Please help me respond to this cleaning client!!

[cleaningdilemma11]

I’ve just started my cleaning business, going to see my first client on Sunday. I normally charge £15 an hour, but because she’s my first client I have agreed to do it for £10 an hour for 4 hours, and then it will be £15 an hour. She didn’t even ask, I suggested it in return for a review/reference. She wants a regular 4 hours clean every week so I was ok with it doing it for £10 for a first clean.

Now client 2 has just texted me asking if I can come for a “trial “. She asked how much I charge, and I said £15 an hour but will do it for £10 in exchange for review/reference, she then said that’s out of her budget but if I’m willing to do it for £10 an hour for her she will recommend me to her sister who also needs a cleaner?

She lives 45 mins from me, I don’t drive but we both live in London. So I don’t know what to do, do I say yes and take what I can until I get enough customers to be picky or do I just stick with my price and tell her to fuck off?

I give discounts hoping I can get reviews on my Facebook page and build up enough credibility to get more customers, I don’t know if that’s right though? Can anyone help me?

Too far, and you must learn to drive. Part of having a cleaner is that they turn up on time with good equipment - at £15 an hour I would expect them to be using their own chemicals, mop and vacuum etc. Turning up on the bus with nothing isn't a professional service - you could get away at £10/hour but not £15

[quote myhobbyisouting]@FuckinGoddess a luxury service? Surely the clients decide whether it's that good. OP doesn't even say whether she's even had any experience and she's having to give incentives for reviews.

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I read it as affording a cleaner is a luxury not an essential rather than this particular cleaner's service is super special. (I'm not saying it's not! )

There’s no point really getting more referrals from client 2 if they’re all going to be 45mins or more away from you. You’ll spend so much time just travelling around. I would pick a fixed max travel time and stick to it. I’d also be wary of the trial thing. It would encourage people to hire you for a one off cheaper clean with no intention of keeping you permanently. If you’re a good cleaner you should be able to build up reviews just from that, without needing to lower your prices. I can’t say if your price is too high as I don’t have a cleaner.

@cleaningdilemma11

The going rate in my area is £12-13 an hour, but I don't drive. Hence why I want to charge £15 an hour. Now I'm thinking should I just do it for £12? What happens if I want to take on staff in the future? I don't want to pay my cleaner £9 an hour?

I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself. You’ve got ONE client. Make your current sole trader business model work, before worrying about being an employer.

I would not pay you £15 when the going rate is £12, just because you don’t have a car. Your problem, not mine.

Tell her you rate is £15 the first clean is £10 an hour as a trial on both sides. Just state I’m sorry charge is x amount and on top of this I have to pay for fuel etc I do not do reductions except for the first clean - do not offer any discount and explain that after the first clean in exchange for the introduction rate could they please leave a positive review - that would be appreciated but not a requirement

Why would someone pay you £15 when they could pay someone else £12?

The going rate in my area is £12-13 an hour, but I don't drive. Hence why I want to charge £15 an hour.

Thats not how it works?! I have kids so I would like to be paid 20% more than my colleague. Oddly enough my employer is not paying me based on my personal circumstances, they are paying me for the work I do and what it's worth. No one is going to pay you and extra £3 per hour for the same work another local cleaner will do for £12. I mean that's borderline CF, OP.

Stick to your rates. I have learnt from experience that it is nigh on impossible to put your prices up once you start.
Also, be very very wary of anyone who quibbles the price, takes longer to pay than your invoice states or keeps trying to sneak in extra little jobs "while you're here, can you just..."
When I set up as a gardener with a lot of weekly clients it was a hard first year sorting thru the naff customers to get my reliable, easy client base.
Be aware of Facebook contacts wanting you to come immediately, respond immediately etc, they often took a while to pay me and then never wanted me back anyway.
Don't put off a regular client for a one off job. Reliability is key

I do find the 'fuck off' strangely aggressive. It was nice of her to suggest an alternative job for you but totally reasonable for you to say 'thanks but it's a bit too far for me to travel'.

