Business exists to provide value to others right?
But a question I often ask myself is how can I best service or provide value to my customers.
This leads to more jobs, happier customers, good reviews, and most important for you- REVENUE.
Cash is the lifeblood of your business, and without it your business dies.
So looking at the above question about how can we provide the best value to a customer the answer is NOT charging less, being cheaper, or heavens no charging hourly.
Believe it or not, all these things hurt you, your business, and most importantly your customer.
Huh?
How can charging more be good for my customer?
Well I’m glad you asked!
Sales Psychology 101
Let me tell you a secret- Price=Value. This is something few people teach because so few companies and brands have mastered this. But if the cheapest business won, many of the most famous brands you know wouldn’t even exist.
Think about it. Lamborghini, Louis Vuitton, Apple, Beats by Dre, the list goes on.
If people only wanted the cheapest car the cost the least they would buy a used Honda civic. If they only needed a handbag they could go to goodwill and get one for 5 bucks. A $20 flip phone. Or 99 cent earbuds at walmart.
See my point?
Now this isn’t to say your cleaning business can charge the same as Louis Vuitton but its recognizing WHAT and HOW much people are willing to pay in your industry.
Would people let you clean their house for free? Of course they would, but that would suck for you. And additionally most people would wonder what the ‘catch’ is and be very wary.
I remember when I used to do lawn mowing work for between $10-17 an hour back in college.
It sucked, I always felt like the customer was watching me- and they were. When you charge hourly suddenly your customer only attaches your value based on how HARD you appear to be working.
But really, people actually ONLY care about or want the RESULT.
They want a clean house, a clean roof, sparkling gutters, glistening driveways, manicured lawns.
They actually don’t give a shit how long it takes you.
And this is VERY good for both of you. This is what enables you to charge per job or per RESULT and actually start seeing $50, $100 or even $200 an hour!
Imagine going up to your dream customer and saying “hello would you like me to clean your gutters, I charge $100 an hour” – you would get laughed or cussed out of the park.
But if you frame it differently and this time say “Hello, would you like clean gutters that keep your home safe and dry all year- for only $200 I can get your home in tip top shape.
Now you have a sale. And with the above sentence during the fall I can do 3 gutter jobs a day for $200 bucks each, all with a smile on my customers face – EVEN if it only took me 1 hour to do!
This is because when you position yourself as an EXPERT, an AUTHORITY and the best person to get the result for your customer you can almost charge whatever you want. And almost certainly charge whatever the market is willing to pay.
So to recap.
Charge based on what is higher for your area and PER JOB. For me now I like to price jobs so I’m making at least $100 an hour, especially if I have to get on a ladder or use expensive tools most people don’t have access too.
Because if you think about it, if you frame it properly the customer is getting a screaming deal. A task that would probably take them HOURS of danger, frustration of not having the right tools, or knowing how to do something right they are GLADLY willing to pay you to do the job right.
And that’s all they want!
So keep it simple. Figure out how much the market is willing to pay in your area for your service. If that’s a good number for your business and you can stay very profitable then awesome!
If not, don’t be afraid to charge more based on what you feel you’re worth, or even more STOP providing services that aren’t as profitable.
For example I rarely pressure wash driveways anymore, I’ve found its more standard to earn about $50 per hour in my area versus doing roofs in that same area I can make closer to $100 an hour (based on the job divided by my hours I put in $500/5 hours).
With this in mind you can really provide the best service for you customer, they feel they are dealing with an expert, and even better then can rest easy knowing your as sure as hell not wasting time, it’s in both of your interests for you to show up and do a quick, good, and professional job they will love.
I hope this makes sense for you guys, If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment here or even better on my Youtube channel where I can respond to questions in future videos.
Keep stacking cash!
– Spencer