Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Ian Gourlay on January 25, 2006, 10:25:28 pm
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Although i have seen it before in local type Directorys I have never seen prices in Yellow Pages or the BT Phone Book.
Every Town i visit Every Libary etc I Scan for all the local Adverts Never seen Prices
Until Today
If this is going to happen I will discontinue all my Directory type advertising.
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My YP rep. told me in December & again today that pricing will be allowed to be added to your advertising.
Personaly I think its madness, the book will be full of cheap companies all advertising as low as possible
Customers will always go to an advert which gives an instant price. I think its a bad decision by YP.
I may be wrong.
rgds
Phil
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I do well out of the Yellow Pages but you do get price shoppers, this will make it harder BUT it could also work in your favour if you let it.
ie from £15 could also mean £15 to £150000000000, so the customer may want a professional to come out and survey the carpet first.
Trader Approved schemes and the NCCA corporate adverts should help and push the better clientelle to the quality cleaners, these people don't buy on price so the more educated you are the safer they will feel buying from you at YOUR price.
Shaun
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From , i feel , now has the custy realising that the true price will be alot different to the one advertised.
We see them everday, holiday, cars, etc. etc. and the public have wised up on this :-\
however what might do the trick to combat this form of advertising, why not put some think along the lines of. We give you a true price you pay, after we have given your a FREE survey and disscused your requirments.
what this may do is discourage price seekers and attract the custy who wants a professional service.
geoff
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i heard yp were stoping companies puttting a dot .... before there companies name so there add would be first
also said we will no longer have to put our company address on and giveing us a free 0845 number
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Next to my advert Suite £30 not from etc.
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I will find out,
I have the YP rep coming round on Monday and will put these questions to them as I am looking to go into 3 directories.
I also would have some concerns about prices being added to the ad's. >:(
Although there is a argument to suggest it would filter out the price shoppers but commercial clean enquiries will always go with the cheapest so risk of losing out in that respect.
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The dots and 00001111 practices will stop as from July 1st. So if your book is published before that date it will be valid. After that all ads will be put miscellaneous in the YP.
Prices are not allowed yet and no one knows as from when they will be. It could be a year or two time....
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Hello all,im going through the process of starting a cc business,part time for a start,looking to go full time within a couple of years hopefully,im now looking into means of advertising, directories,local papers etc, this morning i got a copy of the phone book thrown at the front door, first look was through the carpet cleaning section,one ad with prices, 3 piece suite £30, 3 bed house £65,4 bed house £70, having just spent out on equipment and now being in the process of booking up for training, insurance etc i know i couldnt afford to work at those prices,my thoughts being if you are advertising a service as opposed to a product why put a price in your ad,do you see other firms providing home services doing so? Far better id of thought to get the customer on the phone, offer a survey, sell the service in the home then give them the price
Added by Ian Gourlay
Hi Andy,
Looks like we are in the same area. Welcome to the board. I am sure you will find lots of expertise on these boards.
If you want to know anything ask your question and you will get answers from some of the best brains in the industry.
Regards
Ian
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Personally i wouldn't waste money on yp or any other directory, people like to get to know someone local, so I do my own advertising campaign, leaflet drops, letters etc.
I dropped yp a couple of years ago after spending loads of money with them for ten years and I didn't notice any drop in my customers, which must say something!
Much better to do your own campaign I think ;)
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Andy A,
Dont go in at those sort of prices, sell your service based on a profesional quality service, use the correct equipment ,training, Chemicals, insurance, and take your time to start with on each job and in your flyers explain that the customer is getting quality. Try to build the business on recommendations.
I know its bad for the trade as a whole but let the £30 a suite crew carry on they will not get repeat business.
Regards,
Gary
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just because they charge £30 for a suite it doesn't mean they're rubbish, perhaps that's all they want to make & perhaps they're fast, after all that's business!
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well said steve
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does not take much to bite does it, he he.
Regards,
Gary
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WHO CARES IF PEOPLE PRINT CHEAP PRICES
THEY ONLY ATTRACT CHEAP PEASANTS, WHO'S HOUSE GENERALLY LOOKS LIKE A BOMBS HIT IT!!!
KEEP SAYING THIS
CHEAP COMPANIES AT CHEAP PRICES
LET THE MUPPETS DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!![
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Colin does that mean I'll have to do an on site visit to deliver my high price from now on?
Peasant, Pheasants or Crescents it's my price take it or leave it!
Shaun
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has any one had a good experiance with YP or Yell.com
Ive never had a too bad experiance with them, although ive been with Y.com for six months and not one phone call >:(
Ive paid for the top ranking add at over £500 and found out today ive got a free listing in 118 247, YP and business pages oh I thought thats good until I looked my self up, alright Ive got my free listing in the new YP for Cornwall but I now live in North Devon but wanted my listing with free phone for commercial, but they put the wrong number, not my free phone but with my old address on, my mothers and her number woops not happy, or my mother wait till I speak to them tommorow
James
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Good old Yellow Pages ;D
Im SEVEN pages back thanks to the dotdotdot turd polishers ;D The directory is still being distributed and I've already turned two quotes into jobs. When I ask what drew them to my services the response was "the accreditations"
There's mopeds and there's Rolls Royce's and there's a market for each. My advert doesn't market to the moped crowd ... and I'm not suffering for it ;)
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im just wondering if it was cleaning co. or steves job that i had to go visit a few weeks ago ;) ;)
went to survey carpet . it was damp and soiled, customer said she had had it cleaned 3 days earlier!!!!!!!!!! but wasnt any cleaner, and the origonal c.c couldnt come back :'( wasnt in the area ???? apperently she got him from a flyerin the area at the time type,
So the out come being provided she signed a disclaimer , I would clean and dry completly, £55 charged ,
guess what the previous c.c had charged £10 no wonder she wasnt happy ;Dwith the clean .
the lady of the house was in fact a lady of the cloth, apparently didnt like to say any thing at the time, lived in a 5 bedroom detached exclusive secluded area!
Why on earth did she plump for a £10 clean? So own up , was cleaning co. or stevejc well sounds like the type of work your advocating ;)
Geoff
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Top wind up. Will he bite? ;D ;D
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I think the guys you are referring to have already made it clear that their minimum charge is thirty pounds.
I have successfully cleaned carpets today, which were supposedly cleaned over a week ago, but were still wet, in patches and covered in dark patches and what looked like streaks of sulphation on stair risers.
Before taking the job on, I cleaned a small room a couple of days ago to reassure myself that the carpet would clean.
I was unable to carry out this job when phoned, as I was in Spain and someone was found in the local Paper.
Apparently the 'cleaner' arrived in a car and had a hire machine, but clearly new nothing about c/c he was contacted by the client but refused to return and the newspaper referred to their disclaimer.
Anyway, the job was done successfully with the Ninja at max' heat and working two floors up - at around 75 feet from the machine - the person who made this mess was no carpet cleaner, but simply a chancer who made someones life very miserable and could have cost them a couple of thousand pounds, had she not been refered to me.
I have seen a similar job taday where a long established c/c business, has left a customers 80/20, in a patchy state, which I'm expexting the Texatherm system to resolve.
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just like to say I finisheed a job for the local this week and cleared approx £4,000 and I also cleaned a carpet for a pensioner at £30.00!
It is possible to cater for all! - You can't just generalize, sometimes I do a carpet for free If I feel like it........Quality has nothing to do with money ;)