[wayne zabel]

As many on here will know I'm new to all this CC and after 3 months full time CC I have to say that I have done a bit better than I expected,however the last few weeks have been a bit slow.

I'm still getting calls but they are usually just price shoppers after a price over the phone and I get the usual "OK I'll call you back" or "right I'll speak to my husband"
Up to now I have always tried to get the customer to let me go and quote for jobs in person and I find this helps,but lately its usually that they want a price over the phone.

Does anyone have advice on converting these calls into jobs,maybe relevant questions I should be asing THEM when they call me ect ect.

I realise that with some its all down to price and they will just be looking for the cheapest deal but with others i'm sure that they might be swayed by what is said over the phone

Thanks Wayne

[jasonl]

Say that you need to see the items being cleaned prior to quoting a firm price , you will be 5 min in the house and they will get a written quote.

Unless you are a smelly 2 headed freak you will win 9 out of 10 quotes, you will achieve a higher price too , which will pay for your time and fuel carrying out the quotes. this is the way to build a solid business.

[neil 47]

I was once told by a very experienced cc

1     never give a quote over the phoned (say you need to see the level off soiling, the carpet construction    ,size etc

2    if they still say i only want a price. he used to say to them  'if price is your foremost consideration in booking a carpet cleaner ,then  may I suggest I am not the carpet cleaner  for you.

3 have found if they are price shoppers are best left alone they cause more hassle than enough not the sort you want.

if you do want  to convert try asking them how much they were looking to pay.

it depends what route you want to take.


Neil

[richy27]

Say that you need to see the items being cleaned prior to quoting a firm price , you will be 5 min in the house and they will get a written quote.

Unless you are a smelly 2 headed freak you will win 9 out of 10 quotes, you will achieve a higher price too , which will pay for your time and fuel carrying out the quotes. this is the way to build a solid business.

as jason says

[jasonl]

Say that you need to see the items being cleaned prior to quoting a firm price , you will be 5 min in the house and they will get a written quote.

Unless you are a smelly 2 headed freak you will win 9 out of 10 quotes, you will achieve a higher price too , which will pay for your time and fuel carrying out the quotes. this is the way to build a solid business.

as jason says

It is the chem dry way , they are not the best cleaners , but by far the best marketeers

[Steve Chapman]

i find its never wise to just say straight off  "I need to come round and see the items before i can quote"

obviously thats best for you, but they dont know you from adam, you need to have a bit of friendly chat first, find out some things about them and let them know what you do, offer some free advice and if they do push for a price, i normally say its going to be between x and y but it will be more accurate and tailored to your needs if i pop by and have a quick look.

once you've made them feel a bit special and had a friendly chat, they will not want to lose that and start the process over again, its a bit of psychology but i find it works wonders for me, also if you make them feel there is no pressure at all and you are not desperate to get round there and quote them they feel alot more at ease.

I found this out a few years ago when i was working on my own and had work coming out of my earholes and didnt care as much about converting each call, my relaxed attitude actually worked the other way and made them want me to do the work over other people, i guess they could sense i wasnt that doing the hard sell and ive kept to that style ever since.

Anyhow it works well for me , but obviously in the back of your mind you do need to get round there have the tea & biscuits and work your magic  

regards
steve

[Mike Halliday]

i find its never wise to just say straight off  "I need to come round and see the items before i can quote"

obviously that's best for you, but they don't know you from adam, 

the fact they don't know you from Adam is irrelevant, because if you just say "it will cost you £20" then they will invite into their home to clean their carpet...... and they still are none the wiser of who you are.

i think the first question you should ask is "where do you live?" then if they say 3. Crackhouse avenue, Smacktown then you can give them a price and get off the phone.

what i do if they are more than 15mins away they get a phone price unless they live in certain very upmarket areas then i push for a home quote but upmarket people just expect you to visit.

