Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Suffolkcleaners on March 11, 2015, 12:03:52 pm
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Hi,does anyone on here use any telemarketing companies? Have used becci swan before but wanted to try another company also. Anybody recommend anyone? The one time I used it I found that most companies already had window cleaning companies etc but I want to target purely companies that don't have a company cleaning there windows or only get appointments for mangers or owners who are VERY interested.
I'm aware a lot less appointments may well be generated but I would rather have fewer appointments and go with just strong leads. Plus each to there own but I'm not the type of company who would ever undercut or tread on peoples work.
Previously targeted residential homes with no joy but need to come up with some other ideas of places to get the companies to call.
Any experiences? Thanks in advance :-)
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I use 2 or 3 including Becci -
Here is a good one GilbertPage Total Business Solutions - Marje 07958 373333 - she is on facebook and I find her very good - just tell her your brief - thats the only brief we ever use too - less appointments perhaps but good ones. (becci can also work to those briefs too - but in Marjes case - its Marjes that makes the actual calls
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Excellent will be sure to contact marjes. Thanks for the reply.
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Not to be negative, but i can't think any proper business wouldn't have a window cleaner.
You'll be taking a contract from someone else, for sure.
But this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It could be price. It could be service. It could be your attitude.
If you're better, you may get the job.
Just because a company has a window cleaner, doesn't mean they're happy with them.
My residential stuff is always getting canvassed.
My commercial, less so, but it does get canvassed.
Sometimes losing a job can be a good thing too. One may have been getting complacent.
Canvassing only 'good' leads just can't be done imo. There will always be some dross in with the gold. It's sorting that out that will make one's business.
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Agree with some points there pole king but that's not how i operate. Also from experience if a company has a window cleaning service and they take you on then it's only a matter of time before they do the same to you. I speak from experience as i lost a job recently but they assured me it was nothing to do with the quality of work. Also i disagree that all companies have a current window cleaner,i'm sure there are quite a few who don't have one or did have a previous one but stopped having the services for whatever reason. However i do agree with the dog eat dog suggestion to a certain extent,if for example it was a cowboy or a provider who did a really rubbish job and they were thinking of changing but....What do you tell the telesales company? Only make appointments with that type of example i just gave? They can't do that so somewhere down the line they will be generating an appointment where they are happy with the services but i could come in £20 cheaper and they drop them like a hot potato. If that happens the same will probably happen to me plus i would feel rubbish for undercutting some other company where like the rest of us they are trying to make a living.
Some points i agree with but personally i will be setting the brief to only target companies who don't have the service or perhaps companies where they are coming to the end of contract and would be looking for other quotes anyway.
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I think what he means (this is what we mean) is appointments when they have a window cleaner they are happy with but would move for a better price, our business model is not interested in these types of appointments at all. If you are unhappy with your service from your window cleaner then we will be happy to offer an alternative, but appointments are VERY easy to obtain if they are pitched from a price perspective, and for us that is not the angle we use at all.
Every business is different, thats the beauty of being able to to provide different briefs to suit requirements.
Mrs Smudger x
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like minds :)
posted at the same time :)
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I recommend just putting in calls yourself. You are the best person to be able to sell in your business and offer expert advice if any questions gets asked. Also a chance for you to build a rapport with the contact before an appointment which means when you visit it's not so cold for you.
I tried a telesales team but had better results doing it myself. Just don't undercut
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:) Yes i totally agree with you smudger. Every business model is different i guess.
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Agree with some points there pole king but that's not how i operate. Also from experience if a company has a window cleaning service and they take you on then it's only a matter of time before they do the same to you. I speak from experience as i lost a job recently but they assured me it was nothing to do with the quality of work. Also i disagree that all companies have a current window cleaner,i'm sure there are quite a few who don't have one or did have a previous one but stopped having the services for whatever reason. However i do agree with the dog eat dog suggestion to a certain extent,if for example it was a cowboy or a provider who did a really rubbish job and they were thinking of changing but....What do you tell the telesales company? Only make appointments with that type of example i just gave? They can't do that so somewhere down the line they will be generating an appointment where they are happy with the services but i could come in £20 cheaper and they drop them like a hot potato. If that happens the same will probably happen to me plus i would feel rubbish for undercutting some other company where like the rest of us they are trying to make a living.
