Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Phil @ Extreme Clean on April 11, 2013, 01:09:22 pm
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Why Won't the phone ring ??? I post cards, I have a website and I spend any spare money advertising but phone just won't ring. I have Dry Fusion and Water Extraction and always do a good job. My Prices are more than fair £35 a single room and £25 any other on day and that is using my DF to agitate then Water extract and dry bonnet with heat after, What more can I do? This is my 3rd year on my own and iv'e struggled all the way but this year is worse than the last 2 up to now I'm seriously thinking of call it a day and just having a little machine and doing friends and family for extra money as and when needed. I think my part of country there are too many CC'S and not enough customers and as for canvassing i'm just not good at it I don't mind doing the graft I enjoy it and always have a chat with custys but hate putting on people I am fine if they contact me Maybe this is my shortfall i'm gonna see what happens when my run of advertising finishes in may and call it a day if not working.
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Have you been to see any of the clients you emailed/wrote to.
I seem to remember you sending out stuff to letting agents or hotels.
Sorry cant remember which.
Maybe a visit in person to the same list will yield some results.
The methods you use arent as important to your clients as they are to you.
So far you will just be a name, email, webpage, logo to the above list.
If you get the chance to meet in person with them you will be much more.
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Had a couple jobs from 1 letting agent but nothing else like I say i'm no good at cold calling I had someone calling hotels all round blackpool and all they saty is they keep it in house.
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Cold calling sucks that's for sure.
I used to hate it.
Doesn't bother me so much now. I will go back into places several times in a year. I always take a note of why they rejected me the previous time but try and strike up some rapport with the receptionist or whoever greets me. In fact I almost verge on stalking as I make notes of their name, hair style/colour, colour glasses (if they wear them) etc so when I am in next time can comment if they have made a change. Trust me it works sometimes.
Not everyone has the authority to buy or a need when you go in its not a personal thing when they refuse to see/listen to you but many view it that way.
Persistence is the key. Then the day when they require your service as they now have a need or have been let down you are the guy they come to.
Did you email any of those letting agents again from your previous list? Did you send them a follow up mail by post, a phone call to see if they had either or as I suggested call in and say "Hi I dropped you guys an email before, dont know if it got through as I hadn't had a response so thought I would pop in, say hello, maybe I can leave you a card/flyer/letter in case you need my service in the future?
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You have to send out occasional newsletters or just cards to past customers. If your customers are getting more attention from your competitors, they may become their customers.
I know a CC who uses a Truck Mount in the Blaclpool area, is very high priced and very busy!?
However a lot of CCs including myself with over 33 years in this business, have been on the quiet side this year, but fingers crossed it seems to be slowly picking up.
Dave.
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I have just been on your website and I have to say I would not book you after reading it.
You keep telling me to use 'someone else' then expect me to provide you with tea if you are prepared to honour us with your presence.
Its not user friendly and I am afraid any potential shopper will just move on.
Take it down and start again would be my first bit of advice.
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I would say you are too cheap, your attracting the lower end of the market and unfortunately with the recession that end of the market isnt spending at the moment.
I did a job last week for a posh old lady and she was a bit put out that i only charged her 250+ vat for a lounge 2 single beds and 2 chairs, I was done in 2 half hours, she gave me 2 tips, a tenner and put my prices up !!
You have to be smart, tidy equipment and a clean vehicle, and come over very professional.
Try targeting posh areas at higher prices, there are plenty snobs out there
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What have you done in the last 2 weeks to create business? Be specific ( and don't lie ;) )
I Think people who don't have any work if they are honest don't do enough foot on the ground marketing,
they write blogs, put adverts in papers, update their Facebook page, write postcards (but not too many...... "Have you seen the cost of stamps") , they lay in bed until 7am as they have no job booked in to get up for.
If you are slow it's because your Bum spends too much time on your settee :)
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I might as well wade in- Please don't think I am being nasty.
Your web site is too 'busy'. It has far too much on the first page.
You need to be able to read the first page of each section in 10 seconds, otherwise people will not be bothered. Further pages can have more detail.
Get someone who can spell and punctuate to proof read your site- there are commas and full stops missing, apostrophes where should not be and capital letters missing.
Different pages must follow a theme- some of them are so different in appearance they look as if they are from another site.
Don't be disheartened- there are customers out there who will pay good prices. You just have to have the confidence and a bit of cheek to ask for the right money.
I have always had this problem. When I started £25 for a 3 pce was good money!
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What have you done in the last 2 weeks to create business? Be specific ( and don't lie ;) )
I Think people who don't have any work if they are honest don't do enough foot on the ground marketing,
they write blogs, put adverts in papers, update their Facebook page, write postcards (but not too many...... "Have you seen the cost of stamps") , they lay in bed until 7am as they have no job booked in to get up for.
If you are slow it's because your Bum spends too much time on your settee :)
They lay in bed until 7am ??? ???
What time do you get up Mike?
