Greg Cole Coupon King.

[Mikey P]

Greg

How often do you change up your offer or the design of your ad?

The BnS I worked for would change the price form 12.95 to 15.95 every other month but that was it for years and years.

Do you run holiday themed cards?

Do you target snooty hoods with higher priced "specials"?

Do repeat customers ever call and not expect or want a discount?

What is your normal room or sq ft rate? and how many sq ft constitute a "room"?

What will be your death row last meal?

 

[Greg Cole]

LOL! too funny. I will indulge.
Your questions:
How often do you change up your offer or the design of your ad?
- part of my marketing plan- Not telling
The BnS I worked for would change the price form 12.95 to 15.95 every other month but that was it for years and years.
- I'm not a b&s so I'm not sure why you offered that snipint

Do you run holiday themed cards?
Thank you cards? Yes- to repeat customersDo you target snooty hoods with higher priced "specials"?

Do repeat customers ever call and not expect or want a discount?
All repeat customers automatically qualify for current specials plus an extra 10% discount. Jan- Oct our repeat business was at 36% (down from our usual 40%)

What is your normal room or sq ft rate? and how many sq ft constitute a "room"?
14x15 room size = 210 sf.; Stairs = 1 room; liv/dining combos count as 2 rooms.

What will be your death row last meal?
Not gonna die on death row- how about you?

 

[Mikey P]

What percentage of this year's jobs were from repeat customers?

 

[Greg Cole]

As stated above - 36% as of October 31st.

 

[Mikey P]

pretty low, don't you think?


What could you do to raise that number?

 

[rick imby]

I just read his post and he said around 40%. Do you want an exact 40.9235% ?

Pay attention this is your lesson for the day.

 

[Greg Cole]

pretty low, don't you think?


What could you do to raise that number?

Obviously it wouldn't be to raise my prices! shiteatinggrin

 

[Mikey P]

Why not?

If your chimps are on commission, which I'm positive they are and by raising prices they make more $ and can slow down and provide better workmanship perhaps you just may have happier clients?


How many homes do your guys bang out in an average day?

 

[Greg Cole]

Ahhh Mikey- sorry but I will not give you and the rest of the world a marketing lesson on this point. I will say that I have algorithyms written to determine precisely the yield on everything I do. Everything is analyized, re-examined, and scrutinized in painstaking detail. Raising prices would be fool hardy. Perhaps if Houndstooth fails to survive the winter I might.......

regarding your other qeustion: A good tech will do 5-7 jobs a day.

 

[Mikey P]

A "good tech" can not "Clean" 5 to 7 jobs a day with a portable and upsell

Been there, hacked that Greg. I spent over a year working for a company just like yours.


You're chimps are soaking homes at those production numbers.
And they are certainly not establishing long term relationships with your customers hence the low repeat rate.

I would guess most of that 36% doesn't even realize that your company cleaned their house last time. They just went coupon hunting again.







Take a clue from Howard and Ken.

 

[Farenheit251]

What does take a clue from Howard and Ken mean?

Some people want Outback and others choose Mcdonalds so Greg offers the $1 Mcdouble cheseburger of carpet cleaning. I think Mickey D's is doing better than Outback in this economy.

It's all about money-unless you are outright screwing people-I think Greg has figured out if he is making money.

 

[Torn]

Mikey, you so shy!

 

[Cameron1]

It is..........what it is

 

[FB7777]

Mikey, you're starting to remind me of Hoodie.


You have all this great wisdom and advice for a guy on how he should run his multi truck show and yet your experience in that arena is one through chimp's eyes.

 

[joe harper]

Mikey, you're starting to remind me of Hoodie.


You have all this great wisdom and advice for a guy on how he should run his multi truck show and yet your experience in that arena is one through chimp's eyes.

"sMaCk".............."Who-dA-bItCh-nOw"........................ :shock:

 

[hogjowl]

LOL! Freddie is on a roll today!

 

[Bob Foster]

Freddy that one of your best ones ever.

But I want to see the return slap.

 

[truckmount girl]

Mike has a point and you guys know it. I was a porty cleaner for many years. My business was ALL repeats and referrals. I didn't pay a penny for ads, coupons, fliers, newsletters, reminders, etc. I had a line ad in the YP and gave 3 biz cards and a magnet with each job. I couldn't do more than three average size houses in a day or two large. More than that and I'd have been hacking them.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Greg Cole]

Mike has a point and you guys know it. I was a porty cleaner for many years. My business was ALL repeats and referrals. I didn't pay a penny for ads, coupons, fliers, newsletters, reminders, etc. I had a line ad in the YP and gave 3 biz cards and a magnet with each job. I couldn't do more than three average size houses in a day or two large. More than that and I'd have been hacking them.