Some points i agree with but personally i will be setting the brief to only target companies who don't have the service or perhaps companies where they are coming to the end of contract and would be looking for other quotes anyway.
Fair enough.
Just for clarity though, if you price 'blind' I wouldn't call that undercutting, mate.
For me, undercutting is when they tell you the price and you intentionally try to beat it.
The end of contract angle is a great one. But pure luck.
I wasn't trying to be dog eat dog, just saying what I've found and how i feel.
All the best with the new girl.
Keep us posted on your progress.
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Will do poleking :-) Yes i agree if you are pricing blind but i would rather target a company who doesn't have the service or maybe i will get lucky and get in at the right time with an end of contract or something. Will update how it goes in due course. Failing that i will just get off my backside and do abit more canvassing for residentials. I still think it's the residentials(as a whole)that makes your bread and butter so to speak but definitely open to a few more commercial jobs :-)
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Hi Smudger.. any other companies apart from the 2 already mentioned? Contacted Marje and heard nothing back and that was a few days ago.
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Hi Suffolk,
she is working for me today, I will check she has had your message, what are your contact details?
Mrs Smudger
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Have just spoke to her - she said she has not got a message? She said can you call her on 07958 373333 - or let me have your contact details and I will get her to call you if that helps
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info@gilbertpagetotalbusinesssolutions.co.uk that is the email i emailed to. Is that not correct? I have a telephone number for her anyway so will be in contact over the weekend or early next week. Does she have another email i can send details to? As i spent ages explaining in the email so i can just copy and paste to the relevant email. Failing that i will contact her by phone. Thanks smudge :-)
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Hi again :)
Try this one, apparently the email you used has a virus :(
marje@gilbertpagetotalbusinesssolutions.co.uk
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Hi Smudge. I have contacted marjes and awaiting payment details so i can pay the deposit etc. Much appreciated for that. I've just had a look at your website and i have to say it's very good and professional looking. Did nat do it? As i know he is very good at what he does. Either way it looks fab and defo worth spending abit to get it looking spick and spam. Thanks again. :-)
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No probs mate, yes Nate did the site, reccomend 100% his after sales is second to none
Darran
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I use them all and none are that good.
Yes get the appointments but some of them are such poor appointments its not wirth attendint. I now call before i visit the appointments to save wasting time.
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Nat did mine too. It doesn't surprise me that he did it to be honest as he was brilliant when he dealt with me. Always prompt with responses and quite frankly great at what he does. Sorry i will call you darren from now on. thanks smudge(jokes :-)
Any advice on the calling side? residential homes were targeted before. Any advice on other options? Also any advice on pitch to use to the managers you meet with? been in the industry since 1995 but this is quite new to me.
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Drop me an email 👍
Darran
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Will do :-) Will contact you through your contact form on website. Cheers.
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Hi darren. Have contacted you through your contact form. :-)
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I have marje doing my calling 2moz, she did tiday aswell but didnt gain any appointments :-(
She is the best out of them all though and is very honest with everything.
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Thanks for comments mick :-) I think it's one of those things you have to take a gamble on. It may work for some people or not for others. Luck comes into it but also how we sell ourselves when we have the appointments. I guess it's trail and error but will defo give marje ago and see how it goes :-)
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Who or what do you target Mick/Darran/Suffolkcleaners? What sort of businesses?
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All telesales is good for i find is business centres, hotels and care homes as they are regular ongoing jobs! can target schools/colleges but they end up being 6 monthly/ yearly cleans so not as worth while doing as finding time to fit them in is grief.
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Mick..how many times have you used telesales? I've only actually used the service once so i'm not too experienced with it. Have you got any work from it at all? You say most appointments are a waste of time? I did find the same the one time i tried it although luckily i picked up one job as it was an end of contract so pot luck although contract come to an end again and now they are saying a nationwide company will be cleaning the windows. No idea if that's the case. The other appointments though(from my one experience)i did feel as though the manager had just agreed with the telesales person just to get them off the phone lol as it had that feeling of the fact your being an inconvenience etc and you just get that gut feeling most the time that they are no way going to contact you.. What pitch do you use yourself? I know you call first sometimes but when you go to an appointment what is the pitch you use?
