Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Paul Heath on December 14, 2010, 07:02:10 pm
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Anybody else had a last minute rush....had a few calls today to ask if we could fit anything in before xmas...I hate turning down work, it just means some late nights (weather permitting) and working over the weekend...that really hurts.
It just seems strange after an average December they all seem to have a few bob left over and thinking they will have there carpets cleaned after all. ;D
Not complaining it just means i won't have time to go xmas shopping......very dissapointed ;)
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Getting the same thing here. quite happy to work weekends etc but will stop xmas eve untill 3rd Jan.
Ben.
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Online shopping is the way out.
If I'm desperate I even do it through mobile phone internet while working. Iphone is very handy.
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This is the time when the credit card gets hit,
We take a lot of orders on CC this time of year and especially as they rush towards christmas.
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more like last minute slump down here!
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Well
i got to admit , i am not that busy, got a number of jobs booked in ,but not like other years,
having said that took 4 calls last night all regulars wanting work done before xmas, just hope the calls come into day :)
geoff
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Well
i got to admit , i am not that busy, got a number of jobs booked in ,but not like other years,
having said that took 4 calls last night all regulars wanting work done before xmas, just hope the calls come into day :)
geoff
Steady, but not to full capacity (probably just as well seeing the weather forecast again >:()
Had our "peak" xmas rush in November and first week of December...
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Its rushed past us this year again, as it always does. Jan is booking well though which i can understand more as why people get carpets cleaned before xmas has always surprised me.
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Been my worst Dec since starting,i have had to be really pro active just to get the jobs i have.
This time last year i was running around like a loony,working on xmas eve right up until 7pm.
Nothing from the agencies over the last month,so no one owes me money.
The jobs i have done have all been pretty big ones,so going to just scrape through ,but will be well into my overdraft.
Thank fick my tax bill is minimal
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Is it recession or Enerprise.............
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We've got a few new carpet cleaners started up here in the last couple of months, just lost a job that was booked in for Tuesday, all carpets in a 4 bed house.
She phoned me today and said she'd found someone who would do it cheaper than us, I asked how much they were charging? £60.00 !!!!
For 4 bedrooms, ensuite, bathroom, HSL, Lounge Diner and small study room! Fine.
Got a space for Tuesday morning, will probably get it filled with a proper client by the weekend
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I am absolutely dead and have been for weeks.
Got a report from one of the online directories I am on the other day stating that people searching for carpet cleaners in this area has gone from well over 200 in July to just 2 in December. I know that's only one directory, but it's pretty bad.
I'm getting absolutely nothing from the internet, not a sausage.
Leaflets have faired no better.
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Here's a marketing tip from an old timer.... as they say in marketing circles find a hungry crowd! And it ain't cleaning carpets these days that's for sure.
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Its def much slower than a good few years ago.
I used to work 7 days a week.
As ian said its many factors from cheaper cleaners starting up to people cutting down on there spending and less carpets to clean nowadays i guess.
Dont know how the newbies are getting on?
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Last minute rush?
let me think about this.....
No. I don't comprehend that phrase
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not just us then.
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Its def much slower than a good few years ago.
I used to work 7 days a week.
As ian said its many factors from cheaper cleaners starting up to people cutting down on there spending and less carpets to clean nowadays i guess.
Dont know how the newbies are getting on?
I'm a newbie, which I think is a big part of the problem. I've noticed that a lot of the newbies like me are having trouble at the moment.
Given that so much of the work in this game comes from repeat customers and referrals we are at a distinct disadvantage. I wish I had an extensive database of previous customers to phone right now that's for sure.
I don't know about everywhere else, but there seem to be loads of new carpet cleaners in my area. I suppose that could be because a lot of people are being made redundant and using their redundancy to start up as a carpet cleaner. Let's face it, it's a pretty inexpensive and quick business to get into. That's basically why I did it. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to have had the same idea!
As has been said an awful lot of people have laminate flooring nowadays as well. Tough economic times, an ever-growing number of newbies and less carpets isn't a great combination really.
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last minute rush?
hell yeah, i aint got the wife ewt for xmas and ive only got wednesday or thursday to go shopping, now thats last minute, especially when i haven't got a clue what to buy her, any ideas guys,
i was thinking of asking her, "why don't we buy our own presents, wrap them and then give them to each other to give back on xmas day without letting on what we've bought"
its a no brainer.
we both get exactly what we want.
we both get a surprise as cos i don't know what ive got her and she don't know what she's got me.
and we both don't have to grimace and say "thanks darlin, just what ive always wanted" ;D
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Be a surprise if I DID buy er in doors a pressy for Xmas, she doesn't even get a lump of coal at the end of her bed not unless the kids ave bin darn t'pit!
I hate Xmas
Shaun
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I'm a newbie and luckily i have done OK since I started with the exception of a couple of weeks in November I have been doing better than I first planned.I have been steady for a few weeks now,but my steady might be someone elses slack.
There are lots of CC's round here too,so as I said perhaps I'm having a lucky streak amd will hit a brick wall in January.
