Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Mike Halliday on July 26, 2014, 07:34:10 am
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Some of us had the opportunity to attend a 2 day event with Howard Partridge on Wednesday & Thursday, It's taken me a couple of days to fully process what I learnt to be able to make a post about it.
Even now I'm finding it hard to put into words how good it was and how impressive HP is, I've got to say he did'nt say much that I didn't already know or had'nt read before but he said it in a way that made so much sense it was like he brought together all the best bit of everything I had read on running a business and put it in one place.
The funny thing is it only now after a couple of days of reading the notes I took during the days that I've realised how good it really was.
In a nutshell he sells a system of relationship/ referral marketing built around creating a phenomenal cleaning experiance backed up by a phenomenal system of running a business.
It was a great 2 days and will effect how I run my business, I'm on holiday tomorrow for a week, when I get sick of sunbathing and drinking cocktails I'm going to use my time to start writing down the systems I need to put in place in my business, and when I get back I will implement some of the things I learnt.
I won't recommend buying his course as it will fall onto deaf ears but I believe anyone who is ready to move thier business to a higher level will find him,
Like what was said to Zorro....... "when the student is ready the master will appear"
( ohhh.....I'm getting all silysofical)
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Hey mike,enjoy your cocktails.What are the first things you are going to start doing that you have not done before?
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I saw a Seminar with Howard Partridge on TV years ago. It was total chaos. He upset the guests, he was late on, the music was cr*p, people got up & left during it. There was a terrible atmosphere there.
UPDATE
Woops it was Alan Partridge, not Howard. Sorry for the confusion ;D
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In a nutshell he sells a system of relationship/ referral marketing built around creating a phenomenal cleaning experiance backed up by a phenomenal system of running a business.
I hope this does not sound sarcastic because it's not meant to be. Surely in one sentence, this is the essence of running a successful cleaning business? In fairness to Simon Gerrard, he's been saying this for years. I wish I had applied this to one of my online ventures four years ago. I'd have been much wealthier now.
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Is it about making the customer feel special or is it adding special things to your cleaning?
Shaun
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In a nutshell he sells a system of relationship/ referral marketing built around creating a phenomenal cleaning experiance backed up by a phenomenal system of running a business.
I hope this does not sound sarcastic because it's not meant to be. Surely in one sentence, this is the essence of running a successful cleaning business? In fairness to Simon Gerrard, he's been saying this for years. I wish I had applied this to one of my online ventures four years ago. I'd have been much wealthier now.
Garry you are correct, but knowing it to be true does not mean you have the skills to do it, everybody knows that the key to a healthy life is good nutrition & exercise but we still have an obesity epidemic , people know what they need to do but don't have the skills, knowledge or motivation to achieve it, just like running a successful business.
Shaun it's about have a system in place that makes you and your employees do everything right every time, from beginning to end
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That's in theory the idea of a franchise, I guess its systematic motivation.
Shaun
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Even now I'm finding it hard to put into words how good it was and how impressive HP is, I've got to say he did'nt say much that I didn't already know or had'nt read before but he said it in a way that made so much sense it was like he brought together all the best bit of everything I had read on running a business and put it in one place.
I won't recommend buying his course as it will fall onto deaf ears but I believe anyone who is ready to move thier business to a higher level will find him,
Like what was said to Zorro....... "when the student is ready the master will appear"
( ohhh.....I'm getting all silysofical)
Great post Mike, glad you enjoyed it.
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I second everything Mike has said.
There were about 30 of us lucky enough to hear HP speak - there should of been hundreds !!
Unfortunately the majority of our trade seems more concerned with who uses what machine and how much their "competition" charges ::)roll
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I certainly agree but at this time of year some are on holiday for myself it was my sons birthday and we'd already planned something bit of a shame as Howard would be right up my street I understand his value but family comes first.
Shaun
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In a nutshell he sells a system of relationship/ referral marketing built around creating a phenomenal cleaning experiance backed up by a phenomenal system of running a business.
It's really very simple: Work hard at putting your customers in a position where they can't, or don't think they can get what you do anywhere else. Do that and they will come to think of you as their carpet cleaner and you will be well on your way to becoming and remaining a successful business.
Simon
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Sorry chemtoclean didn't see your question ....
What did I learn that I will be implementing first...
From what I learnt from HP.......While I'm on holiday One of the things I will be doing is writing a phone script. Howards' staff prices most of their jobs over the phone and still get very high prices......something I always thought was very difficult, but he uses a very detailed and precise phone script. after listening to him do a mock phone call with an audience member I can see how it can be done.
