[Bennie25]

To the c/c'ers that go out and quote,

How do you deal with resistence to going out to survey and quote?

Sometimes I find people get arssy when you won't qoute on the phone, and give the old  'oh I just want a rough estimate' or 'I just like a ball park figure'

and you know if you give it them you wont hear from them again

Thanks Bennie

[Mike Osbourne]

I have this and it gets my goat. i know most reasonable people want a rough idea but I also know 9/10 you won't hear from them again unless they meet you and you can do your stuff before you hit them with the investment they will need to make to get want they really need.

If you imagine you are the custy what could someone say that would be in your interest for the carpet man to come round?

Even better ask them.

Have lots of turnarounds for when they say, yes but how much will it be, roughly?

It does work. Got a job this week. She rang 15 CC I was the only one who quoted and got the job. I'm sure others would have quoted but they took her first refusal.

You also have to make sure they are worth your time. Qualify them hard before you put a lot of effort in. 

[Gerry Styles]

Wonder if any of them ring thier local supermaket for a rough estimate on the price of Baked Beans. I probably get one in ten of the jobs I quote on the phone. I try to get as many visits as possible but most of them seem to just call and thats the last I hear

[Straker Cleaning]

Can give rough price over phone but it needs to be seen to offer advice on results expected, cleaning times & drying times etc.

Can only think of two visits, in past year, where i have not got the job once i have surveyed   

[mark shannon]

Never quote over phone unless you know it will be a complete waste of time going out for a survey.

 

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I almost always quote over the phone and get a healthy success rate.

I give a price with the proviso that I may adjust it slightly when I arrive to clean, but almost always stick with it on the rough or smooth principle.

Saves loads of time, I think internet shoppers want a fast response.

Cheers

Doug

[carpet guy]

I think many of the newer people to this industry are allowing themselves to be brainwashed by marketing theorists.....................you are in most cases an individual, running your own show.

There is no guaranteed method that will suite every Tom, Dick and Harriot when it comes to marketing. On here you are blessed with a fantastic bunch of individuals who all do things differently.

There are a number of individuals like Chris Straker / Mike Halliday  / Dave ( liahona ) / Paul Moss / Doug Holloway and others who are SUPER CONFIDENT individuals.................I've never met any of these guys, but they exude a confidence, which gives their clients a sense of security when they first contact them, or possibly even before they meet, from their presentation on their chosen marketing method.

Most people who come across the above gentlemen's marketing are already at least 50% SOLD before they make contact...................

THIS IS WHERE YOU WANT TO BE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rob...................the old geezer

[Bennie25]

Going a bit off topic, I know the benifits of going out to quote, your preaching to the converted.

The question is how do you deal with the resistence to going out, you know the ones that insist on a rough estimate, how do you deal with them in a way thats still friendly when they get a bit annoyed that you wont give a price,

PS. I Seen on some advertising recently: "NOTE. we do not give prices over the phone, an on site survey and quote is always required"

Think this might be a good idea!

[carpet guy]

You can always give an ESTIMATE based on size and degree of soiling.............

[Steve Chapman]

We often, if pressed give an estimate between two prices so you have a bit of lee way,but then say it will be more accurate when we come and survey and most are happy with that.

we often find not all who ask for a price are price shoppers, they do it because they think thats the right thing to do when phoning about a job , especially elderly people, once given a price many are just happy they have an idea of cost then go on to have other things cleaned!

I must admit i nearly always ask for idea of price when phoning for jobs to be done, and if you're in a hurry you just want to get it done, so i dont think its always a negative thing.

