[woodman]

Has the NCCA ever carried out any research on customer buying trends when it comes to carpet & upholstery cleaning.

To my knowledge no one has ever done this kind of research which would be very useful when it comes to marketing our services.

For instance when the carpet flooring industry carried out their own research they were surprised to find that 32% of customers considered quality their main concern above all else, next came the guarantee of durability at 21%,then ease of maintenance 15% (us) ,then design and colour 13%.

Surprisingly discounted prices came out at only 9% and brand name a shocking 3% a massive blow for some major manufacturers who had been promoting their brand awareness.The other 7% was split between the don't knows and new designs.

What this told them was that quality was more important than anything else
and as such many have improved their products greatly.

15% of this survey related in some way to us and you could argue a larger proportion could be added to maintain the quality.

I would like to see a survey carried out for the CC industry to research what customers expect from us in relation to service,quality,charges,method etc.
It would also be a useful excercise in breaking down the demographics of the CC buying public.

[*paul_moss]

Trevor very interesting thread. I  quess  the results would shock a lot of people.

Paul

[Len Gribble]

Woodman

Very surprised to see design/colour came last, but then again it how you ask the questions.

I would also like to see a survey carried out for the cc industry, more or less do one now when quoting.

Len

[Ian Gourlay]

Trevor.

I think the Carpet Cleaning industry in the UK has little info on the size of the market.

Customer Profile etc

Actual % of homes who have a carpet cleaner clean their homes. I remember seeing some really old statistics which I think were just guest work.

Value of carpet worked on.

Yes their is evidence that most homes have carpets and upholstery so are potential customers.

Not a lot of info on average price paid.

Consumer very much in the dark.

Also in the Domestic Cleaning Market you have one company claiming that British Households spend 11 billion a year on home help.

Untill now the cleaning industry was estimated at 1.1 billion but I do not know where that figure comes from.

There are a lot of large companies supplying cleaners but full info is not as easy to obtain as in say the Booktrade. Music Industry etc.

Maybee it is and i have not come across it ?

[Londoner]

Another question to be answered is what reason the customer has for getting in a cleaner in the first intance.

Accident, or forthcoming family event are two big ones but if we could get more of a handle on why they want it done it would help in the advertising to target their needs.