Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: master-clean on July 27, 2009, 06:55:09 pm
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I was wondering what the average number of calls most of us get per day was. (please only vote for domestic carpet cleaning)
Thanks
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I get almost as many enquiries as I do telesales chumps hassling me ::)
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I'm with jim on this one!!!
They do my head in!!!
Mr B
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Not had many sales calls today 3 I think and that's quite good, Yell.com are the worst as they sell on your details. Monday is always a big phone day for me I have been known to book a full weeks work with phone calls just on a Monday morning especially at Xmas.
Shaun
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i get between 100 and 102 calls a day, so i suppose i get 101 calls a day, but some days i get 100 a day and occasionally i get 103 calls a day, but mostly 101 but not always, but often. today i got 3, but thats a one off, apart from january the 7th when i got 3 as well so today wasn't a one off, you could say it was a 2 off. unless i get 3 tomorrow.
hope that wasn't too complicated an answer. ;D
why do people try and see how others are doing so they can compare. most on here will exagerate anyway. get on with getting the amount of calls you want instead of looking at others.
derek (fed up) west
wish this bloody baby would hurry up.
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Derek's right (as always) ;D, getting people to call you doesn't mean that they are booking in, I get approx 6-10 new customers, old customers are usually 9-10 never can get the lot as some don't like the timing or the price which they paid last time or just want to know for future reference.
I do get alot of phone calls but I've been doing this job since I was 3 years old (slight fib)
Shaun
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should have taken robert's advice and gone to bed this morning, grumpy :D
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and missed all them calls? ;D
derek
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I was interested in whats the average for a one man band c/cer.
I would say the majority of calls I get is price shoppers/time wasters, but theres the few genuine ones their usally the ones ask you to come out and quote my fav customers :),
the ones really annoy me is just wanting a single stain removed I tell them its my min £75 and think to myself.. 'yeah thats right miss's I aint coming out for penuts, bugger off and call someone else' ;D ;D
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Hi
Slightly off topic.
How do you get rid off the telesales without being rude.
Or do you just tell the to ***** off!
Dave
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the easiest way of not being rude is simply hanging up :)
I couldn't promise not to be rude if i actually said something.
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did you not watch dragons den last week, its the future.
auto voice answers calls and asks who they are, records it, then plays it back to you while telling them to wait. you then decide wether to answer or zap the call with the zap button. once the zap button is deployed, the automated posh womens voice says...."our client does not want to speak to you, don't call again. goodbye". well funny
as soon as i get someone saying "can i speak to the owner of the business" i simply say, "bet you a tenner i'm not interested and by the way, this call is being recorded so if you answer yes to my wager i will use it in evidence to make you pay up" ;D
derek
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When I get a telesales, I usually pass the phone to my 3 year old girl, who chats to them about Peppa Pig!!!
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The best way to get rid of telesales is to register your numbers with the preferential service watch dog, they make sure your numbers home, office and mobile isn't on any marketing list or you can sue. Do it and feel and see the difference, they use to call me all time of day. Who wasn't selling ist place on google was selling adverts in hospitals to god knows what.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk
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Depends what time of year it is. Cleaning enquiries as follows:
Jan thru March it's probably about 4/5 a day.
April thru May 5/6 a day
June thru Dec 10+ a day.
Since I've started to have a web presence this has started to add about 1 extra call a day (included within those figures).
No, I don't convert all enquiries, but a price shopper is only a price shopper if you can't convert them into booking in. So stay positive.
Tele-sales I find tends to go in waves. Nothing for a week or more then you'll get several weeks where I get around 4/5 a week, then back to nothing.
Favourite put down:
"Can I speak to the owner?"
ME: "No."
(After a short pause)
THem:"Thanks very much. Goodbye"
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some times no calls some times a few , its nothing to do volume its all about conversion and job value for the single operator IMO
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There is a way to get rid of telesales without being rude when they ask if you are interested or just when they finished talking say.. "No Thanks" then hang up before they say anything else, (this parts very important) as if you wait they are trained to 'address your objections' so their reply would have been..
