Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: james roffey on March 15, 2012, 11:57:36 am
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I received a phone call from a local carpet cleaner yesterday asking if i had heard about another local carpet cleaner that is charging £15 per room and advertising this on Google, the guy was quite upset and irritated, so much so that he has contacted the NCCA to complain about this guy who is a member. he is also a member of this forum.
The guy asked all the usual questions that have been asked many many times on the forums but i think he was taking it quite personally as he had has lost a customer directly from this guy and he is struggling after many years in the business, he is now off work because of illness, tennis elbow i think he said it was.
I have only been going for three years now and i have mixed feelings about this, my average price for a room is £50 and i do discount on further rooms but £15 for cleaning a room would not cover my overheads let alone make a profit, my overall feeling is that it devalues what we do, i understand its only carpet cleaning but i honestly think i provide much more than that, i go above and beyond to be thorough and do the best job i can and i think i am worth at least what i charge.
If i am honest though it does depress me as this guy i know is highly qualified, and could easily command a higher price, what he is doing is not only cheap prices but a "cheap shot" and the easiest marketing tool to use.
listening to this guy i imagined that could be me in a few years and i felt quite sorry for him. :(
PS The NCCA said unless he is "Bait and switching" they can do nothing
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If he's capable of doing the job and has decent equipment and insurance what can you do?
There's a guy who has started advertising locally to me: Individual rooms for £20, or whole house for £100 - Using Rug Doctor Pro Machine & Chemicals. I've seen people ask how long does it take to do? Answer is 1 hour for a lounge! Asked how long to dry? Answer Dry in 1 hour! That's barely manageable with my TM, let alone a bloody Rug Doctor!
Fact of the matter is that there is always going to be people who sell on price, I suppose you just have to find your own angle to get customers.
It's not nice though!
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The laws of physics are the same throughout the universe, unlike overheads for carpet cleaners for the rest of us diesel is £1.40 a litre this guy must be paying 40 pence a litre, van and public liability insurance must be a fraction of what the rest of us pay, the same for repairs and maintenance of our machines and vehicle, chemicals, NCCA membership ::) tax for this tax for that we all have to pay vast amounts to keep going and hopefully make a profit at the end.
I suspect that the £15 a room applies to an extra room which is misleading, maybe he can enlighten us mere mortals who have to make a living.
I am just thankful that in the last three years i have built up a small but loyal client base because if i were starting today i would be f..... :-X
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Had same thing last week,flyer through the door 70% off lounge £15 etc etc,still booking jobs at my normal rates,in the areas he has flyered,people are not stupid well the type of customers I want aren't..
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Did a little search and found the advert you are on about.
The price £15 per room is a from price and is based on how many rooms the customer wants cleaned. It is very specific in the website details.
I would think that if the custie only wants 2 rooms cleaned then they aren't going to get the £15 per room rate, but would do if it were considerably more rooms. There is also the opportunity to upsell, so I really don't think this is a cheap and cheerful leggit after a boggit job :) but is a good way to catch the potential custies eye on a web search :)
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how come when someone does a groupon offer, everyone says good luck, your so brave for trying it, well done that man, yet when someone cuts out the groupon rogues and does the cheap offer themselves therefore cutting out the middle man and getting all the proceeds for himself (less overheads of course), its classed as cowboy esque. ??? ??? ???
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how come when someone does a groupon offer, everyone says good luck, your so brave for trying it, well done that man, yet when someone cuts out the groupon rogues and does the cheap offer themselves therefore cutting out the middle man and getting all the proceeds for himself (less overheads of course), its classed as cowboy esque. ??? ??? ???
Yeah, I was thinking that...
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This i common all over the UK, some firms cotton on to the fact that the public love a deal!
There is a Sunday market not far from me... a guy on the back of a lorry gets people to pay him £50.00 and in return he gives them a black bag full of items which are supposed to be worth considerably more than the £50.00... Its amazing watching this guy at work... he could sell sand to the Arabs!
My Point it this... its simple human nature to want more in return than what you are prepared to give...
I will never de value my service, my prices are based on the time i spend and the materials used! If im too expensive then customers can either call me back when they have enough money to pay for a quality service or call the guy on the crappy flyer!
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Don't ever believe that someone who's cheaper is gonna give a bad service...
I cleaned a carpet 3 days after another carpet cleaner did, because they weren't happy with the results he achieved.
I came to the rescue and cleaned the small living room carpet with excellent results and the customer was over the moon. The water in the waste tank was black from soot.... :o
Giving the customer the invoice for £50 I said "There you go, just remember that you should avoid these cheap carpet cleaners like the plague!"
Looking at the invoice she smirked and said "He was £10 dearer than you....."
I felt a proper idiot.... ;D ;D ;D
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Don't ever believe that someone who's cheaper is gonna give a bad service...
I cleaned a carpet 3 days after another carpet cleaner did, because they weren't happy with the results he achieved.