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I'm guessing 6 am like me early bird catches the worm.
Shaun
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Try having thin curtains and dogs with weak bladders, I'm sat in Costa coffee every morning at 6.30am
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What have you done in the last 2 weeks to create business? Be specific ( and don't lie ;) )
I Think people who don't have any work if they are honest don't do enough foot on the ground marketing,
they write blogs, put adverts in papers, update their Facebook page, write postcards (but not too many...... "Have you seen the cost of stamps") , they lay in bed until 7am as they have no job booked in to get up for.
If you are slow it's because your Bum spends too much time on your settee :)
everything you said lol I even put offer on Facebook £20 instead of £35 this week only and guess what not 1 ask also Andrew you may get them prices were you are but you won't here I think my prices are fair for my area and I think the job I do for that price is good.
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I know yo don't like the idea of cold calling but have you tried it?
What do you have to loose?
The person on the other side of the door is just the same as you or I. There is no special formula for generating business from my experience its all about confidence in fact most things are 60% confidence 40% skill.
Try this on some domestic properties
"Knock"
"Hello my name is Phil i am a the local carpet and upholstery cleaner and am just calling to offer a free no obligation quote if you would be interested?"
At this point you can get two answers Yes or No
If they say yes go ahead and quote leaving them with a quotation form and some cards. If they book you great, if they don't they now have your number and if you have been polite you have their trust!
If they say No take the opportunity to say
"Thats ok can i just leave you with some information in case you need my services in the future"
They have your number and you now have their trust they may call in the future.
The most important thing is to gain trust it means more than any thing. And remember what do you have to loose they are just people the same as you or me.
Rob
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Mike, the 22 hours marketing on your feet...I take it thats leaflet dropping ?
Extreme Clean...dont get too disheartened. This time last year mid April 2012 I had my busiest week ever (just short of £1000)...roll onto 2013, I've had 3 jobs this week barely scraping £200.
A combination of crap weather and people generally being skint doesnt help...sometimes you've gotta ride the storm :-\
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Terry I have deleted my post that you are referring to but yes you are correct it is putting out leaflets
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I might as well wade in- Please don't think I am being nasty.
Your web site is too 'busy'. It has far too much on the first page.
You need to be able to read the first page of each section in 10 seconds, otherwise people will not be bothered. Further pages can have more detail.
Get someone who can spell and punctuate to proof read your site- there are commas and full stops missing, apostrophes where should not be and capital letters missing.
Different pages must follow a theme- some of them are so different in appearance they look as if they are from another site.
Don't be disheartened- there are customers out there who will pay good prices. You just have to have the confidence and a bit of cheek to ask for the right money.
I have always had this problem. When I started £25 for a 3 pce was good money!
I have made the home page a bit more user friendly and to the point do you think it's better ?
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Phil
Nearly every carpet cleaner that has gone out of business, has, at one time or another, used the line "you can't get those prices around here".
Colin Bright is based in Blackpool and is one of the highest priced carpet cleaners I know.
Put your prices up, not down - your talking about packing it in anyway, so what have you got to lose ?
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What have you done in the last 2 weeks to create business? Be specific ( and don't lie ;) )
I Think people who don't have any work if they are honest don't do enough foot on the ground marketing,
they write blogs, put adverts in papers, update their Facebook page, write postcards (but not too many...... "Have you seen the cost of stamps") , they lay in bed until 7am as they have no job booked in to get up for.
If you are slow it's because your Bum spends too much time on your settee :)
everything you said lol I even put offer on Facebook £20 instead of £35 this week only and guess what not 1 ask also Andrew you may get them prices were you are but you won't here I think my prices are fair for my area and I think the job I do for that price is good.
I actually think my prices are low overall, however I can sell when I know the time is appropriate, am sure you have some customers in your area that would pay.
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Phill some good posts above there..
Just think mind that your charging 25 or 35 pound a job so you will have to get about at least 3 jobs a day to make any money..
was even going to say 4 jobs a day at your prices and caint see you getting that many jobs a day.
Good luck anyway..
I have the dry fusion and get at least 50 or 60 pound a room if I use that system.
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I might as well wade in- Please don't think I am being nasty.
Your web site is too 'busy'. It has far too much on the first page.
You need to be able to read the first page of each section in 10 seconds, otherwise people will not be bothered. Further pages can have more detail.
Get someone who can spell and punctuate to proof read your site- there are commas and full stops missing, apostrophes where should not be and capital letters missing.
Different pages must follow a theme- some of them are so different in appearance they look as if they are from another site.
Don't be disheartened- there are customers out there who will pay good prices. You just have to have the confidence and a bit of cheek to ask for the right money.
I have always had this problem. When I started £25 for a 3 pce was good money!
I have made the home page a bit more user friendly and to the point do you think it's better ?
I would redesign/simplify your 'business card ' type banner to stretch the whole way across ... add a large pic of a high end home interior and perhaps a couple of cliche ' child or dog on carpet ' type pics ... and add some customer testimonials ...
