[G.C.]

As above what is your feed back on this subject!!!

To many Trades doing the same thing in local areas

Its  over populated with people doing the same as others,
i know its a free Country but really i think its getting worse in lots of trades.

We have so many Carpet cleaners around doing it for S.F.A. its crazy.....I am lucky i won the lottery in my dreams....

So really i don't need to worry about nothing... and yes i don't give a ?....

Its like advertising a job in a local village and there so many people applying for the one job only!!!

But what about your area where you live whats your feed back on your local area...and have you got the same problem. 

With over populated trades in small villages.

[Craig A Moore]

I have it same loads doing it for silly money then doing it wrong. idiots out there

[dale_cleaning]

As above sadly alot clients don't seem to care about your methods and attention to detail they want dirty deeds done cheep there's a rogue round my way offering 3 rooms for 30! Her results are shocking yet puts before and after photos up and still gets work, i try to educate as much as possible i.e tell people ask for ins,training info etc etc so even if I don't get a job it goes to someone who knows what there doing

[Craig A Moore]

I have just seen one this morning £45 full house carpet clean at what point is that going to be done right.
I went to a woman's yesterday she had her carpet cleaned 2 weeks ago and it was still as mucky but she was frightened to say anything to him as he was very sharp with her he was in the house 30 mins .
should come up with a licence to use carpet cleaner machines lol

[scott johns]

this is aa good subject as I'm sure we are all up against with low price cleaners.
questions to ask your potential client
how did you get our number and why did you choose our company
did the last company price over the phone?
explain to them that is impossible to do this without viewing your cleaning needs
there are many systems and we would lie to offer the most successful process to you
did they offer you a money back guarantee and are they members of any cleaning associations
by this time they are looking at you as the professional
also explain that carpets upholstery rugs etc are a manjor house hold investment
so to make them clean and healthy and last 
this is what our company can offer you

[*Hector*]

I have it same loads doing it for silly money then doing it wrong. idiots out there

nothing to worry about with this.....

What you do have to worry about is loads doing it for silly money and doing it right!!!

[*Hector*]

If you target your marketing on quality and not price.....

these cowboys, splash and dash merchants should not even be in your radar space.

[Hilton]

What many CC fail to appreciate is that a good number of mainly new CC will have no idea how to price cleaning and will just be following the herd at that level.They will be coming from a background of low pay and low value, as such they would consider £45.00 x 3 per day as good money and be able to comfortable live off that given that they would be spending very little on training ,marketing and materials.

Equally their customers will be coming from the same socioeconomic back ground and expectations will be low of both the cleaner and the results obtained.

They will have very little in the way of understanding the methodology involved, materials used and the construction of the items being worked on. Similarly the equipment being used will be sub-standard and they will be using an old vehicle probably a van or estate car.

Do you recognise this description, is this you ? I would guess almost exclusively not on here.

So you set yourself apart from this market and consider yourself quite rightly to be  a level above, so market and price accordingly, it does not need to be extravagantly dearer than the chap swimming about in the bottom of the barrel but just enough to find your place in the market with a few compromises thrown in, where you will feel 'comfortable' knowing you can profit from your efforts.

Quite simple really, leave the cut throats to sort it out amongst themselves.

[MarkSutcliffe]

Equally their customers will be coming from the same socioeconomic back ground and expectations will be low of both the cleaner and the results obtained.

Similarly the equipment being used will be sub-standard and they will be using an old vehicle probably a van or estate car.

Do you recognise this description, is this you ? I would guess almost exclusively not on here.

Nothing wrong with an estate car and older machinery..

I've just spend nearly 2k on machinery, training and chemicals... I cant stump out for a van right now... does that make me any less professional??

Also live in a very economically diverse area, where people are struggling for money.. Sometimes is charge less or don't work, guess what the latter isn't happening, I have mouths to feed..

£35 first room, leading up to 100 for a 2 bed house.. Might be cheap.. might not be.. either way I do the best job I can do and I'm happy churning that and a smaller job out a day. I'll never be rich, but until I get some decent commercial clients, it will do.

Every business is cut throat, but it becomes less cut throat the better you work, weather that be customer service or your actions. People come and go, and the ones who are in it for a quick fix soon disappear.  I'm not, i see this as the start of a career, but atm as a new business, I have to start low and work up..

In 2 years time I'll have a TM and can charge the big money.

[Hilton]

If you read the post again you will see that fall neatly into this category,

it does not need to be extravagantly dearer than the chap swimming about in the bottom of the barrel but just enough to find your place in the market with a few compromises thrown in, where you will feel 'comfortable' knowing you can profit from your efforts.

Most of these low end cleaners will be using, old vehicles, vans,estates or in some cases even cars, that's just a statement of fact.

[MarkSutcliffe]

many a fine tune played on an old fiddle

[Steve Chapman]

The secret is to find the high end customers in your locality and offer an absolute premium service that is all about quality and customer satisfaction.....you will be able to charge good prices ( probably ones you wouldnt pay yourself...... ) and have a customer base without too much competition.