[markpowell]

I do 90% of quotes over the phone and get 8 out of 10 jobs so im happy, this time of year we should all be busy if our marketing is done correctly. I simply do not have the time to survey every job.
Mark

[Colin Day]

I was once told by a very experienced cc

1     never give a quote over the phoned (say you need to see the level off soiling, the carpet construction    ,size etc

2    if they still say i only want a price. he used to say to them  'if price is your foremost consideration in booking a carpet cleaner ,then  may I suggest I am not the carpet cleaner  for you.

3 have found if they are price shoppers are best left alone they cause more hassle than enough not the sort you want.



If you do want  to convert try asking them how much they were looking to pay.

it depends what route you want to take.


Neil

He then gives them my number, cos he knows I'll bait and switch them anyway and give him 40% of the takings....

[wynne jones]

If they are close by and it's for more than a staircase I'd get round there. You are only sat on your arse anyway. Get presentable, hide your tag with baggy trousers, do your collor up so they don't see the tatts and blanco your white trainers and don't say fck or bvger. 

[ianharper]

Rule one get their details. I have done jobs where i did not get the first time but because i send snail mail out i got it the second. I think they just thought i was the first guy.

[neil 47]

He then gives them my number, cos he knows I'll bait and switch them anyway and give him 40% of the takings.

Hi Colin I,ve done one better .

you know your big advertising hoarding at the cricket club .

I,ve changed your number to mine 6 months ago





Neil

[clinton]

In time wayne you will gain confidence and experience on and like myself and mark powel you will win a lot of jobs over the phone.

I used to go and quote every job when i first started and i did get most of them..

[Helen]

You can most times sus out a price shopper in the first few moments of their call. Especially the ones who say:
Standard size room
No I don't have any idea of the size 
It only needs a "quick" clean and is very small 
And the best we had just a while ago....

I've forgotten the address where I live

There will be some people who will let you visit to quote and there will be some who just want a guide price.  You won't ever please all of the people and get it right every time.

You won't convert every call into a job, so concentrate on converting calls to quotation point, the more you visit and quote the more confidence you will gain and therefore the more confident you will get over the phone

[Linds Russell]

Wayne

Use the principle (beautifully) illustrated by Neil - I do.

I track my success rates and since I started quoting everything face to face, I rarely lose out on jobs that I quote despite being told on several occassions that I was not the cheapest - your presence builds confidence. I was previously getting 8 jobs out of 10 and now its more like 19 jobs out of 20.

My average job price has also risen by £22 since doing this which if you base it on an average of 12 to 15 jobs per week over a 46 week year, adds up to £12,144 to £15,180 extra per year.

Ker-ching

[wynne jones]

So when you quote do you add the time into the price of your job? How does that change your hourly rate? Quoting in person is good if you have the time and need the work.

[Helen]

Had a builder phone up and ask for a price over the phone, he had "made a mess" in his customers house. I said I would have to have a look before I could give a price. He said he just wanted a price that's all, so I switched it round to him and said while you're on can you give me a price over the phone to build an extension for me? He started to say that he needed to come and see........kerching the penny dropped and later that day I did the quote and got the job.
As I said before, you won't get all the phone calls converted to work, but in time you will gain confidence on each call and sus out quickly which quote method is needed.

[wynne jones]

What he really was thinking was, it's only cleaning a bloody carpet and you are just being an awkward woman.

[Carpet Dawg]

Had a builder phone up and ask for a price over the phone, he had "made a mess" in his customers house. I said I would have to have a look before I could give a price. He said he just wanted a price that's all, so I switched it round to him and said while you're on can you give me a price over the phone to build an extension for me? He started to say that he needed to come and see........kerching the penny dropped and later that day I did the quote and got the job.
As I said before, you won't get all the phone calls converted to work, but in time you will gain confidence on each call and sus out quickly which quote method is needed.

Building an extention = cleaning a carpet.... mmmmm

[Linds Russell]

Hourly rate???

Who charges by the hour? If you're working on the Alltec principle of £100 per hour, that is only based upon the time spent cleaning in the customer's premises.