Perhaps a close up pic of yourself and an brief introduction ...
I would leave the before and after pics and method details to another page ...
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Forget fannying about with your website, that the point i was making, you want to sit on your ar£se in front of your computer, that won't solve your problems
Get on your feet on the M55 slip road with a big cardboard sign saying....
'will clean for food'
Either that or put out some leaflets :)
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Get someone who can spell and punctuate to proof read your site- there are commas and full stops missing, apostrophes where should not be and capital letters missing.
+1 - if I was a customer, I wouldn't read past the first page.
Yes, put prices up, not down.
Yes, get some (well written / spelled) leaflets out - without cheapo offers.
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Yes, it's important that leaflets go out but are you running a cleaning business or you a leafletter?
Firstly you need a leaflet that has been tested and works.
If you deliver them yourself, you are doing the lowest paid job in your business.
That's fine if you have no money but sooner or later you will be working and then the leaflets will stop going out and you will be back to square one with no work.
Why not pay an active pensioner to deliver them to the RIGHT sort of households? That way you will ensure that they will be going out.
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Phil
I think part of you is looking for some solidarity on here with your plight, after the best January in 4 years I have had the worst Feb and March (due to the weather), clocks changed and weather is getting better and a stream of enquiries start to appear (for me anyway).
If you have been going for five years and have managed to get by so far it would be a shame to jack it in now, besides I hear that despite the government telling us there are lots of jobs in the private sector, trying to find one that pays a decent living wage or does not have another 500 applicants along with you are few and far between.
For a bit of quick marketing have you tried bulk text messages, I use text tank (but there are loads on the web) much cheaper than royal mail and your pretty much assured that the customer has read your text as they cannot resist opening the message, Text every customer from last year with a special offer: Spring special offer, any 2 rooms £79, any 3 rooms £99, book before May 31st. I cant guarantee you will get any return but its another avenue.
Hope this helps
Tony
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Things are tight, jack it in ;D and can all the cleaners by me do the same please :)
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Yes, it's important that leaflets go out but are you running a cleaning business or you a leafletter?
Firstly you need a leaflet that has been tested and works.
If you deliver them yourself, you are doing the lowest paid job in your business.
That's fine if you have no money but sooner or later you will be working and then the leaflets will stop going out and you will be back to square one with no work.
Why not pay an active pensioner to deliver them to the RIGHT sort of households? That way you will ensure that they will be going out.
We have a different piont of view, ....
I don't do the 'lowest paid job' I do 'the most important job' I did 2.5 hours today my leafleter(Dale) did 3 hrs, my son did £380 of cleaning
The last 3 weeks we have been fully booked with work, I still do 90 mins a day so does my son with the 3 hours Dale did that's 6hrs a day. Being busy with work does not stop leafleting as leafleting is part of the work.
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Think you are finding that people who buy on price have no loyalty and will just move on to the next cheapest. Running a business on cheap prices whether a cleaner or supplier is folly and you will forever be chasing customers or go tits up.
People who are willing to pay decent rates AND get a really good job in return will usually become regular customers and will tend to refer more.
I fell into this trap myself when I started 20 years ago. I didn't know what people charged and just went off what people were advertising in the local paper. I advertised 12 quid a carpet and got no work so thought I was too expensive ::)roll and reduced it too 8 and still got no work. Then I met Paul Dyson who used to be the local Chemspec distributor and he called me an a rse hole. I saw the error of my ways and put my price up to £35 and the phone never stopped from there on. I gradually increased them year on year untill I was earning a very good living no more than 5 miles from my door usually.
Its hard to get over that mental block on pricing but believe me its the only way to progress and survive. You don't have to be expensive but you have to be sensible. Working at the rates you are will not even provide enough to renew your gear when the time comes never mind give you an income.
By the way putting out leaflets yourself isn't a waste of time as long as you choose the right areas to do it. Calling into commercials such as dentists, doctors and esttate agents etc whilst your at it can bring in much needed extra work.
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Phil,
I re-wrote your homepage for you, why have you changed it - again?
Btw your upholstery tool is in the post.
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I did not say pushing leaflets through doors was not important because it clearly is. I said the job of pushing them through the doors was (almost certainly) the lowest paid in the organisation.
Wonder how many Virgin leaflets get personally delivered by Richard Branson? ;D
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Ive seen him delivering up by us :D
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Phil,
Your core problem with marketing is that the things you think are important selling points are not as important to a customer. Your homepage should create interest, not boredom. Clearly you think that telling people exactly how you clean a carpet is interesting to the customer and will persuade them to ring you, trust me it is not.
'Our unique multi stage cleaning process' implies a depth of clean that may well be unique to you and covers all of your steps in a few words and if a prospective customer wants to know the details of it, guess what, they have to ring you.
The words, professional -quality -guaranteed - experience - value for money - fully insured; are all reassuring words that helps get the customer at least to the point of being interested enough to give you call.
