[M.Acorn]

Didn't want to state the obvious ,what would you have said ?

   living room carpet 6 by 7 feet office 4 by 5 feet and bedfoom 14 by 9 feet stairs and landing.

Said £100,as no one live in a house that small

[Colin Day]

6 by 7 living room? It's not a prison cell, is it? Seems too small....

[Colin Day]

I would go and quote face to face with that one.....

[mark joyce]

will be a price shopper not wanting the furniture moving do a survey mate bet its minging 

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Ask them if they have the right units for each room. Did they mean metres for the lounge for example?

Rog

[markpowell]

it will be mtrs or sq yds i bet
MArk

[JandS]

My television is 40 inch or 3 foot 4 inch.
It's not even a prison cell, just measured it
in my living room.

John

[M.Acorn]

Yes want to go and see,have had this in the past,where a custy has measured very roughly,got there to find that,and re priced accordingly,they also didn't include their phone number,so only have e mail addy...

[Jim_77]

9/10 email enquiries I get, I never hear from them again.  Notice how they never give their phone number, so you can't ring them?  They want to keep you at distance, they don't want all 12 carpet cleaners they emailed to be ringing them up!

Sick of having my time wasted so just send a short reply asking them to call me to discuss the job further.

The email enquiries that are actually serious always include their number.

[Joe H]

I got this email the other day

"hi just looking for a quote to clean carpets in my two bed aparment they are short pile and the apartment is quite modestley sized
many thanks"

that was it, apart from the email address, no other detail. "Modestly sized" to one person can be something completely different to another.

I did email back asking for more info re size or rooms, is the apartment on the ground flor, 1st floor or what floor, access via lift etc etc
No reply since and I dont expect one.
Well over half emails re carpet cleaning are similar tho this ie lacking info, then no response.

[M.Acorn]

I do tend to get a lot of junk e mails through my website quote request form,a lot from seo people,saying we noticed your not at the top of the rankings etc. etc. If only they would do some research,they will find I am about 2 or 3 down for most search terms.

[garry22]

Reading this thread, I'm wondering if a form on the contact us page is essential (Mike Halliday started one recently about this).

You could have (mandatory) fields for telephone number (land line), type of property (with drop down box of items). It would help to weed out some of the time wasters.

[clinton]

Id give em a price over the phone mark maybe mate rather than go out..

[mark joyce]

clinton I know what your saying but a quick visit saves a wasted booking where you could be doing some thing else and getting paid for it,  its not like we are not out and about is it

[Jim_77]

The problem is, they're never at home when you're around!

All too often I've gone all out for the home visit only to be told I'll have to come round a t 7pm or on Saturday, rather than when I'm 2 streets away the next day.  Ok for very local jobs but not so great for a 20+ mile round trip.

I've changed my tack in the last couple of years.  I used to be gunning for the home quote all the time, but now I sound them out on the phone and try to get a booking based on estimate, then firm it up on arrival.  I lose more this way but I think I also lose more wasted journeys!

I also think contact forms on websites such as ours are a bad thing.  If/when I eventually get a proper website I will only have my phone number on it. not even my email address.  If they're serious they WILL ring you.

I don't know about anyone else but I'd prefer to SPEAK with the person I'm potentially allowing in to my house and trust!

[Helen]

I don't know about anyone else but I'd prefer to SPEAK with the person I'm potentially allowing in to my house and trust!

So true
How many times have I heard "we called but didn't leave a message as we wanted to speak to someone"  In one small phone call you can build a customer relationship and sus out if they are serious or not
It's good to talk

[Carpet Dawg]

Yes, in the words of Bob Hoskins "its good to talk"

But the fact is many people prefer to deal with people via email. Stange buggers I know but this is just the way it is.

If you are not treating email enquires with the same respect as phone enquires then your leaving money on the table IMO.

Tony

p.s. Welcome to the 2011   

[Jim_77]

Disagree.  One-line Email enquiries are not treating US with the same respect that a phone call does!

If someone makes an enquiry, and your reply thanks them, says you'd be pleased to give a quote and then asks them to phone to discuss the job... if you never hear from them again they really weren't worth bothering with!

Anyone who's serious about finding out what service you can give them will call you, simple as that.

[Carpet Dawg]

I see your point of view and in an ideal world this would be the case.

But your still going to get those emails aren't we??

I just recently I converted a "simple" email enquiry from one line to a £600 job. And about a month ago, one line email enquiry £200 for three 2 seaters..

Another example would be my mate, she is doing up her flat, bedroom, lounge, kitchen, bathroom etc and she's sourced all the tradesmen online with emails.

[Neil Williams]

I just recently I converted a "simple" email enquiry from one line to a £600 job. And about a month ago, one line email enquiry £200 for three 2 seaters..

There are exceptions to any rule, but I think most of us prefere to 'check out' potential customers with a bit of direct chat (at least over the phone) which saves a lot of time and hassle sending e-mails to and fro over a 7 day period.

It's a bit like (and we all get them) how much to clean a standard 3 bedroom house.
They come in all shapes and sizes and somebodies standard is somebody elses mansion.
Try ringing/emailing a builder and say you just want a price on an extension Do you think you're going to get a price in any shape or form unless he has seen the property first.