[clinton]

Think if you keep your overheads down etc and do some forward thinking will help some of us to get through it.

I was established just a year or two when we had the 90s recession and a year later a few c cleaners i new had gone to the wall...

[John Kelly]

Carpet cleaning is a business like any other. People who can run a good business will succeed. Those who can't won't. Nothing to do with recession its always been like that.

[ollie]

This "recession" is fuelled every day by the media. If you fall into the mindset that you will fail...you will.  If you think positive you will succeed. There is plenty of money sloshing about about out there you just have to make some of it yours! I live in a town which is always being hit by job losses , way before this new financial trouble, if my phone stopped ringing I put more leaflets  out, which is what im doing now and im fully booked for the next week and a half, and just delivered 5000 more leaflets this week.  My uncle ran a business through the early 90s recession and he told me it was the people who didnt panic and carried on with a positive mindset that did well. He ran a music shop and still sold brand new gibson guitars worth over £2000 in a small town while people were being chucked out of their repossesed homes.

[clinton]

I have got a nearly full diary of work this week

Next week looks good as well so fingers crossed

Any one else noticed an upturn in work

[derek west]

meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
my first 1k week, woooohooooooooo
and 250 lined up for monday,
derek
ps, stella artois for me this week clinton.

[clinton]

well done derek sounds like your getting into gear mate

Being a good friend am sure a case of the finest will be winging its way up the m6 to me for xmas

[Jim_77]

Yep I've been having a few more calls in the last week or so after a worryingly quiet spell..

I've had 5 from leaflets I've done on my own on quiet days, glad I pushed myself

A couple of jobs from my referrals scheme, plus some "regular" recommends.

The usual price shoppers, quick phone quote, "I'll get back to you...." :

But not very many old customers, normally this time of year is strong for repeat business.  But admittedly that's totally my fault, I haven't got my act together with a mailout to my database for a little while.



I had to go and buy a cooker today, I was smirking to myself as the salesman was blundering his way through explaining to a prospect how one of those domestic carpet washers worked.  But then I stopped smirking and started to think..

How many people are avoiding replacement and cleaning instead... but buying their own machine to do it?  It might be more than we think.  Just because people are wanting to clean rather than replace, it doesn't automatically mean they will come to us.

My next leaflet design might focus on the perils of DiY carpet cleaning!

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Derek

Congratulations! I can remember that feeling so well.

Next target £1500 in a week and when you hit £2000 in a week, well......

Confidence breeds confidence.

Roger

[derek west]

roger
its £950 actually, but shhhhh, don't tell anyone, pretend its a grand.
jim
on mypink leaflet i touch a little on the cleaning it yourself scenario.
it reads....
In these trying times we have to look after what we have, no one wants dirty carpets but at the same time its costly to get them replaced, cleaning them yourself is not the best option as results are minimal and the risk of shrinkage, over wetting and colour run are all to common. Finding a good honest carpet cleaner is a hard process as not all carpet cleaners give good honest results. That is where we come in.

what ya think
derek

[Shaun_Ashmore]

PMA not PMT that's what you need, everyone is talking doom and gloom because of the media wanting a good story but what happens when people get fed up with recession just like they have had enough of global warming?

You don't hear about global warming much nowadays do you?

What we need is a positive story to fill the papers and TV for a month to make everyone feel good.

I hear Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand have had a go

Shaun

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Jim

Interesting you should mention that.

Had a phone call yesterday (turned into a very long one, actually.) from a lady who had found me on the NCCA website. She lived some 20+ miles down the road. Single, 3 kids plain light coloured loop-pile carpets. Had damaged the pile trying to remove a mark.

The long discussion involved detailed explanations of what I did including repairing damage that she had caused. She explained that with her circumstances and job meant she couldn't afford a professional clean every year (.....especially my prices what!)

She told me she had been researching Vaxes, Bissels etc on the net but wanted me to come along anyway. So equipped with prints off the net of such machines I was ready to go along and discuss, for this was the first time I had really looked at DIY equipment. Well I was shocked

Thought I would get the job no problem but worried that she may turn me down anyway. And of course that was even more likely as it was going to be a long round trip.

Thankfully she cancelled me. (Hooray). Said I was too expensive. (Perhaps, perhaps not, but in hind site would almost certainly have either been a waste of time or a nightmare customer.)

But it was interesting to look at the DIY machines. A real eye-opener!

Now I shall be better armed to overcome that possible objection.

I shall be interested in your thoughts/seeing your new flyer.

Doc

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I spoke top a lady a few years ago who did Vax her carpet and got it to feel dry with 30 mins but again it depends on level of soiling etc etc etc but I wonder what kind of clean she was doing??

Shaun

[Russell Morgan]

maybe we should be pushing dry cleaning and fast drying techniques to differentiate between professional and diy cleaning

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Shaun

Perhaps she had forgotten to turn the machine on...or even put any fluid in it!

As you say she may have had the professionally cleaned the day before!