Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Paul McHugh on February 25, 2013, 09:52:07 am
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This is the deal Just wonder If I should get on board with it
what do you think Guys
Paul
Cleaning For Three-Piece Suite or Carpets in Two Rooms and a Hallway (£29) or Both (£49) at Dublcheck Cleaning (Up to 72% Off)
Amount:
from £29.00
Discount72%You save£76.00
Highlights
• Upholstery, carpet and floor cleaning
• Offers domestic, office and commercial cleaning
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Hey what do you think?
They did get a hell of a take up
and being here talking to to you guys I have nothing in the diary!!
I presume they rely on the up-sell
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Someone still drunk from the weekend!! ::)roll
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Yes its great for the customer up to 10 mile radius then 50 p per mile
and to be done between March and September weekdays only
I suppose I am reluctant to say its very low price But is it better than NOTHING
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Another one on drugs ::)roll
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you'll get 250 jobs that will take 4 months to complete you will be out of business half way through.
thats my thoughts on it.
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Yes its great for the customer up to 10 mile radius then 50 p per mile
and to be done between March and September weekdays only
I suppose I am reluctant to say its very low price But is it better than NOTHING
No it's not, IMO it's like signing your businesses death warrant.
Why not spend your time developing new clients that pay the going rate?
Simon
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do not make big decisions in january or febuary, I guess you are finding it hard right now (so is everyone else) you are looking for opportunities to create business..... but this is not one of them
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As I understand it, you will only get 50% of that £29.00 (or is that wrong) as Groupon take their cut.
May as well do it for free...
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almost right Hilti...
50% + VAT so £11.34 per job ;D
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Jesus I new they would take a cut but not that much
so it would be 100 X £11 .34 = £1134 Have to be bloody good upsells!
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It will never work in a million years.
Just think the whole situation through, from you doing it, to when in a few years they may want it done agian. Will they come to you at full price then, or go back to Group on again, (if they are still going)?
If they are, they will not come back to you, so why kill yourself for nothing.
Go out and deliver leaflets. More proifitable for you in the long , and possibly/probably short run!
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I know sod all about cleaning carpets!
However, what I do know is:
"Any fool can be a busy fool chasing his own tail up his own A**e"
The only winners here are Groupon!
Follow the advice of others and do some business development or if you don't want to do that go and watch Jeremy Kyle because it will be more fun, relaxing and you will have a laugh at some other poor sods expense but moreover you will still have a business at the end of March.
Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics
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I did a 34 quid deal , sold about 120 , got £23 from Groupon off each deal, job average was £60 , plus lots of referrals, plus ongoing work I am still doing 18 months later, well worth it if you are sat twiddling.
The suite and carpet deal is bonkers though , you need to negotiate HARD with Groupon , over several weeks , get them down on their commission % and up on the deal price , then down on what you will do , all the time juggling your normal price detailed on your website , it is very complex but if you know your numbers you will turn a wage, not a decent profit though.
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Go on do it....
You will be dooomed, dooomed I tells ya! ;)
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Interesting different viewpoints from Kevin and Jason oh and Benny, I'm ready to cut my throat lol!
I know what most are saying and generally agree, no one wants to work for nowt!!
but up here in North Yorks within Selby a somewhat depressed area and pretty small catchment area its difficult to think what to do next, without spending what I don't have.
I have the website, I have delivered 4500 leaflets, myself, I am in, at vast expense the local monthly journal.I'm in the post office windows.the parish mag and the area notice boards
In Google places. (Google ad words too pricey).at the moment
Maybe a village green naked dance with my wand? not a pretty sight er no! that's no!
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Paul,
It's a quiet time of year so don't panic. I'd take the supposed Groupon success stories with a pinch of salt if I were you and make your decision purely on whether or not your business can survive working as cheaply as that. The gamble is that these groupon people will use you again in the future or whether they will simply go for the next groupon deal that comes along.
Simon
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Paul,
I like your webiste.
