Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: davep on February 21, 2008, 05:04:34 pm
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Afternoon,
I have noticed cc's talking about keeping themselves local to a 6 mile radius, what i am wondering is how many residential properties are we talking about, as this will vary around the country..
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I'm based in Stockport (population c300,000). 6 miles radius would take in everything upto and including central manchester.
Add another mile and it would take in all of Salford as well and looking to the south west of Manchester includes Altrincham (including Hale, Bowdon and the like ) which consistently come up as some of the wealthiest postcodes in the country. (I would guess at a population overall therefore that I cover of getting on for 1 million.)
No idea of number of properties but I target larger properties as obviously they are more profitable as each room is bigger and you often get multiple rooms to clean. The longer on the job the more profitable it becomes.
Although Altrincham is slightly further away than some parts of Stockport, because they are easier to get to I concentrate half my marketing there
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For those of you that have to suffer the yearly visit from a Yell sales rep they can give you exact demographics for you area inc. where all the ABC1's are. They have a piece of software called CIT (Customer Information tool) on their laptop. They can print this info off too. You would pay alot of money to buy this info if you chose too.
Pete
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I've always been a big advocate of keeping it local, I only leaflet in a 3miles radius which has 25,000 homes.
but I only go 3 miles north if I go south I hit Hull which is mostly a crap area and the traffic is terrible to get anywhere, I can go 12miles north in the same time it takes me to go 2 miles south.
for some it might be better to work on a time rather than a distance, say only work 20mins from your home which if you live in the country might be 15miles or 3 miles in a town.
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You can get demographics off your councils website ;D
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Yes you can Dave but not in the detail I'm talking about and this softward allows you to draw maps on it this gives you every demographic piece of detail you can think of that relates to your chosed map.
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Cool, i have been looking at what area has how many homes and what percentage are employed. As well as average number of cars each home has, gives you an idea of where the £££'s are..
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Aren't we all getting a bit 'techy'?
Here is a ZX spctrum answer for you
LINE 10:Get in your van and drive either 3 miles in roughly 1 direction from your home and then go back and do the other and then at right angles either way, job done!
LINE 20: Only thing that throws a spanner in the works is that a bit further a field is that lovely estate where they have loads of carpets to clean and they give you cups of tea every time you lift your head and they pay you in cash with a £10 tip.
LINE 30:Nothing in life is an exact science so don't think a map is gonna be your best friend.
LINE 40 Goto 10
Shaun
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Depends if you want an 18-24 year old age group earning £18-£25K and in rented property, Surbiton in Surrey (tell emChris). Empty flats and 2 up 2 downs all day? yes please.
Sad thing is Shaun is trying to run a spreadsheet through his Spectrum to save £££s and it keeps saying "GO TO HELL"
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Good idea to market locally as most people would prefer to use someone local. But don't just restrict yourself to that area. Spread your net further afield and you can always pick and choose the work you want.
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Targeting areas what aren't directly around your home is done by knowledge not a map.
Try this http://www.minder.org/ now taht's what I call a game! taught me everything I know ;D
Shaun
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Are you the only switched on realist on this forum Shaun?
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We cover a 30 mile radius and that gives us a population coverage of about 122 ;D
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It's just a useful tool, not the be all and end all. Helps me in a new area and, like John says, assist with areas I know little of and that might be fruitful.
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Problem is Paul I never switch off!
Repeat after me
"MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY!"
Shaun
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Good to stick to a smallish area if your main advertisement is through leaflets, like painting a bridge.. Once you got to the end its time to start at the begining again.. So maybe choose an area that would take 12 weeks to leaflet?
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Leaflets need to be sent out to the same houses on a regular basis. Only then is it possible to build up a decent customer base. As you know you may only get 1 job off a thousand leaflets but over a period of years you can build up a nice little customer cluster on the estates you have targeted. So many people try a one hit, get no response and don't do it again.
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I must be really thick , what as Denis Waterman got to do with it
John
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ok, it is great if you have a wife/kids/family member to deliver the leaflets in a confined area for you but who do you use if these close family aren't an option? you would need trustworthy people who are the best to use?
colin
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Thats the tricky part, do a hour at the start of the day and a hour at the end, 10 hours. Depending on the area that should be approx 1500-3000 done. Depends on how long your legs are too of course.
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This has got to be a crucial factor in your pricing- how long do you spend in your van travelling between jobs. Time is money so the smaller the radius of your customers generally speaking with run of the mill jobs the better.
So your prices may be high but if theres alot of time wasted travelling between then averaging out its no better than someone charging alot less but having no downtime.
The lesson here is dont take much notice of what Joe Bloggs says hes charging , work out your own pricing to suit your circumstances for what you need to make.
Mike
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Some of my best customers live seventy miles from me so I could never restrict myself to a six mile radius , but is is nice to have the customers in my own neighbourhood too.
I also visit two off shore Islands regularly and sometines I say to myself why do I bother when I am busy enough on the mainland anyway, but then I have built up a friendship with these Islanders over the years and they are more than just customers to me.