[craigp]

hi all,

i been thinking, (this subject was touched on in another post) with the rise of laminate flooring and leather upholstery,

combinded with more effective(err not sure about that one) cheaper DIY machines,

added to that the last 10 years have seen more and more c/c business, there used to be 2 pages of carpet cleaners in Y/P now theres around 10,

its supprising theres enough work to go round.

how do you all see the future of this industry?

could things get so competitive that the prices we charge will have to come down?

does the future look good?

[Liahona]

There will always be plenty of work, how many houses do you pass a day and how many c/c do you see at work? Granted theses figures are old but as of 1997 if all registered c/c's worldwide (I know there are many who aren't) cleaned for 24 hours a day for 365 days, they wouldnt clean more than 10% of the new carpets fitted in North America. Meaning for the amount of houses that actually need cleaning we dont by any strech of the imagination have enough c/c.....Our problem if any is that most people just dont get their carpets cleaned. Sad but true. For the record, I am fortunate to have 3 properties, two are in the middle of nowhere so dont count but where I live when I am cleaning so to speak is in an area of and i am guessing 30,000 houses with in a 5 mile radius. Bath is 17 miles away and so is Bristol. Gloucester isnt too far away and neither is Swindon. With all points between there are 100's of thousands or millions of houses to be cleaned. In terms of yellow pages there are 5 or 6 fast trackers as well as a boat load of other cleaners. I am sure you get the point, there is way too much work out there, we just have to go out and find it. My point is also, with the aforementioned fast trackers and other people where I live I have never seen a leaflet advertising c/c, as it is so well used I do wonder why. I would say that where I live the average job would be in the region of 250 or 300 just to clean. It is not the market I am after but it is a good one. Just two a day isnt a bad crack and if you could do 3 then the third would be almost clear profit. The future of this business is in our own hands, maybe we are to blame if we cant find a carpet to clean again its not like they arent out there or dirty. Best, Dave.

[dave401uk]

Dave, i liked your post.....well put

Dave

[Mike Osbourne]

Very well put Dave. So much so you have inspired me to write my first post.

Mike

[craigp]

dave,

i dont agree theres more than enough work..

if thats the case why do so many write on here that they get only 3 calls from a yellow pages ad, its not like the public are crying out for c/c !

if they were, would'nt they look in y/p?

now plumbers have more than enough work to go round, do you know any c/c that are busy than a plumber,

i think your talking rubbish. i mean we all know as you kindly point out theres millions of house holds in the uk, whats that got to do with the price of fish its no reflection on if theres to many c/c to meet demand.

[nick p]

hi

i think that there is more carpets out there than carpet cleaners can handle it is down to us carpet cleaners to get out there and educate the customer about having regular carpet cleaning done as most of them are not edcated

cheers nick

[craigp]

your right, theres more carpets than we could all clean,

But not enough work!

i believe the market is saturated, people don't like to agree on here cus they like to pretend there flat out with work, funny cus most of em chatting on here all day.

[nick p]

hi

thats where the education comes in if we educete the customers more then you gain more work

cheers nick

[Martin S]

Agree with Nick and Liahona, all about educating customer.  You can't compare with Plumbers because their service operates on 'NEED'.  C Heating breaks down must get it fixed.  Carpets look dirty, stop looking down. 

[Steve Chapman]

Education of the customer really is the key, to generate real business you need to do the one thing most of us hate and thats getting out and speaking face to face with  people, if you do you will come away with more jobs you can handle

much money is spent and wasted on sticking leaflets through peoples doors but most will see and think about booking you and then just forget all about it :

Meet people and they will willingly give you the work, that's a fact, nearly everyone has a carpet or rug
regards
steve

[Mark Roberts]

Meet people and they will willingly give you the work, that's a fact, nearly everyone has a carpet or rug Wink

Agreed. Too many spend all day on here or waiting for the phone too ring. Get out there and talk to people.

[stains-away]

I think that there is plenty of work out there,it is just as people say a case of getting out and meeting people face to face,once your in front of people its not hard to sell, Im out leafleting tomorrow (distributor has let me down ) and I might try door knocking in a few streets to see where it gets me, it cant be any worse than the results of the last couple of weeks leaflet drops! , Andy

[Steve Chapman]

Try this one, i picked it up from Rainbow, when you do a job knock a few doors down  the same street and say 'i've been at one of your neighbours I just thought you may like a quote while i'm still in the area'  -  It normally works a treat for me

They would of seen your van previously anyway so will know it's all professional etc   and there's nothing like getting people book up if they think their neighbours have had it done
regards
steve

[Shaun_Ashmore]

We all advertise in the place we think is one of the best YP, here we are going to customers that have had their carpets cleaned before so you get 20 carpet cleaners going for may be 10% of the cleaning population.

If you turn it on it's head there is 90% untouch who may want there carpet cleaned but just don't know who or where to go or just don't know they want their carpet cleaned.

Leaflets open up the 90% a bit more then there are several other gate ways into the 90%.

Most of us are going head to head and driving prices down by going to the few, we need converts to raise the 10%.

Shaun

[craigp]

i think your right there shaun, i think raising standards of advertising and also service will go some way to obtaining some of these 'virgin c/c customers' and i dont know about you chaps but i often have custys never had c/c before so we are tapping it.

i often find that many peoples experience with c/c even the virgins whos never had work done but there friends have, it is mostly franchises which they know of and see c/c as very very expensive so do not consider it for that reason, also bad experiences are common (as we know its the bad experience go through the grape vine) and put people off

its interesting how this industry has changed, 15 years ago and before, i think the franchise had most of the work including domestic to themselfs, but domestic now is largley, close to all , serviced by privite companies.

[Liahona]

I dont clean all week as most of you know so dont need to find that much work. However a mate of mine in the c/c business is or was struggling for work and hadnt had a job at all last week to clean nor did the phone go for next week. So yesterday I went with him TO THE ROAD HE LIVES ON spoke face to face with 20 people and he now has 12 jobs to do. He discounted all the work to 200 a house to just clean carpets (what else he ends up with he will have to wait and see) So next week he will have £2400 worth of work to do.  To save you getting a calculator that works out to be approx 125 thousand a year but of course working 52 weeks. My point is and was before, there is plenty of work out there and not enough carpet cleaners for it. We on the whole just dont go out and get it. ...... Craig in answer to your question about the yellow pages.....apart from refering to the posts about it...... the yellow pages on the whole just plane doesnt work. Also and it has been touched on a little, most people who need their carpets cleaned just dont get them cleaned, these are the people we should target, he who asks gets..... not all the time but on Saturday it worked for one cleaner so should work for many more. No adds, no leaflets no advertising of any sorts ........... but 2400 pounds in the bank for a weeks work. Hmmm maybe I should just sell for those who dont go out and get work on their own. But who in their right mind would do that??? After all its not rocket science to talk to ones nextdoor neighbour is it?..... Best, Dave.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Dave alot of newbies and most carpet cleaners are lazy or shy when it comes to the introduction, what are you saying that most are not?

hello I'm dave your local cc

a bit predictable, but I bet it works

Shaun

[Mike Halliday]

 : : :

 need I say more

Mike

[mark_roberts]

If you prod more you get more out and the truth can be deceiving.

Mark

[Liahona]

Shaun. That is kind of how I went about it for me mate but I dont for my own work. However it obviously worked. My concern though was that his neighbours didnt even no he was a carpet cleaner. How many of us out in c/c land dont clean all the houses or at least 10 in all diredtions so to speak of the house we live in? Sadly I would imagine quite a few. Mine included!!!!!!!! Best, Dave.