Lisa- you did all the work. You owned a job. When you quit- the business quit. You were the heart, body, and the soul. If it had been that profitable you certainly wouldn't have left it.

For the record: You know as much about running a multi-truck operation as I know about manufacturing teflon based glides (sorry not sure if we are we still allowed to refer to them as "glides" since you lost the lawsuit?).

 

[Greg Cole]

Mikey, you're starting to remind me of Hoodie.


You have all this great wisdom and advice for a guy on how he should run his multi truck show and yet your experience in that arena is one through chimp's eyes.

FRED! - ROFL! Awesome! Thank you! Beers are on me whenever we meet!

 

[joe harper]

Mike has a point and you guys know it. I was a porty cleaner for many years. My business was ALL repeats and referrals. I didn't pay a penny for ads, coupons, fliers, newsletters, reminders, etc. I had a line ad in the YP and gave 3 biz cards and a magnet with each job. I couldn't do more than three average size houses in a day or two large. More than that and I'd have been hacking them.

Lisa- you did all the work. You owned a job. When you quit- the business quit. You were the heart, body, and the soul. If it had been that profitable you certainly wouldn't have left it.

For the record: You know as much about running a multi-truck operation as I know about manufacturing teflon based glides (sorry not sure if we are we still allowed to refer to them as "glides" since you lost the lawsuit?).

daNgEr......dAnGeR......"Will Robinson"......... !dork!

RULE # 1....Do NOT iNsUlT....The QUEEN..... :shock:

She is pacKinG....a BIGGER SET than you....... :wink:

 

[Mikey P]

So the only way to run a multi truck company is to do shitty work is what Greg believes.

tell me I'm wrong.



and you know damn well your portable toting chimps do crappy work.

How could they not. 5 to 7 jobs a day with a portable and they have to up sell if they expect to eat that night.

Which means no prevac very little if any prespray, most likely they use the wand to prespray with the rinse agent.. No agitation other then the wand lips or shoe sole. Watergard does not get groomed in. Most upholstery is cleaned with the wand. "Sorry Mrs Smith those are stains, not spots, I've tried everything I have" is said about 20 times a day.





You just happen to be able to find loads of low achieving customers who only want that big grease spot or dog turd gone. Not that hard a trick in a city as large as Atlanta.Try and pull that business plan off in a population of 50 thousand.

Go for you Greg
I'm sure you're making bank and will no doubt be able to sell off your company for a ton





But your workmanship and sales tactics gives the industry a bad name, plain and simple.

Don't believe me? Vision cloudy? remember the indecent @ SFS?






Freddy forgets that I unlike Hoodie worked for "Greg Cole" for over a year.

 

[Hoody]

THEORIES Fred......theories, there is no wisdom there. :x

azzhole

:mrgreen:

 

[Greg Cole]

Go for you Greg
I'm sure you're making bank and will no doubt be able to sell off your company for a ton
But your workmanship and sales tactics gives the industry a bad name, plain and simple.


Freddy forgets that I unlike Hoodie worked for "Greg Cole" for over a year.

Mikey,
WOW! Perhaps you should tell all the other portable manufacturers that advertise on your board exactly how you feel! and for the record: we have started switching everyone over from 200psi to 500psi extractors.
You have never worked for me, nor will you. You may have worked for b&s companies or perhaps another credible coupon company, but you have never worked for my organization.
It is very easy to do 5-7 jobs in a 12 hour day. Quality is easily achieved: Unhappy customer = re-service. Reservice = no revenue. Hence; something even you can understand : Quality work=good. Bad work = bad
In regards to selling. I have no intentions of selling my business. I make an excellent living, I love what I do, love this industry, I'm prividing over 50 people and their families work and I will be in it for life.

 

[Greg Cole]

Mike has a point and you guys know it. I was a porty cleaner for many years. My business was ALL repeats and referrals. I didn't pay a penny for ads, coupons, fliers, newsletters, reminders, etc. I had a line ad in the YP and gave 3 biz cards and a magnet with each job. I couldn't do more than three average size houses in a day or two large. More than that and I'd have been hacking them.

Lisa- you did all the work. You owned a job. When you quit- the business quit. You were the heart, body, and the soul. If it had been that profitable you certainly wouldn't have left it.

For the record: You know as much about running a multi-truck operation as I know about manufacturing teflon based glides (sorry not sure if we are we still allowed to refer to them as "glides" since you lost the lawsuit?).

daNgEr......dAnGeR......"Will Robinson"......... !dork!

