[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hi all,

Just had a call from a local woman. How much to clean two bedrooms (albeit the walkways only) H/S/L and front lounge. I told her how much and she says Ill get back to you. I asked where she got my number from and she says the yell pages to which she was obviously going down the list. I then asked her how much she was willing to pay and she said about £45 LOL

I said your best of looking in the local paper as thats where all the cowboys hang out and she just laughed. The problem is Im skint b4 Xmas she says!!

Hardly my fault!

I hope she gets what she needs and has her carpets shrunk!

[COLIN BRIGHT]

i've had a long week of peasants wanting a proper job, but don't want to pay   
i poo poo them all

[Mike Halliday]

the only people I get calling like that all come from the Y/Ps or yell

I had a thicko  call last week, asking how much to get his suite cleaned, I could tell he was from the wrong side of town by his phone number so I decided to give him a quote over the phone.

I asked him what the material was and he said " its the same as my grans" : : :

then I said is it really dirty or in need of a freshen up he answered " its not as dirty as our last suite"

what a nutter!

Mike

[Mike Osbourne]

I have been walking away from these people, but I wonder.

Should I give them what they want? All they do is focus on price. If I quote £80 they say £40 maybe I should give them half the time and be £40 better off.

What stops me is I want a database of custys who are very much prepared to pay a good price and I'd be better off spending the time looking for more like this.

Also I don't think I could help myself. If I had a carpet and I knew another 1/2hr and I could have it as good as new I'd just have to do it.

[Joe H]

Also I don't think I could help myself. If I had a carpet and I knew another 1/2hr and I could have it as good as new I'd just have to do it.

Tough is'nt it when you are concientious.

[maxcarpets]

you could use these to your advantage by boiling down your price to your very lowest and offer them this as a January special, in January some work is better than no work!
I offer all my customers a massive % discount in January and sometimes the prices are a bit silly, but in saying that last year January was my second busiest month!, second only to August. But I must say I worked bloody long & hard for the money but then I only had a quite Feb before we got into spring promotiond for March.

Cheers all


Justin

[Paul Simpson]

Had 2 last few days, both just literally around the corner for me and as I have been quiet for about a week apart from my regular work decided to give them both the lowest prices I could comfortably afford to try and secure the work. 

One says he wanted it done ASAP and would give me call back on it.........nothing as yet.
Other gave me the get out excuse, "need to just speak to hubby first"

These people want something done for nothing.
Trouble is there are many others out there that will do it for next to nothing.

[vangaurd]

question , if you clean there furniture in nov / dec
 if you are as good as you say you are why would they want them cleaned again in jan

[Macarthur]

Need to speak to the husband first? 
How many times have I had that line.
A few months ago I called around and quoted for a four bedroomed en-suite town house to include all carpets as well as interior cleaning,- £395.00  Thought this was a good price, unfortunately she thought different, told me this is way to expensive and that she would do it herself, job came from Y/P.

Nigel.

[maxcarpets]

I didnt say clean again in Jan I said use it as a January sale price to bag some work in Jan. If they are only interested price, they will wait.

[carpet guy]

Pricing, Pricing, Pricing, nothing causes as much upset and argument as pricing and nothing causes more confusion as different ideas as to what represents reasonable earnings.

I wonder about the background of someone who refers to prospects as " peasants ".  Who exactly are the " peasants "could they be people who are living in similar housing, with similar earnings as the relatives, or friends of the person who refers to them as " peasants "or, possibly, his parents

No doubt someone will say something about how well Colin's doing, which may be true in financial terms, but there could be a massive gap in his life, which he's still to discover.

I 've been fortunate in having been a high earner for most of my life...............but, I would not swap the high earnings for the fantastic wife and family I now have.

Some of you will never earn the highest or even moderately high rates, but can still earn a reasonable living from your labour.  THIS DOES NOT MAKE YOU A MUPPET unless, you really charge less than the equivelant of £35 per hour.

If you you are earning more than you did in a previous job, probably for working half as many hours, you have a right to be happy.

[Mike Osbourne]

Carpetguy

Have you ever heard what happens to a bucket of crabs when one tries to get out?

[carpet guy]

No Mr Cantona, can't say I know that one, but I know how to build a database, which increases in value each year.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I've got one of those datathingymybobs there only good if you keep it up to date and keep mailing and as the stamps go up quicker than my prices I'm thinking when will it not become cost effective because at this rate it will happen.

Shaun

[Joe H]

send em emails with your offers - same database, different address

[carpet guy]

Over the past year a company has set up in this area and has taken a massive slice of the market for Estate Agency sales.

First thing they did, was buy an old bus - the smaller shuttle type - which was wrapped - could just as easily been painted or had stick ons - with the main message.

We will sell your home for a fixed fee of £599.  Nothing new in that, but, it's " IN YOUR FACE " seven days a week, so who is the first company you think of when selling your home.

They also have a brightly sign written office window.


Davenport are following the same principle, but they have,

1 An easily forgotten name

2 A poor message ( we do Reids warranty work )

3 They are seldom seen

Years ago I parked my sign written vehicle at a large shopping centre in a highly visible position and got several enquiries. When I parked in among the cars I got more enquiries, presumably because people were able to write the number down at leisure. I had an attractive offer included.

If you want to sell, you must be visible, give a good reason for using you and have a memorable name, or phone number, or let prospects know where to find you.

After you become established all of this is less important as you will milk your previous clients for repeat, alternative and referral work.