Latest / Cleaning Business Life / EP 239 | Someone Already Cleaned It—Why Should You Charge Less?

Transcript

EP 239 | Someone Already Cleaned It—Why Should You Charge Less? · Cleaning Business Life

• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you keep telling yourself that you'll finally get serious about your cleaning business when things calm down, I need you to hear me.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Things are not going to magically calm down ever unless you do something.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: The clients will keep calling, employees will keep needing answers, fires will keep popping up.
• 1:29
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• 1:39
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• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Over 400 businesses have gone through the program.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: This scholarship isn't for the person with the saddest story or the most perfect application.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's for the cleaning business owner who is ready to stop winging it, start implementing, and build a company that can actually support the life that you want.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: You do not need to have everything figured out before you apply.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's the whole damn point.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: The scholarship application is officially open on my website, Clean Freaks University.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Applications close on Veterans Day, November 11th, and the recipient will be announced on Black Friday.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Stop deciding for me that you won't be chosen.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Fill out the application.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me where you are, where you want to go, and why you're ready to do the work.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to you soon.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is Shani Miller with Cleaning Business Life.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to come out here because I've seen this happen a lot recently.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure that we're covered, right?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um This was actually a question that was asked from an anonymous participant.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: It says, please, I need help coding a job.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's 4,500 square feet, brand new residential post-construction home.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: It is a four-bedroom, four-bath.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: They call because they are very unhappy with the previous cleaners saying they didn't clean off the walls, the windows, the door tracks, the bathrooms, et cetera, et cetera.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is a final clean before moving.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: What would you charge per square foot?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do you charge less because someone has already been there cleaning, or should you just charge regular price?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Since you have to do it over again anyway, any help is much appreciated.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, do not charge less because they hired poorly.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Charge more depending on the stage.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is post-construction, obviously.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Could be anywhere from 50 to 65 cents a square foot window, window tracks are extra.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Find out how tall the ceilings are first.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And she said thanks.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a lot of things that were missing with this post.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know if the cleaning crew was hired in by the builder.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know if the cleaning crew only agreed to do certain things.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know what the price was, what they negotiated, what they didn't negotiate.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: All we know is that we have this cleaning that needs to happen.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you guys have all heard me talk about how post-construction cleaning is uh actually 50 cents, 50 to 65 cents a square foot for a regular residential home.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it's more depending on the circumstances of the buildings and whatever else you're working on.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: But that should be the minimum charge.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And you guys have all heard me talk about how 50% a deposit of the initial quoted price is what you need to get to secure them on your schedule.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of this is like blind faith.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: You a lot of builders are like, there's no way I'm gonna pay you 50% up front.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: You have to decide whether you're comfortable or not.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you're comfortable with this person and you believe that they'll pay you in the end, um, make sure that you do an online search that say that they're reputable and make sure that you're they don't have any complaints at the Better Business Bureau.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: These are all things that you need to do before you decide you're gonna take a risk because you're you're gonna float several thousand dollars in labor.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: You wanna make sure that you get paid.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's with this type of thing, the lowest price that I would have given would be 50 cents a square foot.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you probably would have charged 35 cents a square foot.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: But there's also the caveat of more than likely this is gonna be an emergency last-minute cleaning on top of the scope.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: So you would charge a premium on top of that.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: For us, we charge$650.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: For you, it might be$300, but you should be getting extra because it's gonna require more effort to complete the job because they're already hyper-aware of things going wrong.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So they're gonna have the big eyes, right?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna have the big eyes looking to make sure that you are gonna be able to walk on water, you're gonna be able to complete the job and to their satisfaction.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And they're probably not gonna be pleasant to deal with.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so this comes to my whole point is somebody already cleaned it.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Should I charge less?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, do not charge less, charge more, charge a premium on top of charging more, get a 50% deposit.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and this is a large home.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, even without, you know, rough, ooh, this one here is if it's what was it, 4,500 times 65 cents a square foot.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: That would have been close to three grand, right?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to make sure that you get at least 1500 up front.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if they wanted wall washing, I probably wouldn't have gone higher than 65 cents.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: I probably would have gone 75 cents, or I would have gone 85 cents a square foot.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you have, and my whole thing about the ceilings is some of these custom homes have 20-foot ceilings.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what if you don't have scaffolding?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: What if you don't have a pole that can reach a 20-foot ceiling?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Are you doing the ceilings, right?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you're washing ceilings, like I'm I'm pushing for those of you who are not watching, your head, I'm I'm touching my face, is 14 pounds.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: The one and only time that you'll realize that your head is 14 pounds is when you're doing a post-construction cleaning and you're having to bend back, right?