RULE # 1....Do NOT iNsUlT....The QUEEN..... :shock:

She is pacKinG....a BIGGER SET than you....... :wink:

No doubt! I believe Lisa and I are straight. She and I spoke at my office a couple of months ago for well over an hour. In reding my comment about the glides - i can see how it sounds like my being an ass. It wasn't my intention.

 

[Blue Monarch]

http://www.callprocarpet.com/water_dama ... p?pageid=5

 

[truckmount girl]

Certainly I did all the work. I'm not debating the merits of a single truck vs multi-truck business. What I'm telling you is that a person can't physically do 5-7 jobs a day with a porty and do them right. And that is without add-on's like upholstery, ducts, etc. That's why you have to spend so much money on marketing, because the quality of work is too low to retain enough customers to sustain the business.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[truckmount girl]

....and as for why I gave it up; I gave it up because I couldn't do it and GreenGlides both and do them correctly. I decided to devote myself to Greenglides because I felt it was important and served people better than the cleaning business did. Not for the money, definitely not for the money. I pulled more profit per year from the cleaning than I did GreenGlides (GreenGlides grossed more) and had less stress and shorter hours. But Greenglides changed the industry and changed people's lives and so I stayed. Money is not a strong motivator for me, making a difference is.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[rotovacguy]

So the only way to run a multi truck company is to do shitty work is what Greg believes.

tell me I'm wrong.



and you know damn well your portable toting chimps do crappy work.

How could they not. 5 to 7 jobs a day with a portable and they have to up sell if they expect to eat that night.

Which means no prevac very little if any prespray, most likely they use the wand to prespray with the rinse agent.. No agitation other then the wand lips or shoe sole. Watergard does not get groomed in. Most upholstery is cleaned with the wand. "Sorry Mrs Smith those are stains, not spots, I've tried everything I have" is said about 20 times a day.





You just happen to be able to find loads of low achieving customers who only want that big grease spot or dog turd gone. Not that hard a trick in a city as large as Atlanta.Try and pull that business plan off in a population of 50 thousand.

Go for you Greg
I'm sure you're making bank and will no doubt be able to sell off your company for a ton





But your workmanship and sales tactics gives the industry a bad name, plain and simple.

Don't believe me? Vision cloudy? remember the indecent @ SFS?






Freddy forgets that I unlike Hoodie worked for "Greg Cole" for over a year.

Well said, Mikey, couldn't agree more.


I'm a POG, and can tell you, Greg, there is NO WAY you are doing "QUALITY" work having your guys thump out 5-7 jobs a day at 12 hours a day. Ever hear of fatigue? Do you honestly think your guys are still giving the same quality on job 5, 6 or 7 as they were on jobs 1 and 2? If you think so, then you are very delusional, my friend. Porties take lots of energy to set up, break down, load and unload. I guess it must be true.......one really is born every minute. That could be said of your client base, and your employees.

And big deal, so you switched your guys from 200 psi to 500 psi porties, it's STILL A PORTY!!! You can get excellent results with a porty, as I achieve just that everytime, but NOT at 5-7 jobs a day, just not happening. The only way that would be possible would be every job would be small, one maybe 2 small rooms. No way are you doing entire houses and still cranking out quality work with a porty. Dude, I have my Mytee pimped out pretty good, and could not even approach 5 jobs in a day, unless they were each a room, and each job would have to be very close to each other, and even then, I wouldn't enjoy it very much. Personally, I'd rather make $200 on one job, versus $50 on 4 jobs, price hunters are everywhere and will cancel your ass like a stamp for another cheap one. But that's just me. I can only imagine how your "techs" must feel doing that day in and day out for what...maybe $10-$12 an hour? What a joke, as you laugh all the way to the bank.

Also, just as Mikey stated, Atlanta is a sizable city, you have a large base to find a good group of people that may be fine with a budget hack. 36%, heck, even 40% is pretty damn low for repeats. Algorhythm? :roll: wtf???

 

[Willy P]

It is very easy to do 5-7 jobs in a 12 hour day. Quality is easily achieved


BULLSHIT> PLAIN AND SIMPLE BULLSHIT

Telly, Mikey and Lisa- BINGO~! 12 hour days? Sweatshop work for a lard assed bullshitter.
How much overtime do you pay? The laws are really clear on this:
Overtime Pay

Overview

The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any workweek. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.

The Act applies on a workweek basis. An employee's workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It need not coincide with the calendar week, but may begin on any day and at any hour of the day. Different workweeks may be established for different employees or groups of employees. Averaging of hours over two or more weeks is not permitted. Normally, overtime pay earned in a particular workweek must be paid on the regular pay day for the pay period in which the wages were earned.