MaidBossPro Blog — Quotes & Pricing

Building a Cleaning Service List Your Estimates Can Pull From

If every quote starts with a blank page, every quote is a little different. The owner prices a 3 bed / 2 bath one way on Monday, the office manager prices the same house another way on Thursday, and a month later two neighbors compare notes and find they are paying different amounts for the same clean. A service list fixes that before it starts.

Why the Service List Comes First

The big picture of quoting is laid out in House Cleaning Estimate Software: The Complete Guide to Quoting, Pricing and Winning Cleaning Jobs. The service list is the first piece to put in place, because everything else is built on it.

In MaidBossPro, estimates are built from your service list. Once the list is set up, quoting a house becomes picking the right services and entering the home's details. The prices come from the list, so they are the same every time, and they carry through to the job and the invoice without anyone typing a number twice.

The Core Cleans

Start with the cleaning types you actually sell. Most residential companies need some version of these:

• Standard clean. A one-time regular clean for a home that is in decent shape.
• Recurring cleans. Weekly, every-two-weeks and monthly, each as its own item with its own price.
• First-time deep clean. The heavier first visit before recurring service begins.
• Deep clean. A one-time deep clean for customers who do not want recurring service.
• Move-in / move-out. Empty-house cleans with inside cabinets, appliances and closets.
• Post-construction. Dust, debris and residue after a remodel or new build.
• Office cleaning. If you clean small offices, keep it as its own line.

Keep the names plain. The customer will read them on the estimate and the invoice, so “Every-Two-Weeks Clean” beats an internal code like “BW-STD.”

The Add-Ons

Add-ons are where a lot of cleaning companies quietly lose money, because they get done as favors and never get charged. Put them on the list with a price:

• Inside oven — for example, $35
• Inside fridge — $30
• Interior windows — $40, or priced per window if you prefer
• Baseboards — $30
• Inside cabinets — $40
• Laundry — $20 per load
• Change linens — $10 per bed

The prices above are only examples. Your own numbers depend on your market, your labor costs and how long each task takes your teams. Pricing each one is covered in Pricing Cleaning Add-Ons: Ovens, Fridges, Windows, Baseboards, Cabinets, Laundry and Linens.

Decide How Each Item Is Priced

For each core clean, decide whether it has a flat price or a price tied to the size of the home. MaidBossPro lets prices tie to bedrooms, bathrooms or square feet. A common setup:

• Recurring cleans priced by bedrooms and bathrooms, because customers know those numbers off the top of their head.
• Deep cleans and move-outs priced by square feet, because empty or very dirty homes vary more with size than with room count.
• Add-ons at flat prices.

There is no single right answer. What matters is that the method is written down and the list applies it the same way every time.

Keep It Short Enough to Use

A service list with eighty items is as hard to quote from as a blank page. If two items are almost always sold together, consider combining them. If an item has not been sold in a year, take it off. You can always quote an unusual job with a custom line.

A useful test: could a new office hire build a correct quote for a typical 3 bed / 2 bath recurring customer in a couple of minutes using only the list? If not, the list needs trimming or clearer names.

Review It Twice a Year

Costs change. Supplies go up, wages go up, gas goes up. Put a reminder on the calendar to look at the service list twice a year and ask whether each price still covers the time it takes. Changing a price on the list means every new estimate uses the new number from that day on.

When you do raise prices for existing recurring customers, tell them ahead of time by text or email. Surprising a long-time customer on an invoice is a fast way to lose one.

From List to Quote

Once the list is in place, building an estimate is a matter of picking items, entering beds, baths, square feet and pets, and adding any extras and entry notes. The same items show up on the job and the invoice, so what the customer approved is what they are billed. For how the service list fits with online approval, templates and follow-ups, visit the house cleaning estimate software page.