Maintenance Cleaning and Sealing Discounts

[Greg R 82]

Just out of curiousity - what kind of discount on average do you other "woodies" provide to repeat customers? Obviousely we all want to get the most from our work but I feel you just about have to discount the service when they return every 3rd season or so. It's justified too since the work involved isn't as labor intensive and doesn't usually require as much chems or sealer. So what kind of discount on average do you tend to provide to the repeat deck/fence maintenance customer?

We're around 20% on most jobs

Edited March 28, 2010 by Greg R

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Depends on the job and the degree of difficulty. You are in the range for PT or cedar maintenance...

Beth

[RPetry 564]

Greg,

We are, on average, probably closer to 30%. Much of our initial work involves stripping, sanding for some hardwoods, and applying 2 separate stainings on horizontal wood. Maintenance is generally a light sodium hypochlorite/soap cleaning, and a single application of stain. Stain quantity is typically 60% of initial use.

[Scott Paul 164]

No discount. No point in my opinion and they do not expect one from me.

[Greg R 82]

No discount. No point in my opinion and they do not expect one from me.

In our case we actually make the reduced cost a benefit of doing business with us during our sales presentation. Initially alot of our customers are dishing out a pretty big chunk of change for the prep the decks need. Not sure what that would do to rentention numbers but I would sure like the moola :)

It would be interesting to see what everyone would bid a identical deck at using the various pricing methods we all use. That naturally would directly effect any possibility of a discount as well.

[big mike 14]

30% if we do it the next year, 20% if its 2 years, and no discount beyond that. If you waited for 3 years, you didn't listen to my advice on proper maintenance of your deck ;-)

[acegot 14]

+1 Mike

[Tonyg 14]

For the Maintenance service are you talking about washing and coating the horizontals or floor only or are you talking about discounting the complete staining (rails, etc.)?

[PetersonDecks 14]

We throw out our Maintenance letter every year offering 25-30% off the previous quote for whole deck again and also offer a different maintenance program only focusing on floor, steps and tops of rails which is a different percentage, I am always suprised how much quicker a maintenance coat is compared to the initial application 1-2 years after (how much stain soaks up and ease of pressure washing)

[Tonyg 14]

Greg,

We are, on average, probably closer to 30%. Much of our initial work involves stripping, sanding for some hardwoods, and applying 2 separate stainings on horizontal wood. Maintenance is generally a light sodium hypochlorite/soap cleaning, and a single application of stain. Stain quantity is typically 60% of initial use.

That's another question for me as well - If the initial job was stripped and sanded are you 'discounting' the 20% - 30% off from say the original strip rate or just a clean and stain rate?

[Greg R 82]

On maintenance we price the job out a the going rate and provide a maintenance discount from there. Therefore if there's no sanding its not part of the invoice or discount - even if it was originally. We almost always redo the entire deck. I have a few select customers that have had us do just the floors but its rare. As far as frequency unless its a hardwood (IPE or similar) I've never even attempted to market toward them the following year. We hit em' up after 2 seasons on the deck.

[James 624]

I've done many decks 4 complete times, I have many on yearly maint. and I have decks done 15 times. All Maint. pricing is based on doing a clean and seal, not stripping. This type of reduced pricing is also based on the type of product used and knowing how to use it. If the product isn't used correctly the first time the maint will be effected. Some decks I take care haven't had the verticals done in 6 years and look awesome , brand new in 2001, complete redo in 2004, and yearly maint of horizontals . Doing this year ! All decks that I maintain look awesome and are in great condition. Cedar ends on looking crappy but the wood is in great condition. I've change how I care for cedar over the years and the colors i use to maintain. The lighter the color and less pigment used on cedar the better it looks over time. Doing maint has a learning curve. Second level decks are another story and those over stone suck. So live and learn!

Happy Staining!..........just not your undies !

[agrimefighter 14]

been in this bus for 31 years and never have discounted. The cost of living goes up so fast if you think about it keeping the price the same the next time is giving a discount. Also if you are good at what you do and clean nuterlize and rinse well your customer gets the deal of the year YOU.

[Greg R 82]

I suppose it depends on what your pulling in for the initial work to straighten the deck out. If your only getting a $1 to a $1.30 a sq ft you would not have much room to provide a maintenance discount. I personally find with our bids we can provide the customer a discount for sticking with us and it keeps them loyal and happy. Not to mention at those discounted rates we are usually still more profitable than the first time around due to less labor and material.