There seems to be a bit of doom and gloom in this thread,but has it been a bad year for you experienced guys or is it just that the Xmas rush hasn't materialised.Its only a few months ago that lots on here were saying that the year hadn't been as bad as they feared.Perhaps its just that people are spending on xmas and also the weather.
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Got a call back >:( doing it Sunday morning the only time she can fit me in :o >:( however 4th to 8th fully booked. Keep nudging my commercials Aprils nearly on us budget time or you lose it ;D
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Same as usuall for time of year, worked 7 days since bonfire night, ready for the break now.
Mark
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Been our best run up to Christmas since we started carpet cleaning must admit we have done more advertising.
Cheers Tony
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Trouble is tracking your advertising to how much work you got from it because you get too busy to do paper work, I have phone calls and work but not time, snow got me this year.
Shaun
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Not as manic as last year but fully booked. Took on a £1500 job today which has to be done before Christmas - not quite worked out how to do that yet.
However, very few bookings into January - by this time I usually have enough to make me feel good about the New Year.
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:'( this is the worst 2 years ive ever had; this year espicaly , done emails letters postcard, putting it down to weather , this snow not help putting people off , hopfully when snow shifts , work will come running in all the best for christmas and new year ,
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Last minute rush to cancell more like ive had loads, and dec was allready well short of my expectations.
Never mind im quite optomistic for next year.
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I was out early this morning bloddy hell it was sheet ice! must admit phone not as busy as last year but I don't think Xmas is as busy anyway and I don't think there's as much Xmas spirit neither!!
I have a good set of customers which literally book me for a week, I go from house to house on their estate they all book through a 'booking agent' Mrs.Swift who gets them all orginaised, if it weren't for people like these I wonder how much work I'd do, I have however just turned down a 4 bed house to clean just can't do them all and have a family life (daughter saying money money money, son with headphones on playing on Xbox, mrs on the wine already) standard family really.
Shaun
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I was out early this morning bloddy hell it was sheet ice! must admit phone not as busy as last year but I don't think Xmas is as busy anyway and I don't think there's as much Xmas spirit neither!!
I have a good set of customers which literally book me for a week, I go from house to house on their estate they all book through a 'booking agent' Mrs.Swift who gets them all orginaised, if it weren't for people like these I wonder how much work I'd do, I have however just turned down a 4 bed house to clean just can't do them all and have a family life (daughter saying money money money, son with headphones on playing on Xbox, mrs on the wine already) standard family really.
Shaun
Whats your name? Ozzy Osborne?
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SHARON
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strangely enough it has picked up here, lots of last minute bookings!! Thankfully!
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i find that the phone doesn't ring much this close to xmas, if they want it cleaning they have booked a couple of weeks ago or forget it. the other side is that although i am fully booked up to wednesday evening the weather is so bad i'd rather not go out, i'm calling customers to suggest cancelling and they want to go ahead, bummer!!!
colin
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I've had 6 calls today starting with, "don't suppose you've got any spaces left?", one needed a full 4 bed house and suite cleaning tomorrow!!! I know we all get them but you do have to laugh !
Shaun
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Someone rang me in November to book an EOT for this Thursday. I said fine, I was going to have Thursday off but if you send me a small deposit to confirm I will book it in.
Been there, done that, got the T shirt.
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i find that the phone doesn't ring much this close to xmas,
I don't care how much it rings now. We're back up to the 3 inch depth of snow and it's still falling. Unless the job is (a) within walking distance if I get stuck and (b) they don't mind an electrical lead powering my heater whilst it's paked on their driveway for days, then I'll stay here and see it out knowing that at least I'll still have a van and equipment to use come January.
A friend of mine very nearly didn't see xmas after writing off his car on the M6 Saturday afternoon. Things like that make you sit back and re-assess things.
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Why do people leave it so late !!!
Had loads of calls over the last few days,but i have filled my diary with commercial jobs now,just had to book a 3 bed i quoted on last week,for Friday morning,then that`s it.
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You think thats bad about people leaving it to the last minute...Had two today...'Any chance of tiling my 40sqm floor before christmas...And another one wanting there bathroom tiled before friday. ;D
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Dec steady away for 2 vans I suppose
but better than last year ;D
back to marketing & selling for Jan with me lil bods in toe :o
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Get onto hard floors, ive had 3 days of it this week alone, people don't mind having them done last minute
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We've got a few new carpet cleaners started up here in the last couple of months, just lost a job that was booked in for Tuesday, all carpets in a 4 bed house.
She phoned me today and said she'd found someone who would do it cheaper than us, I asked how much they were charging? £60.00 !!!!
For 4 bedrooms, ensuite, bathroom, HSL, Lounge Diner and small study room! Fine.
Got a space for Tuesday morning, will probably get it filled with a proper client by the weekend
I have one of these guys as a competitor he advertises £10 any where in the northeast and any size room Hey i love it i get a lot of customers who quote his price then ask me for a quote ( no i do not compete ) i have only lost maybe 1% these guys can be used to your advantage ritz-cleaners.co.uk
not going into details but have a look at my site and go to how to pick a cleaner use some of the info when talking on the phone and i guarantee it works