Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: garry22 on October 14, 2011, 02:09:43 pm
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I've just booked a job in and had a real laugh with the chap who called.
After booking, I asked him where he got us from ( the website) and why he chose us.
He said "what did it for me was your terms and conditions. You are obviously a company that does not p*ss about"!
Here's the page he was on about. I got so fed up with time wasters so see what you think...
http://www.carpetcleanerwestmidlands.co.uk/contact_us.html
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A fantastic , no nonsense approach , will be adapting something similar!
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Why not like it 8)
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Very good :)
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love it, will probably do something similar too. cheers garry. ;) ;D
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Love it!
You should add a further line that tells them how you take your tea or coffee and for it to be ready upon arrival ;D
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Erm gary i do like that one ;D
I would like something similar on my site too..
Am sure it will put any price shoppers off ..
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.... Mine will also say , yes I can quickly run over that LITTLE rug , for £8/metre , and ill just clean the stairs for £2 each .
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That's brilliant... ;D
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I dont like this thread , everyone agrees ;D
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Thanks for the comments.
I'm about fourteen miles from Birmingham city centre, so I'm looking at a minimum of an hour and a half to do quotes plus diesel costs.
Since I've done it, I've had a "better class of enquirer" and only try on (a blatant attempt to scam Tescos by saying a food spillage had dyed his carpet :)
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Apart from filtering out the idiots, this approach gives you posture. It says we don't need any old work we are busy and selective. This can create MORE of the urge to buy, the scarcity/exclusive value.
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Wynes right with his post with being selective too..
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Quality ;D
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brilliant !!!!
i think after reading this thread a lot of cc's on ciu will be adding similar text to their websites.
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For what it's worth, I got the idea after reading a brilliant (but cheap book) called "Winning through intimidation" by Robert Ringer.
It's nothing to do with beating people up. As Wynne says, it's about positioning yourself in such a way that people do not even dream of messing you about.
Ringer was a real estate broker in the USA. He used to put buyers and sellers of real estate together and collect a broker's fee. After getting ripped off a few times he totally revamped his marketing and the way he did business so that people looked upon him as the "main man". He was able to go into every deal in a real position of strength.
I guess it's one more step in being a professional.
People should not mess you about just because you clean carpets for a living.
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Thats brilliant Gary. Will pinch too if you don't mind. Might be inclined to add to the furniture bit that in most cases we expect to move furniture unless a cost has been given that allows for not doing so.
Well done mate
Pete
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thats brilliant, do you mind if i borrow it???
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Feel free.
In a way it's what Derek is trying to achieve with TACCA. It's a two way thing.
It's not just offering the client the right service, it's about respect for the professional as well.
I might change the site so everyone has to go to that page. It will be interesting to see how many get scared off.
The idea is to get rid of the idiots without scaring off the honest old lady. Any thoughts anyone?
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So all us carpet cleaners think its brilliant, (probably because its rings so true with all of us) problem is its not aimed at carpet cleaners but the general public who will read it with totally different eyes.
as you say 99% of your customers are Ok this is aimed at the 1% who do cause these problems..... I think it risks alienating a big part of our market just to stop that 1%
Take no5: a manager of an office reads that and thinks "I can get the lads to empty the room... but what if the lads are busy or we can't get that big box of files out.... will they just leave?"
you are putting obstacles in the way of legitimate customers calling you just to stop that 1%
I would use that as part of a script when doing quotes not on my website
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I like it Garry and it's brave of you to put it on your site - but I have to agree with Mike
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I guess it comes down to who you are targeting. I think any reasonable person will see the ethos behind it and those who find it off putting will probably be few (imo). I also believe that most would'nt read that far anyway.
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Years ago Internet customers were the pits wanting cheap and today but like anything else it has evolved although I can see the benefits of the legislation.
Shaun
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Could follow the Royal Marine advert strap line "99% of people need not apply"....or have i got that the wrong way around forCC... ??? ???
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I think what Garry has done says more about how much he values himself and his time than anything else. People pick that up and if they don't why would you want to work for them?
