Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: rich hand on May 08, 2008, 12:18:16 pm
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What would be the best Special Offer for big houses in upmarket areas? Baring in mind there could be several rooms in such places and wealthy people often still want a discount :(
Ideas:
3 for 2
33% off after the 1st room cleaned
50% off after the 1st room cleaned
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I would make a point of saying that you don't offer any. They will just get a great job done.
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Pete is spot on.
I wouldnt even think of any special offer.
Do the job right and charge for it
We are carpet cleaners, so charge for cleaning carpets. Why would you want to clean anything and not charge for it is beyond me.
Best, Dave
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I dont agree go for 3 for 2 (smallest room cleaned free) always had great success with this offer the great british public love an offer, you are already there and set up so doing an extra room will take minimal time. It will increase your customer base, referralls etc its a great way to get a foot in the door.
Mark
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My point is that the majority of the afluent are used to paying a premium because they expect to get a premium service. If they see something thats cheap they expect it to be of little value hence its cheap. This does'nt mean it is of course but we are not talking about reality we are talking about perceptions
I can't remember how many times I have got a job for costing double the custy alternative quote. Many (but not all I admit) people with money like the reassuringly expensive angle.
Besides all of the above, it makes you slightly different if you say
NO SPECIAL OFFERS, NO DEALS, NO DISCOUNTS
that would get someones attention on any leaflet.
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People still like to think they are getting a deal, Marks and Spencers do special deals just as Primark do the same ;)
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Top end customers in our area wouldn't look twice at a special offer, I always get feedback from our customers, special offers are associated with cheap n cheerful merchants, this is our area though, things may differ in other parts of the country.
Regards
S
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You must be posher than us northeners :P
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Im speaking of Altrincham in Cheshire and maybe Wilmslow, so some very wealthy areas.
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My experience is that the affluent don't respond to leaflets or adverts at all and choose who they want to hire through their own sources, or obtain details by referral. I used to leaflet a very affluent area here regularly and got nothing at all. I have a much bigger response on average properties. I find them to be fussy who they hire as their furnishings tend to be expensive. Just my experience though.
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special offers work on everything, from council estates to multi-million pound homes. every company from Rolls Royce to Lada have used special offers.
lots of people will give their opinions on special offers, but that's all they are 'opinions', if you want to know if special offers work ask the people who use them.
if you really want to know if special offers on leaflets work then the person to ask is mark from DP design, ask him which leaflets constantly get ordered ( because they work)
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use the 3 for 2specail offer, because it increases the order value, this will make you the most money
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Hi Guys
I would think some affluent people would go with the discount offer, save a penny , makes pounds etc .
BUT others would definitely like the no offers, no bull , just pure quality approach, my girlfriend will not even look on the sale rail ::)
Cheers
Doug
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Free spotter specifically formulated for quality wool carpets
Free care guide for soft leathers
Free care guide for handknotted oriental and contempary rugs
Free home audit- An expert eye that can point out problems, before they become expensive.
Basically use your imagination and see what pulls and what doesn't
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Hi Guys
I would think some affluent people would go with the discount offer, save a penny , makes pounds etc .
BUT others would definitely like the no offers, no bull , just pure quality approach, my girlfriend will not even look on the sale rail ::)
Cheers
Doug
Well you and end of line item Doug and she chose you. You must have a very big........heart. ;D
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this came through my door today, I used to work for Anglian they are the most expensive DG company in Britain, there customers come from the 'affluent' end of the market, what do you see?
but what do they know they are just have professional ad agencies doing their marketing, they should just read the opinions on this site, save themselves some money ;)
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There is clearly an argument for both but I can speak from absolute experience in that my high end customers would'nt entertain using special offer leaflets that drop through the door. I know this because I have asked them and the response has been one of almost disgust. To be fair though (and to offer this debate some balance), I do not leaflet these types of customers so perhaps i am wrong in what I believe but for the most part I just can't see it in this scenario.
I have dealt with lots of "professional" ad agencies in my time and to be honest Mike you could probably p1ss all over them with your knowledge because they operate in a field that is so broad that they are not actually specialist in anything. Ad agencies are one of the biggest cons going.
Pete
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Hi Pete
I am only just starting out on my second 50 and hope the end of the line is someway off yet 8)
Cheers
Doug
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I leaflet high end res all the time and get reasonable results.
It's on white A4 and it's got loads of writing on it. Some people call them letters.
I'm going to try some cards however the problem is you can't get much sellin. on them.
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I think part of the problem with this discussion is, define an affluent area.
A lot of the clients I clean for you couldnt leaflet them in the traditional way if you wanted to.
Not only that but most of my clients dont even open their own mail so certainly wouldnt be influenced by any leaflet, whatever was on offer.
Best, Dave.
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Dave
Did an MP the other day, after all we said about politicians. All dealt with through the nanny as the mrs is a big wig too and never there. Did meet them but only by chance.
Affluent is £500k+ housing for me which means nothing because it depends where it is.
