[John Kelly]

Might help someone:

Today at 5pm, the 60% saving ends on my brand new guide to selling to the wealthy and selling at prices higher than your competitors, If you've not yet got it, 'The Secrets of Premium Pricing' is a must - and is here:

http://www.cardellmedia.co.uk/weekly/W15V-Video-Programme-Special.html
but the deadline is 5pm today.

People think that keeping your prices low in a bad economy is the safe option. It's not. It's the worst possible option. It's an approach that destroys thousands of businesses every month. Don't be one of them.

http://www.cardellmedia.co.uk/weekly/W15V-Video-Programme-Special.html
On 'The Secrets of Premium Pricing' you will get full access to everything you need to know to:

1 Implement a price increase of 10% to 40% with little or no resistance from customers.

2 Identify the people in your customer base who you should be creating separate high price offers for.

3 How to use 'bundling' to increase prices.

4 How to implement premium pricing if you don't want to increase the prices of your core products and services.

5 Premium pricing for B2B and B2C

6 How to re-position your entire business to sell to the wealthier customers - and how to find those customers

7 How to charge the prices you deserve in the most price competitive markets

and much more.

Don't miss out on this very important information. It disappears at 5pm today:

http://www.cardellmedia.co.uk/weekly/W15V-Video-Programme-Special.html

[John Kelly]

Just watch this section and smell the coffee:

http://www.cardellmedia.co.uk/weekly/W15V-Video-Programme-Special.html

[Ian Gourlay]

Hi John have you become an affliate to Chris Cardell or something.

Style of post similar to 30k emails in my in box

Not a moderator objecting and do realize you have advertising rights.

Just curious

[John Kelly]

Ian

Not affiliated to Chris Cardell in any way whatsoever.  I simply signed up a few years ago to receive emails from him (I'm sure others on this forum probably do the same).  Tend not to read most of them but with the recent posting regarding price war etc I thought it might be of some interest. 

I am finding a lot of my customers are tending to be charging less than they were in the past.  This has only one consequence in that your business becomes less profitable and it is a slippy downward slope.  Hence the post. 

I thought the purpose of this forum was to try and help carpet cleaners and businesses be as successful as possible by sharing relevant information. 

Are you saying you don't want this type of information posted in the future?

[John Kelly]

By the way I am not suggesting buying the DVD'S but just watching the video is worth 3 minutes of your time.

[Craigp]

Good post John, For anyone looking to up their price and their profit it would definitely be worth them buying th DVD.

The guy sounds just like Robert Saunders, not what he's saying but the English come American accent. 

[garry22]

Wasn't Chris Cardell a member of Dan Kennedy's "Inner Circle". They pay him a fortune and then the info goes down the chain.

In saying that, he's got far more real world knowledge that most agencies stuffed with marketing graduates.

[garry22]

Just remembered this book...

http://www.amazon.com/Sell-Prices-Higher-Than-Competitors/dp/0963192302

[Garyj]

Have you seen in the members special offers area there is a chap claiming to be a marketing genius. Same chap is trying to drum up business on the general cleaning forum. Take a look at his website! If nothing else its a lesson in what not to do.

I used to listen to Chris Cardell years ago, no doubt he is good but like all these marketers uses a hundred words when one will do and ends up boring me to death.

[Jim_77]

Ian, maybe John should have put the text in a quote, and mentioned he was "passing it on" as info to other cleaners... I think most people could work out straight away it wasn't directly written by John

I used to get Chris Cardell's emails but at the end of the day all he's doing is marketing his own business and trying to get you to fork out huge sums of money to be in his "VIP" club or whatever he calls it now.  Sure, he throws you little tit-bits of info but tbh it's all common sense basic stuff you can read in a million other places on the internet.

I unsubscribed from his emails after a while as it was just the same BS being re-regurgitated in slightly different ways

I am extremely cynical about miracle marketing in a box you can buy off people like this.  All they are doing is poking your pain, suggesting to you that just by parting with some cash you can suddenly transform your business and start making 100 times more money or whatever.

The truth is, if you've got it in you to carry out these strategies you're buying, you could do it off your own back anyway - it's all about motivation and drive.  I wonder how many people sign on the dotted line and then go on never to achieve any good, because they just don't follow through (I would be like that, don't mind admitting it!)

[garry22]

That's interesting Jim.

I remember when I did my copywriting training. One top US copywriter reckoned that 50% of his high price packages still sat on peoples' shelves (still in the cellophane). He thought that people were happy to own the systems / courses without ever implementing them.

[John Kelly]

Some good points Jim. I have listened to a few of his webinars and tried not to fall asleep, however I do digest some snippets of info which can be very helpfull.
The reason I posted is because I believe carpet cleaners, probably more than other services, seem to have a mental blockage when it comes to pricing. I was one of them when I first started and once I got over the low price mentality my business took off. I wasn't expensive just charging a decent rate for the work I did.
Trouble is I see people on a weekly basis who are charging half what I was charging in 1994. I try to get them to se how travelling to a job and charging 20 quid is actually costing them money. Some are listening others aren't. They seem stuck in this low price cauldron and strangely it seems to be the guys at the bottom end who are struggling the most at the moment.

