Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: mark_roberts on September 01, 2012, 07:52:07 pm
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Has the Groupon bubble burst?
Latest carpet cleaning deal for two rooms £29 has only sold five over the past few days with 4 hours to go.
And this is the second time hes done it in about 3 months.
Mark
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Good riddance to it, it's a mugs game. :'(
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Hello Simon....
You have been quiet recently.... been ill ??
;D ;D
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I saw recently in the financial pages that Groupon sufferred a significant fall in t/o and profits in their last quarter's figures.
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.......
Rog
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I have seen another discount voucher advertised on tv called wowcher..
Guess there will be a few more around after groupon has gone to ground.
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Hello Simon....
You have been quiet recently.... been ill ??
;D ;D
Hector,
I've been avoiding you ;D
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Don't blame you..
I would avoid me if I could ;D
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I can see why ;D ;D
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;D ;D
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Been thinking about this Groupon phenomenon again recently and it occurs to me it could be a very good way to build a business in a specific area i.e. what jason L and others have been banging on about - personally I think it screws all of us to some degree by cheapening our proposition when we should be upping standards and job value/invoices accordingly.
My point is if you are just starting out as a newbie and you need to build a base of customers who will return to you again and again then you can service alot of customers in a short space of time - UNFORTUNATELY you need to be really experienced to be able to do alot of jobs in a short space of time and give value to the customer - with the knowledge of equipment, chems and different carpet types that I have now I am sure I could probably handle that volume of low ticket jobs - however I very much doubt anyone new to the business could cope with the volume of jobs, provide good value to the customer (enough value to retain them as a customer for later on - which was the original intention remember) and keep solvent and survive the experience. I know I had alot of down time when I first started and I certainly had the time to do an extra 3-5 smallish jobs a day for bugger all money.
However (and its a big one) how many of the repeat customers I have today would still be ringing us up if we had treated them as a stepping stone to building a database - when you start out you take alot more time and trouble over jobs because you are not in a familiar routine and you are eager to please the client - as you get more experienced you know exactly what you are doing and how to provide top value for a job well done...
Just my take on things!
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I have a confession. I recently did a campaign on Groupon, with the same deal (which they insist on) 3 carpets for £29.
Groupon take 50% of the money plus vat which leaves me with £11.50
My reasoning was this - I was recommended, as a new business, to do free cleans in order to build client database and attract attention. Free cleans, advertised through leaflets, did indeed seem to be my best port of advertising.
Groupon came along with this offer and i felt like i didnt have much too lose. I would still be, in effect, working for free, but with groupon there would be no leaflet distribution to worry about. It would put me in the spotlight, at no significant cost to me other than labour and time.
Im yet to decide if I would do it again (ive completed 10 of the 30 groupons sold) however it has made me some big jobs already, since many people clicked onto my website through groupon and phoned up to make larger orders.
Also, neighbours very often hear me outside their house and pop in to get a quote.
In addition I have so far managed to upsell maybe 50% of the groupons sold, offering them additional rooms at a fair rate.
I wonder if it can be a good way of advertising if you have a lot of time on your hands and are willing to work for free. Only time will tell though and ive heard lots of mixed views on this.
As I mentioned in another thread - 3 rooms takes me around 4-5 hours if done with care. Sometimes longer. Its a lot of unpaid work.
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I did that groupon offer last year and sold 400+
for as you say £11.50 each.. Yes I upsold some but NOT ONE has rebooked this year for full price............
It put me off the business doing so many..... cost a fortune in fuel.... And if you only sold 30 this year...........
That is one hell of a lot of difference.......
Maybe groupon has had it's day after all...
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Nearly finished with my daily deals be warned stay away haha
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I just cant believe that anyone would think this is a good idea!
For the people who you are doing the Goupon deal this year. Just think ****if***** they should call you in a year or so's time to have a reclean, they would want a similar price from you. You tell them it was a **Special** offer last year but now the same cleaning is £80-00, they will say stuff you, and perhaps move onto a different wally who's doing a Groupon or similar deal.
Totally stupid all round!
Advertise properly, and charge accordingly.
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So true benny but you live and learn thats why i love the old business marketing haha
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Been thinking about this Groupon phenomenon again recently and it occurs to me it could be a very good way to build a business in a specific area i.e. what jason L and others have been banging on about - personally I think it screws all of us to some degree by cheapening our proposition when we should be upping standards and job value/invoices accordingly.
My point is if you are just starting out as a newbie and you need to build a base of customers who will return to you again and again then you can service alot of customers in a short space of time - UNFORTUNATELY you need to be really experienced to be able to do alot of jobs in a short space of time and give value to the customer - with the knowledge of equipment, chems and different carpet types that I have now I am sure I could probably handle that volume of low ticket jobs - however I very much doubt anyone new to the business could cope with the volume of jobs, provide good value to the customer (enough value to retain them as a customer for later on - which was the original intention remember) and keep solvent and survive the experience. I know I had alot of down time when I first started and I certainly had the time to do an extra 3-5 smallish jobs a day for bugger all money.