If a customer insists on not doing a survey then i will say we will do it when we get there, so theres always the option to walk away if it's not as described.


regards
steve

[carpet guy]

I agree with Carpet Doc I would always ask for a price for any service or product I am enquiring about

rob

[markpowell]

i agree with Doug, this is the way i work sometimes you maybe a little under and sometimes a little over. I have tried to do only surveys and quotes and explained why but it seems to put people off. Loads of times I have priced over the phone and when i get to the job the customer has said she rang other cleaners and they all wanted to visit to quote, i was the only one who quoted over the phone and thats the reason i got the job, think they expect pushy sales tactics on surveys.
Mark

[mark shannon]

I find if you explain to custy that all carpets and fibers are different and that you need to perform a no obligation survey to ascertain the result they can expect from the clean, drying times,what they need to do, etc,etc

Price shoppers who insist on phone quotes aren't Worth having.

Many ask price only because they do not know what else to ask.

[Mike Halliday]

some people want a price over the phone because they don't want to put you to the hassle of driving all the way to their house to give them an in-house quote, in some ways they are trying to do you a favour.

So when they call quickly as possible find out where they live, then tell them you drive right past their street every night so it wouldn't be any trouble to pop in to give them an exact price.

its OK to quote low price jobs over the phone but go over £150ish and you need to get in the house.

[from edge2edge]

I tend to agree with Dougs outlook .Yes you will get(convert) more jobs if you get to go for the survey but if you insist on a survery quite often you get overlooked.Win some lose some is a good principle and i always think that if it takes one to two hours round trip to survey then the job has got to be worth it if you get it.We can all walk away if the customer has given us the wrong information and still insists we do the job for the quoted price.surely thats the beauty of being self employed. Alan(swindon)

[carpet guy]

Mark Shannon ..............read your first sentence and put yourself at the receiving end of that sentence, if you were given that response when requesting an estimate of what you might be expected to pay for, what in your mind, is a straightforward task, how would you react ?

Most people have no time for waffle, they think it's an attempt to justify a higher than average price.

Time wasters..............don't think so.............if you think you can " cherry pick " all of your clients, you  will have a great deal of time on you hands and remember, most only repeat every 12 months, if you justify it.

[Mike Osbourne]

Come on then Mr Carpet Guy, tell us what you do when someone asks for a price. From what you are saying you just give them an average or lower than average price is that right?

Wonderful.  :

[ollie]

As soon as I get any resistance to not quoting over the phone i just say something along the lines of  "its a totally no obligation quote and in the extremely unlikely event of anything going wrong my insurance wouldnt pay out if I didnt produce a pre clean survey" This normally gets them for me.

[carpet guy]

Some of you are so full of your own importance you fail to remember what you are actually about !    Supplying a service.............period !

If I am asked for a " quote " I certainly don't waffle about " the many reasons I must call and  lose the interest of the prospect.

My first response is.................."where do you live", which immediately gives me an idea of the property  being discussed , followed by  "what exactly do you want cleaning"if it's only a couple of carpets I will give an estimate, between £x and £y unless the soiling is exceptional, in which case it might be nearer £z. More often than not people will say it's really filthy............when it's not and it's not that dirty, when it's manky.

If it's more than a couple of carpets or includes a suite, I will simply ask " can I have a look first "and 99% of the time this is arranged.

If you don't like dealing with people who ask " how much "advertise your prices, if you appear devious many prospects will call other services.

How do you react when you find web sites with something you are interested in but no prices. I know it totally p****s me off and I look elsewhere.

1% of the business get high end clients all of the time as they filter out the rest through their marketing  activities.

The other 99% get a mixed bag and most of them will take the good with the bad, knowing that some crappy jobs can lead to unexpectedly highvalue jobs later, but it requires something that has become a very scarce commodity in our current society.............PATIENCE.

[spindle]

 i offer a free estimate on the phone..........if they are happy with my estimate then i go out to look at the job and my price will be there or there abouts.

i convert 9/10 this way.....(it helps that i am good looking)

price shoppers do not bother me...... if i was going out to buy a car/tv/holiday etc
it is pure common sense that you dont buy from the first shop that you look in.....
 15/20 mins looking about can save you hundreds of pounds.......its human nature to look for a "good deal"

so why do some cc get upset with price shoppers.......