[Gary Longley]

Some good points Jim. I have listened to a few of his webinars and tried not to fall asleep, however I do digest some snippets of info which can be very helpfull.
The reason I posted is because I believe carpet cleaners, probably more than other services, seem to have a mental blockage when it comes to pricing. I was one of them when I first started and once I got over the low price mentality my business took off. I wasn't expensive just charging a decent rate for the work I did.
Trouble is I see people on a weekly basis who are charging half what I was charging in 1994. I try to get them to se how travelling to a job and charging 20 quid is actually costing them money. Some are listening others aren't. They seem stuck in this low price cauldron and strangely it seems to be the guys at the bottom end who are struggling the most at the moment.

Sign of the times I'm afraid. We've gone backwards with pricing. Is it anything to do with Eastern Europeans being allowed in, setting up and undercutting?

When you do quote after quote and you keep getting knock backs because the customer tells you you're too expensive then it's time to drop your prices until such time as the economy picks up.

John, are you worried because cc's are not charging enough (in your opinion) that may in turn reflect on your business in terms of sales??

Are you trying to 'beat the drum' here?

If cc's want to charge £10 per room and they're making 'a living' then let them. Don't forget some have minimum charges such as £60!!??

[Hilton]

Its interesting, I dont know the fella or anything about him so just one observation.

He's trying to impress on you how important it is to to up your prices not cut them,especially in the current climate.

Then promptly lobs £300 of the price of the DVD's etc.

Surely if he was confident in his ability to show you how to boost prices and sales he would have the courage of his own convictions and up the price or keep it at its true value, instead of cutting his prices, the very thing he is telling you not to do.

Interesting though all the same.....

[Warren Aldridge]

I agree with Hilton and that is an observation that highlights the complete BS.

Never spend money on people who make money telling others how to make money

[Garyj]

Its interesting, I dont know the fella or anything about him so just one observation.

He's trying to impress on you how important it is to to up your prices not cut them,especially in the current climate.

Then promptly lobs £300 of the price of the DVD's etc.

Surely if he was confident in his ability to show you how to boost prices and sales he would have the courage of his own convictions and up the price or keep it at its true value, instead of cutting his prices, the very thing he is telling you not to do.

Interesting though all the same.....

Some eople just don't get it do they? Is it even worth pointing out the obvious??

[Mike Halliday]

IMO...

the problem with discussing marketing ( especially within carpet cleaning) is people who talk crap or don't tell the full story, especially on these Internet forums. They make out they are the big success and hand out advice while they are on the bones of their arse

let me give you some advice which you can take or ignore.....

only  take advice from someone who  runs a company that you want to emulate,

why take business advice from someone who charges  £10 a room or £60 a suite? if you want to run a company that charge 3 times that price.... does the MD of M&S ring up the local  corner shop for advice?........ The hard thing is finding out if they are the type of company you want to mimic because if you notice a lot of 'successful' carpet cleaners on here are very quite about how much they charge,

 I've had people criticise me about how much i spend on marketing but why would I take notice of anyone who charges £80 to clean suite when I'm charging £160?


if Chris cardell is a millionaire and he earned it from what he sells  then he might talk a lot of crap but if being a millionaire is where you want to end up then I would listen to him,....... would you attend   a seminar on 'how to become a millionaire' hosted by someone who isn't?
 

[John Kelly]

"John, are you worried because cc's are not charging enough (in your opinion) that may in turn reflect on your business in terms of sales??"

Gary, no not at all. I just try to help my customers as much as I can. Most of the really cheap guys use another local supplier anyway.

A lot of carpet cleaners come into the business by default much like myself. They do not have much of an understanding of business. I didn't either but did a business studies course and have gone on learning ever since. Still not that good at it and will never be a millionaire, mainly because I am not really motivated by money, which in my opinion to be rich you have to be.
The main problem I see is a lot of us are from a working class background and our families never had a surplus of cash. Everything our parents did, holidays etc had to be budgeted for. That mentality sticks with you later in life and can make you frightened of charging higher rates for your services, in my opinion anyway.
However there is a vast swath of people (potential customers) who have have had a relatively comfortable upbringing and now have a comfortable lifestyle and are prepared to pay decent money for a good service.

Good post Mike.

[Hilton]

Its interesting, I dont know the fella or anything about him so just one observation.

He's trying to impress on you how important it is to to up your prices not cut them,especially in the current climate.

Then promptly lobs £300 of the price of the DVD's etc.

Surely if he was confident in his ability to show you how to boost prices and sales he would have the courage of his own convictions and up the price or keep it at its true value, instead of cutting his prices, the very thing he is telling you not to do.

Interesting though all the same.....

Some eople just don't get it do they? Is it even worth pointing out the obvious??

Yes please do, share it with us I'm here to be educated.

[clinton]

Seems a good post john and worth a look at what you quoted..