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The area I am on about has flats typically ranging from 250k to 400k and detached houses 400k to 1.5M. This doesnt include the extremes, just the 95% range. There are about 10-15k houses in total.
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I only work for affluent people so I have some experience here.
In London, really affluent people generally do not organise their own carpet cleaning. Price seems to be low down the list of reasons to choose a carpet cleaner. The proof of this is that I rarely quote - just invoice. Far more important to the people who organise the work is that there are no problems that will reflect badly on them. Being on time, diplomactic, trustworthy, not damaging things etc are all more important than price.
Mildly affluent people may organise there own carpet cleaning but they are very careful to choose a safe and appropriate carpet cleaning company. How they do this is by word of mouth. If it is ok for the other members of the clique then it is ok for us. Reassuringly expensive is desirable for some people but they still don't want to be ripped off.
In my view special offer leaflets create the wrong impression and I doubt they would be read by my particular brand of London based affluent people. If I were ever short of work sending out special offer leaflets would be at the bottom of my to do list.
Just my views and I stress my experience is very London based. What happens in the rest of the country is a mystery to me. ???
Nigel
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whilst i can see where mike is coming from i can never see why we as an industry always seems to want to do 'offers', i think it cheapens us, i don't think i have ever seen an advert of a plumber or electician or even a painter and decorator offering something for nothing to get work. it's different if you offer 'free' protector but you are really building it into the price but to offer 3 rooms cleaned for the price of 2 and even then at a silly price, it just brings the industry down. it's no wonder we have price shoppers, with all the adverts that offer silly prices.
personally i work at my prices or i don't work, i'm nearly always busy.
colin
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Of all the posts on this thread, I think that Nigel W has summed it up most accurately. Agreed. affluence is a movable yardstick but if we are talking present day affluence then price really does not come into it. Those people want it done and they want it done well. If you can provide that, then you should have no problem, in charging a sensible price. We do not advertise & all our work comes in through recommendation. Admitted, we operate in London & Surrey but affluence exists throughout the country.
If you produce first class work, are reliable, can string a coherent sentence together and appear at your clients looking presentable, it is completely unnecessary to have to start offering these customers "special offers". Am sure that if on top of that you start offering them all kinds of discounts, they will happily take them on top, but that part will not be what decides whether you get the job or not
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If you produce first class work, are reliable, can string a coherent sentence together and appear at your clients looking presentable, it is completely unnecessary to have to start offering these customers "special offers".
I manage in SW London & Surrey ;D
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I would not regard a household as affluent if it was smaller than my 4 bed detached ::) ;) ;D
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Chris
We trail the same area. You regard a 4 bed in this neck of the woods as affluent. Have seen 4 bed terraced around here and that is not the affluence I assumed this thread was about
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The more affluent homes don't go for leaflets in general they go by recommendation, that's wht Dave L goes to see the person who is already in the home ie interior decorator or carpet manufacturer etc etc
Getting in through a leaflet for the real des res is hard work unless they are cheapo's but we are talking £1 million + hmes where money is no object and trust is the key word.
£500k houses are 10 a penny now a days and the humble tradesman can have them where ever they live.
Shaun
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Has to be bigger than my 4 bed detached ;D .......... anyone with more money than me, a better car than me or a bigger bank balance than me IS AFFLUENT ::)
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elliott cleaning .......... what area are you based and what is your name ;)
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Lets forget the price question for a minute and ask the question
How do YOU provide added value over the next company so that you can get the work without discounting your price?
Sometimes people like Nigel and Dave seem to be like the cream of the cake. Very highend cleaners but we all have access to the same training, marketing and products as them. So what is it. It just cant be their wonderful personalities.
Mark
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Mark,
Some people are exceptionally good at marketing / selling their services.
Simon
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Mark, get in touch with Nigel as I am the worlds worse at marketing. So much so that I dont and never have.
Nor am I any good at selling.
All I do is just go out and get what I want but I suppose that is a kind of skill in itself.
Personality has a lot if not everything to do with it. How else would I would be able to do anything that I do. You have seen what a mess I look like.
I am everything wrong about how one should present themselves to anyone for the first time. But then I dont care, I have only lost one job in almost 3 and a half years so it works for me.
Best, Dave.
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Plus it is Dave's knees in those wellies ;D
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Chris do you hold them down and pepper them with your paint gun?
Shaun ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Two shots maximum ...........1 for distance and 1 to eliminate player .......... too tight for this 'spray & pray' approach ;D
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Nigel W's reply would be the one nearest to that which I would give.
My patch is South Manchester (which has some of the top 20 postcodes for wealth).
Like Dave liahona my attire could at best be described as eccentric! Oh and the van is usually dirty and got quite a few rust spots but it still seems to do the trick for me.
Of course if I was to change my attire and have a new clean van you could always argue that even more work would come my way.
But in the end it usually comes down to doing the little things right which people notice and then use as a yardstick for recommending you on.
I suppose I've never done any special offers (certainly not admitting to the client as such) although I may shade my pricing structure if I think it would make the difference to get the job.