[Ian Gourlay]

Dave,

To be honest I do the same, but do it as a value added,

Either to sell when I visit, or if Ive solution left in the machine to illustrate to customer they got value for money.

However the offers by Carpet companies are usually bogus.

They just have a range of carpets some of which are on offer this week and others that are not.

They really sell those that are not as price is sky high for what you get.
And then they just keep swoping product around.

On  promotion off promotion

[Len Gribble]

I use both t/m and a portable at the end of the day I want too earn a good living, I’m not into charities apart from my wife’s! One dose what, what one dose too earn a living, every marketing strategy has its place, sell your self short this will cost you in the long run!

Len

[Alan_Harrison]

I’VE JUST finished an analysis of our January sale promotion and I just thought that you might like to take a look. It was by far my biggest campaign. Remember that I am a rug retailer. Cleaning oriental rugs is just a part of what I do.
Draw your own conclusions
     
Sponsorship of Aladdin Pantomime.
Press coverage from my store, full page colour ad in the programme for 8 weeks, Logo’ everywhere, “Oh! Aladdin where did you get that magic carpet” line in the panto. Plus lots of other social events.
Cost about £3500.
Response………..2 definite sales

Quarter page colour ads in Period Homes and Country Living
Cost………£1700
Response…….. 2 definite sale 5 or 6 enquiries

Half page colour on local free paper (circ 98000) 3 consecutive weeks
Cost …….£1750
Response……… no more than 8 sales

Mailshot 4200 existing customers A5 full colour glossy postcard
Cost……..£1300
Response……..100 to 120 definite sales

Overall the sale was successful. Turnover was more than double the normal. And I don’t think I finished work before 9pm. more than half a dozen times throughout January. It nearly killed me. I didn’t promote the cleaning in the sale but jobs doubled in the same period.
It clearly illustrates the high cost of getting new business. Those new customers are added to the database and should become high response customer over the next few years. Of the 4200 mailshot, 170 were returned by the post office as gone away. That’s why new customers are important.

As for BOGOF and other offers. That’s just Marketing. If you don’t do it you’ll always come second place. I haven’t a clue what my local cleaning operator charges so I wouldn’t know if I was getting a good deal or not. But if I saw an offer like that, I would certainly give the guy a chance to quote. So I pick him and one other out of the yellow pages……Looks like the BOGOF man gets a lead on the other 150 cleaners in the Yellow Pages I didn’t ring.

Hope this is helpful to some of you.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Respectfully I think selling a rug is different to cleaning them, I'll try and expand on this, mark up on a rug may exceed £100s to £1000s and larger advertising campaigns can be beneficial, although you may have to nurture your potential customer for may be 5 minutes or 6 months they perhaps never take up all of 1 day therefore you have the potential of selling as a figure 100 rugs in 1 day although repeat custom will not happen on as regular basis as cleaning would

As cleaners looking after your customer will relate to 6 monthly or 12 monthly cleans where as rug sales may only happen for replacement or redecoration or new furniture but as an average not on a 6-12 month basis, and as a service industry we get paid on hour time only so to make good money you want to make good time by charging your normal hourly rate on a regular basis where rug sales equations aren't really done by the hour.

I'm not sure where BOGOF comes into rug sales equations

I could go on but getting tired and I don't want to get accused of doing a Ken Wainwright

Shaun  

[woodman]

Hi Guys

A lot of interesting posts and info on the subject and a lot of contradictions.

Alan Harrison: I've just  realised I have been in your shop We must talk some time

Your illustration is a perfect example of how  important it is to keep in touch with your existing customers the life blood of your business.

Mike you do BOGOF but just don't realise it, if your Stainguard is offered FREE but you raise your prices to apply it then 'it's buy my cleaning at increased price level and get something free'.Whats the difference?
Is yours a phoney offer ?

The whole point about this offer is to raise your prices to a realistic level (and keep them there) and give your customers a freebie at the same time, nothing wrong or immoral about that, it's business and were all in business to make a profit.

If you want to get the phones ringing and new customers on board then you have to market your business using all available tools.