If you find when you are busy you just keep winning jobs and when you are struggling you can't give it away, there's part of the reason.
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Does it work or do you still get the odd one or two idiots trying it on?
I love what you have written!
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Brilliantly put! I thought it was a jerry maguire moment for me chest pushed out head held high. Loved it.
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1/ LOL.
This is not compulsory. No-one is twisting any arms here. Nobody has to do this if they do not want or are scared to do it.
2/ Russ, Steve. This week I've quoted three nice (low soiled) offices. Each quote was requested by nice lady office managers who were more interested in their carpets being dry as soon as possible than anything else.
There was another caller who felt the telephone quote was a bit high (fair enough).
There have been no more 10.00 pm "I am wanting you to wash my carpets tomorrow" type calls. There have been no more "I can put a lot of work your way" calls.
3/ Mike, I understand that your geographical position means that most potential customers are within a couple of miles. if mine were then I may do things differently. As I stated before, a quote can often mean a drive of 12 - 20 miles through heavy traffic; effectively 1 1/2 -2 hours of my precious time. How much is that worth?
4/ Wynne, thanks. Spot on. The chap said "if you can afford to turn down the wrong sort of work, you must be good. I'd much rather have you do the job"
5/ I'm getting the impression here that people are not doing any testing with their web pages. How many are using Google website optimiser or rotating pages to test different approaches. Having this stuff on a page is not brave, it's just one more test.
Summing up, it seems to work for me (assuming people read it in the first place). :D
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Is this where you got the original idea Garry?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2lfZg-apSA
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Love it!
No, but it's given me some great ideas. Maybe a membership site where people have to pay a fee just to enter the site? ;D
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Typo
********Please be put off by the above.**********
Gary I think this is ment to say DON'T be put off!?
Lol ;D
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Thats what I thought....
Apart from that I think some customs would find it intimidating and be worried about doing something wrong.
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Thanks Craig :)
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I don't think this is a major issue. Just checked Google Analytics... 254 visits in the last month (230 since this was posted). It would appear that most people take the phone number from the page header instead of that page.
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With regard to the comment above about having respect for us and our profession I had to walk today, for the first time, due to the lack of respect the customer was showing me in her words and actions. (While setting up she had also forgotten to mention the rug and the suite headrests and arms she wanted including in the job)
Hope you don't mind if I borrow and amend your page.
Chris
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This is a scatter gun approach which will turn away a lot more of the clients you REALLY WANT than win them over to your BONKERS thinking.
ALL prospective customers are looking much the same and it sure as hell doesn't include arrogance or reasons NOT to contact you.
You may get a tiny few who regard your approach as TONGUE IN CHEEK or AMUSING. i reckon 90% or more will find it offensive, or ill mannered, or worse. Problem is................you will NEVER KNOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure your local carpet cleaners will be VERY HAPPY with your approach.
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With regard to the comment above about having respect for us and our profession I had to walk today, for the first time, due to the lack of respect the customer was showing me in her words and actions. (While setting up she had also forgotten to mention the rug and the suite headrests and arms she wanted including in the job)
Hope you don't mind if I borrow and amend your page.
Chris
All I do in these situations is give them the opportunity to have these things done at an extra cost. If I'd walked on every job someone has something 'extra' they didn't mention I'd have lost a lot of business. If they insist you do it for free then that's taking the P and might lead to walking. I quite often do the odd thing extra anyway but not when someone is trying it on.
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Apologies for hijacking the thread for a second but the asking for extras was the least of it Wynne.
It was just a total lack of respect shown towards me. If I can be bothered to turn up on time, showered and shaved, in a clean van, in uniform with the requisite kit then I believe I deserve to be treated with at least a little respect. Maybe I'm just a bit sensitive in that respect.
Chris
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i reckon 90% or more will find it offensive, or ill mannered, or worse
Where did that figure come from?
Problem is................you will NEVER KNOW
Err, yes I will actually ... because I test things.
If you like, I could set an exit pop up with a redirect to a questionnaire asking them if they were offended by the comments.