Another thing I will be doing is having a good talk with my wife about what we want to achieve in our lives in the coming years, then writing down specific goals for the future. (This is from what Tom Ziglar spoke about)
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The phone conversation is the biggest thing I have been trying to hone for 26 years it's not just a sales script it's a question and answer documentary, will this mean that you're changing the leaflet design? And other aspects of advertising/marketing?
The latter of personal goals is very personal I have written one but it's not a fixed point because as I see people around me retire or move on etc I think to myself, why should I stop I can just slow down although things may change the focal point may alter.
Shaun
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Mike
did you know that the Guy Jim wolverton who wrote the pink flyer was making $125k in six months of starting up in the USA, My point is we have very different markets. I meet him at a JP bootcamp
Its fact that lots of self employed people don't spend as much time on marketing as they should because they reach a level of income where they are comfortable and available time. you have to stop working in your business and start working on it. I learnt this with my maid service.
Having staff brings with it a lot of new issues like quality, staff issues, marketing, and cash flow. plus the thing that got me. was again the devil makes work for idle hands. if you have always worked hard and then you have an income that is higher than you have ever needed and you have to do very little to get it. it brings with it problems ;D sex, cars, drugs, and rock and roll ;D
I am much happier working for myself than having 20 people working for me as i did. so you have to make a choice which you really want. working for yourself has many upsides. if you find that sweet spot of the right amount of work for the right amount of reward its well worth working for yourself and not having staff.
People moan about economic migration but its what fuels cleaning with cheap labour. problem for us that you could just be training the new local competition.
Mike dont waste your money on these guys. You only have to look at JP and he admits this he was not very successful at working as a carpet cleaner (one van, again i met the guy he sold his business to) but much more successful teaching others how to market with lots of vans. what he teaches he paid Dan Kennedy to ghost write. he has move on and made it his own now, and respects for that.
Mike its all really about numbers at the end of the day. That is where you should spend time on education. these people cant get inside you business and see the numbers. you only have to view these TV shows that fix businesses or are competitions. numbers are what the success hinges on. thats why they make them do silly tasks as once they lean about scale then you can work at any level be it selling hot dogs on a street corner to running a chain of restaurants.
I just hate the BS about numbers, price profit, turnover etc without the proof that backs them up as this is what separates BS from truth. FT is a great case in point, never did a see a profit and loss
If you worked as hard as you do in the USA as you do in hull you would be so much richer mike. Jim proves that fact.
Anyway good luck with what you have learnt Mike I hope I am wrong and wish you every success.
Respects Ian
See you all on G+
https://plus.google.com/+IanHarper/
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Mike & Shaun
The phone script is just "carpet cleaning audit" the old you have two ears and one month so you should listen twice as much as you speak.
Get hold of a JP audit.
See You On G+
https://plus.google.com/+IanHarper/
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I agree with that you have to listen but it's a matter of changing the content of the conversation for each individual caller a personal visit would yield more but that can take time, ideally the HP version of building a relationship with one customer then getting other new customers to accept you telephone estimate/quote is the very best way to go.
Shaun
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I think I will listen to the advice given by a man that runs a 3 million dollar a year carpet cleaning company, rather than ............................. well you can guess the rest
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Not sure what you're meaning Steve ?
It's only a discussion.
Shaun
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It wasn't aimed at you Shaun
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Howard's latest book is a good read chaps, well worth the tenner.
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Ha ha no problem Steve I don't take offence easily ever since I've been married.
I was trying to get a bit of discussion going to see what I had missed obviously you and others had given up your day and hard earned to go there but I was again trying to debate HP strategies so others could see the value and could then understand that there's more to carpet cleaning than cleaning a carpet as we aren't just carpet cleaners we should be striving to be businessmen and women.
So please give us some general idea of what it was about we can't ask for the nuggets just the day as a whole with its direction.
Shaun
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Shaun it's hard to give specific nuggets as you will say....."yes I know that" because like I said he did'nt really say anything new.
You also need to remember he is big on turning your business into a 'turn key' business that allows you to run your company without your direct involvement, so a lot of his teaching are aimed at this goal.
Remember ......
He lives in Florida,.....his business is in Texas
it's like us having a full time 10 van company earning £2000.000 but it's in Yorkshire and We live in a villa in the south of Spain. He walks every day on the beach outside his home knowing every week money is going into his bank account without him lifting a finger.
I'm writing this sat on my patio outside my hotel room in Tunisia, how great would it be if tomorrow as I laze by the pool I earn £2000?
