[cleaning co]

hi craig ,if u get reg 5 jobs from 1000 fresh leaflets then u are doing something i dont no about lol  every now then i get 5 sometime more but this is rare its well know that 0.5% is regarded as an ave for leaflets
p.s got some tips for me then 
gary

[Ian Gourlay]

Craig,

You are leading us to believe tht those of us who acheive in the region of 5 per thousand responses are not doing very well.

Ok so you can do better but you give no idea what your response rate is.

[craigp]

i dont get that response every time of course, wish i did,

i my dairy i have over the past 2 weeks got booked in 8 jobs from a area of around 2-3k houses,     gary try this, leave an area alone for 6 mths and see what the response is like then, just try it with a area of around 3k,  i could be wrong but i know if ive not hit a area for 8 mths it will be good, that is if i know the area to be good.

food for thought, in 87 when the old man started his average response was 1 job per 75 leaflets !!!!  hes never been in y/p.

the market is a bit satuarated these days i think.

[Spot On cleaning]

But doe's anyone post on a Sunday?

[craigp]

ian, if ive come across as saying i get more thah 5 per 1000 thats wrong, i consider that very good as good as it gets,
gary said he didnt belive 5 per 1000 i was trying to address that, i put out a couple of 1000 and had nothing like every one else,

 since x mas ive put out 3k ish and had 16 jobs from those, thats good i think and it doesnt get much better for me.

and as i been trying to say, im sure its because i not done the area since last summer,

regards, craig

[craigp]

not sundays as every one gardening and washing cars, i feel like a pest.

thats just me.

[cleaning co]

craig how do u no  that 6 months 6 other carpets hav done a drop? and maybe one a week before u ? just a thought, because i do so few now its very rare a hit a place more than couple times a year, but i will say this the last time i had a call of leaflets was 22 november !!and my leaflets are the same as ive allways done figure that out for me lol
i agree leaflets are nowere near as good as they were when i first started 12 years ago not by a long shot for first 7 years i never done a thomp, yellow pages and made a good living just of leaflets i wouldnt still be in this game now if it werent for thomp yellow pages and old custys , i think anyone starting now has a really tuff rd ahead of them, and i hav noticed just lately thiers a lot of new people asking advice on this forum , so in one way this forum id bad news for carpets cleaners as people are stumbling across it and thinking mmm  might try this cleaning lark   rember 5 years ago we had no forums and this internet stuff   makes y think dont it !!
gary

[Spot On cleaning]

Gary

Do you ever try writing to your old customers in some form or another to offer them a deal or something?

In three years i had got somewhere in the region of 950 customers. This may not be a\lot to some people but hey ho. Problem is though, it's hard to go back with higher prices in my area because i was too cheap in the strt.

Dave

[craigp]

absolutly gary, i ve thought that to, i only found this forum a few months back, your right really, we are giving away all our secrets that we ve had to learn the long hard way, and lots fancy a pop at this game, sometimes i had men custys who been asking alot of questions  and when i left i ve clicked they been think that looks easy, lol we must of all had some of those, going back to how things have changed the old man cannot belive some of the prices people are charging on here that ive told him about 4.50 a sqm!!!!!! he says there only cleaning the bl***dy carpet!!!!

[craigp]

lets face it gary we could not make it any easier for the competition.  we may as well offer to deliver there leaflets for them help them along a bit, lol

[cleaning co]

yes i agree with your old man £4.50 is  so over the top half is more like it and that imo is good money,
ive had people book me in to clean just one carpet and u can tell big time just way the blokes ask u q hes got u round to c how its done   , also i get few other carpet cleaners wifes phoneing me asking lots  silly q a punter wouldnt make makes me chuckle a bit   and its allways with held numbers
dave hav tryed letters couple times but found it to dear and responce rate low,i find if old custys wants  a carpet cleaned they dont need telling they phone u when they are good n ready

[craigp]

thatn is one thing really annoys me competiters phoneing for qoutes, i look at it this way, what does it achieve? i find it funny they must be slow on work, but a qoute from me and strangly there still slow on work, were does it get them? and why do they always ask about stainshield!!

how is knowing my prices going to get them work?

sad annoying gits!!!

[cleaning co]

they are trying to find out how much work u hav because they are qiuet  " how much notice do i need to giv u "

[Spot On cleaning]

Trouble is though customer loyalty. You do a job for them, great. They loose your number then they get another leaflet from somebody else, possibly cheaper.

I also get calls asking questions about my system etc and prices. Had one once from a so called student doing research for her business studies course. Told her i was busy.

I think areas are a big problem. When i did prochem courses in 2002, the London boys were hitting £1000 - £1200 a week then.

Dave

[craigp]

i had a call once cant remember what they said they were, started to ask me about what my turnover ect was! cheek, told them p off.

i find it amazing how many of these competitors calls you get it must be people thinking of starting too, its annoying because when i sense that, im maybe a bit abrut with them and ive been proved wrong a few times and they booked work in.

if im slow on work i cant see how knowing if the comp is is going to help me,

good job you never answered her questions di, a student, as if ! 

i think your right about customer loyalty, there is nt much, i ve done loads of jobs when custys said they had there capets cleaned before and the last guy did a great job, i think why they not got them back then?
course the fast trackers get over that with maintence plans.

[John Rimmer Marshall & Rimmer Ltd]

Dave unless the law in Wales is diferent to the rest of the country i would
sugest your being done as there is no VAT on leaflets

[Spot On cleaning]

John

I did,nt know this. Can you elaborate more on this please

Dave

[John Rimmer Marshall & Rimmer Ltd]

Hi Dave yes its true there is no VAT on leaflets but not everyone knows this.
I will give you an example the last lot of leaflets i had done where desighnd
by our free local paper, but they in turn passed the printing of it to annother company. When i got the final bill for the job they had put on VAT it was me that
told them they could not do that as they themselves were not being charged for it. I then got annother invoice excludeing VAT with an appology. I hope this
has been of some help to everyone re finking of doing leaflets.
Take Care John

[craigp]

never new that.  you get some gems on this forum

[Geoff Jewkes]

But doe's anyone post on a Sunday?

The other sunday I walked to village shop to clear the hangover!!! On the  way posted flyers through doors that I passed and got a call an hour later. The woman who lives 25 seconds van ride away booked a 2 hour job in priced at £87.25 after flyer discount.  What I say is, if you have an opportunity to do so POST EM