[AshWhite]

For those who quote over the phone:

Do you charge extra for stain removal, if so how do you qualify your customer of this?

I find it difficult to explain that HWE will leave the carpets clean, but may not remove all the marks without further treatment. Problem is, that quite often these marks are why they're having them cleaned in the first place.
Interested to hear how others give realistic expectations without talking down the service?

[Richard Cole]

Hi Ash

I live in a mainly rural area so generally quote of the phone now unless they live faily near me.  I just ask a few qualifying questions, ie type of carpet to make sure it is not a shrinker, have they had it cleaned before type of question.  Then ask them do they have any particular concerns which is when they usually let me know if there are any stains and I then go on to say that any carpet cleaner will not guarantee to  remove all stains as some by their very nature are permenante, however as a rough rule of thumb I say that approx 80% will come out and the other 20% will either improve slightly or will not come out.  I go through the cleaning process so they know what is envolved, ask them for apporx sizes of room and always round down slightly and give customer quote and state that based on the information provided it will be X amount, however if the rooms are a lot bigger then I reserve the right to revise my quote before work commences.  I get around 90% of jobs that I quote over the phone and as long as I have stated the above never get any complaints regardsing stains not comming out.

[Simon Gerrard]

If asked we just say that we have all of the latest chemicals etc and will do our very best but we do not guarantee stain removal. It is better to down grade their expectations straight away and if you don't you could be headed for a problem when you get to the job. Certainly don't charge for stain removal.

Simon

[JandS]

I stopped advertising stain removal and changed
wording to stain treatment.

John

[AshWhite]

I think perhaps I need to spend more time qualifying customers, and yes I also advertise it as stain treatment and not stain removal.
Cheers for the feedback guys.

[robert meldrum]

Must admit that's what put me off using Chemdry way back in the 1970's before venturing into the cleaning industry.

I recollect the phone call with me asking the classic, " how much would it cost to clean small living room carpet " and the answer "We have to see it first "

On pressing for an estimate I was taken aback to be told the minimum charge would be £56 but there could be additional charges for stain removal.

Never used them and hired from HSS ( I think )





Recently a lady told me she was ready to accept c/d's quote when he announced " there would be an additional £20 for stain removal " ( draught marks )

Now some will say.   Quite right ...more time .. . more product used....so additional charge.

It's the kind of trading style that's so often highlighted on T V programmes and causes a negative response from prospective clients.

IMO the person who gives an inclusive price " for the job " is more likely to get the job and less likely to find it cancelled and more likely to be used again.

[AshWhite]

Yes, the flipside being of course that "Buyers are liars", that is they will play coy with the state of their carpet - Not the best example but a guy an Asian guy (not that that should have any bearing) agreed over the phone that his carpets just needed freshening up, and not a deep clean as he was moving out and ending his tenancy.

When I arrived there, rotary in hand (15th floor in a block of apartments) - there's crap all over the floor, and the carpet is in a right state. I did the best I could, but there certainly wasn't a great result. He paid, and moved to Saudi Arabia the next day, but I could tell he was expecting better.

I do like my customers to have a realistic expectation of results before I begin, but at the same time I'm not going to walk from a job that I've just spent 45 minutes travelling to because the customer told me some porky pies.

[Carpet2Clean]

Hi Ash..

We also ask if the carpets have any stains but most customers just say it should come out by cleaning it or it just needs fresh n up....IT MAKES ME BAD..When you get to the job the carpet looks like world war 3 as hit it (make up /blue tack /drink stain the works..One job last month was a fresh n up (moving out) the lady said it was a 2 bed flat with no stains quoted £80 over phone,she said can you do it cheaper.said ok £70 then .Got to the job.. The 2 bed flat turned out to be a 2 bed town house(duplex)  now me & the wife was f*** off ..Look around first the carpet had drink / food stains in the living room .. make up in both the bedrooms draught marks all round and we use a dyson to vacuum filled that up twice..My normal stain removal price starts from £50...It looks like customer are ringing around for prices/info then using this to mug us...    (Richard)

[Jamie Lindsay]

like the van sign carpet 2 clean

[Carpet2Clean]

Thanks Jamie..The van was getting a full wrap but choose this .The van does get a lot of work from it .Was getting ST wheels for it but work in tight/ unmade roads. (Richard)

[Grant Whyte]

Hi

I explain that we're quoting to clean the carpet which is the removal of accumulated unwanted carpet soil, the cleaning process etc, etc.

