[Chris R]

How you all coping with the Christmas Rush 

I have 2 small vacancies left before Christmas 

Chris

[Dynafoam]

Booked till February weeks ago, but have had two postponements due to entire families having flu.

[Len Gribble]

Domestic not a full dairy as yet commercial manic may need help Barbican area sorry must be a TM system at very short notice

Len

[Big_Fish]

Solid until Christmas and started on January.

Nicky

[mark_roberts]

Plenty of gaps before Christmas.  Just as well too as many callers are previous customers and I wouldnt want to let them down by being booked until Feb!

Really guys, being booked a few months in advance IMO is an injustice to your business and client base as you possibly couldnt service them effectively.  And dont tell me they will wait for your valuable services because they dont from my experience.

Mark 'keeping it real' Roberts

PS. time to hire or put your prices up.

[SMP]

Good for you mark - I get depressed when I see posts like this - I'm no where near booked up.  I have some bookings into late december but I've got plenty of room for more.  My diary runs at about a week to a week and a half.  Any more than that and people won't wait - even for my quality service.

Cheers
Steve - feeling much better now thanks to Mark   

[Doug Holloway]

Steve/Mark,

I'm with you 2 on this, I feel stressed if I'm more than 2 weeks ahead as I know I am going to have to let old customers down.
If someone rings on Dec.20 that's different as they have obviouslly left it late.

Merry Xmas

Doug

[Dennis]

Be fair, poor old John can only manage an hour a day! 

[Phil Marlor]

I too have plenty of gaps before Xmas, about £700.00 booked in so far.

Not sure I believe half the stuff on here.

What customers ring up in November & books in for January.

If I told my customers that January is when I am available they would tell me to stuff it.


Phil

[Dave_Lee]

Im also with Mark on this one, being busy at the required price is great, being over busy isnt. One to two weeks ahead is fine for me, however I do seem to get busier and busier this time of year. 98% up on two years ago and 48% up on last year for November. Just over half booked up for December.
Dave.

[*paul_moss]

Dead busy couple of weeks and nearly fully booked for next week after that no bookings yet.I seem to get mine on a week to week basis.
I have never been booked any more than a week ahead.

Paul

[Peter_Blackburn]

Hi,

    I am booked solid for a week and two days , and Im by no means poor or under worked. You shouldn't be feeling the pinch until early/mid December when consumer panic really sets in, the 15th onward is the Christmas rush proper.

This time of the month is often known in the service industry as the 'doldrums' (the calm before the storm).

Theres two words that spring to mind when reading the above posts...... Bu**Sh*t .

Thanks
Pete

[stevegunn]

I would be worried if i was fully booked now as i would feel my pricing is wrong getting lots of enquires but not prepared to pay what i charge ::)Let the slap and dash chaps have them i'm booked up till early december.

[Chris R]

No B*S* !

Cleaning carpets for 15 years, so all of my regulars are"trained" to book early for Christmas.

I am one of the most expensive CC in my area.

I send out a letter mid October to customers that had work done the previous year, telling them to book up soon if they want it doing before Christmas.

Once it gets down to the last few vacant days I stop taking calls, let the answerphone get them all. Sort out the regular customers first, tell the others booked up unless it helps to fill an awkard gap.

But I dont kill myself with long hours. 9.00am to 5.00pm Mon to Fri and Saturday morning only.

This year it is a lot busier than normal 

Chris

[Dynafoam]

One to two weeks advance bookings would be absolutely fine by me.

On the other hand what am I to do when a customer is told that I do not have a vacancy for 9 weeks, and the reply is " Oh well, what date is that then?"

I never loose bookings due to lead time and I am not the cheapest cleaner in town, just someone who has a large, loyal customer-base, built up over nearly 39 years. Most have been trained to book six weeks in advance and accept that situation.

Increasing my prices dramatically would thin out the customers and increase the profit but many customers have become friends, so normal criteria for setting prices do not fully apply. I conduct business in a manner which I find enjoyable - if that means that I am not destined to become a millionaire, then so be it !

They don't put pockets in shrouds.

[Big_Fish]

No B***S*** her either.
We are booked up until Christmas and are booking into January.

We are one of the most expensive in the area, have clients who know they need to give 4-6 weeks notice and book early for Christmas. Being fully booked doesn't mean our pricing is wrong or that we are splash & dash.

IMO it actually means the opposite. Clients are prepared to wait for a trustworthy, honest, professional service.

Phil, believe what you like I've no reason to lie.

Nicky

[Ken Wainwright]

If you think it's undesireable for us booking more than the ideal 2 weeks in advance, then think about the poor old painter and decorator. The good ones are probably  fully booked until Christmas already. Christmas 2005 that is

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Chris Bailey]

So how does that work then???

I have been a cc for about 6 months, done the training and got the cert.  I am leaning my trade and taking my time ensuring I give good value for money, as with you lot, I am not the cheapest or a splash and dash merchant.

My question is.. how do you get so much business, especially this time of year as I would have thought this would be the quiet time... Dec - Feb time?

We are advertising in the local yellow pages & yell.com but the phone isn't exactly ringing of the hook , I probably get 1 or 2 enquries a week all from domestics - no commercial work yet, where do you start!

I know it takes time to build a rep but can someone point me in the right direction as I don't class myself as a sales & marketing guru and I want some of the action!!

Cheers

Chris

[Big_Fish]

Chinney,

Where are you. Please fill in a bit more of your profile.

Nicky

[Chris R]

Hi Chinney,

November and December are usually the busiest months of the year, Jan, and feb are the quietest.

Only time will make you so busy that you are booked up weeks in advance, (I have been in business for 15 years now).

All of the previous customers and recommendations just sort of build up until you don’t have any need for advertising  

But when I started up I found that a leaflet drop worked VERY well at this time of year. I remember doing my first £1000 week in my first Christmas trading period  (15 years ago !), all of that trade came from a leaflet drop.

Its very simple, when not cleaning carpets distribute leaflets  
You can not fail at this time of year, its guaranteed  
Chris