Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Neil Williams on January 04, 2011, 09:04:20 pm
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Thought I'd follow up on a telephone quote I gave last week.
Guessed by the way that he hadn't come back to me that he had gone with someone else but all the same needed to know what i was up against.
This was tenants that had left a place in a bit of a state, white carpets and all that.
2 Bedrooms, HSL, Living/Dining. So this came to 46 sq/m (without the HSL)
I went in at £150 but apparently he got 2 other quotes at £110
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And the one he went with
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£75
And this guy was a recommendation from an estate agent
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Wasn't me Neil - my pricew would be close to yours.
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It was me!!! ;D
I travelled all the way from herefordshire after quoting over the phone £8.99!
after a couple of test patches i got it to £657! after a bit of haggling we agreed on £75 ;D
Sorry about that
;)
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Neil this will cheer you up ;D
Got a leaflet through the door yesterday home made on paper you wouldnt use on your backside ;D
carpet cleaning january sale nice picture of a little yellow puzzi in the corner ::)
LOUNGE FROM £15 BEDROOM FROM £10 HALL STARS LANDING FROM £25
AND YES THAT IS STARS & NOT STAIRS ;D ;D ;D
BUT WAIT FOR IT THERES MORE COME ERE ;D ;D ONLY TEN NUMBERS ON THE MOBILE ;D ;D 07768 57429
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I think we will come up against a lot of this in this climate.....been made redundent, invest in a RD and off they go..
Not helping the trade in anyway
My price would have been the same as yours
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its the same round my neck of the woods Neil, I will sometimes price match if I need the work, some prices are crazy though and long term do spoil it for themselves and others. The vat increase has also done me no favours at all as most cc's round me are not registered.
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IF THATS ANYONE ON HERE LET US KNOW THE MISSING NUMBER MY MISSUS KEEPS ON ABOUT GETTING THE LOUNGE DONE ;D
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I think we will come up against a lot of this in this climate.....been made redundent, invest in a RD and off they go..
Not helping the trade in anywayMy price would have been the same as yours
That's the point it's not a trade!!
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I think we will come up against a lot of this in this climate.....been made redundent, invest in a RD and off they go..
Not helping the trade in anywayMy price would have been the same as yours
That's the point it's not a trade!!
I'd disagree with that, "trade" is an occupation requiring skilled labour and if properly trained, which you should be, then carpet cleaning is a trade ::)
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Neil
sound like this was not YOUR type of customer, so why get so upset about it? you will always get calls from prospects that don't meet your place in the market.
How can you expect a tenant to pay high prices when they don't benefit from that clean? as you have shown they want it as cheap as possible.
If you have been getting your prices from tenants then you doing well, and a well done from me as i dont get good money from this type of work. quoting over the does not help me, but it how i chosen to do business.
I said it before by providing different types of service you can quote at different levels. this way the prospect can choose between your different types of service and NOT between you and other cleaners.
Your be surprised at what people will not worry about when its their money. stains are a great example, even tenants will say not to worry about removal when it saves them money. after all its their deposit.
package selling works.
if more us did it then prospects would start to understand that all cleans are not the same and NOT base their buying on price alone.
Respect
Ian Harper
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Neil
As the great Bill Shankley once said " I never worry about what the other team are doing - if my team play the way I know they can - no one can beat them"
I know that is a very one dimensional way of looking at business but have confidence in your pricing structure , I personally would hate to be known as the cheapest , I would prefer to be known as the most professionally.
Also I never quote on the phone - meet the client , see how much work needs to be done - a one bedroom flat may take 2 hrs , it may take 5 hrs, how can you tell on the phone ? and at the end of the day people sell to people, so get in front of someone and you can sell the benifit as opposed to the cost.
Good luck for 2011 Neil (and every one else )
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Since I started cleaning carpets nearly 30 years ago there has alwas been a procession of part timers, particularly Firemen and Postmen who had too much time on their hands due to their shifts.
They all charged low prices and got regular work as they advertised LOW PRICES.
I think you have to accept that CUSTOMER LOYALTY is a thing of the past ( except for a small percentage ) and that we now live in a PRICE AWARE / PRICE COMPARISON world with the bulk of advertising hammering out the LOWER PRICE to be had from Tom as opposed to Dick or Harry.
This has spread from furniture retailers to supermarkets to double glazing to car sales and is becoming more apparent in servic industries every year.
Don't kid yourself that " carpet cleaning is different " it's only a service and one that consumers are increasingly finding they can carry out themselves as domestic machines improve.
YES............the reviews on the newer Bissell machines are actually very good.
Sure, there will always be a market for your service, but you have to be, competetive, reliable, easily found and available when the client needs you.
Have a prosperous 2011 and beyond.
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Why moan about it.
Whenever we buy something don't we all price shop
and go for the cheapest?
With goods it's a good thing because you know even
though your paying the cheapest price for that top of
the range mobile that's what you will get, the top of
the range mobile.
I suppose with trades it's more of a lottery but I never
pay a tradesman until the job is done to my satisfaction,
if I'm not happy with some aspect of the work I'll ask them
to sort it before paying.
That's what's wrong with people, they're scared of saying
something and put up with shoddy work, it's almost the
norm now.
John
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I don't know about the rest of the UK, but in my area prices are going down and down. When I first started I could quite easily undercut the competition and still make a decent amount, but it has become harder and harder to do so because everyone seems to be lowering their rates and there are a large number of people offering cut price services.
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I don't know about the rest of the UK, but in my area prices are going down and down. When I first started I could quite easily undercut the competition and still make a decent amount, but it has become harder and harder to do so because everyone seems to be lowering their rates and there are a large number of people offering cut price services.