You wont need as many of these type of customers as the price shoppers also.......

But if you do charge high then you do have to add value to your service to attract the right clientele

Steve

[wayne zabel]

Market to higher class people/areas,we hear a lot of this.So how do you market directly to the better areas?All my other advertising goes to a broad spectrum which will include all sorts of areas.

I can only think of leafleting these more affluent places.

I find that these people are less likely to buy from a leaflet anyway.

[Dave_Lee]

Working out of an estate car is how I started, with signs attached to the roof rack. It was ok to start with and lots of other business were doing the same. However that was 37 years ago, today that is viewed upon as 'looking' unprofessional. Even back then it didn't feel right and I got a big van within the first year.
Starting low priced with a view to going higher when established is a big mistake, as you will be building your client base around the low price customers.
Of course working out of an estate car, limits what you can charge because the image just isn't there.
I spent around £2,000 when i started but as I said that was in 1980, my last upgrade came to over £50,000.

[Mike Halliday]

Market to higher class people/areas,we hear a lot of this.So how do you market directly to the better areas?All my other advertising goes to a broad spectrum which will include all sorts of areas.

I can only think of leafleting these more affluent places.

I find that these people are less likely to buy from a leaflet anyway.

Wayne all my new work come from leaflets and I'm the most expensive carpet cleaner in my town,  I 'compete' with carpet cleaners cleaning suite at a £45 and £20 for a living room, I'm MASSIVELY higher priced than this and turn away more work that I do as I don't like thier voice or where they live,  the fact is if they are not responding to a leaflet I'm not interested as more than likely its fromGoogle

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

What many CC fail to appreciate is that a good number of mainly new CC will have no idea how to price cleaning and will just be following the herd at that level.They will be coming from a background of low pay and low value, as such they would consider £45.00 x 3 per day as good money and be able to comfortable live off that given that they would be spending very little on training ,marketing and materials.

Equally their customers will be coming from the same socioeconomic back ground and expectations will be low of both the cleaner and the results obtained.

They will have very little in the way of understanding the methodology involved, materials used and the construction of the items being worked on. Similarly the equipment being used will be sub-standard and they will be using an old vehicle probably a van or estate car.

Do you recognise this description, is this you ? I would guess almost exclusively not on here.

So you set yourself apart from this market and consider yourself quite rightly to be  a level above, so market and price accordingly, it does not need to be extravagantly dearer than the chap swimming about in the bottom of the barrel but just enough to find your place in the market with a few compromises thrown in, where you will feel 'comfortable' knowing you can profit from your efforts.

Quite simple really, leave the cut throats to sort it out amongst themselves.

Stand by for a post from Ian Harper on this thread when he next logs on. Respect. 

[Mike Halliday]

They will have very little in the way of understanding the methodology involved, materials used and the construction of the items being worked on. Similarly the equipment being used will be sub-standard and they will be using an old vehicle probably a van or estate car.

Do you recognise this description, is this you ? I would guess almost exclusively not on here.

Yep you can always recognise the crappy carpet cleaners running around with their gear in a van........ I use a helicopter

[Hilton]

Yep you are absolutely bang on as usual .

[Carpet Dawg]

In 2 years time I'll have a TM and can charge the big money.

But you'll still be "living in a very economically diverse area, where people are struggling for money".
So why can't you charge the higher fee now? You don't need a tm to charge big money.

The price is all in your head.  If you can get £35 for a room, then you can probably get £45, and if you can get £45..... you can probably get £60 etc. What you need is a change of mindset not a tm.

[Ian Harper]

Hi Doctor 

its the market. we have not developed the market. there are many things we can do to sort this out.

1. associations are inwards looking and not consumer facing.
2. we need to farm local areas more. just like take aways have
3. lots of money is spent on buying carpet cleaners way? because we are so busy talking about portable vs TM to prospects
4. We dont offer after care service. building relationships
5. WE all look the same and many dont have USPs thats why prospects choose on price. just read JP consumers guide its designed to plant questions into prospect heads so they have things to ask apart from price taking the focus away from price.
6. we have become addicts to the internet other wise know as price compare dot com

Guys, when I say the market i am talking about people that are looking for carpet cleaning. Thats always going to be price sensitive. we need to build the market with reasons for people to use us. offers do this. I see many use 50% off, people see right though this. when you farm an area people can see if you offers are real or not. if you run the same one all the time then you will not get the respect.

Its only cut throat because the prospect has us at a disadvantage. if your farming then why do these people need other quotes. I have found over the years that when people come looking they will be looking for price because as above thats all they know. offering value and other reasons can move them away from their position.

AS I have said before and can now prove this about how people see carpet cleaning. just read mumsnet. these are people that care about stuff but are just getting the wrong information if any!  5000 posts and most are wrong information. JP was about information marketing thats how you move the market and make it more mature.

If we want to clean more for people we need to educate them that they should not wait until the carpets are really dirty but clean for hygiene reason. and I am not talking about scare tactics. Odour is the number one reason people should clean.

Respects