Stains require a different/higher level of skill and experience because carpet pile fibre colour change has occurred through spillages which contain dyes. We therefore need to give those areas more attention with our special spotting treatments. This is not cleaning its like teasing or if you like coaxing the stain out which requires care and patience. It also takes more time but well worth the effort because we often get a significant improvement if not 100% success.

This pitch usually gets our customers onside.

Grant

[davep]

"quoted £80 over phone,she said can you do it cheaper.said ok £70 then"  

[Carpet2Clean]

Yes....Thats my 2 bed flat prices..It was our last job of the day and the woman had to take the keys back to the letting agents so was stuck ever get in van and go home or get on with it  ..So we got on with it..The wife now ask everything about what  type of carpet / stain ,have you treated the stain ie vanish etc....

[robert meldrum]

I explain that we're quoting to clean the carpet which is the removal of accumulated unwanted carpet soil, the cleaning process etc, etc.

Stains require a different/higher level of skill and experience because carpet pile fibre colour change has occurred through spillages which contain dyes. We therefore need to give those areas more attention with our special spotting treatments. This is not cleaning its like teasing or if you like coaxing the stain out which requires care and patience. It also takes more time but well worth the effort because we often get a significant improvement if not 100% success.


Doubt if they actually hear 90% of your presentation as it's not what they're brain anticipates so is not listened to.

[Helen]

I explain that we're quoting to clean the carpet which is the removal of accumulated unwanted carpet soil, the cleaning process etc, etc.

Stains require a different/higher level of skill and experience because carpet pile fibre colour change has occurred through spillages which contain dyes. We therefore need to give those areas more attention with our special spotting treatments. This is not cleaning its like teasing or if you like coaxing the stain out which requires care and patience. It also takes more time but well worth the effort because we often get a significant improvement if not 100% success.


Doubt if they actually hear 90% of your presentation as it's not what they're brain anticipates so is not listened to.

Spot on!
I always try to get as much info as possible, always try to get an appt to go and quote, but for those who just want a phone price, I try to glean from their responses how bad things really are. A good one I find is to find out if they have ever had the carpets in question cleaned? If so how long ago? I do find that some people confuse stains with wear and tear marks, so try to quantify that aswell
Yes sometimes I do add on extra,dependant on what info I can get, but only sell it as an all included price.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Broadly speaking spots and stains fall into one of three catagories.

Firstly are the marks that will simply come out as part of the general clean-therefore no additional charge
Secondly are the marks that will simply not come out no matter what you do/(plain uneconomical)-no charge
Finally are the marks that will come out/can be substantially improved but which will take time to work upon-therefore additional charges need to be applied.

Set it up right and give the client all the info to make an informed decision.

Do it right and as I might say to the client

"The worse case scenario for calling me out to treat X is that you'll be £66 poorer and still have the stain. But we'll work from there."

You would be amazed how few people don't bother to then book me in.

Rog

[AshWhite]

Broadly speaking spots and stains fall into one of three catagories.

Firstly are the marks that will simply come out as part of the general clean-therefore no additional charge
Secondly are the marks that will simply not come out no matter what you do/(plain uneconomical)-no charge
Finally are the marks that will come out/can be substantially improved but which will take time to work upon-therefore additional charges need to be applied.

Set it up right and give the client all the info to make an informed decision.

Do it right and as I might say to the client

"The worse case scenario for calling me out to treat X is that you'll be £66 poorer and still have the stain. But we'll work from there."

You would be amazed how few people don't bother to then book me in.

Rog

Thats a good call Roger, I like that.