wash your your rags at your house, you have that cost, and then there's detergent.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that goes back to the chemicals.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh, you know, then you have trash.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: So there are costs regardless of what model.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: It just goes and goes and goes.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and then you have to be able to say, okay, I need X amount of dollars per month for this business to run, but I also need X amount of dollars per month for me to live on.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And there's nothing wrong with that, you guys.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing wrong with making money.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: I hear it's just don't be shy.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Do not be shy about it.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's why all of us really got into this, is be out of desperation to make money, but survival skill.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: We all have really good survival skills, sure do, right?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, so you don't need permission, you just need a plan on how to execute this.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: I do.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I I was just like Jamie.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I remember early on I was undercharging like crazy.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: You guys all hear about how I was charging 25 bucks an hour, and I started to do the math, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm gonna have to work like a hundred hours to make the money that I need to make.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: This was that you know, 16 years in.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's not the same number today, that's for sure.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's all yeah.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: So then you start to figure out, well, how can I make more money?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the only way I figured that out was to learn how to charge a flat rate price.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I needed to raise my rates, but I kept putting it off because I thought everyone was gonna leave.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: And initially I did have a couple of them leave, and I was like, well, that sucked.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: How do I prevent?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So then you start to angle, well, how do I prevent that from happening, right?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it was all conditioning.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: You just have to have it happen frequently enough that they know it's coming because this is you're a business, it's not a hobby for you.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then some clients stayed longer.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have one client who actually, when I sold Castle Keeper Cleaning, she's still my client 16 years in.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I've watched her daughters grow up, she has grandbabies now.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I remember when they were teenagers, I mean, we still run into her at the store.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we hug.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't, you know, she's been my client 16 years.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine the money I have made off this person in that amount of time.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: So those clients do stick around.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they do.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, but they come back, and they come back, they'll leave, and then come back, and then because though those if if only everyone thought that house cleaning was just as important as a private chef, we'd be super busy, busier than we already are.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's cheaper than a therapist and a doctor.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: So um, but yeah, I finally did it, and that's not what happened.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Some clients stayed, some left, but overall my business got better because I figured it out.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: I started to play with things, I started to experiment, I started to try to figure out where the threshold in in the market.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew that if I said 250 bucks, that might be too high for someone to pay for regular maintenance, but maybe 190 is not so high.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: So then you start to try to play with the number to see how high that threshold can be.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna close every deal?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: No, if you are, then you really have low pricing because I talked to those ladies.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's a problem, you guys.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you are fully booked, there's a there's a pricing problem.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a good flex.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a flex.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: That is you need to go for the market because everybody wants you, because you're still at$25 an hour like I was 16 years ago.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Me four years ago.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I I was there too, right?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Until I took that Shannon's course for the pricing, and it changed everything for me.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: It changed everything for me.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And look where we're at now.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I want I'm curious to know was did you have a lot of pushback?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Was it was there like a lot of uncomfortable conversations?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: There was.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I remember being really nervous, especially because you have to figure out in the household.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Have to do a shot, right?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: So who is in charge of the money is the person that you need to contact?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you could just do it generically, and if you're still doing if you're still out cleaning yourself, you can leave a piece of paper that says, hey, price increase notice.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: And when you're bigger, like what we are, we send out emails, hey, just let you know your annual price increases, blah, blah, blah.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: If they and we don't wait for a response, we just give them the the price increase.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: And if they have a problem with it, then they'll say something.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're in the beginning, it becomes it becomes uncomfortable because you're like, and sometimes they have good poker faces.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have a good poker face, I squirm.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: You can tell if I have a royal flash in my hand, I'm like, I got a royal flash, I got a royal flash.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not a good poker player, but customers can be good poker players, they have good poker faces, so you can't read them like, is this are they gonna drop me?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Are they not?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the whole time you're cleaning for two and a half hours going, how can I in your head, like, okay, how am I gonna make this right?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen a lot of people in the groups go on and on and on about explaining why they're doing the the price increase, what goes into this.