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As some of the above posts have said it can be a quiet time of the year so dont rush into this.
Not sure about this suite and upholstery deal mind.
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Cheers Benny Wish I got something from it ? what about Mr BBC voice cost me a £5
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Hi Clinton as you know its not my deal done by a another (in my area ) last week
I'm still pondering, Can you negotiate with the giant Groupon.
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Hi Clinton as you know its not my deal done by a another (in my area ) last week
I'm still pondering, Can you negotiate with the giant Groupon.
Hi Paul, pretty sure the firm that put the offer out a predominately office cleaners and only cc as a side line.
Plenty of people i've spoken to are quiet, some really quiet, remember you are a new business and it will take time, i'd try google adwords if I were you, I bet someone on here will have a £50.00 voucher they'd pass your way, and you can opt out at any time.
Simon.
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I'm sure there was a couple of people who said their Groupon marketing was a very wise move about 6 months ago.
Who was it? Are they still using this strategy? Be interesting to hear from them.
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I'd rather walk out another 30,000 leaflets - 4,500 is just playing at it (sorry, not trying to be rude). Cutting price like that is just demoralising.
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I recently did a 3 piece at £150. The customer told me two weeks prior they had someone in from a groupon offer of £29 for that they had a lounge, diner, hall and stairs done
The c/c'er that did it used a TM and told the customer he was at a loss and would only get £10 from groupon but thought he would build up a customer base from it.
Heres the thing, whys he got me there two weeks later doing the 3 piece for £150?
My guess is he had no confidence in the other c/c'er.
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I'm sure there was a couple of people who said their Groupon marketing was a very wise move about 6 months ago.
Who was it? Are they still using this strategy? Be interesting to hear from them.
T'wern't me... It near buggered me up completely.....
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Paul.
not sure if your interested but i clean quite a few rugs in the goole area, minimum charge is £15 per item, for a straight forward small rug. larger are cleaned by the sq ft.
because it is a little out of my area i might consider passing it on if your interested ? it goes mean picking them up from goole, how ever their are usualy a number to do at once.
I have done work in your area , Hemingbrough and selby , howden and never really had a problem getting good price.
Geoff
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I've got vouchers for £75 free when you top up £25 on Adwords (for new campaigns only). Let me know if you want one (or anyone else, for that matter).
Info@PageCrest.co.uk
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I think you can fall into the mental trap of thinking, 'people won't pay xx price around here.' If you believe that you will never find the people that are willing to pay that price because part of your belief is that carpet cleaning is about price, but it is not - it is about quality. People looking for a professional company to do a quality job don't go to groupon or respond to cheap offers on leaflets and if that is where you go fishing for new customers, guess what you're going to catch?
So if you fill your diary with cheap jobs, even if it is a deliberate strategy to expand your customer base, you then encounter another truism, 'you can never get away from a low price,' because it was the price and not the quality that drew people to you in the first place and price that brought them back, if they come back.
So if you work cheap you still need to pay your bills and so to earn that sort of money you have to do lots more jobs at low prices which means doing them quick and doing them quick means quality suffers and soon cutting every corner in the book becomes a way of life.
There has to be another way...
Simon
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Phew!!! Some great posts on this topic lads, As I said way back at the start it was a question I was asking and clearly apart from the just one or two, the consensus is give it a wide birth, I don't want to go over old ground again but will, the local journals only cover 18000 deliveries and that includes a lot of outlying areas.This is not Manchester or Surrey where you may have that on one estate,
and Simon G I'm afraid I am embarrassed to say I have already crept into the pretty cheap jobs market just to get some work. Hey I'm not alone there is quite a few on this forum and other forums that make out they will only do jobs for a certain figure but then they advertise far less, just a little bit of double standards and forum Bravado I think.
As for Groupon with me its a NO NO. But many thanks all for your advice and comments. Paul Mc
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:D All these Groupon experts who have never done a Groupon deal , probably never spoken to a Groupon rep, or visited their vendor site.
