Overbidding?

[jruner]

I had a new customer or atleast thought I did. I met with her and she agreed to $70 a week. I had asked if she thought that was fair and she said yes. I was supposed to start next Tuesday at nine. She then called me today two days after agreeing to the job and having me mail her proof of insurance, that she is going with two ladies that are cheaper.

I called and offered to match there price, but she declined. This leads me to wonder if I am too high for weekly. I do another smaller home for $60 a week. These are both large homes however the one I lost is at least 3500 square feet. The one I do for $60 is 2900 square feet. Prices her are $15 to $20 per hour and everyone balks at $150 for initial cleans. Ideas?

I did get a house floors only for $40 weekly and $50 biweekly for basic cleaning (cancer pt) gave discount. Both new today! Same family two different homes VERY CLEAN!

Thanks

[Kevin]

$70.00 for 3500 sq. ft seems extremely low. It seems that the other service went even lower. For $70 what in depth type of cleaning were you going to provide?

[jruner]

I was going to vacuum and mop, clean 2 1/2 bathrooms. The house was very clean but I also thought $70 was a fair price for the house and it had a kitchen down stairs and up stairs! A lot of people here think cleaners are able to work for peanuts. However once I explain the expsense of providing equipment, insurance and advertising most people except my bid.

[jruner]

I found out the cleaner that under bid me is charging $50 weekly and is NOT insured or bonded. She charges $10 an hour.

[Linda]

I would have priced this at around $145.00 for a weekly clean and the one at 2900 sq. ft. I would have priced at around $120.00 somewhere along those lines. I am going to have problems I think with this, because I am not working my butt off anymore for nothing. These ppl can find someone else

Linda

[jruner]

Idaho is not called the right to work-slave wage state for nothing! Boise our capitol is only $20 to $25 per for house cleaning hour max!

[Renovare]

She then called me today two days after agreeing to the job and having me mail her proof of insurance, that she is going with two ladies that are cheaper.

You'll hear from the prospect again when the 2 ladies discover they can't pay bills on what they're underbidding and have to raise prices or jack it in. Such space at $50.00/wk, well, the only cleaning they could get from me is wiping my feet before entry to collect the check. Anything else will be an additional charge.

Also, along with being a penny-pincher to the point Lincoln screams, she is dishonest and lacks integrity. She requires submission of insurance and bonding proof from you, then goes with a team lacking such, and $20 cheaper. *shaking head, sadly*. A lot of what we do is based on trust, a lot of trust. That works both ways, and I don't see reciprocity occurring in this case. That's a deal breaker.

Mark my words, such irresponsible parsimony will come back to haunt her. Losing that bid may be a blessing in disguise.

Yah know...I've come to the conclusion that we not going to be able to compete with those who cut corners. If we do, we're not going to have the funds to run our businesses the way we like and the way it ought to be run.

I suppose it's like fishing -- we don't go fishing with the intent to catch every fish in the pond, just the big ones...or at least those above legal limit. Toss her back.

Cheers!

John

[jruner]

Thanks for the reply, I agree this is a trust business. I keep a list of customer's that break agreements so I don't provide service to them more than once!

[rhapsodyvf]

I went to do a walk through for a lady that wanted bi-weekly cleaning for a 3500sq ft home. 4 full and 1 half bathrooms, 2 kitchens mostly carpet and some wood. I bid it at $120 bi weekly because it was a really clean home and she said she only wanted to pay $80!!! I was like Then she said that she wanted a copy of my drivers liscense and all i could think was "i think i hear my mom calling me....gotta go". I almost said it I booked out of there pretty fast. She said that that was what her last cleaner cleaned it at. She also mentioned that she liked to be home when people cleaned so she could keep an eye on them. I told her we wouldnt be a good customer/service match. She thought she had offended me by asking me for my drivers liscence; I was just trying to excape before i laughed in her face about $80 bi weekly!

[AmofOhio]

These are both large homes however the one I lost is at least 3500 square feet. The one I do for $60 is 2900 square feet. Prices her are $15 to $20 per hour and everyone balks at $150 for initial cleans. Ideas?

Well let them find out on their own, " you get what you pay for!"

I would have been around $95-100 a week for the 2900 sqft and around $105-110 a week for the 3400sqft. maybe a little higher if i knew the # of baths and bedrooms,flooring,etc.......

