How to Quote Cleaning Jobs
You’ve bought all your equipment and cleaning supplies, told everyone you’re starting a cleaning business, and you’re ready to get down to the nitty gritty. But there’s one more unchecked box- have you figured out what you’re charging your customers? Pricing too low or too high can be a “no win” situation, but don’t sell your services short or you will not be able to earn a living.
As a cleaning company, making sure the prices for your cleaning services are appropriate, honest, and adequate is vital to running a successful business. Many prospective customers will shop around for quotes from different companies before choosing the best bang for their buck. Pricing is most important because you want to pay your employees for their hard work while also making a profit and outbidding your competitors. There is no “one size fits all” price strategy as estimates depend on the unique costs of the business. However, there are steps you can take to come up with a profitable and reasonable hourly rate.
5 Steps to Pricing
- Visit the House
When it comes to private cleaning jobs, visiting the house is ultimately easier to quote a price than over the phone. This step will help gauge the estimated time your company needs to clean the house based on the size, how many rooms, etc. By attempting to quote over the phone, customers could innocently mislead you by not being aware of how long professional cleaning jobs take.
- Estimate Time
Once you have seen the house, it is time to decide how long you think the job will take. According to Cleaning 4 Profit, the general rule is that 1,000 square feet of house should take 1.5 hours to clean. Different types of jobs like a vacant home or deep cleaning will take more or less time. While cleaning prices will fluctuate throughout your endeavors, doubling or tripling your rate isn’t a bad thing to do when a home has been neglected or is in need of some serious TLC.
- Labor Costs
Whether it’s you or someone else doing the cleaning, you’ll want to calculate the labor costs to establish an hourly rate. Including yourself in the costs will ensure you’re always getting paid too. After all, it is your business.
- Taxes
If you have employees on payroll, payroll taxes are another consideration to factor into the estimates of quotes. Resources tell us that FICA taxes will cost 18 percent of your labor costs.
- Supplies
Cleaning supplies, uniforms, and proper PPE for employees are an obvious, typical expense in the cleaning industry.
Other Factors To Consider
Who knew the cleaning business could be so messy?
Extra Expenses
Some other expenses to take into consideration when quoting cleaning jobs are the overhead expenses you have as a business such as rent for your office space and marketing efforts. To not undersell yourself; adding a mark-up will distinguish your prices from your competitors which can be increased or decreased as needed.
Online Quoting Softwares
During these unprecedented times, the above steps could be contradicted depending on where you live and what the restrictions are as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the pandemic has taught us anything though, it is that there is power in technology. Compass Wave is an easy-to-use lead generator for your cleaning business. The software allows you to collect information from potential customers to provide them with immediate feedback in the form of a cleaning estimate in the comfort of their own home. Compass Wave has made estimates painless by allowing cleaning companies to have a link right on their website or Facebook page that directs them to the estimating tool.
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to quotes. Customize your estimating strategy to your cleaning business, and you will ensure scalable growth for years to come. To help with your growth, consider estimating software available at Compass Wave.