However (and its a big one) how many of the repeat customers I have today would still be ringing us up if we had treated them as a stepping stone to building a database - when you start out you take alot more time and trouble over jobs because you are not in a familiar routine and you are eager to please the client - as you get more experienced you know exactly what you are doing and how to provide top value for a job well done...
Just my take on things!
I couldn't agree more.
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I just cant believe that anyone would think this is a good idea!
For the people who you are doing the Goupon deal this year. Just think ****if***** they should call you in a year or so's time to have a reclean, they would want a similar price from you. You tell them it was a **Special** offer last year but now the same cleaning is £80-00, they will say stuff you, and perhaps move onto a different wally who's doing a Groupon or similar deal.
Totally stupid all round!
Advertise properly, and charge accordingly.
I'd tend to disagree with that. A high percentage of the groupons I do turn into bigger jobs, charging the extra cleans at full rate (which admittedly are not massive, but enough to keep me comfortable)
Today for example, I did 2 flights of stairs for a women who originally purchased a groupon. I charged her near full rate for the 2 flights. She was over the moon with it. Whilst i was working, her neighbour popped round and booked a clean of 1 rug at full rate.
I will be in contact with her Mum later in the week for a clean, for which I will charge full rate. It would not be unusual for her Mums neighbour to pop round whilst I am cleaning her carpet, for a quote and to book.
Next year I will be in contact with the said groupon purchaser, her neighbour, her Mum.
She gave me a massive tip today also and I heard her on the phone to her friend saying how "amazing" the carpet looks.
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So far ive satisfied 10 groupons and made upwards 10 full priced sales out of the deal I think.
Baring in mind full priced for me is £50-£125 per days work (10-12 hours)
Im still tediously slow. The 2 flights of stairs today took me 9 hours labour. It was a white carpet and even after powerburst required lots of spotting. Also she talked a lot. A lot!
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Joe, how old are you, are you fit and active?
seems a funny question but your need to be quite fit for this job, but of course you will be slow anyway in the beginning, that's normal.
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24 years old. Very fit.
I have a tendency towards perfection. I never know when to stop with a job, because i fear underdoing it much more than I do overdoing. Especially when they give me tea and cake. This job today she said the carpet looked "brand new" but to me it still looked riddled with stains.
I also have a tendency towards talking!
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9 hours in a customers home! :o thats crazy.
Sorry not having a go, just saying.
Would love to know how you work (see you work) to give you some pointers.
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Joe email me craig895@hotmail.co.uk
You can come on a job with me and see how I work, I think I can help you.
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Wow Joe, I know you said you were slow working, but...wow! 9 hours? I just told my Mrs, and her reply was 'Poor customers'.
I'd hate to have someone at my home for 9 hours (unless its an overnight deal - but that's another matter altogether wink wink).
Were they that much cleaner at the end than after say...2 hours?
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9 hours in a customers home! :o thats crazy.
Sorry not having a go, just saying.
Would love to know how you work (see you work) to give you some pointers.
I spent 12 and a half hours in a customers home once.
Actually thats a lie, I had a 1 hour lunch brake.
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Wow Joe, I know you said you were slow working, but...wow! 9 hours? I just told my Mrs, and her reply was 'Poor customers'.
I'd hate to have someone at my home for 9 hours (unless its an overnight deal - but that's another matter altogether wink wink).
Were they that much cleaner at the end than after say...2 hours?
After 2 hours i'd only done under 1 flight of stairs I think. They where ok. She was happy, I wasnt.
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Wow Joe, I know you said you were slow working, but...wow! 9 hours? I just told my Mrs, and her reply was 'Poor customers'.
I'd hate to have someone at my home for 9 hours (unless its an overnight deal - but that's another matter altogether wink wink).
Were they that much cleaner at the end than after say...2 hours?
Does your Mrs approve of these overnight specials?
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She wouldn't if she found out lol.
Seriously though, 9 hours is massively overkill - unless you're charging for that kind of service, which by the sounds of it you're not. I'd take Craig up on his offer, it might do wonders for your business.
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Ive emailed him (thanks Craig)
Normally a flight of stairs will take me 1 and half to 3 hours.
I dont know what went wrong today.
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Good grief... :o :o
Mrs Hector does the stairs when we work... I am 50 yrs old and she is a bit older.... 20 mins for a flight of stairs... 8) 8)
When you spend a day with Craig... You will benefit a lot... ;D
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Wow Joe,
On a serious note, that amount of time on that job, you are not making, and probably losing money.
Take up that offer, as my thinking is it will save you and your business.
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Joe buy a minitex or something to do stairs as well will speed you up but at the time you are taking surely you would be better off getting a different job as your hourly rate is very low.
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So far ive satisfied 10 groupons and made upwards 10 full priced sales out of the deal I think.
Baring in mind full priced for me is £50-£125 per days work (10-12 hours)
Im still tediously slow. The 2 flights of stairs today took me 9 hours labour. It was a white carpet and even after powerburst required lots of spotting. Also she talked a lot. A lot!