If you're making the same basic mistake with all your other marketing material it is little wonder the phone ain't ringing.
Your belief that you can't get a certain price in an area is also mistake, perhaps driven by your mistaken belief that you aren't worth anymore than you currently charge. Or, you mistakenly believe that the phone isn't ringing because your prices are too high, but perhaps it is because they are too low.
You can come over one day and we'll take you out on a few jobs and then spend some time with you to try and set you on the right path.
Simon
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Garry I read an article about Richard Branson tasting the meals served on his planes, was that a waste of his time? he could have been doing more profitable business elsewhere. food tasters can't be that expensive, so why did he do it personally?
You need a more holistic approach to business rather than look at the individual parts think of it as a synergy of ingredient all coming together to create a final outcome......each ingredient no less important than the next. :P :P
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Mike your looking at it wrong, its the PR, the top man took time out to taste and ensure the food on his planes is of the qualty required... P R ;)
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Don't be so cynical..... He did it because he cares about his passengers ::)roll ::)roll
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What beer do you drink?
Is it Carling, Stella or Asda's own?
The best selling one is Carling but Asda's is cheaper and I bet Stella is 2nd.
Shaun
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Perhaps he was hungry.
Shaun
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Well he didn't do a good job!! Their food is pants.
You cant beat british airways long haul, first or business class. Or Emirates. I was lucky enough to fly back from New York last year business class, and was able to use the first class lounges at both JK airport and terminal 5 and OMG!! its deffo the way to travel!
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Phil
Why don't you give Simon a ring and take up his offer and how many hours per week do you work in your business if you want to earn £s then you need to put in the hours and the effort and Richard Branson would deliver leaflets if he had little money and wanted business
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My advice is to print off John Kellys advice.
Look when you charge cheap prices what does that say about you? what message are you giving? What does it say about you?
I would say the subconscious message is, I value my service so low i'm willing to give it away.
NOTHING OF VALUE IS CHEAP.
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Shaun
Stella is no 1 followed by carling and has been for some years now.
Phill
you do need to act on some of the good advice that is being given, if you do not change then neither will your situation.
In business you do need to be able to approach people or learn to it is one of the basic requiriements. If you are frightened of confronting customers you need to get a job where you do not need to.
You need to have a quality message accross the board.
My sites are in dire need of updating but they still get traffic and create work.
Peter
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Phil
Nearly every carpet cleaner that has gone out of business, has, at one time or another, used the line "you can't get those prices around here".
Colin Bright is based in Blackpool and is one of the highest priced carpet cleaners I know.
Put your prices up, not down - your talking about packing it in anyway, so what have you got to lose ?
That's because he won't deal with peasants ;D
I've just picked up 5 new window cleaning jobs in one street and I have charged 3 times more than the last W/c but they are willing to pay my price because he only turns up when he feels like it.Stick with it
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Phil I take all back what I wrote.Stick at it.Take up Simons offer.
Seasons soon here now in Blackpool.
Glad you’ve got HWE.
Best of luck. :) ;) :D ;D
Lewis Doubtfire
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The Common Law of Business Balance
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little.
When you pay too much you lose a little money - that is all.
When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the things it was bought to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot, it can't be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.
John Ruskin 1819-1900
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25 years ago when I started I was charging 'economical' rates and struggling.
I then put my prices up 50% and started to make some money as the jobs came in.
I then put them up again- I thought that I would kill it.
Result - 4 days working and even more money coming in.
I still have a problem with charging enough. I remember when £20-25 was really good money for a 3 piece.
I am trying to cut down and possibly finish altogether- ( It's my age, you know.) but the work still comes in. I have not advertised for 8 years apart from some leaflets in a very high end carpet shop.
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Your website copy reads like you're trying to sell the Dry Fusion system, as if you're selling the equipment, not the benefits a clean carpet can bring to the customer i.e. increased enjoyment of living in their home. You're not alone though, I've seen dozens of carpet cleaning websites that reiterate the incentives given by the companies selling the equipment - customers just aren't there for all that.
And P R I C E S... put yours up!
ATB
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Your website copy reads like you're trying to sell the Dry Fusion system, as if you're selling the equipment, not the benefits a clean carpet can bring to the customer i.e. increased enjoyment of living in their home. You're not alone though, I've seen dozens of carpet cleaning websites that reiterate the incentives given by the companies selling the equipment - customers just aren't there for all that.
And P R I C E S... put yours up!
Brilliant
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Garry I read an article about Richard Branson tasting the meals served on his planes, was that a waste of his time? he could have been doing more profitable business elsewhere. food tasters can't be that expensive, so why did he do it personally?
Mike, I think we are at crossed purposes here.
In the Branson example above, I would agree with you. Tasting the food and making sure it is right is vital for the success of his business. Getting that right or wrong would have huge consequences for his airline.
You would not however see him spending a couple of hours every day peeling potatoes in the kitchen.
I'm talking about scalability.