I came to the rescue and cleaned the small living room carpet with excellent results and the customer was over the moon. The water in the waste tank was black from soot.... :o
Giving the customer the invoice for £50 I said "There you go, just remember that you should avoid these cheap carpet cleaners like the plague!"
Looking at the invoice she smirked and said "He was £10 dearer than you....."
I felt a proper idiot.... ;D ;D ;D
;D ;D ;D
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i think some people just look for an excuse for their own failures and see the low priced companies as an easy answer, you should have told the guy to stop being a cry baby and go out and find the people who will pay the price he wants to charge.
its easy to say you don't have any work because that nasty carpet cleaner down the road is £10 cheaper than you, rather than say you don't have any work because you sit on your Bum watching Jeremy Kyle.
If that guy had a full diary of customers would he be complaining about the £15 a room cleaner?, its only the people who are struggling that moan..... the busy guys just laugh at lowballers
the best way to beat the £15 a room companies its to have a diary full of £60 a room customers
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Don't ever believe that someone who's cheaper is gonna give a bad service...
I cleaned a carpet 3 days after another carpet cleaner did, because they weren't happy with the results he achieved.
I came to the rescue and cleaned the small living room carpet with excellent results and the customer was over the moon. The water in the waste tank was black from soot.... :o
Giving the customer the invoice for £50 I said "There you go, just remember that you should avoid these cheap carpet cleaners like the plague!"
Looking at the invoice she smirked and said "He was £10 dearer than you....."
I felt a proper idiot.... ;D ;D ;D
;D ;D
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mike is right. i am find it hard some times, but will not clean any room 4 £15 .
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Unfortunately it doesn't do the industry as a whole any favours but if the guy is desperate and needs to eat he needs the work so bad he has to take it at any price. At best he is covering overhead and will eventually either go bust or pack up and get a job without the hassle.
When I quoted a client £80 for a HSL probably 15 years ago the woman went mental and said she had been quoted £11 and virtually threw me out of the house. You jut have to be proud of the service you provide at the price you charge and not everyone will pay your price. There is a great phrase about whatever price point you decide to charge and that is "Some will pay it, some won't, so what! Next"
Two weeks later she called and booked in. When I'd finished cleaning the carpet for her she said she'd called the other people and they had done the cleaning last week. She said that when she opened the door to them they asked i they could have a cup of tea straight away, she said yes, showed them the carpet and went to make a cuppa. When she brought the cuppa through they were just packing up. She said if they were there 11 minutes for their £11 that was generous. Carpet looked no different and was soaking wet for two days. She apologised for throwing me out of the house and gave me a tenner tip! And that as when a tenner was worth a tenner, you could get four pints of beer and Fish and Chips on the way home for that.
Sadly when you have bills to pay the temptation is to go really cheap, but it always leads to pain eventually, seen it so many times over the years.
If the guy is doing a great job then fair play if that's what he feels he needs to do to survive right now, but it will end in tears long term.
Al.
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i think some people just look for an excuse for their own failures and see the low priced companies as an easy answer, you should have told the guy to stop being a cry baby and go out and find the people who will pay the price he wants to charge.
its easy to say you don't have any work because that nasty carpet cleaner down the road is £10 cheaper than you, rather than say you don't have any work because you sit on your Bum watching Jeremy Kyle.
If that guy had a full diary of customers would he be complaining about the £15 a room cleaner?, its only the people who are struggling that moan..... the busy guys just laugh at lowballers
the best way to beat the £15 a room companies its to have a diary full of £60 a room customers
Love it! ;D
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He won't be making any money, it's desperation.
The cheap carpet cleaners are in and out pretty quick and don't do as good a job despite what people say on here. Sure there's the odd exception.
I recently had a landlord who used a cheap truck mount c/cer (advertises half price all the time) last year he said they did a 2 bed flat in twenty mins! :o he was also not at all impressed with the result. So they get no repeat custom.
Nice website James but use your selling points better!
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i think some people just look for an excuse for their own failures and see the low priced companies as an easy answer, you should have told the guy to stop being a cry baby and go out and find the people who will pay the price he wants to charge.
its easy to say you don't have any work because that nasty carpet cleaner down the road is £10 cheaper than you, rather than say you don't have any work because you sit on your Bum watching Jeremy Kyle.
If that guy had a full diary of customers would he be complaining about the £15 a room cleaner?, its only the people who are struggling that moan..... the busy guys just laugh at lowballers
the best way to beat the £15 a room companies its to have a diary full of £60 a room customers
As harsh as this comment is lol, I have to entirely agree Mike :D
Kev
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I know one guy who is cheap and the job will take him all day if it has to. He does a cracking job and has plenty of referrals. He can't earn too much because the dole will be on to him.... Surely that's proof that people are in this game for a whole wide range of different reasons. Some NEED to make the money to survive where as others NEED the work to keep them out of the house. (I'm somewhere in the middle ;D) There are obviously many other variables of course...