I do drop my initial clean price for certain customer's. but usually i always charge 125-$150 for initial cleans.
you can't work for nothing.

I am going to clean a home on Weds. Its a deep clean 1100sqft for $85. Way low! Yes i know!
But their real estate broker's that i clean repo's for, and i also clean their real estate office monthly. ;D
They keep me busy, and giving them a nice discount and good cleaning,will pay for itself.

[shiny]

jruner said:

I found out the cleaner that under bid me is charging $50 weekly and is NOT insured or bonded. She charges $10 an hour.

This happens in my neck of the woods also. I just went to look at a new house and brought my husband with me. This house had a large kitchen, large living room, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths. This house was pretty dusty and had a lot of small items to be dusted. I was to clean this house bi-wkly. No pets, no children. It would only be me cleaning. I quoted $70.00 and my husband had the same price in mind. This house would take me about 4 or 5 hours. This lady felt my price was too high and said that she only paid her last cleaning lady $50.00. I felt $70.00 was fair enough. I wouldn't go any lower.

[jruner]

I think $70 was very fair for bi-weekly. I get at-least $60 for a similar weekly job here in Idaho.

Good for you sticking to your prices.

[gailm]

There will always be people out there to under bid every job. Don't worry about them, because those clients are cheap and will never be happy with the job you perform. You're lucky you did not get the job.

You can avoid these types of issues by defining who your ideal customer is. Then research where these customers are, their lifestyle and what they pay. Direct your advertising to those people in those residential areas they live.

Not EVERYONE is your customer and they never will be. By defining your target customer and concentrating on getting them as your client, you'll see a big difference in your client base and you'll eliminate a lot of unnecessary stress.

[earthlydream]

I get alot of these cheapos too! I really get mad when they say my prices are too high! I am regular priced for this area New Haven Ct. It costs so much to live here. Where do these peole come from the 1950's Twilight Zone?

It's the students & low charging housewife's or illegal aliens who are causing this problem. Although I can see why a student or someone who only needs lunch money can clean for LOW
WAGES, Come On someone who is doing this a s a living . Where are these people's brains?

Tell them to go clean for a living & see how much they would charge or need to make.

[Kathleen]

When I get the feeling that someone is going to low ball me..I say the following right before I submit my proposal "Let me ask you a question..What would you pay yourself to clean your home?" usually the person stammers then I say "well, i bet your thinking a $1000 an hour..guess what your in luck I am going to do (name what your cleaning) for $___, saving you a ton of money" I smile just enough to make them smile.
I also use the line right before I submit my bid...."To help you with more time for the important things in life and to protect the value of your lovely home and it's contents your cost is $ ___"

These may seem cheesy - but they have worked on the toughest of the penny pincher's and they have turned into the best clients.

Usually I try to comment during the bid on protecting the value of the home through regular cleaning and how much time and how relaxed the person will feel. I try to phrase the last one in a question ..such as "So, by having your home cleaned on a bi-weekly basis you have more time with the kids right? Kevin - touched on this in another thread and it has worked..trying to get them to say yes ..and then yes to your bid.

The lowest I would clean a 3000 sq ft home is $90 bi-weekly ... and it takes me 2.5 hours. There is really one person living there since her husband is gone so much and she eats out often...little dust if at all. Usually that size home is $150+

I had a lady with a home of 2000 sq ft with 4 people and dog living in it....who was losing her girl b/c the drive was too far..so I bid at $175.00 Initial then $90 1st week then next week..Kitchen and 1.5 baths at $50. She glared at me and said well I was only paying $55 and $25...I told her that I could not in good conscious even see her paying that to anyone who would leave cobwebs, mold in the shower and dust hanging from ceiling fans and lights. (she just had the cleaning lady there the day before). The woman just stared at me, and well this was the 3rd BS quote that week..so I was in no mood to screw around. She stammered and said "I can't see paying anyone $20 an hour to clean my home..I don't even pay my nurses that" (I thought to myself ..What the hell..I sure hope a nurse makes more than $20 an hour if they are helping me in a hospital) ...Now mind you she says all this after pointing out her $5,000 painting and $10,000 Persian rug...I bet she could make diamonds if she squeezed hard enough..lol but then again she would end up reselling them ....I walked away telling her the door was always open if she wanted a proper cleaning.