To answer the questions asked .
Yes you can negotiate with Groupon , I was ready when the work came in , printed sheets detailing costs for extra work , stairs at £2 each equalled £26-30 on most jobs , upholstery at £20/ seating position on many jobs , fliers with the same offer ( but no groupon commission) a pile given to every customer , solutions spotter given away on every job , and 100% effort put into each job.
The key to getting the deal done is getting past and manipulating the Groupon compliance system.
They work on the basis of vendors offering massive discounts over normal retail prices, 70,80,90 % off I had a quickie website built with high prices on it , effectively setting up a new cleaning company just for the purpose of Groupon , these prices were the ones used to calculate the Groupon discounts. Compliance at their head office quickly passed the deal this way.
The small print must be firm and concise, some of my conditions were , no furniture , no rooms over 12m2 , no stairs , nothing over 2nd floor, etc , this removes most awkward/ time consuming jobs.
I did turn a profit , kept busy during a quiet time , and have retained some very good customers with large/multiple properties, including 2 lettings agents who send work my way every month. .
On the face of it , it does look like a suicide mission , but for me it was a lifeline.
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a few on this forum and other forums that make out they will only do jobs for a certain figure but then they advertise far less, just a little bit of double standards and forum Bravado I think.
That is why you should take these claims with a pinch of salt and make your own decision ;)
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I would sooner give 95% of my takings to Cancer Research or someone else, that way atleast I'd be helping others that actually deserve it. plus I would get atleast 5%
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:D All these Groupon experts who have never done a Groupon deal , probably never spoken to a Groupon rep, or visited their vendor site.
To answer the questions asked .
Yes you can negotiate with Groupon , I was ready when the work came in , printed sheets detailing costs for extra work , stairs at £2 each equalled £26-30 on most jobs , upholstery at £20/ seating position on many jobs , fliers with the same offer ( but no groupon commission) a pile given to every customer , solutions spotter given away on every job , and 100% effort put into each job.
The key to getting the deal done is getting past and manipulating the Groupon compliance system.
They work on the basis of vendors offering massive discounts over normal retail prices, 70,80,90 % off I had a quickie website built with high prices on it , effectively setting up a new cleaning company just for the purpose of Groupon , these prices were the ones used to calculate the Groupon discounts. Compliance at their head office quickly passed the deal this way.
The small print must be firm and concise, some of my conditions were , no furniture , no rooms over 12m2 , no stairs , nothing over 2nd floor, etc , this removes most awkward/ time consuming jobs.
I did turn a profit , kept busy during a quiet time , and have retained some very good customers with large/multiple properties, including 2 lettings agents who send work my way every month. .
On the face of it , it does look like a suicide mission , but for me it was a lifeline.
What I like about this best is you got one over on Groupon. I can see how with the right set up at the right time it worked out a good deal for you. I can imagine though most people caving in to the rep like many do with YP etc.
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a few on this forum and other forums that make out they will only do jobs for a certain figure but then they advertise far less, just a little bit of double standards and forum Bravado I think.
That is why you should take these ALL MY claims with a pinch of salt and make your own decision ;)
Fixed it for you Simon ;D ;D
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Hector,
Gotcha, I don't make claims, especially not about money and if I had a good sales tactic, I'd keep it well and truly to myself and not broadcast it to my competitors. :)
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Hmmmmmm
are you sure that you are not from Yorkshire??
you could give Shaun a good run for his money on the tightfisted stakes ;D ;D ;D
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Hector,
I'm Scottish, that's way worse than being a Yorkshireman ;D
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Hector,
I'm Scottish, that's way worse than being a Yorkshireman ;D
;D ;D ;D
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getting back to the groupon fiasco
surely its crazy to do any job for £11.34p
after deductions for diesel chemicals machine wear and tear and effort put into the job.
what would be the point ? you cant rely on upselling when you get there as the customer wants a cheap fix...