There's nothing any of us can do about carpet cleaners offering a better/cheaper deal than ourselves, so instead of being all bitter and twisted, it's far easier just getting on with your own business and letting others get on with theirs...
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Amen Brother Day. ;D ;)
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Brother Day ;D
Am sure we have these guys are in all areas advertising very low rates,i just try and sell the benefits to the client and some just will always go with the cheaper option.
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Colin, When you been in this business a while your start to see a pattern emerging.
Cheap = crap job.
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I think he has got in the low price mode
Does need to find Customers and in a way is using the Groupon method and then
up selling
Probably has tried different marketing but needs fast results
I had a similar one in my local paper about the time I went ill , and I would have pulled my advert as I do not approve of misleading the public as a protest as the paper was prepared to publish such adverts but circumstances forced me to pull anyway.
Interestingly the Guy is no longer advertising
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Something I haven't seen, literally for donkey's years, is the "We are in your area for 2 weeks" flyers printed on toilet paper bait & switchers.
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There will be plenty out there that aren't cheap, that do a crap job too I'll bet.....
£15 a room is ridiculous, I agree! Robbing gits.... ;D ;D ;D
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Something I haven't seen, literally for donkey's years, is the "We are in your area for 2 weeks" flyers printed on toilet paper bait & switchers.
Not all "we are in your area for 2 weeks" flyers are by bait and switch people...
It is called a "call to action" headline, creating urgency in the punter.
2 things sell a product or service.. Need and urgency.
And I didn't use toilet paper when I worked Norfolk with the "we are in your area for 2 weeks" 1/2 price carpet cleaning leaflets.. ;D ;D ;D
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Was it you in the Mondeo
Dennis we get them about twice a year if you mean the Homecare ones printed by Saxon
Prices appear to have been same for past 15 years if not more
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If the guy does say 2 rooms etc.. for £xy or z whatever then additional rooms for £15.... is this not £15 more than the usual 3 for 2 *smallest room free or free rug clean chair clean free carpet clean with suite etc..??
Or have i misread the post that its £15 full stop?
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Not all "we are in your area for 2 weeks" flyers are by bait and switch people...
It is called a "call to action" headline, creating urgency in the punter.
2 things sell a product or service.. Need and urgency.
And I didn't use toilet paper when I worked Norfolk with the "we are in your area for 2 weeks" 1/2 price carpet cleaning leaflets.. ;D ;D ;D
Can you check your records for a Mrs Gilbert of Oulton near Lowestoft done in the mid to late 90's?
She wants her money back! ;D :D ;)
Ian: yes Homecare rings a bell or was it Hectorcare. ;D ;)
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I know one guy who is cheap and the job will take him all day if it has to. He does a cracking job and has plenty of referrals. He can't earn too much because the dole will be on to him.... Surely that's proof that people are in this game for a whole wide range of different reasons. Some NEED to make the money to survive where as others NEED the work to keep them out of the house. (I'm somewhere in the middle ;D) There are obviously many other variables of course...
There's nothing any of us can do about carpet cleaners offering a better/cheaper deal than ourselves, so instead of being all bitter and twisted, it's far easier just getting on with your own business and letting others get on with theirs...
Yep.
Ian said "Interestingly the Guy is no longer advertising." which sums it up, they never last.
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Something I haven't seen, literally for donkey's years, is the "We are in your area for 2 weeks" flyers printed on toilet paper bait & switchers.
A firm from Selby have recently done some of the villages in the north of Doncaster with half price in your area fo two weeks, but til then I'd not seen this for ages either.
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He won't be making any money, it's desperation.
The cheap carpet cleaners are in and out pretty quick and don't do as good a job despite what people say on here. Sure there's the odd exception.
I recently had a landlord who used a cheap truck mount c/cer (advertises half price all the time) last year he said they did a 2 bed flat in twenty mins! :o he was also not at all impressed with the result. So they get no repeat custom.
Nice website James but use your selling points better!
Thanks Craig, thats my google anylitics buggered for the month ::) i wanted to keep my homepage with as little text as i could get away with,
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Homecare are now called Apple Cleaning and operate in my area.
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I agree with many of the comments about getting on with your own business and have not really voiced an opinion about this guy because i am relatively new to this business, however when he advertised that a local carpet cleaner is using chemicals that can cause cancer, i thought that he had gone too far and i told him so, he did apologise and removed the article from his website, he claimed that he was not refering to me even though i am the closest carpet cleaner to him.
It angered me that he was scaring the public with negative stuff like this instead of telling people he's the best carpet cleaner in town, i thought at the time and still do that its reflects poorly on you and your business if you badmouth the competition, in fact i can honestly say i have never said a bad word to any customer at any time about him, in fact i have given his contact details to customers when i have been unable to do a job.