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Having to bend back to see, to look to, you know, get the ceiling.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's different materials of ceiling.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they don't paint the ceiling as well.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: There, then that makes it rougher to run the flat mop up across.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you need scaffolding.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes there's delicate things up there.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's an Ansle system, all kinds of things, right?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you are getting enough money up front.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I wouldn't have done it for less.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: I would have charged more because they hired poorly.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I reiterate we don't really know what the scope was that they agreed, but it's clear that they were wanting more than what they got.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So um, and and and make sure that you're pricing based on the condition of the home.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I, and these are this is probably one of the few times if you're local that you need boots on the ground.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Either you go look or you send someone over there to look and they send you video so you can see how far along is it.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we all know, oh, it's just a broom sweep, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's no big deal.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't understand what the problem is.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Why can't you just do it for this, right?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you are looking at the job, that you have videos and photos, and that you're doing like lots of before and afters, and that you're getting a 50% deposit.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I also, and this is just a caveat, me talking here.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I when they have a propensity of not being happy with the other cleaning company, just know that they also have that same propensity of not being happy with you.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I would refrain, I've seen people do this, I would refrain bad mouthing the other cleaner.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: We see it still to this day.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's not supportive, it doesn't really do anything but feed your ego about how wonderful you are.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And this is just my opinion.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: You can tell me to stick it if you want.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not here to say, hey, I'm better than you, look what I did, and you didn't do this, because again, you don't know what the scope is.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do the job, dismiss whatever they're saying and move on.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: If, if, air quotes, you decide that you're gonna take them on.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then maybe there's more construction dust.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the the builder laps, right?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they did a final cleaning and then they came in, and we all know how painters are, right?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they came in after the fact and did more work and then didn't want the other cleaning company back because of whatever went down.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So now they're looking for a new cleaning.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of variables that can happen with post-construction cleaning.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So don't give a discount simply because the homeowner already paid someone else.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's their fault, and that was their decision, and you shouldn't be punished.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I reiterate this happens a lot with offices.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: You take on an office, you're like, oh, I'll catch it up.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we'll be here twice a week.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's no big deal.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: When in actuality, they should have had a deep cleaning so that you could have had a full reset and that your crew is not working that hard.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, we've all been there, right?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you can do the dust and it could be beautiful.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then when they turn off the air conditioner, it all settles on the ground, right?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: So brand new does not automatically mean that it's easy.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, it's my dog who's now decided that she wants to go outside.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And but I would not hear 4,500 square feet and immediately promise the price without understanding the job.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you understand what the scope is.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Wall washing, I would add on for wall washing, because if you think about a box, it's stop, stop.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's always when you're doing things, right?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's either a kid or a dog.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a box, right?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: A home is like a box.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: You have the floor, then you have the walls, and then the ceiling closes the top, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: So you got to make sure that you're getting all of that space if that's part of the scope.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so and construction tasks can be, you know, it could be several vacuums and a couple wet wipes and a couple dries.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: It just depends on your filtering system.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: So before you ask, what should I charge per square X, ask them exactly what I'm being hired to do and make sure that you're specific with your scope.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, having someone else bin in the background is not an automatic discount.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: They'll say that regardless, that give me a discount, give me a discount, give me a discount.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: But we know that there are people who always want a discount.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if it went perfect or not, they just want a discount and they'll see if you'll give them one just because they asked.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, profit is not greed.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: You are allowed to charge enough to complete a job properly and have a business left when you're done.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been asked to clean after up after another cleaner, did the customer expect a lower price because they already had paid someone?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear how you handled it.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in, you guys.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.