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To mention some random points.... he spoke about identifying what one of 4 types of people your staff are and how to fit them into the correct role within your company and how to correctly motivate them.
.".......... Just searched online and found Howard's blog, if you read the topics on the first 4 pages you will see some of the subjects he spoke about
http://howardpartridgeblog.com
It's easy to say the message he gives is the basis of every successful company and we all know it, but not many of us are running a truly successful company
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I second everything Mike has said.
There were about 30 of us lucky enough to hear HP speak - there should of been hundreds !!
Unfortunately the majority of our trade seems more concerned with who uses what machine and how much their "competition" charges ::)roll
although i was not in a position to go I did look and the way i read it , it was a sell out. Was it just for Carpet Cleaners or any business?
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That should keep me busy, thanks mike.
I'm dead jealous I didn't go I'll have to move my sons birthday next time.
Shaun
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thanks for all the input Mike.
But I wonder how much of his revenue comes from all the seminars/books/courses etc. Not saying he's not got a successful carpet cleaning company, just that there's more money selling motivation and info than cleaning carpets.
There's a blog that I follow of a web entrepreneur that every month shows us his income break down for the month.
His 3 websites generate around $2500 total a month. The blog I follow that has tips, articles, tips on how he builds his sites and how he gets traffic to them etc turnovers $60,000+ a month.
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I wonder if Howard Partridge could run his operation in Yorkshire, not quite Texas is it.
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yeah, a much bigger population for a start. And am I right in saying that Americans probably get there carpets cleaned more often and probably happier paying a higher price?
Before I joined this forum, I used to go the american forums quite a bit and I remember people mentioning prices and $100, $200 etc a room was the norm.
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Forget Joe Polish, even he doesn't market his message anymore (he leaves that to Joel Cohen), he's too busy with his 25k mastermind group.
I'm not easily impressed but I was impressed by Howard. He's been there and is still doing it.
Yes he now concentrates on his Phenomenal Products business, but his highly successful carpet cleaning business allows him to do this. He is also in partnership with the Zig Ziglar corporation (look it up if you haven't heard of him).
It's not possible to tell you what I learnt in two days in a post on a forum.
Buy his book for a tenner, buy his home study course for 400 bucks, sign up to his inner circle for five grand a year - but none of this will be as good as seeing him in person, he's very inspiring and a nice guy as well.
Whether his programs would work for you is dependent on you implementing them, but if he comes back to the UK anytime soon I would seriously recommend that you buy a ticket. I spent two days out of my business and about £300 on tickets, hotel, food, drink and fuel - it was worth every penny and then some and not forgetting the networking in the bar in the evening.
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thanks for all the input Mike.
But I wonder how much of his revenue comes from all the seminars/books/courses etc. Not saying he's not got a successful carpet cleaning company
The $3million quoted is the amount his carpet cleaning company makes not including his marketing company.
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Inspiration makes you feel you can do it, if I had to pick holes (don't forget I haven,t had the benefit of going to see HP's seminar) Texas to Arizona is an awful long stretch of road it could be like me covering from where I live to say Portsmouth that's a big service area. Ok he will have techs in other towns along the way but again picking holes, in it people in this country love to buy their services local, you can however appear to be local but it's not the same when you're needed on an urgent call for a good customer. Again picking holes Americans aren't too bothered about local they buy service expecting people to come from where ever as a nation they don't mind migrating (look at their football teams that just pack up and move towns) I am however wanting to be provide unequivocally wrong.
The systemisation is also fascinating but I can get my head around that.
Shaun
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It's all relative Shaun.
The USA is 40 times the size of the UK but only 5 times the population.
Unfortunately in this country our default setting seems to be "yeah but" whereas in the states it's "let's do it"
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I'd agree with you last statement it's a big negative at this side of the pond.
Shaun
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It's all very well you boys getting all Star struck, but what you have to realise is that the British market is totally different to the US market, in that carpet cleaning is huge in the US and has been even before I first went to look at cc'ing in Los Angeles in the 80's. Even then there were national coast-to-coast TV adverts by companies like Sears and others. 3 million might impress us but that's nothing because the market is so highly developed with a far higher percentage of the population not only having their carpets cleaned, but having them cleaned on a regular basis. Back in the 80's I visited companies in LA, San Jose and Phoenix that even in those days had a fleet of 10 tm's with an average job ticket of $100 (work that out with inflation in todays prices) because they clean the whole house and the suite and not just the one carpet jobs we do.
I have attended some similar courses with American salesmen but found that their techniques don't apply as readily as you might hope in the UK because they are designed for completely different markets and cultures and British people want to buy, whereas Americans are prepared to be sold to but Brits hate that.