Of course what he decides to do on his website is his business its a very minor irritation but it does make me sad that someone with his level of experience and claimed knowledge of the web and marketing uses the tactics of a desperate newby, i note on his site now that all of a sudden five google maps reviews have appeared almost overnight well not quite but in the space of ten days ;) his customers have decided all of a sudden to tell the world what a great carpet cleaner he is, when before none appeared. yes yes i know i should concentrate on my business, but i have reviews on my google maps listing that have been hard earned and i am proud of them.
I am obviously very naive in running my own business, but fast learning its dog eat dog.
The phonecall i received yesterday was out of the blue but i groaned when he mentioned the reason for the call, i did tell him the NCCA would do nothing as its competition.
I did a room for nothing today :o did four large bedrooms two stairs clear of furniture charged £230 did the lounge for nothing took four hours
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"he advertised that a local carpet cleaner who claims he is using chemicals that can cause cancer"
:o
That's pretty bad marketing, it sounds desperate...
It's pretty simple, if you do a cracking job at a fair price, they'll recommend and use you time and time again.
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did the lounge for nothing took four hours
Talk about working cheap :P :P :P
4 hours to do a lounge?? was it Buck House?? or were you being thorough ?? ;D ;D ;D
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did the lounge for nothing took four hours
Talk about working cheap :P :P :P
4 hours to do a lounge?? was it Buck House?? or were you being thorough ?? ;D ;D ;D
If it were Buck house i would do it for nothing, wow by Royal appointment on your website thats marketing. ;D
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Allan,you said the customer told you if they were there 11 minutes
That was generous. :o
Excluding travel time.set up machinery time,empty room ya can clean
A carpet ( cough Lewis oaky I will) room say 4 x 4,power brush ( vaccum,
HWE in less than 10minutes ! :-\ :-[ ::) ??? :o ;D :D ;) :)
Am I teaching grandma to suck eggs here or what 8)
Lewis Doubtfire
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I'm guessing the cleaner is Ian Harper, he's a great bloke but IMO he gets confused in what he's trying to offer, for the service he is offering he is far far far too cheap the main problem is he finds it hard to fill his time and keep the phone ringing regularly perhaps advertising cheap (in our opinion) keeps him busy.
It's a balancing act really as costs go up in theory your cost should but bookings could go down because of that.
Shaun
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James dont worry about what other people are doing ,theres always a clown who provides a service double cheap,sadly it can be a perfectly good job,i believe cream comes to the top.
When i had dry cleaning shops ther was me and 1 other in fulham,london,when i sold 2 years ago ther was 35 dry cleaning shops
i just concentrated in doing the job properly and never worried about competition,it was a successful business for 25 years
takings were always on an upward spiral
ive got a polish geezer on my patch,his van van is held together with gaffa tape,he just about talks english,hes simply not a threat!!
gary
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As Gary says you just don't worry about other people and what they charge. One of my mates used to whinge on about what another guy was doing and how much he was earning etc etc. I sat him down and said listen mate whatever he does has no bearing whatsoever on your life or your income so forget about it just get on and run your own business.
There are over 25 million homes in Britain thats a lot of carpets and upholstery. Plenty to go round no matter what you charge.
Funnily I heard today that one of the most expensive cleaners I know is fully booked until the middle of April.
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John im actually booked til may ;)
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Royal appointment on your website thats marketing
If they allow it. I cant use it on mine.
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Your right Jamie, your not supposed to advertise it!!!
but they will give references!!! ;)
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No they dont. We got in trouble over a testimonial on an old website built before we were appointed.
A prospect actually called the palace wanting to check the validity of it and we were told to remove it immediately.
Having the warrant is endorsement enough apparently.
When one is awarded one can no longer state what is done where for whom.
Lord Chamberlains Rules is quite a read.
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Don't mean on websites!! i mean if your going in for a tender, they will supply a reference! ;)
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Allan,you said the customer told you if they were there 11 minutes
That was generous. :o
Excluding travel time.set up machinery time,empty room ya can clean
A carpet ( cough Lewis oaky I will) room say 4 x 4,power brush ( vaccum,
HWE in less than 10minutes ! :-\ :-[ ::) ??? :o ;D :D ;) :)
Am I teaching grandma to suck eggs here or what 8)
Lewis Doubtfire
The client said from knocking on the door to leaving was 11 minutes if she was been kind to them, long enough for her to make a cup of tea, that included setting up his portable machine, cleaning, and packing it up. Am I missing something ???
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I spend more than 11 mins talking to the customer.
Shaun
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Sorry Allan,I mis read that,my mistake.
They could`nt surley have had time to
Leave the carpet sopping wet,there was`nt
Even time for that. ??? :o
Lewis Doubtfire
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I'm guessing the cleaner is Ian Harper, he's a great bloke but IMO he gets confused in what he's trying to offer, for the service he is offering he is far far far too cheap the main problem is he finds it hard to fill his time and keep the phone ringing regularly perhaps advertising cheap (in our opinion) keeps him busy.