"Can I ask why your not interested sir?" to lead you into talking about it more and then they can 'address that ojection.'
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This is interesting.
Like Derek states, how true the poll is well thats another matter all together.
On the actual conversion from an enquiry to an actual sale is a very good point. You could get 100 calls a day but only convert 2 into actual sales.
Its also interesting to see that some of you are saying that towards Christmas that the CC seems to pick up. Have I read this correct?
Although we carry out carpet cleaning and have done so for the past 10 years and are expanding in this area even more so, we are mainly Contract Office Cleaners.
As for the calls we average around 30 + calls a day. These are then broken down into catergories. So for actual new enquires on carpet cleaning we probably only get around 4 - 5 calls a week. On average I would say at least 2 calls are converted. This is also including Upholstery as well.
Sales calls are around 3 - 5 a week. As for TPS it does not stop them calling. Actually you will find alot do not know what TPS is or who they are.
If you actually look at the law on sales calls - and the prosecution rates for these it is ALOT lower than 3% in the UK.
The rest of our calls is to do with other areas of the business. Which this poll does not relate to.
Cheers
Dave
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when i get a telesales person call me i always politely say sorry but i am with a customer at the moment and can't talk. they always say 'oh sorry, i'll call you later' but of course they don't because they are straight onto someone else, try it, no need to be rude to them,
colin
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I hate it when they use auto dialler and they come through but are still having a conversation with a collegue and you catch it.
Very rude.
Shaun
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I hate it when they use auto dialler and they come through but are still having a conversation with a collegue and you catch it.
Very rude.
Shaun
Even worse when you've had to stop what you're doing, turn off your machine only to find that the power dialler hangs up on you because there is no "operative" available to speak to you. :-X
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Had 10 calls today :o
Its got busy all of a sudden, like someone flicked a switch or something!
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Jim I know what you mean.
I know it can be busy this time of the year but this is ridiculous!
I'm receiving (over the last 9 weeks) twice as many calls as I would expect. (Twenty two on Monday, 12 both Tuesday and today, whilst converting at 90%.
What's going on?
Money wise I'm not complaining it just my body cannot cope with working a 10-12 hour day, five/six days a week.
I really could do with a quiet patch-holidays are no good as you just try and fit work in before you go on them and end up storing up even more work for when you return.
(And knowing you lot I know I can't expect any sympathy) :'(
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Ask the nurse to give you something :o
Shaun
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I get between 3 and 10 calls per day, its up and down
Mark
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Ask the nurse to give you something :o
Shaun
If I asked the Nurse (ie Management ie Nurse Carpet) to give me something I would get even less sleep and have even less energy for the next day. ;)
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Surely the number of phone calls are proportunal to the amount of advertising you do.
If you put out 10,000 eye catching leaflets then you'll get more calls than those of us who don't do that sort of advertising.
This week is up on phone calls for some reason, strangly more commercial enquiries than anytime previously.
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Not necessarily Neil
I only use YP and have just started using a website which is providing good returns.
I'm also taking a punt at Yell for one year only.
But as you can see those are all fixed costs and apart from the website cannot be changed from one year to the next.
But the longer you are in business then if you are doing things right you will have an ever expanding number of repeat jobs and referrals which cost pretty much nothing to canvass.
Don't forget it is so much more profitable to service existing clients rather than to be continually striving for a stream of new clients which cost so much more to acquire.
Roger
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At your age Roger you don't require much sleep :o
Shaun
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Hi Mark (P)
What kind of percentage are you converting on your calls ? Am I right in saying you just do the postcard flyers (with prices ) and no other advertising ?
I know 95% on here would say putting prices on your advert is a no no, but when the phone rings you know it's not a price shopper.
Paul
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if you advertise prices and your true to them prices, you should be able to convert 100%.
derek
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Hi Mark (P)
What kind of percentage are you converting on your calls ? Am I right in saying you just do the postcard flyers (with prices ) and no other advertising ?
I know 95% on here would say putting prices on your advert is a no no, but when the phone rings you know it's not a price shopper.
Paul
Most wont admit but real coversion rates from phone calls would be around 30%.
