Clean It Up

UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Aquakleen Restoration Services on July 05, 2007, 02:24:47 pm

Title: To Vanguard
Post by: Aquakleen Restoration Services on July 05, 2007, 02:24:47 pm
Hi Tony

Did the woman from Newbiggin call? I think i was too expensive for her lol Told her to call you as you may be able to do it a tad cheaper?

I thought she might be living in cloud cuckoo land

John
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: vangaurd on July 05, 2007, 08:32:58 pm
not as yet john , but iam thankful for any work at the moment
check this out mate, woman called today . do you clean wool carpets
yes i said , just the cleaner i phoned has said nobody cleans wool
carpets it cannot been cleaned, well i suppose thats us out of business
regards john.
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Ian Rochester on July 05, 2007, 09:42:26 pm
I've done loads of work in Newbiggin and Ashington, both pit towns and they generally expect it done for next to nothing.

There are plenty of cowboys around there working out the back of their cars doing 3 piece and lounge carpet for £20! 

Yes, really!!
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: darren72 on July 05, 2007, 10:29:34 pm
Got a call today from a customer asked me if i had a licence,i said what do you mean a licence she said she had another carpet cleaner in her house this morning who was going to clean her carpets then when he seen them he said he cant clean them because he only uses shampoo and she will have to get somebody that uses chemicals as he dosent have a licence to use chemicals.
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Aquakleen Restoration Services on July 06, 2007, 11:11:35 am
Well my leafleter did a big part of Newbiggin a few weeks ago (maybe he did it all Im not sure). To date I have had 5 calls all of which has resulted in no jobs! They were either price shoppers or didnt like my prices!

I charge £45 for H/S/L and rugs start from £15-£20. A woman in Newbiggin rung up and asked price for stairs and landing (no hallway) and a small rug. I said Id be happy to do it for £45. She nearly passed out!

I asked what price she was looking at and she said about £30!!! What are these people on!!

I passed on your number Tony and thought she was going to call you straight away.

Cheers

John
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: colin thomas on July 06, 2007, 05:18:15 pm
darren, i reckeon the earlier guy didn't fancy cleaning the probably very mucky site that he was faced with when she opened the door, sounds like an excuse to get his coat!!!

colin   ;D ;)
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: carpetguy on July 06, 2007, 06:09:37 pm
So skywalker, you have failed to secure at least £ 200,  ( possibly double that ) of work, from, what is very productive marketing, at least, in  terms of stimulating interest / getting your name known, etc.

Not only that, but you could have gained at least double that amount in referred clients, who become referring clients, etc, but maybe you don't see it that way!

Heard comments on today's news, about the changing attitude of consumers, who are becoming very price conscious thanks to the Tesco's etc.

The " price awareness " is filtering through to all markets, as consumers are bombarded from T V programmes and heavy advertising campaigns from the market leaders.

I have often said and been criticised for saying, that perceived value for money, at perceived, reasonable pricing will keep you busy throughout the year and build a business.

The problem, is deciding, what constitutes " value " or  " a fair price " and that, is someone elses decision, at the end of the day.
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Steve Chapman on July 06, 2007, 06:49:36 pm
I've always found that if your not the cheapest or most expensive but somewhere in the middle it keeps you busy all the time, and gives you the type of work that you want, middle income families that will probably have you on a regular basis and the more slightly well off who are looking at price and dont want to pay top price.

the real penny pinchers who have minging carpets are then normally put off and you dont want them anyway!

my humble opinion,

regards
steve
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: darren72 on July 06, 2007, 07:39:53 pm
cbt i cleaned the carpet today wasnt that bad at all dont no what the guys problem was.
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on July 06, 2007, 10:58:23 pm
Put price aside for 1 minute don't you think we ought to be selling our services a bit more? when a customer calls you they may think we all do the same work but at different prices (which may be true) but to be quoted £20 - £100 to do cleaning work where would you go if you weren't in this trade?

Selling at high prices means you have to go out and earn the right to get the job price anyone can clean for £20 but the art is to get a high price so you can spend longer time to get it right or more chemical or you may have spent good money on education for you to become an expert.

Go on go and sell yourself.

Shaun
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: vangaurd on July 07, 2007, 09:46:34 am
thank you all ,for our response, now i will give you all youe xmas
box from vangaurd ! nadal in the tennis , today and the fav to win the eclipse at sandown today. you all heard it here , from the worlds best informed
punter.
8)
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Timmy Boy on July 07, 2007, 09:58:12 am
I think that all these things have a cycle, like when tesco launched its value range, everyone bought it. Now everyone buys finest or organic. What have tesco done to us? They have packaged all the good stuff in nice packaging, all the crud in simple packaging & sat back. People want to pay a fair price for a good service. I was pricing upholstery up at £35.00 for a sofa and 20.00 for a chair. I have recently realised that I was too expensive for the bargain basement shoppers & to CHEAP for the people who wanted a proper job - result is not much work for me on upholstery!
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: vangaurd on July 07, 2007, 10:08:33 am
in , my past life, i was  a manager for asda.
the food , is all sourced from the same companys
forgive my grammer!
and spelling.
do not be fooled by m,s its all from the same people
but better packaging
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: stevegunn on July 07, 2007, 05:39:34 pm
thank you all ,for our response, now i will give you all youe xmas
box from vangaurd ! nadal in the tennis , today and the fav to win the eclipse at sandown today. you all heard it here , from the worlds best informed
punter.
8)

Glad I don't follow your tips ;D ;)
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: carpetguy on July 08, 2007, 08:04:38 am
Vanguard

You are talking absolute rubbish when you claim that M&S get there products from the same source as Asda, Tesco, etc.

I have also worked in retail, not only as a store manager, but as a buyer and owner.

rob

a bit  like your foolish " tips "

I won money on the two selections I chose yesterday, both were laid !

Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on July 08, 2007, 11:58:53 am
I have a friend that ownes a wholesale business for food retailers, they buy M&S food products from different suppliers the foods are from different suppliers.

Shaun
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: Len Gribble on July 08, 2007, 04:07:12 pm
I love the word manufactured/made in the UK; some raw material comes from Mexico, US or Lebanon.

Rob

A few years ago when I had commercial cleaning side of the business a Polish company supplied all the big brand names like M&S, McDonald’s etc most are tweak to there requirements.

Vanguard

Not sure about (but better packaging) branding perhaps.


Len
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: carpetguy on July 09, 2007, 12:03:42 am
There's a place in the Phillipines called USA, maybe there's a UK in China !

Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: vangaurd on July 10, 2007, 03:06:11 pm
repeat same supplyers
Title: Re: To Vanguard
Post by: vangaurd on July 10, 2007, 03:11:24 pm
iam also an academy greengrocer,
visited many  ;) ;)veg suppliers, around the country,
the only difference between asda and m&s was the grading of veg ie size and dimensions, so there you have it. in a nut shell