Let us assume that leaflets are the way to go. If Phil has no work, then the best approach probably is deliver them himself. If work comes in, then Phil will be cleaning and the leaflet delivery suffers. At a certain point, he cannot do both.
If Phil (hopefully) gets stacked out with work, then delivering leaflets by hand is not the most efficient use of his time. It is also a job that can be outsourced easily by paying someone. It can then be upscaled by getting more people delivering them (let's assume they are reliable).
I'm coming to the end of a long layoff following an operation. I've realised that everything in the business, including the cleaning can be outsourced. The only thing that cannot is the overall marketing - and this is the most profitable / vital function.
Does that make sense?
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Garry we are at crossed purposes and using Richard Branson as an example just clouds the issue.
The way I see it your piont is........ if your are busy then you don't have time to leaflet, but what does 'busy' really mean?
Some on here say they are busy but finish at 2pm every day.. Are they really busy? and if they are can they still not fit in 90mins of leafleting and finish at 3.30pm.
I don't want to give exact numbers as it will sound like I'm talking BS but we are what I call fully booked, earning good money every day. But we still have time to put out leaflets .
Have you ever been too busy to put fuel in your van? This is an exstreme example of my piont. But as I book jobs into my diary I'm always thinking about where the job is if we have not leafleted that area for a few weeks I will book the job with an hour space so we can do some leaflets before we start the job. As it obviously shows I'm a big believer in leaflets, they work for us because of our attitude of booking jobs around their delivery.
Phil can't really do the same as me as he would need a big attitude adjustment
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Yes I think I can see where you are coming from now Mike.
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I take on board what you are all saying but my prices are fair if I did 2 rooms for £60 and was and hour n half that's ok not every job is gonna be 1 room £35, maybe a full 3 bed house at £160 I could be 2-3 hours that's good money to me i'd be happy with £200 a day and eventually when I have regular customers then up my prices gradually also I have put Dry Fusion as a separate page and will charge a premium if they want only DRY Fusion. Also Simon thanks for your offer and I will come out with you one day i'l let you know when, I am helping a friend next week fit a bathroom so will be busy while my mrs mans the phone lol also regarding my website I don't know why I changed it's cause someone said it was too busy lol grrrr websites aren't my cup of tea lol.
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Phil
You've got to remember that whatever you charge for a job, it's not your money (well, not all of it)
It has to go towards all the other costs associated with running your business and covering your household expenses.
Therefore the prices you charge must be based on some sort of calculation.
Have you worked out your business and household expenses based on last years trading ?
If so, you can forecast this years turnover based on the same figures - this will give you a breakeven figure.
You can then adjust your prices to allow for an operating profit.
Remember Phil, there are thousands of successful carpet cleaners operating in all parts of the country, just as there are thousands of carpet cleaners earning a living operating in all parts of the country.
Where you area based has nothing to do with running a successful business.
If thousands of people are doing it and doing it well, then the problem must be YOU !!
So, what can YOU do better, what can YOU change ?
Look at your figures over the weekend and take heed of the advise regarding your website - and definitely take Simon up on his offer.
Hope this helps, keep your chin up (and put your prices up ;))
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Thanks all, I have adjusted my site to look and read better I have put photos on separate page and I have upped my prices and added them on website I know a lot of you disagree with having a price page but the phone ain't ringing anyway and if price shoppers are the ones I don't want then the ones I do will ring.
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Phil
You've recently done some hard floor cleaning haven't you ?
What about adding a seperate page for that service ?
Also a seperate page for upholstery cleaning
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I just removed the hard floor and gutter care and tile and grout sealing as it looks to much lol
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I'm with Mike, I hear so many people on hear say they are so busy and earing £xxxxx. Then on other threads state they finished at 2.00pm or started at 11.00am on Friday. That isn't busy. Ok, so they maybe happy with what they are earning, fair enough, but putting your own leaflets out is part of business.
That said, i've had 20,000 flyers sat in a box in my hall for three week and bar doing them at 6.00pm or on my only day off on a Sunday i've had to put an advert for a delivery guy in the local rag!
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The trouble with advertising prices is that you lose the chance to convert a lot of callers. People will always ring and ask how much is it to clean a lounge carpet. They aren't price shopping. That is probably the only thing they could think to ask. They're hardly likely to ring and ask do you use 2nd generation microsplitters etc etc. I see so many people respond to this question with a price. You have now answered their question and a lot ofthem are now stumped and don't know what to say next so they say ok and hang up.
This is where you need to have a script to get the prospective customer into a conversation. You can then drop the price in during thr conversation. This is basic stuff but I see people all the time not doing it.
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John
I dont think Mr Dyson will be carling you an arsole now mate! Role reversal! well almost ! Lol
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I understand what your Saying John but the phone isn't ringing without the prices anyway at the end of the day my website is just a free one that I do myself as I don't have the money for a professional site i am helping a friend fit a bathroom next week and he gonna pay me for some adds i going to put in a magazine around the more upmarket areas. I did a job for a friend yesterday the worst i have ever done (pics on other channel) if customers could see them my phone wouldn't stop ringing lol.