I was with you until you said the going rate for your area was £12-£13. If you don't drive and have one client you need a full customer book of very local people before you contemplate higher rates. I'd say a full order book on £11 local clients is worth more than 2/3's full and further flung at £12.50. If the going rate is £12-£13 that's what the market will bear.

It is £15 Where I live so at first I thought you were being reasonable.

If the going rate in your area is £12 to £13 then you're not going to get very far charging £15. Can you imagine "oh yes we pay our cleaner 20% more because she doesn't drive".

Have you really thought this through?

@cleaningdilemma11

The going rate in my area is £12-13 an hour, but I don't drive. Hence why I want to charge £15 an hour. Now I'm thinking should I just do it for £12? What happens if I want to take on staff in the future? I don't want to pay my cleaner £9 an hour?

It doesn’t work like that op. You can’t charge clients more than the going rate to cover your travel costs. People will just go with a cheaper cleaner

Laughing at the idea that you want to charge more because you don't drive like every other cleaner I know. Are you thinking that the extra can pay towards driving lessons or something?! It's not on to expect clients to cover you for something that other cleaners just do anyway, and charge cheaper amounts for.

You need to learn to drive. Clients will possibly expect you to have some bits of slightly specialist equipment to hand that they might not have in their home.

It's going to be quite difficult being a cleaner if you are not able to drive. I wouldn't take the 45 minutes away customer. I think you should fix your rate at £12 and forget about doing the first clean cheap. And think about learning to drive.

Driving wouldn't help where I live as there is no parking. We don't even have any free visitors permits a year, they are £15 a day.

The 45minutes travel would be okay if you then had several jobs in that area. It's going to take you a while to fill your hours, might as well go where there are clients.

You've said 15, they've said 10, meet in the middle at £12.50?

Sorry for the fuck off, obviously not going to tell her that . I've just told her it's £12 an hour and that's it, so waiting for her to reply. You're right, I can't charge £15 an hour when I don't drive and just starting up. So many cleaners doing it for £12 an hour in my area and most of London with years of experience and references, why would they go for me who's charging £15 an hour, with no experience and reference?So I've changed it to £12 an hour.

I also have another client asking me to come down and do after builders cleaning on her small 3 bed flat. Do I charge a fixed price or hourly?

Yes I'll learn how to drive in the new year.

Just out of curiosity but would you be lugging a complete cleaning kit on public transport?

Have you ever cleaned up after builders before?
What kind of building work?
If there has been plastering, beware... you clean so thoroughly, then in no time the plaster dust settles from the air everywhere again, looking like you did a bad job!

I prefer an hourly rate, no bad feeling if you finish early. However, you might need a higher rate for a heavy clean - are you going to use more materials? (e.g. vacuum bags) Or specialise heavy duty products?

I think its appalling to pay for reviews and wouldn't use you if I'd heard that.

I wouldn't do introductory prices - just do similar prices to other cleaners, do a good job and build up good relationships with clients.

And don't travel so far afield that it takes too much of a bite out of your income.

You need to define an area you can reasonable travel to and set your prices to compete with the local businesses.

If you’re spending an hour and a half travelling plus paying for your transport, you’ll end up working for almost nothing.

You say that you have just set up your own cleaning business but you don't seem to know much about business.

How do you propose to get to your clients? Have you taken into account transport costs, insurance in case you spill bleach all over a customers sofa etc, buying your cleaning products, paying national insurance, tax etc.
It may be an idea to properly research how viable your business model is if you do not drive, relying on public transport to get from job to job will eat into a great deal of your working day so limit the amount you can earn.

I pay £15 an hour for our cleaner and we aren't in London, cleaners are so hard to find where we live and £15 an hour is the average or even minimum here so I'd say stick to your £15 do a one off clean for maybe £13 an hour but I wouldn't go lower than that!

Do you have any cleaning experience? And do you have insurance?