It's a balancing act really as costs go up in theory your cost should but bookings could go down because of that.
Shaun
What would you rather do Shaun, two jobs and earn £200 or five jobs and earn £200. yes me too
One of the things i like about my job is earning a days work and having the afternoon off, is there something wrong with that.
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If £200 was my daily target, then I would do anything to get that....
Yes 2 jobs would be preferable, but if it took 10 jobs ................... then so be it.
We all have different markets to aim at, if there is someone who aims to make carpet cleaning affordable to all walks of life, then good for them..... If you just want to aim at the higher end market then the "affordable" bloke should not really affect your market....
If we all aimed at the same market ............. then problems could occur.....
I am of the same belief as Ian, why should the poor people have to have dirty carpets or be scammed (when they can least afford it) by the bait and switchers..... ??
Or have to save up for months to afford the "good cleaners" when we all know that the price charged is not indicitive of the standard of work.
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there was a post on here a few weeks ago about cheap diy ebay sign writing graphics etc.. for vehicles.. wonder how that would go down on the sign writers forum... pot kettle black ... people expecting to be paid the earth for carpets cleaned yet scrimping on cheap diy graphics... no different to those looking for a good job at an affordable price...or those who choose to hire and diy...
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One of the cleaners offering £15 a room cleaning is incredibly-clean.co.uk which is my old website. Seems to be a common theme in Essex at the moment with half a dozen established cleaners doing it. They all have a minimum call-out charge around£50 and the £15 or so is for a single bedroom. If you price up a 3 bedroom semi then it works out about £150. For many this is not a bad for a mornings work.
There are men working in warehouses, building sites, ground workers, factories who earn not much more then £300 a week which is two mornings work for a cheapie carpet cleaner. Doing a lot harder work. I know you have your costs and machinery, insurance etc. And no one pays you holiday, sickness pay..
Also you have to look at personal circumstances. Does the cleaner need to earn. Do they have a pension, big redundancy package are they also a fireman? Have they sold their family home to downsize and have £200,000 in the bank?
Whilst we live in a free market economy there will always be different ends of the scale and different people to service them. If you are looking for high end work and good customers for life then Google is probably not best for this as many are price shopers and EOTs.
Equally you are not going to create a middle to high end customer base over night or working half days.
Don't hate the player hate the game.
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there was a post on here a few weeks ago about cheap diy ebay sign writing graphics etc.. for vehicles.. wonder how that would go down on the sign writers forum... pot kettle black ... people expecting to be paid the earth for carpets cleaned yet scrimping on cheap diy graphics... no different to those looking for a good job at an affordable price...or those who choose to hire and diy...
Name and shame these hypocrites Paul! It shouldn't be allowed! ;D
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If i went down the £15 a room path i would simply go out of business.
Are you seriously suggesting that these guys are charging £15 per room so they can provide carpet cleaning to the desperate and needy of society.
There was me thinking it was to get more work.
I rarely book in more than one or two jobs a day and take my time to be thorough and not be seen as rushing my work to get to the next job i also like to build up a customer relationship i.e have a chat over a cup of tea, i go out and quote on site for almost all my work and make no charge for this service but it all counts as overheads.
Running my business has been hard work and taken up a considerable amount of my time but i have learnt that unlike my previous job, i can have the odd afternoon off and spend time with my nine year old son kicking a ball around the park, this does not make me lazy or not commited to running my business, i learnt from my older daughters that those times you dont get back, i was never at home in my previous job, always coming in when they were in bed.
I dont mean to go off topic but i am proud of what i have achieved, i started with very little confidence having never been self employed before but took the plunge, to make a go of it and that is what i have done, i provide good value for what i do and think i am worth what i charge.
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Jim, what your friend who got upset needs to come to terms with is in business someone can charge whatever they want and he can do nothing about it except waste a lot of emotional energy.
What is more noteworthy is when you are busy these 'problems' don't seem to bother you in quite the same way. And if you are not busy that's something you have complete control over.
Blaming is a victim mentality and ultimately just a cop out in my opinion.
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Jim, what your friend who got upset needs to come to terms with is in business someone can charge whatever they want and he can do nothing about it except waste a lot of emotional energy.
What is more noteworthy is when you are busy these 'problems' don't seem to bother you in quite the same way. And if you are not busy that's something you have complete control over.
Blaming is a victim mentality and ultimately just a cop out in my opinion.
That is exactly what i told him, i think his phonecall and seeing those google maps testimonials this week,they just got to me, i dont care what anyone says, you dont go for three years without a single one, then five appear in the space of a week. i have built them up and it makes my listing stand out, they say immitation is the sincerest form of flattery but in this case i saw it as cheating, but i suppose its not a game is it.
