How much upsell do you do per week/month?

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Outside of selling protector,deo and extra areas, I am finding it hard to offer upsell because I just don't have time and feel I am leaving a lot of money on the table... I could schedule a time to go back out later but I am already booked out a week and half. You guys finding the same problem?

Also what service do you offer that has the highest per hour production rate?
 

Mikey P

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a heck of a lot more in the winter( Jan -April) when, like you said, we have more time..


The rest of the year were busting ass cleaning what they asked for so we finish before 0'dark30.
 

Becker

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You might be leaving money on the table.. But an upsell does not need to be sold that same day.

I have found in the past that I don't let the client know of all the services I offer. Doing so will often book me a return visit.

I to have little time of add ons at time of sale. But I don't mind a return visit.

Working now on proper brochures and other leave behinds with a refined referral program.
I'd rather get a referral than an upsell, but that's me.
 

steve_64

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i should work on upselling more. ive been coasting and its costing me. gotta start treating this like a business instead of a hobby.
 
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i should work on upselling more. ive been coasting and its costing me. gotta start treating this like a business instead of a hobby.

I think a lot of O/O take pride in not upselling.. so they don't come off as a salesman.. but in fact we are business owners and making money is the name of the game. I use to have that same problem.. but you gotta change your mindset.
 

steve_64

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I think a lot of O/O take pride in not upselling.. so they don't come off as a salesman.. but in fact we are business owners and making money is the name of the game. I use to have that same problem.. but you gotta change your mindset.

that and many of my customers can barely afford the cleaning im doing.
i need to market to a better customer.
i have a lot of apartments and property managers too so upselling isnt an option there.
id say maybe 20% of my customers are higher end. or 20% of the work i do anyway. i need to tap that market. i havent tried yet.
i dont push referals neither.
 

steve_64

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im doing everything wrong (as far as marketing) but im not doing poorly. just havent tapped into my potential yet.
my customers have been doing my work for me, sometimes they upsell themselves even lol.
 

Royal Man

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I never upsale because that would be too pushy. So, I just do what is on the ticket.

Sales does not belong in carpet cleaning.

That is why it is called carpet cleaning NOT carpet selling.

If I wanted to be a salesman I would go sell shoes.
 

Brian R

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Spelling errors etc

Nothing get's done until something is sold.


I would rather lose a time slot than lose a chance to make more money on a job that I'm ALREADY at.

I made it a point to offer the customer EVERYTHING they could use....As much as I could.

Not sure why anyone would want to 10 jobs without "upselling" instead of 5 with.


This generally sparks a customer list/referral argument that's gone on through the ages.
 

Vivers

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We typically double every ticket. 2 man crews so we can make time if needed. As said above though if not able to time wise we try and put it in the schedule. But you know people are impulse buyers and sometimes may think themselves out of the job if they have to wait! So that's why we try to get the job done while we're there.
 

SMRBAP

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I never upsale because that would be too pushy. So, I just do what is on the ticket.

Sales does not belong in carpet cleaning.

That is why it is called carpet cleaning NOT carpet selling.

If I wanted to be a salesman I would go sell shoes.

I wish all of my competitors here had this mindset :) everything you do everyday is sold - so why should asking a customer if they'd also like their tile cleaned, or while you are in the living room if they might be interested in cleaning their couch be compared to selling shoes?
 

Royal Man

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I wish all of my competitors here had this mindset :) everything you do everyday is sold - so why should asking a customer if they'd also like their tile cleaned, or while you are in the living room if they might be interested in cleaning their couch be compared to selling shoes?

I don't bait and switch like some of you guys do.

You're supposed to clean the client's carpet NOT their wallet!!
 
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knoxclean

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If you are not offering your customers additional services and products you are doing them a huge disfavor .
 

SMRBAP

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I don't bait and switch like some of you guys do.

You're supposed to clean the client's carpet NOT their wallet!!


That table can be turned on a dime. It can easily be argued that all inclusive pricing robs a great many of your customers, and makes those with less "service" need, subsidize those that have more " service" need.

You simply can not say that it does not cost you more as a business in time and materials to pre-treat, and on heavily soiled carpets use a rotovac (or any rotary tool) than it does to clean with a floor wand only. Pretreatments cost money - it takes time to apply them. Rotary tools cost money, require higher maintenance, consume more chems, and take longer to clean with than a wand.

So in turn - with a flat rate not considering any individual customers specific needs - you have to account for those costs (in one way or another) on all jobs, and then you have a situation where some people are paying for things they do not need. A customer who cleans 2x yearly with lightly soiled nylon doesn't need pretreatment, nor rotary cleaning, isn't benefiting from it in any way, and is paying for things they did not need. Your all inclusive approach is doing more wallet cleaning than an honest tiered service offering.

Custy 1 - Lightly soiled nylon, base clean, lower price.
Custy 2 - Moderately soiled oly, they need pretreatment, and are charged for what they needed above custy 1
Custy 3 - Heavily soiled poly, they need pretreatment and a rotovac, and are charged for what they needed above custy 1 & 2

And we haven't even gotten into stains, repairs, color correction/dye services, stretching etc. We have corrected stains and saved carpets hundreds of custy's through the years they were planning on replacing - so in the end, our OFFERING additional services - saved them thousands.

There is a distinct difference between offering needed services, and hard selling unneeded services - not every cleaner who offers tiered services is a "bait and switch". As long as potential costs are stated prior to booking - it is the farthest thing from it.
 

