[Emil Dinev]

As subject, has anyone got experience working for interior designers. How did you approach them in the first place ie. intro letter, cold call, third party introduction etc?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Cheers
Emil

[John Kelly]

I think all 3 are relevant. My approach would be a brochure in post followed by phone call. Even an invite for lunch would be worth the cost.

[Simon Gerrard]

Emil,
You could end up working in some fairly high end properties and on expensive items of furniture and so you need to be sure you have the relevant skills to work on items of that kind of value and have the proper insurance levels too. Nigel Woodhead does lots of very high end stuff, he may be the person to talk to about this.

Simon

[Hilton]

If you want this kind of work approach the high end private shops they will put you in contact or at least take your details to pass on to the designers they use( which they may or may not do).

We did an art gallery in Kings Road once which led to all manner of contacts, these people only work on 'who you know' they very rarely look up and search for carpet cleaners it will be who ever does Tarquin & Jemima's carpets that they will use.

In the past having worked with lots of interior designers, the work they pass to you can be challenging, we once had an apartment which had leather floor covering, thats fitted leather flooring  which they wanted cleaned also paper rugs, now that is a challenge.

In Chelsea near Sloane Street we did a house which had underground parking it was amazing never come across it before, any way the entire house had white carpet, white furniture white curtains sounds crap but it looked fantastic.
The owner was a well know interior designer who hardly ever stayed there but because of pollution wanted the housed freshened up in the Spring.

As mentioned you have to be confident, proficient and patient the designers can be right ponces, they will mess you about ,get you to jobs only for it not to be done for one reason or another, tell you one thing and its another, grossly under estimate the work involved (in terms of time and effort not money) and demand an immediate appearance despite what you have already booked in.Apart from that they are lovely 

Seriously get in with a few designers and once you have their trust they will not use anybody else and cost will not be a barrier. 

[Mike Halliday]

Unless you are going to charge a premium to work for these high end customers then why go to the hassle of finding them.

I have done work for this market and found them to be not worth the hassle and although the job tickets were high considering the extra hassle and time these jobs took I would rather work for joe bloggs down the street.  (and make nearly the same money without the added stress of paper or leather carpets)

These customers might be nice to brag to other Capet cleaners about but they are a ball ache to work for

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Having experienced similar to Hilton I would have said exactly the same as Mike.

Rog

[Simon Gerrard]

They are a ball ache and the walking on eggshells is a nightmare. Plus wealthy people aren't the easiest to work for and as Mike says working for Joe Bloggs is just as lucrative.
I remember Nigel Woodhead's posting some pictures of rug he took some stains of, the rugs was worth an absolute fortune, imagine if you buggered it up


Simon

[Peter Sweeney]

Imagine what you could get if you didnt

[Mike Halliday]

I don't want to hijack this thread but This brings up an interesting pricing question.

Is it morally wrong or just criminal to charge different customers different hourly rates because they have more money?,

Eg; I clean for an OAP  on a council estate and it works out  I make £80 an hour.

  if I clean for a millionaire should I charge them the same rate to make £80 an hour or should I up my price to make £120 an hour......  because let's be honest, they can afford it

To call work from interior  designers ' lucrative' is to suggest you will make more money doing it than other types of customers, but this can be only true if you up your price because the clients are wealthier but why should they pay more for the same job just because they have more money

[mark shannon]

Probably because the items are usually worth more, if installed by interior designer probably delicate.  So more skill and risk involved in cleaning those items so it would be sensible to charge accordingly.
However Mike you have a point if they both have the same DFS suite.

[Richard Cole]

I was approached by my local Interior Designer, i know the owners and they are only based about 100 yards from my home.  They asked me to quote for cleaning some upholstery around 50 miles away, it was fairly upmarket from what i could gather but they could not provide any details, so i would have to make at least two trips, one to test, one to carry out the work and potentially a third if there was a call back.  O.k might have been able to combine and do on one trip i.e test, quote and carry out if suitable but it would be a long way to travel only for me to turn round and say i was not prepared to clean it, oh and by the way here is my invoice for coming to test it.  I should imagine most of the work passed on from interior designers is more likely to be upholstery or curtain related, and they tend to be expensive, to risky a market and like others have said could be more bother than it is worth.

[Neil Worsnop]

I do bits for two interior designers.  One I approached direct on Monday morning when I hoped their shop would be quiet.  The other is a friend of the wife.

By offering to do odd jobs as well as any cleaning I've picked up a reasonable amount from the first.  A morning putting pictures up was a bit of a drag, although very easy.  I took the view that they are not going to let you loose on their customers until you've gained their confidence.  They charge a lot of money per hour so will not take chances.

Since i put up the shelves, curtain rails etc and cleaned the carpet in their own showroom I have had some better jobs from them.  Not a regular source of work but all better than nothing.

[wynne jones]

Dave Alstolme has banged on about this for years, he's the man to speak with (as its what he does).


They are where their clients are.

The obstacles are.. having the balls to connect with them, having to take a long term view for returns, having the skills to deal with expensive stuff, having to pander to bullpooers and being prepared to travel further than your town.

[Emil Dinev]

Thanks for all your replies guys!
I'm aware I will end up working in high end homes, which is my intention actually. I've been to NCCA carpet & upholstery course and a couple of more courses + been going nearly 5 years now, so I am not complete newbie  That not to say I have nothing more to learn. Well I don't really know how to clean paper rugs or leather wall to wall

In terms of pricing, I did a house in St John's Wood last year where I and another guy cleaned about 30 pairs of curtains, 20-30 roman blinds + around 300 sq m of carpeting. We did the job in 3 days and charged 5G for it. I think this is a good earner considering I paid the guy £80 a day and materials didn't cost more than £300-400. Now if I can get more of this type of work I can see some happy days ahead of me I know this will be right pain in the a**e from time to time, but so be it.

Mike, it's probably not so moral in the way you described it. But if you see it form the angle of the items being cleaned costing more so higher risk is involved, then why not charge the high end customers at a premium rate? This is how I see it anyways. Now weather it's worth it or not is for yourself to decide.

I see it in a way that interior designers can help you to get your foot in the door of wealthy people. Then you can start marketing to this new customers and do business with them more regularly, because the clean their home more often.

Thanks again to everyone taken their time to reply.

Emil

[John Kelly]

Why would you charge the same in a rented terrace as you would in a million pound property. Your liability goes through the roof in the latter and you need to be charging appropriately.
First of all the items you will be working on will be a lot more expensive but also should you damage anything, again it is likely to turn out a lot more expensive.

[Andrew Briscoe]

I would echo what John says above, also I would book yourself on the TACCA day if your not already on it, as Dave L will be there and you will get all the info and drive off him to carry out top end work, it will be the best 50-60 quid you will ever spend, and pig out on a hog roast too, if theres any left after I have been at it 

Loads of othe top trainers there too, well worth it