How Do You Bid Residential??

[REDHOT]

Just Curious How You All Go About Bidding A House Cleaning. I'm Talking Just The Exterior Of A Home. (no Sidewalk, Driveway, Etc..) Do You Just Determine How Much You Are Going To Charge By The Job, Or By Sq. Ft.? If You Charge By Sq. Ft. For A Home Exterior Wash, How Do You Go About Determing The Sq. Ft.?

Thanks To Any Responses In Advance!

 

[RogerG]

I look at the house and judge how long it will take to clean the house. If there is a PITA factor involved then I add that in. But you need to have a min. charge, mine is $145.00. I try to average around $80 to $100 a hour, but sometimes Murphy's Law kicks me in the butt and I don't come close to it. Now when I clean new construction brick I charge by the sq.ft. You can give me a call and I can go over how to get the sq.footage of the house.

Roger

 

[HotRed]

Well I had to change my name because I couldn't remember my password. lol-too many numbers and passwords to remember I tell ya!

Ok, so we came up with how we are going to go about pricing residential work. We are going to charge .12 cents per sq. ft. We have found that the going rate in our area for pressure washing is .14 cents per sq. ft.

What do you think?

 

[CaroliProWash]

I'm thinking that you shouldn't charge less than the going rate. Why would you want to undercut not only the guy across town, but also yourself and the industry? Purposely decreasing your charge is going to devalue your services. Never ever charge less than what you know to be an acceptable price for your area!

Celeste

 

[HotRed]

Well we are kinda going by the average. There aren't many companies around here, but there were some that we checked into that charged way lower than we'd ever dream of going, and others that charged way more than we would charge at this point and time. We are pretty much going with the average price so to speak. I totaly agree with what you said though, and I think we will put more research into it before setting ourselves for that price.

What do you all charge per sq. ft. for commercial work? We have come up with a number ourselves, but it seems so overpriced. I know prices will vary with location, but wanted to get a rough idea of where we stand on ours. Thanks

 

[Dave Ott]

I agree with Celeste and the way Roger prices.

Also food for thought.
When you lower your prices to get work, or underbid your competition. It does not help you in any way for the future. Your competition hates you and you may need their help one day.
When you lower your prices to get work, or underbid your competition. It hurts you, competition, and the future of the industry.
Example:
Competition (A) offers house wash for 300.00, you (B) offer same house for 200.00 and get the job.
You (B) offer next house wash for 200.00, someone new (C) comes along like you and offers same house wash for 150.00.
Then the prices just keep falling and that is what is expected from the consumer in the area next time someone needs a housewash. (Dirt Cheap)
Then when you (B) try to raise prices after experience you don't get the bid because not even the guy (C)that underbid you gets them anymore due to contactor (D) that just started offering them for 100.00 and so on.
Understand where this is going?

 

[HotRed]

What about offering introductory specials? Good idea or bad idea? Thanks for your input Dave, it makes perfect sense.

 

[CaroliProWash]

Same thing.......don't reward them off the bat.....reward them when they call you back Build your repeat business by telling them, "Next year, when I come back to do such & such, I'll get to give you my loyal customer reward, which is $xxx off. Also, as an incentive to you, for each paying job I get from someone you tell, I can credit your next job $xx. Heck, you send enough work my way, next spring your housewash could be free!" They love to hear the free word

You know what I'm reading into your questions - and don't take this wrong - you're questioning your ability to make a go of this. If you deliver on what you advertise and base your core business on quality, professionalism, and reasonable prices, you're going to be just fine. You really will.

Celeste

 

[Navigator7]

You know what I'm reading into your questions - and don't take this wrong - you're questioning your ability to make a go of this. If you deliver on what you advertise and base your core business on quality, professionalism, and reasonable prices, you're going to be just fine. You really will.

Celeste

Me too!
You deserve to earn a living.
Few expect something for nothing.
Experienced people here are telling you....Be confident.... even though you are not. Confidence sells big time so the sooner you have it the better.
Half of everything is simply going out into the cold, hard world and simply trying and then....."Asking for the sale!".
Never walk away from a quote without asking for the sale.
The #1 reason is they are going to take your quote and whatever effort you put into it and throw it on the highway. They need your service or they wouldn't have called.....so...a good businessman Always Asks For The Sale.

"A Good Service At A Fair Price" is really an unbeatable combination.
The problem is willing customers need to know you are out there.

Word of mouth is the perfect sales tool but a new service in a highly populated areas can be tough.

I've done this with another business I own. It works too good so I stopped.

o Be careful what you give away....
o Never work for free....unless fixing a goof up.
o Don't put yourself in the position of remembering you owe somebody something.....and then not following through. You are an A-hole to that guy forever and you'll never know why.
o Give your existing customer an incentive to work for you! A business card with their name and address preprinted on the back and marked as....say....a "$25 Referral" on the back? You give one or two biz cards out after you have completed a job.
You instruct them, "If you are happy with my service" pass this cards to others you know will need my service. Make sure the new customer gives me this card and I will send you $25 as payment for a referral!

o Then....you give the referred customer the same treatment...but you are never giving anything away.....unless you do not value a referral.

Only pass out cards with a $25 (or whatever) referral on the back to customers who have hired you.

It's like paying your customers to be salesmen...which they are anyway!
Check with your accountant but the act is a business write off for me.