I too am a small carpet cleaning business. I have found that SF pricing ONLY causes a LOT of problems in the residential arena.
When people call I give them a price range, and that is it. If they are price shopping, you probably don't want them anyway, but I have convinced several folks to understand what I offer and what I am worth.
Issues with SF pricing for people's rooms is furniture. "So if you charge for the whole rooms SF, you must be moving ALL the furniture right?" or "If you are only cleaning the traffic lanes, why measure the whole room?"
If you only charge for traffic lane SF you will be SCREWED! It is the dirtiest part, and takes up the least space. This is why big companies like SS charge $99 for three rooms. Believe it or not, you can do three rooms for that price most of the time and still make out.
Also, promising a price on the phone almost always ends in disaster. The customer will always underestimate the size or soiling of their rugs. Price shoppers are the types that think that carpet cleaning is just sprayin some shampoo and sucking it up with some water. Anyone can do it in their mind, so why pay you top dollar?
What Mark said works a lot for me as well. I tell them I will schedule the job show up and give them a final price before any work is done. If the price is agreeable (and with in their budget) we will proceed.