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: You do not have to explain.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: You just simplify it, you just simply simplify it, you know.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Beginning, we usually give them a two-week notice.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of people do a month, but it's all I this is how uh it's almost like a template now, my email.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Starting on your next cleaning, this is after their cleaning, and then I'll throw it into Jabber that I did do a price increase and the notes so that I can track that.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Starting on your next cleaning, your price is gonna be I just gave one on yesterday.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: So starting on your next cleaning, your your cleaning is going from 235 to 240.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: We look forward to serving you like we have.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: Plain simple, easy.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever it's put out like that with confidence, they okay.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you won't hear back from them, but they're like, if you don't hear anything, it's like okay, that's good news.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I do make sure like you do need to make sure that you document it that you did get a hold of the clients, you emailed them.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Email is probably the best way, unless you have Jobber like I do.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: We can do emails through there too.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm on a much higher plan.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot remember for the life of me if the connect, I believe it's the Kinect plan, which is the lowest tier in Jobber, if they offer that.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: But either way, whatever CRM you're using, Zenmade, whatever it is, you're gonna type it in there and put it in.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Just confident too with Zenmade, isn't there?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: I believe there's still a free plan with Zenmade.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: I believe so, and I've heard that they've really updated their their stuff.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: I just we have so many now.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: So many clients.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Just so you kind of you just stay.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: You stay, and I can't think of anybody that what do I pay?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: What five hundred dollars a month?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: You get this amount of it runs my business.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, but it does help me track that.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: These legacy clients are usually the ones who are undercharged, our legacy clients.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Your newer clients, like we just said, they will not know any difference.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody else that comes in from here on out, if your minimum, ours is 187-ish.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the new client that's coming on doesn't know that our new price increase, our new minimum for any service is$200.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're not stepping foot anymore outside of anything for less than$200.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: I know I'm in a very high expensive taxed state, so I know some of you are still charging$125,$130,$150 for your minimums.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there's nothing wrong with that because I know just remember, I'm in California.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Don't come at me.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you you have to start with your legacy clients, and the legacy clients should always get a price increase as well.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: And the and I've said this a thousand one times, they will never be at current market rate.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: So it's for you to decide, or they'll decide, and they'll just fall off the schedule.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then how much?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Usually about five to ten dollars is good just to start off.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's usually recommended about the eight to ten percent of the total value, ticket value.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're uncomfortable, the first time is five five bucks, people aren't gonna question five bucks, they're like they don't less than a starting eye.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I'm gonna tell you that that lady, I I knew that ten dollars was gonna be a lot for her, and I again I was okay with that.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: I I just wanted to put that out there.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I knew I was gonna more than likely lose her, and I was kind of in the back of my head hoping I would.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing wrong with that, and then it there becomes the date.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how to figure out, I believe in Jobber, you can create a task to remind you on the anniversary date of the client inside of the CRM to say this is the anniversary date of Mrs.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Smith, time to give her a bump.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you can either do them annually at the end of the year, and there's a huge argument and debate over, well, it's tax season after the holidays, I don't have any money.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's you still have to, you should always keep your profit margin intact.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Just because it's tax season doesn't mean that you have to take a hit, or you can do it on the anniversary date and hey, happy anniversary.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: We just wanted to thank you for being with us for eight years and we're giving you a price increase, or whatever it is that you decide how you want to format it.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you're nervous, you can go right into ChatGPT, it will format it for you.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's basically it.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: No, don't basic, basic, basically.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Explain, hey, my insurance costs have gone up.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Look at gas prices.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I've hired on this, but you do not need to explain anything, just keep it short, sweet.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being such a loyal customer for all these years.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: I will tell you that there is one legacy client.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: I should have bumped her up a long time ago.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: She's at 235.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: She has an upstairs downstairs.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Three dogs, a kid, you know, it's a full recovery clean every time.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: She needed a price increase uh a while ago.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: However, this one client has brought me more referrals than I can ever.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: They shout our business from the rooftops.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that's worth it to be a grower.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever you have clients like that, I I would be a little, you know, a little hesitant to give them another price increase.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they should have it, but man, she's probably brought me in over ten thousand dollars worth of work.