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Phil,
You already have a site that ranks on page one which should be generating lots of calls.Thinking you have to scrap it and get a new one is silly, all you need to do is write it so that it appeals to prospective customers and has enough USP's in it to get people interested enough to give you a call. You need a page for every service you do, carpet cleaning, upholstery, end of tenancy etc. Your prices have gone from super low to the high side and you should be pitching in the middle. It was only a few days ago you were saying that people in Fleetwood won't pay x price, but then you tripled you prices. Prices on websites are not a good idea because it should be the one thing your site doesn't tell them, for that they have to ring you, you're already telling them, hence, no phone calls.
If I were you I wouldn't spend another penny on new advertising and concentrate instead on getting what you already have working better for you. If you've got a website and other forms of advertising out there and the phone isn't ringing, there is something wrong with what your adverts say. You've got to think about advertising from the customers perspective, what do they want to be told rather than what you want to tell them?
Simon
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My first page would look something like the following- Obviously with the pictures etc.as I can't format it here. And NO PRICES, it's a no no.
Welcome to the Home of Extreme Clean, The Fylde Coast's premier specialist carpet cleaning service.
I cover Fleetwood, Blackpool, Poulton, Lytham-Saint Annes, Thornton-Cleveleys and all surrounding areas.
I clean any carpet in any location
Homes,
Offices,
Guest Houses,
Hotels,
Care Homes,
Restaurants
Pubs,
you name it, I clean it.
I use deep hot water extraction coupled with safe detergent free solutions
and no harsh chemicals which deep cleans your carpet,
removing engrained soil and sanitizing at the same time.
I have been doing this for XX years and am the business owner.
I am fully insured and guarantee my results.
TEL:- 01253 875703
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MOB:- 07514 369608
Email:- cleandry@hotmail.co.uk
Extreme Clean
12, Westhead Walk
Fleetwood
Lancs
FY77GA.
Whether Commercial or domestic Extreme Clean should be your number 1 choice.
Carpets to DRY For!!!!!!
Keep it simple.
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My first page would look something like the following- Obviously with the pictures etc.as I can't format it here. And NO PRICES, it's a no no.
A few changes
Welcome to the Home of Extreme Clean, The Fylde Coast's premier specialist carpet cleaning service.
I cover Fleetwood, Blackpool, Poulton, Lytham-Saint Annes, Thornton-Cleveleys and all surrounding areas.
I have a range of different cleaning systems and techniques and can clean any carpet in any location, regardless of age or condition:
Homes,
Offices,
Guest Houses,
Hotels,
Care Homes,
Restaurants
Pubs,
you name it, I clean it.
I use safe detergent free solutions
and no harsh chemicals which deep cleans your carpet,
removing engrained soil and sanitizing at the same time.
I have many years experience and have built a solid reputation with our community for delivering high quality service and superb carpet and upholstery cleaning.
And, you won't be risking your money, if you're not totally satisfied with my work - it's FREE!
I am fully insured and guarantee my results.
TEL:- 01253 875703
[/size][/size]
MOB:- 07514 369608
Email:- cleandry@hotmail.co.uk
Extreme Clean
12, Westhead Walk
Fleetwood
Lancs
FY77GA.
Whether Commercial or domestic Extreme Clean should be your number 1 choice.
Carpets to DRY For!!!!!!
Keep it simple.
-
cleandry@hotmail.co.uk
This just looks so unprofessional.
At least set one up with your own domain name.
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I understand what your Saying John but the phone isn't ringing without the prices anyway at the end of the day my website is just a free one that I do myself as I don't have the money for a professional site i am helping a friend fit a bathroom next week and he gonna pay me for some adds i going to put in a magazine around the more upmarket areas. I did a job for a friend yesterday the worst i have ever done (pics on other channel) if customers could see them my phone wouldn't stop ringing lol.
Yep put an ad in an upmarket magazine, then your arse still won't have to leave your settee ::)roll ::)roll
How much is this ad going to cost?, for £120 you can get 4hrs of professional phone canversing and a pro E leaflet designed and sent out.... I bet this would bring in more work....See the post done by Admin further down
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Any chance of seeing one of your leaflets Mike ? not that i intend to get off my arse and putt anyy out! I always tend to get suffisant work in ! would like to compare yours with others ive seen
Stuart
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Phil,
You already have a site that ranks on page one which should be generating lots of calls.Thinking you have to scrap it and get a new one is silly, all you need to do is write it so that it appeals to prospective customers and has enough USP's in it to get people interested enough to give you a call. You need a page for every service you do, carpet cleaning, upholstery, end of tenancy etc. Your prices have gone from super low to the high side and you should be pitching in the middle. It was only a few days ago you were saying that people in Fleetwood won't pay x price, but then you tripled you prices. Prices on websites are not a good idea because it should be the one thing your site doesn't tell them, for that they have to ring you, you're already telling them, hence, no phone calls.
