[Mike Halliday]

Saw this link on TMF and thought it made a good read, just read it but where it says 'plumbing' think 'carpet cleaning'

http://www.browningsplumbing.com/images/MistakesBooklet.pdf

A nice play on JPs 'warning!  5 reasons.......' message

[ian harper]

just what I did in 1999 with JP's stuff with my maid service it was so different from what everyone else was doing in that service. now what you need to  do is do what JP teaches and FT does not and thats to take what works outside and bring it to what you do. FT teaches just do what works and what most others are doing in carpet cleaning. nothing wrong with that as thats what a franchises does, but thats no USP. and by doing so connect yourself to any bad work someone does thats using that model in your local area, or in this case tag line

this guys has done, the same as what I did, and thats what JP has done taking what worked in carpet cleaning and bring it to loads of types of businesses and he still teaching the same stuff now with added star dust (direct response). whats the saying money for old rope?

The real magic in JP stuff is the critique his users stuff and by doing so brings in new material to add to that core of old stuff for himself thats how he got Jim's tag line (pink leaflet). now a step on bring in all your top users in a room charge them for it then take their ideas that they use in the field and feed that to everyone else. that what is called mastermind groups. he does give credit to these guys but he is making the money from the ideas

BTW he also had the foresight to use Dan Kennedy to write all his stuff. must have been a big moment to spend all that money using Dan. Dan being the top of the direct marketing tree. Dan makes not secret about how he works.

Roberts FT is just as cleaver but in this case works for him and his users. The very first thing he does is tell you to raise your prices as this will give you the money to be able to pay him. Its sound advise and as I said benefits both parties because his stuff does work. Sound strange coming from me? its just a different way of working he teaches top end and I work the bottom. no different from harrods and tescos

my Cleaning Buzz site is about bring what looks great to everyone. these authors have some great ideas. and before any one has a pop at me they all publish RSS feeds which is a way to get your stuff out to other platforms, and they can turn off that feed when ever they wish, and thats what my site is another platform. or in English great link backs to their sites and in this case also get auto fed to twitter as well. For those conspiracy theorists my motivation is i get to learn some great stuff by building it and its just fun to do.

[Dominic Carnell]

This is an interesting booklet, but I don't think such a tool is necessary. The customer proposition, in terms of marketing, brand values etc, should 'explain' to the consumer why they are paying more, so I don't think an extra document is necessary.

For example, Waitrose sell groceries at a higher price than ASDA, but consumers buy into their brand ethos of quality, which they push through their TV adverts etc.

So I feel that consumers realise that quality costs money, but they aren't going to pay a premium for a tin of baked beans in a plain white, 'a another' grocery shop, even if said shop has a booklet explaining why their service is better than Tesco.

[garry22]

It's a good idea and seems along the same lines as the consumers' guide to carpet cleaning.

One of the biggest lessons I learned in my copywriting training was this.

Never allow a customer to make an assumption (because most times they will make the wrong one). In other words don't give the chance to make the wrong assumption. Make sure you explain everything to them.

I am yet to find any exception to this.

[Ian Gourlay]

JP  and Tim Poulson does a General Marketing CD set for any trade on Nightingale Consant  its about £240 but you can usually get one probably pirated from the states for £80 on ebay   I have never acquired it but wonder if it is from that.

[robert meldrum]

Reading this made me think about time, the energy and the money spent on marketing plans / ideas all of which are based on marketing practices from over a century ago..........

Before getting into carpet cleaning I had a wholesale business, selling to Health Food shops and Independent retailers.

When invited to take part in a course at Glasgow University set up to assist new and fledgling companies I told my main supplier about my plans and assured him of continuity with my brother looking after my business for the following three months.

The response from my supplier was straight to the point as was his style and a reflection of how he built a substantial business.

" Look son, if you want to sell more products you'll only achieve that by making MORE SALES CALLS talking to POTENTIAL BUYERS."  I thought he was a dinosaur but he was absolutely correct in what he said.

[mark_roberts]

Ian

Why do you aim for the bottom end of the market price wise.  As you seem to have an interest in web and marketing why not reap the reward for this learning.

Ive been super busy these past few months and for some quotes pulling figures out of the air and customers have booked.  So its more in my head than theirs it seems.

Mark

[ian harper]

mark

both ends work i choose this end for many reasons. it fits with the way I wish to do business. numbers really are king when it comes to making business choices. there is a value in numbers. For example i cant buy expensive items and I dont buy cheap as its a waste of money, so i buy value. I get value for my money and thats the way i see what the numbers tell me.