[carlton care]

A point VERY worthwhile noting....................

Too many kid themselves that Aldi / Lidl / Primark are only selling to the lower income sector and nothing could be further from the truth.

Whether you like it, or not, the Retail and Service companies are attracting a higher percentage of the available market each year, by offering More competetive prices and Perceived "Good Value."

You don't have to be selling at the Bottom End to be offering Good Value, but it's a lot easier to gain and keep customers if your charges appear to be Competetive.

Sure, it's great to target the customers who just pay what you ask, but that is a tiny percentage of the overall market and to get Tom, Dick and Harriet all chasing those clients will result in one thing.!

The prices offered to the Top End customers will automatically get lower, as they will have more people competing for their business.

Whether B/C is genuine, or not is irrelevent, there are are many B/C's out there and many are just getting on with it. Doing their 5 - 7 jobs per day and taking around £2k per week.

No point in suggesting their running costs will be astrononomical, or they won't be giving the " full monty " to their clients.

They are delivering what 80% of the market wants.

It's easy to get bogged down with ideals, or trying to follow the book. There are smart and shrewd  "businessmen " out there who JUST DO IT and take the money.

Many of them don't stand out from the crowd in any way, but they collect the money day in, day out.

robert m

Ian

Of course you depend on volume if you offer low prices, but if you aim your marketing at the 80% plus end of the market, it's a lot easier to get and sustain that volume, while others struggle to get the less reachable top end clients.

I'm not saying " be cheap " but being moderate in your pricing will give a steady flow of cash.

The successful guys on here are mainly trading on their character and personality. They have the confidence and charisma to pull it off. That's the main difference !

[*brightclean]

Just read this thread for the first time this morning,

First thing that sprung to mind " brightclean is taking the p**s , low and behold , as i read down the posts, mike comes out with Wind up merchant,
got to agree

A point nobody seems to have picked up on is, according to bright clean , he is so busy , and full up every day and making a living YET!! He is about to put a speciial offfer up.

"get you lounge carpet cleaned , your suite half price," I believe was stated    

WHY?   if so busy

Geoff

1. As I have already stated I'm in no way taking the p%ss!
2. The special offer next month is because we have been trading for 3 years, and it's a very good idea to clean suites in August because of the whether. Dont you run promotional campaigns??

If you look at Carpetsh&te, they are always offering a special, 50% / 75% off or free underlay etc and it draws the custys in. They are selling crap but the business has made a massive profit last year and again in this half year.

Is there anyone else who lives in Coventry who can confirm that this company is charging these low prices


To me the entire idea is dependent on Volume

So what do you do, or did three years ago to get phone ringing

Your Maintence Plan is that on a Standing Order

Sorry to be sceptical but a lot of people read The Forum so evidence would be good.

Have you a Web Site?

1. Yes, it is dependent on volume, but as our prices are cheap, we get the business through (don't forget our min charge is £50, so if u were just wanting 1 or 2 rooms doing thats what we would charge, it becomes more of a saving for the customer the more they want cleaned. Each custy is left with a business/advertising pack which tells them when they shold ideally call us again, stain removal chart, about extra services, and importantly, a further discount voucher of 10% if they introduce a friend.

2. We started with 1 man and 1 van (like most of you guys), and I started by charging simular prices to you. Got 1 -2 jobs in, things were very  very slow, and I had a long hard think and came up with this plan. As I say, I nowemploy staff and have the oppurtunity to sit back if I want to, my gross turnoever is exceeding previous years by on average 28.9%, which I'mpleased with and profits are up. I also give the technicians a bonus if they sell any extras such as stainguard, or anti static etc or they bring in further business. Furthermore, if they are or have a spare hour or 2 in a day, they dont just sit around doing nothing, they are very much proactive by way of distributing leaflets and making contact with local carpet retailers and fitters etc.

3. Our maintenance plan is on a standing order. In fact, the income I receive now from monthly agreements is now paying the wages and more, so I dont have to worry about that. This is taking off, because more and more people are wanting their soft furnishings cleaned and looked after as the expence of replacing, for some people, is too great. The plan is based on several issues and covers all aspects of carpet and upholstery cleaning as well as emergency call outs for fire, flood damage and stain removal.

4. No, we haven't a website yet but something we're looking into.

Hope I have answered your questions Ian, cheers.


 

[*brightclean]

A point VERY worthwhile noting....................

Too many kid themselves that Aldi / Lidl / Primark are only selling to the lower income sector and nothing could be further from the truth.