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you look at that as well when you're considering because I've also had one.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: I ended up losing her, and over I counted, it was a mistake I made early on because I was like, everyone's getting it, everyone, and then I chased it and chased it and chased it.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Then I jumped on my soapbox and said, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then I ended up losing her, and then when I went back and counted, she had given me like thousands, tens of thousands of dollars in referrals unasked for.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like that was like a golden unicorn, right?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure that you consider that as well if you have one of those types of clients that Jamie has, because that might be something that you take into consideration.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: They get a special friends and family, right?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're helping you out and how they're helping you grow your business.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And online direct person-to-person referral is hard.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to get that.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it really is.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then to close the deal and leave, but just to get the lead is just like, wow.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then whenever you get the job, you're like, whoa, okay, yeah, you're you're staying put.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're just gonna stay put for a little longer.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, the longer the message you have when you give your price increases, the less confident you sound.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if you start to explain about gas and insurance and this and that, just something to remember.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're thinking, what should I be charging?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can go the basic pricing blueprint 1.0.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I've sold that course, I want to say over 2,000 times.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe even more.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't checked it in a while.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's a$10 course, it gives you the basics, like start from it.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: The hard concept was to not give you too much information in that course.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it just teaches you the basics so you can break down the math in your head to figure out what it is.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the the current national average, because people ask me all the time, how do you figure this out?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, because I talked to so many people.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I'm figuring out what the national average is.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's right around$67.50 an hour per person.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Her her minimum is way more than mine because she has a higher cost of operating than me.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think yours is probably like$87 or$110.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're sitting right average cost, depending on what kind of job, is between$90 and$130 an hour per labor law or labor law.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: Cleaning tech per labor law.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Cleaning tech per production hour, right?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Production hour.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And again, how do I come up with these numbers?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Is is a lot of training, a lot of coaching, and learning how to read those numbers.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: It takes a little bit, it takes a little bit to learn that, especially when I if you're if you're solo, you know what you can clean per hour and what you can actually make an hour.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: But when you're you're bringing in on uh employees and stuff then then it gets a little exponentially but um yeah they don't need to know about all that they don't they don't need to hear a whole sob story no offense no offense at all you guys it's they don't need to have that and then they shouldn't have that relationship that closeness of the relationship this is business at the end of the day this is business and you need to be turning a profit in order to continue to run at the greatness that you do right and so I think we should talk about pushback and objections okay how to deal with them what do you get if you get one how to say it how not to say it don't stick in the middle finger and go fuck you yeah no it's scary it really it's so scary it is scary because it's your income and it's it's such a mind thing.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: So what if what if you lose clients and they were not sustainable.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Jamie just talked about the person who when you start to really know your numbers and be comfortable with the back end and understand what your KPIs are which is another thing that's thrown around a lot and if you're not familiar with what those are you can look it up.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to go into that here.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right because I will right and she'll just go on I know I will but what if what if they say no then you say okay well I'm happy to you know honor your price for another visit so you can find another cleaning company or you can end the relationship right then and there or they can say I'm gonna think about it.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: What other objections and pushbacks or they they want to have you had they want to negotiate the price increase have you had that happen yes I've had that I will say this I've had it I've had them completely just say okay just take me off the schedule like that lady but I also usually what happened is they don't like it and you just whatever that's the price then I feel like it's like like they get a little upset but they're not gonna let you go.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: They need you you know because I'm gonna tell you this is probably the cheapest therapy that you can get a lot of people stay on for that mental this is such a mental health that is very important for them but I've gotten more negotiation with commercial clients than I do residential.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting yeah that is a whole nother topic there is a lot of negotiations that go on behind the scenes a whole different structure but yes they do they try to negotiate I've I have wanted a hundred dollars per visit three times a week at certain place and they negotiate it down to ninety nine dollars a visit for the win and um I'm like wow it it was a real it was a because I started off at 115 and then I was like okay a hundred and then they came back at ninety nine dollars which just is like wow so yes and will we still clean for them residential I have not except for you know if if they don't like the price they're gonna just and those are legacy clients really that's the pushback that I've gotten is just like and I'm gonna tell you most of the time because you knew I knew I was losing money for sending one of my clingy text there.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I was so it was a huge relief that we finally dropped even though I was losing out on that money I knew that eventually we'd fill it I know that in the beginning I would have freaked out like I would oh my gosh I know how I am I know in the beginning I would have freaked out because it's scary especially your first time ever doing a price increase it's like you almost want to do a couple of shots of tequila bourbon whatever it is that you drink it's like oh you gotta jump up and pump yourself up and but I I did it I you know and it was only I only did I did in the beginning no more than like three at a time because it was a little bit littler.