[Colin Day]

I've just had a phone call from a very good customer, a regular who used to be a neighbour rang this morning to cancel after her husband had the bad news that he's suddenly unemployed.

It makes you feel quite helpless and very sorry, especially as this guy has worked hard all his life and worked his way up to a top job with ROK.

[clinton]

There will prob be more colin spec in the public sector or were having cuts at the town hall here..there again the busy bodies at the town hall dont have my sympathy  :

[M.Acorn]

Gutting !!

Think everyone is cutting back,had to call one of the agencies i work for today,just to check that everything is ok,not done anything for them ,coming up for a month now,normally do over a grands worth a month,with this one,they had run out of rental stock,had 1 house left,say prob 2 or 3 weeks they have a load coming up,but i normally have a grands worth of work that gets paid 28 days later.
Another agency owe me about £600,but not got anything coming up for them either.
My diary is empty,apart from 1 job on Thursday,and one on November the 30th,and a school to ring and book in on the 19th November,other than that it`s looking pretty sketchy

[Andrew Briscoe]

Got to my first job this morning, custy came to door and said,

sorry will have to cancel, electric has just gone off.

Slid van door open showing new maxx 470, and said dont need it.
Happy custy 

Colin, just got back from Keswick, river looks high, better tell your brother in
Cockermouth to batten down the hatches 
All fell tops covered in snow hear this morn 

Andrew

[wynne jones]

If you have a lot of public sector employers in your area and been fine up until now I would be worried.

[Matt Seymour]

My diary is emptier than a hermit's address book.

Got 3 jobs this week, but one of them is one I was supposed to do last week, but couldn't because the machine went belly up and another is a small one that was booked weeks ago.

I'm busy thinking of ways of trying to drum up some much needed business. These are dificult times.

[wayne zabel]

Whats happened to the supposed Xmas rush?

[Colin Day]

Got to my first job this morning, custy came to door and said,

sorry will have to cancel, electric has just gone off.

Slid van door open showing new maxx 470, and said dont need it.
Happy custy 

Colin, just got back from Keswick, river looks high, better tell your brother in
Cockermouth to batten down the hatches 
All fell tops covered in snow hear this morn 

Andrew

I think I'll buy our kid a diving kit, he won't even have to leave the house

[Colin Day]

I have work every day for 2 weeks... But it's 80% oven clean work... I'd much prefer carpet cleans, but I'm not complaining!

[Joe H]

Whats happened to the supposed Xmas rush?

Too early from my experience Wayne

and I said some time ago that this year would be tougher then last year - ok, it may just be starting the tough bit.

[wynne jones]

Residential is very competitive and from a dwindling customer base. Laminate, leather, hire machines, bissels and falling hygiene standards all contribute.

Mate of mine does wheely bins, doing very well indeed, and he knows how much he will make next month!

[Matt Lindus]

I don’t do a right lot anyway, other than jolting to beautiful women. Shame it’s an open plan office.

You see, I can do positive posts.

[Matt Seymour]

Whats happened to the supposed Xmas rush?

Yeah, where is it?

I'm not holding out much hope for a Xmas rush to be honest. Things are tight at the moment and if people are looking to make savings, having their carpets cleaned is probably something they could quite happily do without.

I was expecting a decent spell after the kids went back to school following the summer holidays, but that never materialised either.

[robert meldrum]

You need to MAKE IT HAPPEN .................the successful people in this business never stop their marketing activities, whether it's regular leaflet drops or whatever method they use to stimulate interest.

Too many eggs in one basket can also be a problem. Many just advertise " carpet cleaning "and believe it or not, you can clean someones carpets for years without them realising you also clean upholstery.

I was shocked a couple of weeks ago when a hotel owners wife who happened to be present when I arrived to clean chairs and benches was surprised to find I also cleaned upholstery............Entirely my fault because she should have known !!!!

[clinton]

The xmas rush will come ::)well i have got bookings but they are regulars and referals not newbies..

[wayne zabel]

Whats happened to the supposed Xmas rush?

Yeah, where is it?

I'm not holding out much hope for a Xmas rush to be honest. Things are tight at the moment and if people are looking to make savings, having their carpets cleaned is probably something they could quite happily do without.

I was expecting a decent spell after the kids went back to school following the summer holidays, but that never materialised either.

I too was expecting to get busier when the kids went back to school in September but it never materialised.Like you Matt I'm a newbie and up to now have been doing OK,the last 10 days the phone has hardly gone and although I have about 6 jobs this week they were booked in a few weeks ago.Just hope that people are putting off having carpets cleaned a week or so and have them done before Xmas.

[M.Acorn]

Phew,booked a couple of return customers now,and also a new one,finding it`s mostly 1 or 2 rooms,as opposed to entire houses,but it all helps,needed a couple of days off to sort out fitting the wood burner anyway   

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

You can moan about how quiet it is due to redundancies, xmas, school holidays - or you can do something about it.

It's your business and it's down to you to constantly generate work, not waiting for the phone to ring.

[Colin Day]

..... Or, add Oven Cleaning on to your Carpet Cleaning business and upsell the carpet cleaning while you're there scraping cack out of an oven

Joking aside.. It works for me :

[robert meldrum]

Colin's correct in his approach in today's c/c market which has been eroded to a fair extent by the spread of hard flooring. There's still a huge  "  cleaning  "  market and by following the example of others on here you can ensure you have a " drip feed "  from one market even when your main source has quiet times.

L A's are one source, Solicitors are another, Property managers is a third and their are others, but you have to go to them as in most cases they might need the service but have no idea who to approach.