16 Ask a House Cleaner, You Charge Too Much, Savvy Cleaner

You Charge Too Much For House Cleaning @SavvyCleaner

Ask a House Cleaner what to say when a prospect says “You charge too much for house cleaning” or “I don’t make that much money per hour”. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru shares tips to overcome price issues when bidding cleaning and organization jobs. You’ve got to earn money if you’re going to grow your cleaning business. And you’ve got to charge what you’re worth. 

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Listen: You Charge Too Much For House Cleaning


Hi there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is the show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, I get to help you find an answer.

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Today’s Question: You Charge Too Much For House Cleaning

Now, today’s question came from a lady who is a house cleaner. And she charges $30 per hour. So she gets to a lady’s house, she charges $30 per hour, and the lady’s like

“Oh, my Gosh! That’s a lot of money. That’s more money than I make per hour.”

So, the house cleaner wants to know, “Do I lower my price? Because this is sticker shock for the woman who is trying to hire me?”

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Today’s Answer: You Charge Too Much For House Cleaning

3d guy with bracesAlright, the answer is no you do not. If $30 an hour is what you charge, then you charge $30 an hour. That has nothing to do with whether or not someone is willing to pay that kind of money.  And it has nothing to do with how much money they make per hour.

Now, I have braces on my teeth. And when I go to my orthodontist, every appointment is about 15-20 minutes long. If I amortize the cost of what I’m paying for my braces, and I break it down by the hour, my orthodontist is making anywhere from $600 to $800 per hour.

So, I can’t go in and say; “Well, I don’t make $800 per hour, therefore I’m not going to pay you for these braces.”

Do you see what I’m saying? That’s stupid. Who does that?

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You Can’t Base Your Price on Your Client’s Income

value added chargeYou can’t base your price, on how much someone else makes per hour. It has everything to do with the service you provide. And if somebody wants that service, that is the price they pay.

So, if somebody says, “well, $30 an hour, that’s way too much money.”

“Compared to what? You have three teenagers who live here in your house free of charge. Perhaps you could get them to clean your house for a lesser rate.”

“Well, they won’t clean the house.”

“No, that’s why you’ve hired me as a professional, to come in and do it. So I am willing to clean up after your three teenagers, for $30 an hour.” (Or whatever the price is.)

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You Have To Stand Firm To Your Price

You have to stand firm to your price. The rules are these; You’re the boss. You get to pick whatever you charge per hour. Now, the going rate for house cleaning across the country (USA) is about $25 to $45 per hour.

And it depends on a whole lot of things. It depends on whether the person is bonded and insured, whether or not they are a franchise and they have franchising advertising costs to recoup. Whether they have employees they are sharing the wealth with. Whether they have wrapped cars, and fancy uniforms, and all these other overhead expenses that they have to pay.

Or, if it’s a small mom and pop company that’s out in a rural part of the country, where they are able to charge less, and they expect less. Client’s don’t expect a team of people in uniforms and wrapped car to come and clean their house. Okay? You’re hiring a mom and pop shop that’s going to come and clean their house.

But whatever you charge, that’s what you charge.

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Are You Uncomfortable With Your Pricing?

And if you are uncomfortable with your pricing, you are not able to stand up and say with confidence “This is the price I charge per hour” then you either need to get out of the business, and go find a job where you are comfortable with the pay. Or you need to go stand in front of the bathroom mirror and you need to practice and practice and practice your pricing. Until it rolls off the tip of your tongue with confidence.

This is how much I charge for this particular service.

And guess what? There will be people that will not pay it. It’s just too much money. Hiring a house cleaner is too much money.

Why? Because most people can clean their own houses. Most people won’t, but most people can.

So, what they’re paying you for, they are paying you to take a task off their plate. And do something they themselves are not willing to do.

What is the value of that?

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Sell Value Not Price 

charge based on value not priceWhen you start selling on value, not on price, that’s where the whole game changes.

When I go to my orthodontist, I’m not paying him $800 per hour for whatever his service is. I am paying for straight teeth. Okay? I am paying for the benefit. I am paying for the value that my orthodontist provides me.

When someone hires you to clean their house, they are paying you for organization, and cleanliness, and tidiness. And all of the things that they themselves, are not willing to do. And if it is too much money, then guess what? Sometimes it will be, you have to turn and walk away.

Don’t let it bother you. Just turn and walk away. But get really comfortable sharing your price, and the value you provide.

And realize that it is a numbers game. Sometimes you will have to walk away.

Work Smart Not Hard

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And that’s it for today. If you found this tip helpful please pass it along to a friend.

Share it, repin it. Repost it. Retweet it. Sharing is like saying “thanks”. And if you have a question you would like featured on the show, head on over to https://AskaHouseCleaner.com/show right there in the right-hand corner there is a little blue button. Click on that blue button and a microphone appears.  Record your message, and we’ll feature you on one of our upcoming shows.

Until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it. 

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