To be honest, I've got sites that make me money online without any physical effort and I'd rather concentrate on those. As Wynne and Edinburgh Tony will agree, it's a lovely feeling to log on first thing in the morning and find you have made money whilst asleep. When that income reaches a certain level I will not be cleaning carpets anymore.
In the meantime, I am not going to wear myself out working for a pittance for scumbags who think I am the lowest of the low because I clean carpets for a living.
We may not agree about the webpage but I hope we can agree on the sentiment above.
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Agree Wynne about doing the odd small add on for free and before some " smart ass " starts bleating about How to run a BUSINESS rather than being a CHARITY I will add that over the past 30 or so years Iv'e GAINED by being generous and accommodating rather than being a " grasping " skinflint.
Chris .......you posted before me
Some imagine that wearing a logo'd shirt, etc gains brownie points..................it does not. Being on time, doing what was expected, showing consideration and being pleasant mannered is ten times more important.
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garry
I agree about making money from the internet which I'd love to be doing Just feel your post about dealing with prospects along the lines you posted is nuts, but you're welcome to prove me wrong.
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Apologies for hijacking the thread for a second but the asking for extras was the least of it Wynne.
It was just a total lack of respect shown towards me. If I can be bothered to turn up on time, showered and shaved, in a clean van, in uniform with the requisite kit then I believe I deserve to be treated with at least a little respect. Maybe I'm just a bit sensitive in that respect.
Chris
I'm intrigued now Chris, tell us more, were they Wayne and Waynetta ;D
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Just feel your post about dealing with prospects along the lines you posted is nuts, but you're welcome to prove me wrong.
This is also about protecting yourself. I took a website design course recently.
The membership forums are full of talented designers who are scraping a living whilst being treated like dirt by clients. A lot of that is due to not setting the ground rules.
As members we get many projects offered to us. This is a typical brief from a client who thinks he can walk all over a designer (names removed)...
"...I am looking for a design that is a clean simple UI to start - sites like xxxxxxxxxx.com, yyyyyyyyy.com and zzzzzzzzz.com are examples
The landing page is crucial as I will be trying to get as many subs as possible while the full site is built - it will be integrating a lot of gamification and other user engagement tools.
What I envision now will likely change weekly, even daily.
Your help would be much appreciated.
I'm looking for someone who is excited about the job vs. Arrogant - amazed at how arrogant some can be. "
By arrogant, I presume he means people like me who would tell him where to shove his constantly changing brief. Some poor sod is going to work all hours and then have to scrap all that work and start again - many times. I'm not putting up with that from people like him or carpet cleaning prospects who want to mess me about.
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Weeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllll
Good luck with your life Garry. It's a luxury to be able to pick and choose who you work for and a few may qualify as they can and do deliver considerably more in terms of value to their clients..
How we perceive value differs from individual to individual. In my case doing more, or spending more time, or taking someone to a higher level of expertise is how I've given value and it's worked for me, but we all have our ideas as to how we should deal with clients.
Only history will tell who got it right.
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Just feel your post about dealing with prospects along the lines you posted is nuts, but you're welcome to prove me wrong.
This is also about protecting yourself. I took a website design course recently.
The membership forums are full of talented designers who are scraping a living whilst being treated like dirt by clients. A lot of that is due to not setting the ground rules.
As members we get many projects offered to us. This is a typical brief from a client who thinks he can walk all over a designer (names removed)...
"...I am looking for a design that is a clean simple UI to start - sites like xxxxxxxxxx.com, yyyyyyyyy.com and zzzzzzzzz.com are examples
The landing page is crucial as I will be trying to get as many subs as possible while the full site is built - it will be integrating a lot of gamification and other user engagement tools.
What I envision now will likely change weekly, even daily.
Your help would be much appreciated.
I'm looking for someone who is excited about the job vs. Arrogant - amazed at how arrogant some can be. "
By arrogant, I presume he means people like me who would tell him where to shove his constantly changing brief. Some poor sod is going to work all hours and then have to scrap all that work and start again - many times. I'm not putting up with that from people like him or carpet cleaning prospects who want to mess me about.
Now you know how GPs feel when we've googled our symptoms the night before our appointment's. ;D