Whether you like it, or not, the Retail and Service companies are attracting a higher percentage of the available market each year, by offering More competetive prices and Perceived "Good Value."

You don't have to be selling at the Bottom End to be offering Good Value, but it's a lot easier to gain and keep customers if your charges appear to be Competetive.

Sure, it's great to target the customers who just pay what you ask, but that is a tiny percentage of the overall market and to get Tom, Dick and Harriet all chasing those clients will result in one thing.!

The prices offered to the Top End customers will automatically get lower, as they will have more people competing for their business.

Whether B/C is genuine, or not is irrelevent, there are are many B/C's out there and many are just getting on with it. Doing their 5 - 7 jobs per day and taking around £2k per week.

No point in suggesting their running costs will be astrononomical, or they won't be giving the " full monty " to their clients.

They are delivering what 80% of the market wants.

It's easy to get bogged down with ideals, or trying to follow the book. There are smart and shrewd  "businessmen " out there who JUST DO IT and take the money.

Many of them don't stand out from the crowd in any way, but they collect the money day in, day out.

robert m

Ian

Of course you depend on volume if you offer low prices, but if you aim your marketing at the 80% plus end of the market, it's a lot easier to get and sustain that volume, while others struggle to get the less reachable top end clients.

I'm not saying " be cheap " but being moderate in your pricing will give a steady flow of cash.

The successful guys on here are mainly trading on their character and personality. They have the confidence and charisma to pull it off. That's the main difference !

Very true, an excellent post, now im off as lots todo,will log back in tonight, bye for now.

[*brightclean]

A quick example of 3 jobs Ive just preiced for:-

1 x lounge + rug = £50 (min charge)

3 beds + lounge + suite = £110

1 x lounge/diner = £50 (min charge)

Although we advertise lounge £15 etc.it is very rare that we actually just do a lounge. This policy gets the custys to phone us and get a couple of carpets cleaned for £50. If we didn't have the min charge in place we would struggle.... but it's working!!

[markpowell]

You must be mowed under with work mate, you stated at 9.37 am that you had to log off cos you was so busy and you would log back on tonight. You then further post at 10.49 ans still logged on now. You need to take a break
Mark

[*brightclean]

Just signed up 2 more monthly service agreements.

This is to show that my business plan and pricing policy is working. I post on here to pass on my idea to you cleaners who ARE struggling to make ends meat (and believe me, I suspect there is alot of you, but to embarrarrased to say).

The well known guys on here will get paid £50 - £100 per hour, but I can assure you that probably 95% of you cleaners that frequent this forum are no where earning near this amount, and the advise that they give you is often based upon their experiences only.

Fundamentally, it is you that has to decided about your business and what not to charge etc. but believe me when I had invested £8k on my first machine, stock and van etc and it wasn't going anywhere I WAS p%ssed off and I knew I had to change something or I would end up working for someone else again.

Reduce your prices to as low as you feel you can go (the lower the better) BUT
you must have a min charge in place ie £50 - otherwise it wont work.

Try it for a couple of months and see. I couldn't cope with the demand.

Dont be fooled by what the so called experts are saying on here about pricing, dont forget they're your competitors, and they will try and tell you all the cock and bull about what you should and shouldn't do....  but remember, utimately, it's your business and if you want to make a success of it just adopt my policy!

Cheers.

[*brightclean]

You must be mowed under with work mate, you stated at 9.37 am that you had to log off cos you was so busy and you would log back on tonight. You then further post at 10.49 ans still logged on now. You need to take a break
Mark

Mark, if you read my previous posts I EMPLOY STAFF TO WORK FOR ME. I'm in the office answering the telephone, doing paperwork and when I got time logging onto here.  You must be busy, a one man band at home this time of the day lol    

[kinder clean]

Hi Brightclean

What advertising/marketing do you use?

Cheers Paul

[maxcarpets]

Can anyone tell me how to suck eggs please?

[gwrightson]

not knocking primark,
they do have some exellent buys  , if you want some , socks underwear ect, I have bpought on many occasions.
but, a big but , if i want some thing decent I go to a shop that sells Strellson, or Boss  ok paying a little over the odds, but its nice to know your wearing a bit of quality

what was thats word ? Oh yes Quality.