I get around 3 to 11 calls a day so as long as I book 2 a day its good (I like to do 2 jobs a day, hence need to book 2 a day)
I price high and let the ones that are not prepared to pay my prices go else where.
Maybe if I went out I could improve conversions but I been stacked out for 3 or 4 mths now and not got time, I'm only going out for good genuine enquiries, (The type of high end clients I want)
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I convert nearrly all calls, i advertise in 2 small local mags and flyers, i have my prices on all advertisments stops the price shoppers.
Mark
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Well done Mark you obviously have a turn key business, the prices are affordable but not cheap but how would you go on if you wanted to raise the prices? do you think that it would have a detrimental affect to your marketing as alot of people gasp when you mention £100 sometimes let alone £200, I have an issue with £300 which could be a suite clean and scotch and a thru lounge clean and scotch because there's only 3-3.5 hours there max.
Shaun
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Hi Guys reading your posts and being a bit of a newbie after completing the Prochem course a year ago how do you get so many calls wot kind of advertising do you do?
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In my case it's over 20 years of cleaning carpets, usually 5 years gets you out of the poverty line (unless you live darn saff, where work seems to come easier) 10 years you start to get a nice life and 20 years you get a great standard of living but you don't get to see the money but your family do.
Shaun
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Cheers shawn I do live dawn south so hopfully it will pick up soon but what have you found works for you best? leaflets, yellow pages, canvasing Etc.
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Cheapest way is canvassing by a long way, my advice is don't do work cheap as you won't get to year 5 let alone 20 you need to make enough for a rainy day as you won't work everyday but your bills do come in everyday, whatever you were making in paid employment you need to get X3 as some will go in general day to day stuff and then for every full day you work they will be full days you don't.
Shaun
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Well done Mark you obviously have a turn key business, the prices are affordable but not cheap but how would you go on if you wanted to raise the prices? do you think that it would have a detrimental affect to your marketing as alot of people gasp when you mention £100 sometimes let alone £200, I have an issue with £300 which could be a suite clean and scotch and a thru lounge clean and scotch because there's only 3-3.5 hours there max.
Shaun
I up prices once a year Shaun on 1st Dec, between £5 and £10 per item cleaned, im fully booked for this and next week then on hols for 2 weeks, im happy doing £200 - £300 per day, i will be in the same boat as you Shaun no overheads been at it that long ;)
Mark
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Thanks shawn I allready run a successfull window cleaning company but did the carpet cleaning course as I thought it would be a great add on but I havent done alot maybe about 4 jobs a month. Ill seriously look in to canvasing and look more into pricing.
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What is of interest to me, is the % of the calls that are new bus and the % that are referals or recomendations etc...
Being a newbie (14 months now) I am now less reliant on new bus as last years custies are coming back. :)
The main point is the quality of the calls not the quantity and your conversion rate.... ;)
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Hi graeme being a fellow newbie what have you found being your best form of advertising?
What has got that phone ringing?
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Ah Graeme, you've hit one of the nails on the head.
Many are the calls that are repeat customers and it's music to my ears when a new customer says "I've been recommended to you by...." You're virtually there in closing the sale before you even start.
So it's quite difficult to measure the number of completely new customers when you are so stacked out with work that this particular measure doesn't have any particular importance to me.
My gut instinct and from the rudimentary stats that I do keep suggests that I convert about 60-70% of brand new enquiries. To me this suggests that my prices are about right. And I know I'll be shot down in flames but the number of times I actually visit to quote and then make a FURTHER appointment to clean is probably about less than 1% (excluding commercial which will be over 95%).
(It's a trade-off. Whilst I could possibly convert more by visiting I am then losing time when I can actually be cleaning and generating income. So I am prepared to lose a certain number of new enquiries on this basis. With my work load this is more than acceptable.)
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Hi Guys
I am with Roger on this, at times and this is one of them I get so many calls it's difficult to answer them, let alone go and visit.
Different forms of advertising attract different customers, I have found on the internet particularly, my main sites attract a good quality but the best are recs.
Cheers
Doug