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wynne ;D ;D ;D... no need to name and shame as i dont see any shame in it ...
the same way i dont believe in any shame in someone who wants to charge what they want (low or high)....
we all have different circumstances as the chap above mentioned about other work comparisons...and im with james on the lifestyle thing too ( im coming up a year in now) and so glad i took the decision to do this...not saying i havent had those "have i done the right thing.. its not working etc.." moments... and i know i'll have them in the future too.. but defo know its been the right thing overall..
Just the last few months ive had jobs and days where ive really coined it in sometimes hitting my weekly target and passing it within a day and halfs work and sometime nearly reaching it within a day (not sure where my target sits with others mind) .... and it made me think if i stick at this work hard etc etc.. then maybe in 5 years time these jobs may just be a daily thing of every week..(heres hoping)..
But like hector i'll do what i have to do to reach my daily / weekly monthly target..
i see merits in the £15 carpet cleaning ...maybe on a sliding scale or multi room or whole house etc..however you choose to do it ... so whilst james did a bedroom free on a clean he mentioned earlier... he could maybe have had an extra £15...or was it really not free as all the other carpets cleaned had been priced up to cover the free clean...??...all i'm saying there is no right or wrong way its all the individuals choice...
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There is no logical reason to justify very low prices, which other trades do this? I would love to find a plumber who is cheap because he has paid off his mortgage or has low overheads.
we should all be aiming to cut our overheads and living expenses but we don't cut our prices because of this, we keep them high and enjoy the lifestyle that this brings.
I know lots of carpet cleaners and I can say that all the the ones that are ridiculously cheap are usually thick (of low intelligence) and the other side of the coin is the same, all the x bank managers or other professionals who have come into carpet cleaning all charge high prices
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I find this topic fascinating. I was at a custies house the other day and a carpet cleaning leaflet came thrrough the door. £10 per room. I say good look to these guys. To be onest I ve done alot of groupon stuff ... and I mean allot and as a business it has gained us bookings upon bookings upon bookings that have cost us nothing apart from showing what we do and may I say... do well. People are fed up of paying sh** loads of money for inadequet jobs so shop around and when they find what they are looking for stick to em. This game is all about getting the customer, educating them then keeping them ... not moaning about what the guy down the road is doing. All he is doing is trying to earn a living. He may not be earning from that cheap/er job directly but hey... what a great marketing took. Beats spending 3-500 pound on advertising that don't work. They are simply using the cheaop job to get in the door then ... do their stuff. " I know... trust me, I do the same" Look at the major supermarket chains, its exactly the same. The secret to success it little profit and often not go for the big profit all the time. "Thats just greedy and people have got wise" The more doors you can get in, do a good job at a price they can afford, leave cards and the work just keeps coming and coming.
I relocated last year and have spent less than £300 on marketing and am booked solid. Earning a living, not a fortune but a living. Got another van and truckmount out of it, soon to be out on road. Got hundreds of referrals and bookings for this and next year.
The secret is marketing... not to go for massive profit but to get another carpet cleaning job and gain another customer that advertisers for you. I really do not know what all the fuss is about.
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Mike.. ive been (as many others have on here) undercut by a £20-30k T/M set up (i'm porty by the way)... so i'm confused at who,s cheap and THICK now.. ???.
Did it bother me?... not a bit... was i bothered what they charged?..no... did i make an opinion that this person was thick?...thats not to be confused with desperate/hungry to make a living meet their targets and be out earning rather than sitting cleaning their equipment , polishing their egos on only doing those high price jobs etc...or because they maybe has a spare 2 hours in the day and rather than price themselves out of it... priced themselves into it after being told my price?.. who knows... if you're in a position to cherry pick work then well done for getting to that point...others and thats including those with lavish 20k + T/Ms too clearly arent there quite yet... so as always the great price debate will rumble on and on and on... for ever and ever and ever..personally i dont give a poop what others charge or think of my charges... and think when other have the same view we can put the subject of costs to bed.... but i doubt it..
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If you don't spend money then you have to spend time.
With Groupon you chose to spend the time cleaning carpets which is fine. Personally I'd prefer to spend some money to get the sort of client I want who are likely to want more work doing on a regular basis at a good price.
Some companies can have a strategy to undercut the competition and 'win market share' but they tend to have deep pockets and employees on low salaries to do the donkey work.
Most people we see who are using cheapness to win business simply do it because they feel it's the only way they can compete.
ps I have done plenty of £15 rooms but these are around the bed jobs if I'm doing HSL. Takes 10 minutes to do.
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I'd disagree with the 'more affordable more often cleaning analogy', people spend when they have money if their personal circumstances change then the freqency changes so if a customer has a cheaper or expensive cleaner then the bill is just that 'a bill' and they put off for another time.
Shaun
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I don't post a lot on here, and my business is completely unrelated to cleaning, but I do love the banter, and reading the various windy/carpet cleaner topics :)
Anyway, re price; what strikes me is hiring a Rug Doctor and chemicals is going to cost around £30, so getting someone in should cost more.
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Sorry Allan,I mis read that,my mistake.