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I use them all and none are that good.
Yes get the appointments but some of them are such poor appointments its not wirth attendint. I now call before i visit the appointments to save wasting time.
Same as Mick on this I have used them in the past and nearly every appointment I had already had a window cleaner.
Some even went as far as to show me invoices for what they were paying for me to go in lower,some never even turned up to the appointment.
Like most forms of advertising and canversing its a number game.
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I have been using telesales every month for the last 4/5 months fir a while i was having 16 hours a month done but now just the 8 as im finding it hard to fit anymore work in.
The short for how i go in is that i go in confidently but not cocky that ill get the job and speak to them as if i already clean the place, i show im happy and always point out what i can do better than who is previously doing it.
A lot of the appointments are poor quality where companys just say yes to get the telesales off the phone or to see how there current price compares with others. If you call all appointments first it truely doea save a lot of wasted time.
I have gained a lot through telesales but roughly 80 percent of appointments over a longer priod of time tend to be rubbish and poor quality. Becci swan gained the best quality leads i found but also gained the fewest with many times giving back no leads at all which was a bit annoying as you expect something for your money! which i guess the saying quality is better than quantity!! Where as marje never fails to supply the fruit and although there is always a load of rubbish to sort through i always gain at least 1 regular decent job out of a session which more than covers the cost of the calling.
Defo worth using telesales to get your foot on the ladder.
Another company who got me a lot of leads was sl marketing but she was a bit of a control freak with it all and didnt listen to what i wanted
So i had to stop using her.
I also do my own calling on rainy days or if i have nothing to do which gets a few but it is hard! By doing it yourself you can appreatiate how hard and stressy it is for these telesales girls to gain is our leads.
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Hi
Is Marje calling for you today too Mick?
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Did you get my message darren i sent through your contact form? Thanks for comments mick.
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Hi there,
Daz did get it and will reply when he is home later :)
Mrs Smudger x
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yes i believe so. she messaged me on yesterday's calling saying she will do more today as couldn't get hold of decision makers yesterday so cut my calling short.
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We have tried them all and we were doing some heavy weight calling averaging around 24 hours per week, Mick is right certain telesales outsource their work and can not keep their eye on it, what you have to do then is request a recording of the session, to see how they perform, you will laugh at some of them when their calling the person the wrong name.
Mick is correct with some of the appointments they will say yes for an appointment just to get you off the phone, this then is just wasting your time to visit a site and they inform you they are comparing prices, my advice would be to employ someone local and do it in your own house, and state how many calls you would expect per hour.
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We have tried them all and we were doing some heavy weight calling averaging around 24 hours per week, Mick is right certain telesales outsource their work and can not keep their eye on it, what you have to do then is request a recording of the session, to see how they perform, you will laugh at some of them when their calling the person the wrong name.
Mick is correct with some of the appointments they will say yes for an appointment just to get you off the phone, this then is just wasting your time to visit a site and they inform you they are comparing prices, my advice would be to employ someone local and do it in your own house, and state how many calls you would expect per hour.
How many jobs did you secure on an average 24 hour week if you don't mind me asking mate? Also how many did you secure altogether through tele sales?
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Out of 24 hours some weeks none and that is hard to believe when your paying £16 a hour on other weeks we would be going out quoting and the contact would tell us they have had their window cleaner years and as it was a free quote they would take it up and compare the price, so now we do it in house and are getting some good quality leads and not time wasters, you can lease a database and this will give you an option to target any areas you wish .
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Out of 24 hours some weeks none and that is hard to believe when your paying £16 a hour on other weeks we would be going out quoting and the contact would tell us they have had their window cleaner years and as it was a free quote they would take it up and compare the price, so now we do it in house and are getting some good quality leads and not time wasters, you can lease a database and this will give you an option to target any areas you wish .
Lease a database, bud?
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