;)
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Thought I'd follow up on a telephone quote I gave last week.
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£75
And this guy was a recommendation from an estate agent
how can you compete with this, you were a nameless face on the end of a phone he was recommended by someone. even if he was the same price as yours you will have still lost the job.
on phone quotes the lowest will get the job unless you close the deal while on the phone, if a customer phones 5 companies but does not make an immediate decision, all they will remember when they eventually decided is...... who was the cheapest
this is why i believe if you do phone quotes you need to learn to close the sale while they are on the phone, "I'll call you later" or 'let me speak to my husband" is what you don't want to hear
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I don't know about the rest of the UK, but in my area prices are going down and down. When I first started I could quite easily undercut the competition and still make a decent amount, but it has become harder and harder to do so because everyone seems to be lowering their rates and there are a large number of people offering cut price services.
;)
You've lost me...
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On the subject of loyalty I have to disagree with some of the comments made.
I think people are the same today as they have always been and certainly whilst money is tight people are programmed to be more careful with their money. I don't think that necessarily translates to someone taking the RISK of going with a cheaper unknown quantity.
I say shame on anyone who loses an existing customer because of poor service, poor relationship building or poor perception of value. There's simply no excuse. Sure people move, people die and yes some people buy laminate flooring and leather sofas, but when you lose people through neglect, that's throwing money down the toilet.
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YES............the reviews on the newer Bissell machines are actually very good.
No offence Robert but what have you been smoking mate? :)
The rest of your post didn't really make sence either. Even tho I'm not the most expensive (if you beleive everything you read on here anyways....) I anit working for pennies either! Getting products cheaper is one thing (i'm all for getting a good price on physical items) but when it comes to a service, your really do get what you pay for!
I had a girl call me just before xmas and she gave it the usual three very small rooms talk on the phone. Since she wanted it done at the begining of January I gave her £20 off my usual price. She then told me that she got quoted £60 from someone else! ha ha good on her I anit competing with that price. I'm very suprised the carpet cleaner would do it so cheap, specialy a top floor flat! Someone from this forum too....... ::)
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"but when it comes to a service, your really do get what you pay for!"
Have to disagree with that CD.
My father was a builder before he retired and he will tell you the same,
he employed various trades at various jobs and he said some of the
more expensive plumbers, joiners etc where lazy/incompetent.
He also said this trend wasn't so prevalent until the last 25 years or
the mid 80's.
John
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There is too much consumer filtering. I will give you an example...
100 customers have dirty carpets,
40 change to a new carpet or wood floor,
30 hire a machine,
20 buy a machine,
10 call round for quotes on having it done by a pro,
A lot of potential customers are filtered off to Carpet fitting trades, Retail or DIY. Because their is a choice for them, unlike a regulated skilled trade.
If you are a heating engineer, your customers are not filtered by choice, they have to use you because of regulations and fear for safety.
Matt
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Matt
Great insight, I totally agree.
The truth is though, some carpet cleaners are thriving whilst most are crying on their rollups. So the real question is what differentiates the thrivers from the soggy tab brigade?
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I don't know about the rest of the UK, but in my area prices are going down and down. When I first started I could quite easily undercut the competition and still make a decent amount, but it has become harder and harder to do so because everyone seems to be lowering their rates and there are a large number of people offering cut price services.
;)
You've lost me...
Sorry Matt I did think that after I'd posted. What I was trying to suggest was that prices (at least among some groups of ccs as opposed to the Enterprises of this world) would possibly remain stable at a decent rate if people werent forever trying to beat the next man on price.
The bits I highlighted were to try and show that its a possibilty you have, in part, been responsible for driving prices in your area down.
Hope thats a bit clearer as you're right I didnt really explain well with my earlier post.
Cheers
Simon
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I don't know about the rest of the UK, but in my area prices are going down and down. When I first started I could quite easily undercut the competition and still make a decent amount, but it has become harder and harder to do so because everyone seems to be lowering their rates and there are a large number of people offering cut price services.
;)
You've lost me...
Sorry Matt I did think that after I'd posted. What I was trying to suggest was that prices (at least among some groups of ccs as opposed to the Enterprises of this world) would possibly remain stable at a decent rate if people werent forever trying to beat the next man on price.
The bits I highlighted were to try and show that its a possibilty you have, in part, been responsible for driving prices in your area down.
Hope thats a bit clearer as you're right I didnt really explain well with my earlier post.
Cheers
Simon
Oh right, I'm with you.
I've never gone out of my way to lower prices, but there have been many occasions where I have come in well under some of the quotes provided by the competition. I'm one of the cheapest, but certainly not THE cheapest by any stretch of the imagination.
I've said plenty of times that I think some carpet cleaners take the wee wee with their prices. I honestly don't see how anyone can justify charging £100 or more for a living room.
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Back to the beginning, I don't give a jot what someone else has gained the job at.
All I was doing was testing the water to see if mine was a 'normal' price, afterall there are some on here who only work on jobs where they can achieve £100/hour, and on that basis those people would have done all the carpets in a 2 bed property in 45 minutes.
Now if someone wants to earn £75 for 2 to 3 hours work plus fuel plus chemicals plus calculating wear and tear, plus tax, NI etc then so be it.
As for site visit with a chance to baffle the customer with science and all that, all the guy wanted was a price there and then, we all get them and most us know we won't get them. I phoned him back up knowing I didn't get it but wanted to know why.
Hope that's sorted that then :D
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I'm very suprised the carpet cleaner would do it so cheap, specialy a top floor flat! Someone from this forum too....... ::)
I hope your not insinuating that was me.