They could`nt surley have had time to
Leave the carpet sopping wet,there was`nt
Even time for that. ??? :o
Lewis Doubtfire
No worries Lewis.
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If i went down the £15 a room path i would simply go out of business.
Are you seriously suggesting that these guys are charging £15 per room so they can provide carpet cleaning to the desperate and needy of society.
There was me thinking it was to get more work.
I rarely book in more than one or two jobs a day and take my time to be thorough and not be seen as rushing my work to get to the next job i also like to build up a customer relationship i.e have a chat over a cup of tea, i go out and quote on site for almost all my work and make no charge for this service but it all counts as overheads.
Running my business has been hard work and taken up a considerable amount of my time but i have learnt that unlike my previous job, i can have the odd afternoon off and spend time with my nine year old son kicking a ball around the park, this does not make me lazy or not commited to running my business, i learnt from my older daughters that those times you dont get back, i was never at home in my previous job, always coming in when they were in bed.
I dont mean to go off topic but i am proud of what i have achieved, i started with very little confidence having never been self employed before but took the plunge, to make a go of it and that is what i have done, i provide good value for what i do and think i am worth what i charge.
spot on, that's what self employment is supposed to be about, having time / money to do whatever you feel is important.
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Having read the guy who used to be Pro Dry I think he is saying the adverts say Carpet Cleaning from £15 a room . They then go in and get a lounge Dinner for £60 to £70 thing is they have to public to phone them and then apply all their charm.
The idea is to get phone ringing with least effort.
Personally i think its close to bait and switch but I wold also say free room offer is also close to it despite all the Warning Messages in the world
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Was it you in the Mondeo
Dennis we get them about twice a year if you mean the Homecare ones printed by Saxon
Prices appear to have been same for past 15 years if not more
Only in a Mondeo for 2 months Ian, then had the silver Mercedes... ;D ;D
also had 2 cleaners out there full time... BUT .... the price on the leaflet was the price the customer paid.... no bait and switch about.....
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Going back to OP.
Is it possible that the area is over subscribed? Which would make matters worse.
It seems as though all the c/cers there are struggling.
Infact I think Essex is over subscribed.
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I used to live in Thorpe bay, and work in Basildon
There are loads and loads and loads of High End Homes
But then The grass is always greener
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came across an article that i believe gives a good reason why some people cannot charge what they are really worth, here is part of it...
Consider this, you mind, your behavior, your beliefs they are all based on your "current reality" and your association with all your experiences in the past, but what you have to remember is your "current reality" is not the absolute truth it is only the "truth" as you see it. None of us really know reality as none of us are ALL knowing. So understanding this is the first step in releasing yourself and your mind from your limiting beliefs. You see most people set goals based on their "current reality" they only allow themselves to see an end result based on how they currently see ways to get there...this is very limiting and really holds you back from your true potential......
i think some people come from a working background that gave them the belief that they are only worth a set amount of money, they only earned £350 a week at bloggs factory so that is how much they are worth, but a professional who took early retirement and was earning £40k a year before sees his worth as that amount.
peoples previous reality is setting how much they believe they can earn, rather than them seeing a new reality.
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came across an article that i believe gives a good reason why some people cannot charge what they are really worth, here is part of it...
Consider this, you mind, your behavior, your beliefs they are all based on your "current reality" and your association with all your experiences in the past, but what you have to remember is your "current reality" is not the absolute truth it is only the "truth" as you see it. None of us really know reality as none of us are ALL knowing. So understanding this is the first step in releasing yourself and your mind from your limiting beliefs. You see most people set goals based on their "current reality" they only allow themselves to see an end result based on how they currently see ways to get there...this is very limiting and really holds you back from your true potential......
This really is the key to it all if you sit down and think about it. Roger Bannister breaks the four minute mile then suddenly everyone's doing it. Something that previously was 'impossible'.
So, with that thought in mind, let's just suspend disbelief for a a moment and imagine you have already doubled your income, what had to change for that to happen?
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came across an article that i believe gives a good reason why some people cannot charge what they are really worth, here is part of it...
Consider this, you mind, your behavior, your beliefs they are all based on your "current reality" and your association with all your experiences in the past, but what you have to remember is your "current reality" is not the absolute truth it is only the "truth" as you see it. None of us really know reality as none of us are ALL knowing. So understanding this is the first step in releasing yourself and your mind from your limiting beliefs. You see most people set goals based on their "current reality" they only allow themselves to see an end result based on how they currently see ways to get there...this is very limiting and really holds you back from your true potential......
i think some people come from a working background that gave them the belief that they are only worth a set amount of money, they only earned £350 a week at bloggs factory so that is how much they are worth, but a professional who took early retirement and was earning £40k a year before sees his worth as that amount.
peoples previous reality is setting how much they believe they can earn, rather than them seeing a new reality.
cheers for that mike, i'm really struggling with my conscience at the moment, even today i've just done a job, on the phone she said HSL and large lounge, when i got there it was stairs and small landing and a tiny lounge. for the first time since i started i stuck to my price which is unusual as i would normally discount it due to me being me. all though i did offer to do it cheaper next time if she had it done within 18 months. can't change me overnight, but i'm working on it. its charging for the work i do off the pitch thats the hardest. we all do it, even being on here is working.