Joe you need some serious help, by your time rates it would take you a week to do a good sized 3 bed house :o
You can not be earning any money taking a life time to clean what should take an hour, what on earth are you doing to take so long.
You said it, tedious, I would give up if it took me that long to do a flight of stairs, get some one in to help you and show you how to get it through it in a reasonable amount of time for the value of the job.
Its no wonder you are seeing stains every where you must have spots before your eyes,
where are you based I am sure someone could take you out an show you how its done.
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So far ive satisfied 10 groupons and made upwards 10 full priced sales out of the deal I think.
Baring in mind full priced for me is £50-£125 per days work (10-12 hours)
Im still tediously slow. The 2 flights of stairs today took me 9 hours labour. It was a white carpet and even after powerburst required lots of spotting. Also she talked a lot. A lot!
Joe you need some serious help, by your time rates it would take you a week to do a good sized 3 bed house :o
You can not be earning any money taking a life time to clean what should take an hour, what on earth are you doing to take so long.
You said it, tedious, I would give up if it took me that long to do a flight of stairs, get some one in to help you and show you how to get it through it in a reasonable amount of time for the value of the job.
Its no wonder you are seeing stains every where you must have spots before your eyes,
where are you based I am sure someone could take you out an show you how its done.
I can do a 2-3 bedroom house in a day, including the stairs.
Yesterday was abnormally slow, although I am always slow on stairs in particular. I can count the flights of stairs ive cleaned on 2 hands, so maybe its just because its so unfamiliar.
My sebo duo does not agitate on stares needless to say and I am scared of under-agitation when doing it by hand, so maybe I go to far the other direction.
Also im having real trouble rinsing on stairs as they come out stripey (even when i try to overlap) For this reason I have been holding the hand tool at a distance and soaking the whole stair then vacuuming. Maybe this is causing problems, i dont know
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£125 for a days work (12hrs) :o
you seriously need to double that, or work twice as fast.
Thats £10/hr less your costs, vehicle, fuel tax mot, insurance, phone, advertising, etc etc
your probably earning under the minimum wage, and leaving yourself with nothing for repairs etc.
Dont know if you have done any training or beem out for a day with anyone , but either or both will help. Not a criticism just trying to help.
Andrew
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Thanks for advice Andrew. I will see if I can get out with someone for the day.
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Joe like I said buy a minitex for stairs really good look them up
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My sebo duo does not agitate on stares needless to say and I am scared of under-agitation when doing it by hand, so maybe I go to far the other direction.
Mine does. What exactly is the problem?
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Thers a large gap on all 4 sides, where the rotating wheels cannot reach. When doing rooms I always agitate the sides of the room by hand, to overcome this.
Thanks Magic, im just googling it now.
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me thinks you agitate too much ;D ;D ;D
Think you were brain washed on Cleantalk with East to west South to North etc by uncle Ken ;D ;D
I hope you mention about doing sides and skirting boards to your customers as it sets you apart from 3 rooms for £65 who only has time to do traffic lanes and not move furniture etc
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Sod the minitex, get a floormac/orbiter, straight off the landing roll over the noses, lightly across the riser, then down to the next step - and repeat!
Then with extraction, start at the bottom step doing risers all the way up, once you get to the top, come back down doing the steps & noses.
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Joe,
It's very rare that a carpet will need to be agitated in that last inch or so on a stair or adjacent to a skirting board.
The exception would usually be a spillage (maybe a few square inches?) and that could be done with a hand brush.
It sounds (in the nicest way) that you are overdoing things. I would recommend that you take up Craig's offer.
If you are going to scrub every square inch, then as Ian suggests, you had better charge top rates for that approach.
Apart from the SEBO, what kit are you using?
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Joe
You seem a decent guy but you need hands on training and business training. Get out with Craig, Monday at the latest. You will learn more in that day than a week on here.
A double S/L even with a portable should take 2hours max maybe longer if trashed and you need to be getting £80 for it at least.
Mark
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Joe,
It's very rare that a carpet will need to be agitated in that last inch or so on a stair or adjacent to a skirting board.
The exception would usually be a spillage (maybe a few square inches?) and that could be done with a hand brush.
It sounds (in the nicest way) that you are overdoing things. I would recommend that you take up Craig's offer.
If you are going to scrub every square inch, then as Ian suggests, you had better charge top rates for that approach.
Apart from the SEBO, what kit are you using?
Airflex storm, sebo vacuum, sebo duo, pressure sprayer.
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Ok Joe, the good news is that we can rule out kit issues (assuming everything is working properly).
As said above, spend a day with Craig. It will definetly be worth it.
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Ok Joe, the good news is that we can rule out kit issues (assuming everything is working properly).
As said above, spend a day with Craig. It will definetly be worth it.
I'll try. It's very far to travel Unfortunatly and I'm heavily booked for the next 2 weeks.
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I am a long way right across the country, if someone in Peterborough, Ipswitch or Cambridge can offer a day out that would be ideal for you, as probably someone in Norwich wouldn't be keen as your be their competitor.
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Sorry guys, I had assumed you were close to one another