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now I only do I do about five at a time so I'll just push out whenever I start pushing out my price increases I do the commercial side first then I'll go to the residential and then I'll do about five each time and then I rotate it it's about a month long process to get everybody because I don't want I want them to be able to think about it.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like are they okay?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because if somebody does drop off then I don't want to take that hit so hard financially.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because you don't want to be without income coming in because that makes it even worse.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you do it all at once straight across the board you're asking for trouble because what if you know losing five clients at once is that's a huge hit for some of these who's smaller.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: We do it annually and I usually everybody's all at once.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: We've gotten to that point but again I'm a more established business so it it typically doesn't affect us.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: We will have like one to two that will drop off and then they end up coming back right after tax season all the time.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's like this you know dance that we do.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like okay um I will just let you know we've had a price increase and it's not the same price increase I've increased it even more.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: As far as you give them a five dollar price increase and then they want to negotiate to$250, you could do that depending on where you are on the financial spectrum or you could say the price is the price is the price.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes people think that it's negotiation is part of the process and yes in business everything is negotiate negotiatable but you have to decide whether you can do can you work it out for$250 or is it not worth it for the the the$250 maybe you have to increase it 10 bucks but you decide you decide if it's just like giving charity cleanings right you decide not the customer you decide what you can afford to do and what you cannot afford to do and if you can't afford to do it then you just you know give them an opportunity to try to find something else or they that's the end of the relationship for then or however that works out but I have had people try to negotiate like you know 99 for 100 or that was pretty shocking.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: I just want the discount just give me something well and then it's like three dollars a week times I was like wow right is that 156 visits so three times 156 so that's 468 bucks they shaved off the total value of the contracts it just depends on if it's worth it for you or not you she could have said no and you know it just you have to weigh it out right so then she knows next year it has to be three dollars higher because they're gonna want to negotiate either five to ten dollars.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right exactly yes and that that time is already coming so I'm still there with everybody I get nervous it's like darn it I here we go especially with the the people that negotiate like a a commercial account I have to really rev myself up because that's a lot of income three times a week you know that's three about three hundred bucks a week weekly that's a weekly client so it makes me a little nervous that yep but I'm okay with and I know they are too because they're a business they know that it's coming we've worked long enough together to know that okay we need to negotiate they've had a lot of stuff happen um they sold one of their their offices just stuff just and you do you gotta make the decision is it worth it or do you are you gonna continue to do this?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean you guys gas for me out here right now is almost seven dollars a gallon I'm gonna take a drink to that it's it's six twenty I'm on diesel so it's six twenty two a gallon I jump up it was like three dollars and fifty thents a mere 40 days ago I was just like you don't really want to know what I think of this yeah no you just whenever you're doing it we you don't have to explain it they're going they know they see the prices of the gas you don't have to explain that to them something you just need to pick three to five or if you're brand new and you have a small client list do one at a time if it makes you nervous so pick three to five that you know are underpriced write a simple rate increase message set a date and send it you don't really necessarily have to follow up unless you feel that you have to commercial accounts obviously you're gonna follow up because they're that's more of a negotiation process but regular res residential clients typically if they're gonna have an issue they're gonna go well why did you give me a$7.50 increase that's exactly it too they will get a hold of you if they're okay with it you won't hear anything they'll just you're showing up the price increase went into your CRM and you're charging the card and it feels good.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's like yeah you know it feels good whenever you yeah it feels good whenever you get that price increase and I'm gonna tell you eight out of ten times nobody bats an eye quit quit doing that to yourself and to your I understand but whenever you start getting going the older your business gets the more comfortable it does come and you're just you know you'll be like like Shannon I'm doing them all at once.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right one day we'll be there you guys so and but but if you think about it too when you're giving a price increase if you're still out there solo by yourself without any helpers you're giving yourself a raise so if you gave hypothetically we're gonna use a math number of 15 bucks per client and let's say you had a 26 visit rotation cycle so 15 bucks at 26 visits 390 bucks you just gave yourself now if you have 25 clients you just gave yourself a$10,000 raise hypothetically it's$9750.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: So 10 grand.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: So these are things to think about when you're trying to understand the concept of why you should do it versus why you shouldn't and and it doesn't have to be 15 bucks it could be five bucks but you have to give them something every year or every 18 months yeah yeah and just keep it short keep it clear keep it confident boom and send it it doesn't need to have any kind of an emotional explanation I know we're emotional people and we can I I know that I probably in the past have well you know I know better now I know better to not do that I've learned my from my lessons of it and I know that and I'm I'm letting you guys know now just keep it short simple and confident definitely so stop waiting stop apologizing and start acting definitely and you really are taking control back and you don't build a business by staying comfortable if you're comfortable then you're not really I always feel that you're not really working it you build by making decisions that support growth because that's the whole point.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: When you don't grow then you become stagnant and then you could actually shrink on accident it can hit you before you even realize that you shrink so pricing's not personal it's structure structure I can't even talk it's structure on the seashore and that's that's it and if you guys have any questions or anything feel free to reach out you know we're always in our inbox.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: So if this episode helped you make sure to like subscribe and share so that you guys do not miss another one and we can reach other business owners just like you guys.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely we're always thankful for you.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're ready to fix your pricing right away the pricing blueprint masterclass it's merely$10 right on my website and it walks you through the step by step so you're not guessing and that's on Clean Freaks University Cleaning with a K.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: Again we appreciate all of you and we all love you.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you guys bye