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When I first started out on my own, I rang up my old carpet cleaning boss and asked how much to charge. His simple answer was "As much as you can!" He also told me that a lot depends on the type of customer, if they appear to be well off, charge more.... :o
Could you imagine if you got to the check out of a shop, or receiving your garage bill, and you were charged more because you appeared to be wealthy....?
Prices have to be fair, for the customer and for the business operator, get too greedy, you won't see that customer again. On the other hand, if you don't charge enough, the next time you see that customer could be while you're scanning their shopping through on an Aldi till.... ;D
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I've forgotten how many carpet cleaners I've spoke to who told me they had knocked a bit off the price for an old lady as she looked a bit skint, so it ok to lower the price for the poor but not ok to put it up for the rich ;)
In reality the higher price you charge the wealthy is what the price should be, its the lower price you give the old lady that is wrong
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I agree with all of you's but not read any of the posts after 1st post !
I can only assume Its 1 of those debtes again !!!
where all those that are more concerned with what others are doing they dont have the time to get there own biz rocking and rolling cause if there biz was a rocking and a rolling they wouldnt give a hoot a toota toot bout whats kicking in some 1 else yard.
Peace Love and Good Mums are great
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^^ i'll give anyone a tenner if they understand any of his posts?!?!?!
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cash please, no cheques,
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i'll give anyone a tenner if they understand any of his posts?!?!?!
Here's the gist of it. ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHo2pXO_XAI
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Sounds all gibberish too me :-\
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Colin are you having an identity crisis ???
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I still remember the first time i went to quote for a job, after measuring the room i sat down with the calculator and when i pressed equal, i though how on earth can i charge that, it seemed to be an awful lot of money.
Anyway i told the lady how much it was and she said, fine and i booked my first job. sometimes i still feel like that when i give a price but i have an odd way of dealing with it, if the calculator says its this much, then thats the price. of course i might do some extra for the customer as a gesture of good will but try to always avoid discounting
I have a set cost per ft that i got from Pete Sweeney who i spent some time with doing some practical training, he seemed to be doing well and i decided to charge the same as him.I am not saying its easy sometimes you have to explain why you are more expensive and sometimes you may not get the work but i have a goal to build a client base that will pay what i regard as a fair amount for an excellent job. it will probably grow a bit more slowly than if i charged less but i have managed to keep my head above water so far and am now out of hardest phase and already have returning customers and referrals.
I do think that if you body language, behaviour and tone of voice display apprehension then the customer will pick up on this, if we all went to every quote thinking i am the best carpet cleaner and the customer is getting a bargain then we would all get more work. i am still aprehensive about the work looking for what can go wrong on every job thats after three years, but i must be doing something right, a customer who i have yet to identify said in a testimonial on the web that " i was honest" goodness knows what i did to warrant that remark but i think it shows that customers are looking for more than just that cheap price, of course i am not suggesting someone who charges cheap prices may be dishonest, but price isnt everything to the customer so stop behaving as though it is.
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Colin are you having an identity crisis ???
Dunno what you mean..... ;D
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All true that post what mike wrote.
Have been through that when i first started with the discount work as in my mind it was only a small job like the post that derek did with going to knock money off.
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We just had a flyer through claiming they will clean a 3 bed house in 1hr and that includes the moving of all furniture. They also have a big logo saying they are the UK's No 1 independant carpet cleaners. I would love to know how they got that award as i cant see that they are members of any association. Their web site totally rubbishes all portable machines for any cleaning. The same company cleans all carpets at 260 degrees F. I thought it was illegal these days to mislead the public in false advertising.
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This industry is riddled with false claims. Only other cleaners can do something about it by complaining to trading standards. No good just phoning them up once they don't give a dam. You need to pester the life out of them until they act.
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Are you talking about these? www.smartclean.net/
Ambitious company. Their area keeps growing!
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Someone told me they have 4 TM s on the road two techs in each.
Can someone tell me how they are not VAT ?
Do think techs are self employed?
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I used to have a thing about domestic job tickets coming to over £200 just thought it was bit too much for the average family now I just let rip and give it them, a cleaner around my way charges £49 for 2 carpets which is far cheaper than me but he has no quarms about £200 job tickets albeit he may do more rooms for the money so I though bugger it and just went for it I may have lost a few but I made the same money on the extra profit. One of the Chemdry's close to me quotes over the phone and thinks nothing of quoting 3,4,5, hundred pounds for work to be carried out so it can be done you just have to have calls coming in and telephone skills and also no fear of rejection.
Shaun