Price Versus Cost - Is There A Difference When It Comes To Cleaning?

These days prospects tend to focus on the price of your cleaning service over everything else because they want the best deal to stay within their budget, while still getting a quality service. But it's your job to help them realize they should be thinking about COST, not PRICE.

What your prospect doesn't realize is that the cost of hiring a quality service provider isn't about price.   It's about the cost of NOT hiring a quality service provider. Every time work has to be redone the cost of quality increases. An obvious example is the prospect having to spend the time contacting the cleaning service to re-clean an area that was missed. It takes extra time out of their day and causes extra stress they don't need. Often times, this added stress is the price they pay for hiring a low "priced" cleaning service.

Help your prospect realize the cost involved in hiring a low "priced" cleaning service. What typically happens in this situation is a few months down the road the prospect ends up having to take the time to find another cleaning company because of the poor quality of work provided by the current company. The owner of the low priced cleaning service inevitably discovers that they can't make a profit at that low price so they start hurrying to get the job done, or cutting corners in order to squeeze out a profit.

If you can help the prospect understand that the low priced cleaning service will cost them more in the long run, then you'll be one step closer to gaining a new client.

Comments

[Marsha Wallace]

Very good article. I just experienced this in a new client. They had a prominent cleaning company cleaning their Salon and after 2 years of filth they finally decided to change. They called me (I am my only employee) and asked if I'd come in and give them a bid.
The bid I gave them was much higher than what they were paying and I pointed out to them all the missed areas the other cleaning company was ignoring. I went in and spend 5 1/2 hours and only was able to get 2 large areas sparkling clean but they were amazed at how clean it was and realized what was happening and were happy to pay the increase in cost.

[Richard]

I deal with this at least once a month. Someone hires a low ball company and they mess the job up. You get what you pay for.

[BARBARA MITCHELL]

I have found that the cleaning profession is not viewed as being an important aspect of life. I am alarmed that people who are afraid of filth which a cleaner has to deal with at times, do not feel that it warrants a reward, because they can trust someone to remove the offensive sight.

[Judy McGhee]

Agreed that this is an insightful article that makes a great point. You get what you pay for and in our business I would rather a few good customers who value our service as opposed to short term clients who are never completely satisfied. Our loyal clientele love our house cleaning system and often provide referrals.

[Bill @ carpet cleaning]

This is so true, and I try to explain to potential new clients that this is not a commodity. Services very greatly from company to company. The old saying is true, you get what you pay for typically is the truth. We run a small family owned and operated company in California Carpet Cleaning Orange County and come across this situation all the time. We are more of a mid to high end type of company but, with this economy here in California we do have to be somewhat flexible to stay very busy.

[Carpet Cleaning Jacksonville]

It's hard to combat all the less scrupulous carpet cleaners in Jacksonville. How do you tell the client your price is fair when all the advertisements show half or even a 3rd of your price. Bait and Switch tactics are the bane of an honest business.

[Dvid]

Good article - I'm sure this is the problem most cleaning companies face. In fact check out this - its from a report from The Worldwide Cleaning Industry World Federation of Building Service Contractors

"We have noted that one of the fundamental issues facing the industry is that the provision of cleaning is a low value added service. In order to stem the negative impact of heavy price competition cleaning contractors must provide a high value added service in order to encourage customer loyalty and encourage greater price inelasticity. The way forward would be to make investments that transformed contractors from a labour intensive business towards a capital intensive business. Although we have noted that current economic and market conditions make it very difficult for firms to invest, we have demonstrated that the political consensus on climate change can enable businesses to gain access to Government funds to invest in energy efficient technologies that will not only reduce carbon emissions but will also result in significant cost savings as well as increase productivity. Technology can also be used to strengthen organisational capacity as many cleaning businesses will evolve towards a shorter and flatter organisational structure, which will enable them to respond to changes in the marketplace more effectively than their competitors."
http://www.ics-online.co.uk/

[A Facebook User]

Absolutely a great article by the author; nevertheless, by any reasonable standard, cleaning companies are not seen as an extraordinary necessity. No matter how hard one tries to “sell” janitorial services to clients, the determining factor for most clients is your price. No matter how much effort is dedicated to the prospect; in the end, the customer will have to compare your price with your competition. There is much reason to believe that the decision makers or owners of the company might not agree with an increase of expenses in their facility maintenance. In reality, the client (customer) values his dollar more than he values janitorial services. The listed report by The World Wide Federation of Building Service Contracts, as cited by David—in a recent post, “hits the nail on the head” when it states, “fundamental issues facing the industry is that the provision of cleaning is a low value added service.” What has proven to be a successful ideology for our company is to build a lasting relationship in which our customers. Most of our customers would not change providers—even if our competitors sell “opportunity cost” like the article illustrates.

But as most of us already know, in this industry, all forms of ammunition are needed when trying to acquire new customers…Great article!

[Grand Rapids Cleaning Company]

I think overall, the old adage is you pay for what you get. I think that holds true in almost every case and specifically in your cleaners. People who excel at their work expect to be paid well. I also think that anyone who goes specifically based on price is short sighted. With the recent downturn in the economy, guess who are the first clients that go running. The people who only focus on price not cost. Thanks for putting this article up b/c there is a lot of truth packed in a few paragraphs.