You stick to your price seekers, minging carpets that your attracting .if your happy fair enough, or maybe its just you cannot attract decent prices and had to go down the road you have gone ?

and do you really think that sending out guys on minimum wage , or cash in hand perhaps are going to care what sort of job they do ? I doubt it, and if you believe that   then you are kidding your self.

geoff

[markpowell]

Yes your right i am a one man band with one van to run 1 machine to keep serviced, no holiday pay to shell out. I dont have to worry about my staff not doing the same quality of work which i demand all the time and i charge a decent price and all the money goes into my pocket at the end of the week, oh and i only work Mon - Thurs.
Forgot to ask Brightclean do you actually exist, i have done a full search of the business directories in Coventry and you dont seem to show up anywhere, think Mike was right we have a wind up merchant on our hands.
Mark

[*brightclean]

Hi Brightclean

What advertising/marketing do you use?

Cheers Paul

Hi Paul, We only do internet direct advertising, leaflet drops (in the thousands), and mobile phone text advertising which works extremely well.

not knocking primark,
they do have some exellent buys , if you want some , socks underwear ect, I have bpought on many occasions.
but, a big but , if i want some thing decent I go to a shop that sells Strellson, or Boss ok paying a little over the odds, but its nice to know your wearing a bit of quality

what was thats word ? Oh yes Quality.

You stick to your price seekers, minging carpets that your attracting .if your happy fair enough, or maybe its just you cannot attract decent prices and had to go down the road you have gone ?

and do you really think that sending out guys on minimum wage , or cash in hand perhaps are going to care what sort of job they do ? I doubt it, and if you believe that then you are kidding your self.

geoff

1. We do do a thorough and professional clean, everytime. Not all our customers are lower earners, in fact its about half and half at the moment, alot live in afleunt areas and we have a couple of celebrities on our books.

2. Our staff work extremely hard, are reliable, positive and have been fully trained. I or I disagreeistant telephone a customer the day after we have attended their property to ensure that they are happy/pleased with the work we have carried out. There are, on some occasions, the need for a second visit as the custy is not happy, we accept this and re-clean, but that doesn't happen very often. So, we dont just send anyone out on a minmum wage who in your words 'doesn't care what they are doing', they are fully trained professionals who love what they do. We have checks and balances in place to ensure good customer service.

Yes your right i am a one man band with one van to run 1 machine to keep serviced, no holiday pay to shell out. I dont have to worry about my staff not doing the same quality of work which i demand all the time and i charge a decent price and all the money goes into my pocket at the end of the week, oh and i only work Mon - Thurs.
Forgot to ask Brightclean do you actually exist, i have done a full search of the business directories in Coventry and you dont seem to show up anywhere, think Mike was right we have a wind up merchant on our hands.
Mark

We do exist, thats for sure, and I am pleased that you are making your business work for. If thats all you want in life or out of your business thats fine, but I always wanted a little more....

Our pricing policy and business plan works very well for us, by sharing it on here I thought I would be helping other cleaners generate more income for themselves, I'm certainly not here to offend.

 

[Barry Livingstone]

If trained then by who?

Come on tell us where your really from
And if your so busy going by the time on your post and the quantity of them why you been on here all day ?/??

Oh yeah "YOUR OTHER CLEANERS DO ALL THE WORK"
1. AM NOT KNOCKING YOU I JUST THINK YOU HAVE TIME ON YOUR HAND AND YOUR ON TO WIND UP ........

as for your prices yeah it can be done but not with you on here all day !!!!

[*brightclean]

If trained then by who?

Come on tell us where your really from
And if your so busy going by the time on your post and the quantity of them why you been on here all day ?/??

Oh yeah "YOUR OTHER CLEANERS DO ALL THE WORK"
1. AM NOT KNOCKING YOU I JUST THINK YOU HAVE TIME ON YOUR HAND AND YOUR ON TO WIND UP ........

as for your prices yeah it can be done but not with you on here all day !!!!

Are people really dum on here. I only registered on here a few days ago and posted last night as I wanted advise about extracta. This is the first day I've actually spent on here, only because I'm working in the office, you certainly wont see me on here after 5pm tonight or for the rest of the week as I am on the front line tom (we have a massive job on). I can feel a little bit of jealousy creeping in here by some of you one man banders      

Our staff are trained by prochem.

Why cant I achieve what Im doing by sitting at my desk on my laptop on here, as well as answering telephones and doing paperwork?? Some people are beyond me. There are people in this world who will only work for someone else or will earn very little by themselves, thats life and you're probably one of them. Think BIG and you'll earn BIG, learn to think outside of 'the box'.

[Mike Halliday]

and with that excellent reply we'll call it a day on this thread, I believe everything has been said within the topic.

mike