If I were you I wouldn't spend another penny on new advertising and concentrate instead on getting what you already have working better for you. If you've got a website and other forms of advertising out there and the phone isn't ringing, there is something wrong with what your adverts say. You've got to think about advertising from the customers perspective, what do they want to be told rather than what you want to tell them?
Simon
I'm getting confused now I charge £35 a room and people say higher so I up to between £45 and £60 dependant on soilage and now I'm too high I'm really struggling also Simon if I give you my log in details do you want to mess with my site when you've got spare time cheers Phil.
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Phil
Just scrap the prices page!! Maybe just mention what your minimum charge is. Also mention on your site that every carpet is different, size, stains, level of soilage etc etc. So its impossible to give a cost on a webpage. Obviously you'll need to word it better.
The prices on your website are getting on the high side now, nothing wrong with that but you'll struggle to sell those prices from a webpage.
If you don't have much work on then you should try going out to quote every job. You will be in a much better position to quote (higher) and win the jobs. This is what I would do if I was starting out.
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Phil,
Email them to me I'll see what I can do when I get back from the ships next week.
Did your upholstery tool arrive?
Simon
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Phil
As Tony and Simon have mentioned, I would get rid of the prices, it takes away their last remaining reason to phone you.
Also, don't think about prices per room - get into the habit of pricing by the square metre. Go and survey every new enquiry - part of the theatre of the quotation process is to measure the areas and quantify how much carpet needs cleaning. You can then give them the price and explain the cleaning process.
If you're quiet then you really need to get in the prospective clients house so you can sell yourself and your services. I'm not a fan of pricing per room and it doesn't work well in my area as room sizes vary so much.
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Phil,
Email them to me I'll see what I can do when I get back from the ships next week.
Did your upholstery tool arrive?
Simon
Not got it yet Simon will probably be Monday i'm messing with my site now iv'e added the wording advised and a few pics I think it looks better also I have removed again the price page lol I'm just gonna think how to do other pages now.
Thanks Phil.
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when i started over 10 years ago i used one of mikes carpet leaflets , it was a5 full color , it had a pic of me in shirt and tie , local discount offer and a 3 for two and i nearly always got a job from every 300 i put out in targeted areas
Neil
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Personally it has been a great start to the year for me, like Steve said put your prices up, get rid of all the custys who want stuff doing for nothing a concentrate on the custys who can tell the difference between price and value, so far this year my average job ticket has shot up to £225.00 I have found the phone a lot quiter but the ones that ate phoning are mostly reps and recs so there is a lot if trust there, and reps and recs tend to spend more more money... Very busy, don't start before 9.00am and never work weekends, having said all that the 1st. 2 years were extremely hard work but stick to your Gunns and carry on that's my advise, and don't cut your prices to get jobs, cause the custy looses respect for you and assumes you are the same as everybody else, if you have to discount then only do this by adding to the job this making it bigger so if they have more done at once then you can say give them an overall 10 percent.
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Thanks Colin I'm gonna keep plugging away mate and I see what your saying if I give discount do it by adding work on that's what I usually do I'm gonna up my prices slightly and basically start from scratch because I only ever had dry fusion but now I have water extraction also so am capable of attacking anything now so now my customers will see a more thorough job being done and hopefully that will stand me in good stead with referrals etc cheers Phil.
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send some reminder letters to you past custs phil, this is the simplelist thing to get your phone ringing
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I have just been on your website and I have to say I would not book you after reading it.
You keep telling me to use 'someone else' then expect me to provide you with tea if you are prepared to honour us with your presence.
Its not user friendly and I am afraid any potential shopper will just move on.
Take it down and start again would be my first bit of advice.
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Iv'e had a good offer off a fellow carpet cleaner who has a great site and will do the same for me at a very reasonable cost which I am going to do when I've helped my mate next week it will look very professional I just need to think what I need him to do watch this space.
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new site guy's what you think ????????????
www.dryerfusion.co.uk
Phil.
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Looks professional , nice job .
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Cheers John im buzzing with it the one I had, I was sort of happy but seeing this one i'm made up.
Phil.
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Looks good, Phil.
Now you will get some calls.
Simon
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cheers Simon and thankyou for all your help and advice I appreciate it pal.
Phil.
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This site is an improvement on your last one, I can't remember is anyone has asked if you have google analytics on your site, can you see how many people visited your last site?
Has this new layout made your site drop off google, I can't find it.
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On P1 on my search.
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The new version has not been cached yet so it should not move in the search engines.
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I searched..... Blackpool carpet cleaners & fylde carpet cleaners
No result on Blackpool, on page 2 for fylde.
This is searching from 10 miles outside Blackpool (I'm at my mother in laws)
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Just searched again.... I think you might have your work cut out competing against companies like this.....
http://www.abetakleen.co.uk/services/
Who are high on page 1 and have very 'competive' prices
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I thought he was doing the right thing keeping prices high?
