Questions to Ask When Quoting a Cleaning Job
Questions to ask a prospective client before you price a domestic cleaning job, covering scope, condition, access, supplies and payment terms. Written for cleaners and small cleaning businesses quoting their own work.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What is the address, and may I walk through before I quote?
Why ask it
A walkthrough is the difference between a price and a guess, and a client who refuses one is often hiding the condition of the place. The address alone also tells you the likely property type and your travel time, both of which belong in the price.
How many bedrooms and bathrooms are there, and roughly what is the floor area?
Why ask it
Bathrooms drive time far more than bedrooms do, so a two-bed with three bathrooms is a bigger job than the room count suggests. Ask for both figures, because clients routinely quote a floor area that includes a garage or a basement they do not want cleaned.
Is this a one-off clean, a first deep clean before regular visits, or an ongoing job?
Why ask it
These are three different prices and you cannot quote one without knowing which. Watch for the client who describes it as recurring to get the lower rate and then does not book again after the deep clean.
When was it last cleaned properly, and by whom?
Why ask it
Time since the last clean is the best predictor of how long the first visit takes, and answers like a few months mean built-up limescale, grease and skirting boards. If the answer is that they clean it themselves weekly, the job is likely lighter than the room count implies.
If you have had a cleaner before, what did not work?
Why ask it
The answer tells you both the standard you are being measured against and whether the problem was the cleaner or the client. Complaints about price rises, cancelled visits or being watched are worth listening to carefully before you take the job.
Which room would you check first when you got home?
Why ask it
Far more useful than asking about their expectations in general, because it names the room that determines whether they are satisfied. It is usually the kitchen or a bathroom, and knowing which one tells you where to spend your last twenty minutes.
What are the floor surfaces throughout?
Why ask it
Unsealed wood, natural stone and some tiles need specific products and cannot be wet-mopped, and damaging a floor costs more than the whole contract. Large areas of hard floor also take longer than the equivalent in carpet.
Are the inside of the oven, the fridge and the windows included?
Why ask it
These three are the most common source of disputes because clients assume they are included and cleaners assume they are extras. Settle each one explicitly and price them separately, since an oven can take an hour on its own.
Are laundry, dishes, changing bed linen or ironing part of this?
Why ask it
Each adds unpredictable time, and laundry in particular means your visit is shaped around a machine cycle. If they want it, price it by the load or the hour rather than folding it into a flat rate.
How many people live here, and are there pets?
Why ask it
Occupancy and animals set how quickly the place gets dirty again, which matters for a recurring price. Pet hair on soft furnishings and litter trays can add a substantial amount of time to every visit, and clients almost never mention it unprompted.
How much tidying will need to happen before I can start cleaning?
Why ask it
Cleaning around clutter is slower than cleaning, and tidying a family's belongings is a separate service with its own risks. Agree who clears surfaces and floors before you arrive, and quote for a tidy-first visit differently.
Will anyone be home while I work, and will children or pets be around?
Why ask it
Working around people slows a job by a noticeable margin and changes the order you can work in. It also raises practical questions about noise, a dog that needs shutting away, and whether you can use the vacuum during a nap.
How will I get in, and is there an alarm?
Why ask it
Key handovers, lockboxes and alarm codes need arranging before the first visit, not on the doorstep. Ask what happens if they are out and the key is not where it should be, since that is a wasted trip you should not absorb.
Where do I park, and does it cost anything?
Why ask it
Permit zones, metered streets and a long carry with equipment are real costs and real time. Clients rarely think of this, and it is much easier to raise now than to add to an invoice later.
Am I supplying products and equipment, or using yours?
Why ask it
Using the client's supplies looks like a saving until you find one worn-out vacuum and no cloths, which slows you down and can cost you the job. If you bring your own, say so in the quote so the cost is visible and understood.
Are there allergies, scent sensitivities or products you want me to avoid?
Why ask it
Asthma, fragrance sensitivity, babies and cats all restrict what you can use, and bleach on the wrong surface or near the wrong person is a serious problem. Ask before quoting, since fragrance-free or specialist products may change your costs.
Where do the trash and recycling go?
Why ask it
Small detail, regular annoyance: a locked bin store, a shared chute or a collection day you do not know about turns five minutes into fifteen. Ask which day collections happen so you know whether bins will be full when you arrive.
What day and time window suits you, and how firm is that?
Why ask it
A client who needs a fixed narrow slot is worth less to you than one who is flexible, because it constrains your whole route. Evening, weekend and school-hours-only requirements should be priced accordingly.
How would you like to pay, and when?
Why ask it
Say your terms plainly at the quote stage: payment on the day, or within a set number of days, by a named method. Clients who want to settle monthly in arrears, or who hesitate at this question, are the ones you will be chasing.
What happens if you need to cancel at short notice, or I arrive and cannot get in?
Why ask it
Agreeing a notice period and a charge for a wasted visit is a normal part of the arrangement and is far easier to set now than after it happens. How a client responds to this question tells you a good deal about how they will treat your time.
Pricing the job properly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to quote
Quote from a walkthrough, and take photographs
Walk every room, open the oven and the fridge, look at the shower grout and the skirting boards. Photograph anything already damaged or heavily soiled, so nobody can claim later that you caused it.
Price your own time, then check it against the market
Estimate the hours honestly, including travel, supplies and the wear on your equipment, and apply your hourly rate. Only then compare with local rates, so a low market price becomes a decision rather than an accident.
Put the scope in writing before the first visit
List what is included room by room, what costs extra, the price, the hours and your cancellation terms. Almost every dispute in domestic cleaning comes from a difference of assumption about the oven, the windows or the ironing.
Quote the first clean separately
A first deep clean can take two or three times the hours of a regular visit. Pricing it as one figure and the recurring visits as another protects you from working the deep clean rate for months.
Order to ask in
On the phone, before you agree to visit
- 1What is the address, and may I walk through before I quote?
- 2How many bedrooms and bathrooms are there, and roughly what is the floor area?
- 3Is this a one-off clean, a first deep clean before regular visits, or an ongoing job?
- 4When was it last cleaned properly, and by whom?
During the walkthrough
- 1Which room would you check first when you got home?
- 2What are the floor surfaces throughout?
- 3Are the inside of the oven, the fridge and the windows included?
- 4How much tidying will need to happen before I can start cleaning?
Before you send the price
- 1How will I get in, and is there an alarm?
- 2Am I supplying products and equipment, or using yours?
- 3How would you like to pay, and when?
- 4What happens if you need to cancel at short notice, or I arrive and cannot get in?
How cleaners lose money on a job
Quoting over the phone from a room count
Two houses with the same room count can differ by hours in condition, clutter and surfaces. If you must quote unseen, give a range and state plainly that it is confirmed after a walkthrough.
Letting the scope grow one small favor at a time
Windows this week, the oven next week, then the ironing. Each addition seems small and none is priced, so refer back to the written scope and quote the extra rather than absorbing it.
Ignoring the client's manner during the quote
Someone who follows you around, disputes the price before hearing it, or complains at length about the last three cleaners will do the same to you. It is cheaper to decline a job than to leave one badly.
Working without insurance or clear terms
A broken vase, a damaged floor or a slip in a client's home can cost far more than the contract. Public liability cover and a written scope are what keep one bad afternoon from ending the business.