It is true that you can pick up some great tips and ideas from these guy's and then use them in your own business after you have adapted them to British culture. Also very motivational to hear these people speak and that alone can be worth the ticket price.
Simon
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I think that is a lot of the issue, people get fired after these events as can be clearly seen in the posts which isn't a bad thing.
As the days weeks and months past these emotions and initial enthusiasm settles down and in reality not a lot gets done.
They will always show you the examples of people who have immediately implemented some of the initiatives and gone on have super success, if they didn't they would not have anything to sell but in the main, most people just wait for the next 'big event' attend it again and so it goes on.
I agree that a lot if the stuff is 'Americanised' and does not cross the Atlantic comfortably one of those is the scripts which do not sit well with us Brits as they come across and are completely false and most prospects can see right through it and just do not like the American way of meet and greet, but I believe there is also a lot we can take out of it and adapt to British emotions.
We use a kind of script that those in the office 'loosely' follow that is British and works well for our customers, there are certain things in there that are a must that has to be followed but the rest is what the operator is comfortable with and this comes across in the conversation very well.
Our number one big no no, is they must never,ever under any circumstances argue with a customer on the phone no matter how frustrating or angry they or us might get/feel. You would be amazed how this very simple discipline once 'mastered' works. I know the American guru's will also mention this and no doubt Mr Partridge does but implementing this is very difficult if you are naturally a confrontational sort and defencive of your abilities and your work because you have to drop this attitude but once done it travels with you both in and out of work and improves your relationships again both in and out of work.
Once you remove anger and frustration from your daily life its amazing how much you can accomplish and even how much your health can improve.
;) Just one of 'my' little nuggets some of you might want to trial.
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I wonder if Howard Partridge could run his operation in Yorkshire, not quite Texas is it.
More millionaires in Yorkshire per % off population than in Texas :)
A person is on average in Harrogate wealthier than in London. :)
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Don't think the millionaires are in south yorks ;D
It's all poor here!
Shaun
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Its $3 million turnover, not profit! I had a chat on FB with HP a few months ago and he confirmed that to me.
He has a lot of staff and overheads within his CC company, did he show you his profit and loss accounts !! I bet he did not!
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Well at leat he took time to chat to you
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yeah and its only £1,765,380 and 93 pence! ;D
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Its $3 million turnover, not profit! I had a chat on FB with HP a few months ago and he confirmed that to me.
He has a lot of staff and overheads within his CC company, did he show you his profit and loss accounts !! I bet he did not!
Been thinking about the $3 million dollar turnover. Years ago 2002 there was a guy on Cleantalk call Mark Betts he was very interested in Marketing and had learnt a lot of Mike Halliday so I wrote to mark and he very kindly sent me some stuff I swapped some stuff I got from robert Saunders which was naughty of me anyway Mark said have you heard of howard Partridge with a link to his web site. I think we got a bit of stuff out of him but I am convinced it was a $3million Turnover business then with all the vans in the photo so buy now it should be $6 million dollars. But with the pound dollar rate currently at our advantage if my maths are right it all looks good value forn money i wonder if you would get hit for VAT on down loadable version if not fantastic value.
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It was a great 2 days, I didn't join although I thought what he was offering was good value I have tried a couple of things already and so far seems good, used his script and got a higher job ticket and social proof via a ref through a company has already paid dividends even if they don't know yet ;D Either way worth the money and great to meet people. I think Steve makes a good point I think HP needed a bigger audiance hope he is back next year.
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I have a friend who has a number of carpet shops in America and is doing very well for himself He has asked me on a number of occasions if I would like to sell up my shops and relocate with my family to America and help him run his business`s ,as he frequently points out that the British way of selling is loved in the states as they are sick and tired of the hard sell and admire the honesty and integrity and good old fashioned service of the British salesperson ( his words not mine ).I have also got a very good friend who is high up in the fast food chain Wendys in America and says he loves to have British managers run stores ,because of the very same reasons as stated before .I do think us British sometimes have a tendency to undermine what we have on our own doorstep and think the grass is greener elsewhere .
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I know Shaun is already minted and would put mr partridge to shame... He just likes to toy with us
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I was on holiday and missed the event I won't next time did he mention when he is going to be back over here cheers del :)
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Which product was he suggesting we buy.
Who is more relevant to the UK Business Market
Chris Cardell or Howard Partridge.
Note i said business because more and more of us are diversifying away from Carpet Cleaning
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Minted! My pockets are like the middle of a polo mint...empty!
Shaun