Don't worry too much about what everyone else is doing. Just do your thing the best as possible.
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New site looks good Phil, who did it and how much did it cost if you don't mind sharing?
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I like your new website it looks good! the before and after photos are very impressive !
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Cheers the pics I water extracted with mpower and my website was done by an ex carpet cleaner he has just changed slightly from his and Mike I been through all the cheap price thing and this is what I am up against I'm still fairly priced so not gonna worry about it allthough it really bugs me what can I do they look professional as well so prob do a good job
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That site mike posted will take a lot of your work there is a few like that round my way and for me it's rendered the Internet almost useless . Del
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Looks good to me. I'm the picky b******d who criticised your spelling etc - this one looks pretty spot on (except you need a capital "A" on Saint "Annes" (I only picked it up 'cos I used to live there).
Seriously, well done, looks great.
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Don't get too hung up about internet marketing.
Too many carpet cleaners waste a lot of marketing time, cluelessly(?) trying to play with websites when in reality, the search volume is very low. Many would be better off carrying out "traditional" marketing.
According to Google's (notoriously unreliable) figures, there are only seventy or so exact searches in the Blackpool area each month, shared between a lot of companies. I'm not sure how many are serious buyers but the number is small compared to say, the big cities.
There were one or two struggling people on here a couple of years ago who are no longer trading who seemed to spend all day "tweaking" websites (effectively "fiddling whilst Rome burned"). When I looked at their sites, the search engines had not visited for about a month so all the daily changes had been wasted.
I can't help wondering what may have happened if they had tried other methods of gaining customers instead.
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Don't get too hung up about internet marketing.
Too many carpet cleaners waste a lot of marketing time, cluelessly(?) trying to play with websites when in reality, the search volume is very low. Many would be better off carrying out "traditional" marketing.
According to Google's (notoriously unreliable) figures, there are only seventy or so exact searches in the Blackpool area each month, shared between a lot of companies. I'm not sure how many are serious buyers but the number is small compared to say, the big cities.
There were one or two struggling people on here a couple of years ago who are no longer trading who seemed to spend all day "tweaking" websites (effectively "fiddling whilst Rome burned"). When I looked at their sites, the search engines had not visited for about a month so all the daily changes had been wasted.
I can't help wondering what may have happened if they had tried other methods of gaining customers instead.
He will never know but probabaly not a lot,
While some of your traditional marketing can not be replaced, it is still very expensive,especially when cash is tight and returns on investment are very unreliable. As part of your marketing mix then traditional should be in there but internet is in my opinion the way to go.
Updating, playing around with and constant improvments are all part of the learning curve eventually you will land on a page that fits your local ambitions.You should get expert advise, we are not I.T consultants so can not be expected to know the ins and outs of the weird and wonderful world of internet marketing but I would rather put a pound towards getting a professional site that another wasted sheet of paper through a letter box.
Once its done its done, you can then cherry pick the other forms of marketing that offer the best return and its imperative now days to have your web site on that marketing ready and waiting for the prospects to peruse other wise they move on.
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The initial topic was why am I slow, most of the responses have revolved around his website,
I personally don't think this new website will make any difference to how busy phil is but like I keep saying at least it doesn't require any real effort.
A lot of people are very vocal about how well they do from thier website but this gives a tainted impression about how good the Internet is for getting work, who we don't hear from are the people who get very little from the Internet.
There was a poll started last year which showed for every 1 person who does well from thier website there are 10 people who get next to f¥ck all .
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Its been very useful for him,
He has taken on board the criticism and improved it some what, now he needs help in getting it placed on google, so in that respect the post has had the desired effect in getting help and advice, which is really what was required and the web site was the first and most obvious flaw in his marketing, he can now move on to other aspects of his marketing that need fixing.
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You should get expert advise, we are not I.T consultants so can not be expected to know the ins and outs of the weird and wonderful world of internet marketing
Personally, I would not let an IT Consultant anywhere near any of my sites.
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I'm one of them people mike most of my customers are from leaflets or repeats I get next to f##k all from the Internet . Del
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Mike said...Just searched again.... I think you might have your work cut out competing against companies like this.....
http://www.abetakleen.co.uk/services/
Who are high on page 1 and have very 'competive' prices
And so these are the prices:
1 Room 12ft X 12ft = £18.00
1 Room 18ft X 12ft = £25.00
1 Room 24ft X 12ft = £35.00
3 Rooms 12ft X 12ft = £45.00
Then have a look at the areas covered......it would seem that this guy is prepared to do at least a one and a half hour round trip to do an £18 job!
Ok ...in all probability he would refuse to do it.
The reality is, that the people who advertise these prices are comonplace.
I recently got an online quote to do a through room (22x11), HSL and a bedroom.....the quote was £65....hmm well ok and oh dear.
The down side is that the guy had a 70 mile round trip ::)roll