Royal Man

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I've been saying the other side of the coin to spur this topic along by saying some of the crazy stuff i've heard through out the years.

Since that was a success.

NOW ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

Since selling is so vital to your business growth + for happy clients and since good salemen are trained and NOT born:

What have you done to improve your selling techniques and to train yourself and your techs in the fine art of proper selling?
 

Blue Monarch

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I'm among the worst at upselling. But just mentioning services you provide helps a ton. In Phoenix, people were very familiar with professional grout cleaning. Here in Lincoln, there are many that don't realize it's an option for them. Mentioning it if you see it in their home works wonders.
 

Royal Man

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I'm among the worst at upselling. But just mentioning services you provide helps a ton. In Phoenix, people were very familiar with professional grout cleaning. Here in Lincoln, there are many that don't realize it's an option for them. Mentioning it if you see it in their home works wonders.

That reminds me of the old sales theorem: " An open mouth gets fed"

An other one is" You have two ears and one mouth. Use them in the same proportion."

Or listening to your clients is an important key to sales
 

SMRBAP

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Without going into long detailed specifics:

- overselling....... auditing, some built into our system, some random.

- keeping the customer happy while upselling.........educating the customer properly from the moment they are greeted on the phone through to post cleaning follow up.

At the end of the day - it depends on the company's level of ethics, doing right by customers, or their company coffer. The best intended system can become a customer club when abused and or left unchecked.

To answer the initial post's question, I don't have a weekly or monthly way to answer, depends on volume.

We average about $55 (per ticket) directly in carpet related upsells, (pretreatment, rotary cleaning, stain correction, repair work, stretching, protectant) - and about $30 per ticket in additional services such as protectant, upholstery, tile, etc. These are per ticket averages and some tickets have zero upsells in one category, few have zero upsells in both.

I have learned (with my operation) as a multiple truck operation, less homes per day with time to sell shows a healthier bottom line than more homes with less time to sell. I do better with 20-24 job/day averages than 25-30 job per day averages throughout a month (peak season anyway).
 
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Royal Man

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Without going into long detailed specifics:

- overselling....... auditing, some built into our system, some random.

- keeping the customer happy while upselling.........educating the customer properly from the moment they are greeted on the phone through to post cleaning follow up.

At the end of the day - it depends on the company's level of ethics, doing right by customers, or their company coffer. The best intended system can become a customer club when abused and or left unchecked.

To answer the initial post's question, I don't have a weekly or monthly way to answer, depends on volume.

We average about $55 (per ticket) directly in carpet related upsells, (pretreatment, rotary cleaning, stain correction, repair work, stretching, protectant) - and about $30 per ticket in additional services such as protectant, upholstery, tile, etc. These are per ticket averages and some tickets have zero upsells in one category, few have zero upsells in both.

I have learned (with my operation) as a multiple truck operation, less homes per day with time to sell shows a healthier bottom line than more homes with less time to sell. I do better with 20-24 job/day averages than 25-30 job per day averages throughout a month (peak season anyway).

So, do you have regular sales training and sales modivation meetings for your guys ?

When I had more guys. We had sales/client relations training almost every morning before the guys went out and we would give away cash bonuses and TVs etc..
 
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Zee

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Without going into long detailed specifics:


- overselling....... auditing, some built into our system, some random.

- keeping the customer happy while upselling.........educating the customer properly from the moment they are greeted on the phone through to post cleaning follow up.

At the end of the day - it depends on the company's level of ethics, doing right by customers, or their company coffer. The best intended system can become a customer club when abused and or left unchecked.

To answer the initial post's question, I don't have a weekly or monthly way to answer, depends on volume.

We average about $55 (per ticket) directly in carpet related upsells, (pretreatment, rotary cleaning, stain correction, repair work, stretching, protectant) - and about $30 per ticket in additional services such as protectant, upholstery, tile, etc. These are per ticket averages and some tickets have zero upsells in one category, few have zero upsells in both.

I have learned (with my operation) as a multiple truck operation, less homes per day with time to sell shows a healthier bottom line than more homes with less time to sell. I do better with 20-24 job/day averages than 25-30 job per day averages throughout a month (peak season anyway).



What do you mean by pretreatment? Is there something special that you guys do that you call pretreatment or is it just prespray??

If its just prespray, why would you charge for such a basic and needed step in cleaning? So your guys don't vacuum either? I never understand this- "pretreatment is extra"- kinda businesses.. Bait n switch. in my opinion.
 

steve_64

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What do you mean by pretreatment? Is there something special that you guys do that you call pretreatment or is it just prespray??

If its just prespray, why would you charge for such a basic and needed step in cleaning? So your guys don't vacuum either? I never understand this- "pretreatment is extra"- kinda businesses.. Bait n switch. in my opinion.

i dont always pretreat. i run an emulsifier through the solution line so i can clean without pretreating. if its so nasty i need to prespray i charge more. if i need to disinfect i charge more. if i have to move a bunch of furniture i charge more. its very simple the more i do the more i charge. my regulars know this and anyone calling i try and tell it to so they understand. i give phone quotes so i ask what i will be doing. i ask the condition of the carpet before giving an estimate,is it heavily soiled or spotted, are there odors, do you have pets things like that. i often ask new customers why are they having it cleaned. this gives me an idea of what im dealing with and what thier concerns are.

hope this helps. i dont do many in home quotes.
 

steve_64

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my point is its not bait and switch if they know up front before the job is booked.

just went trough this twice this morning on the phone. one from the phone book another was a referal. booked them both.:rockon:

i live in a repressed market, price is usually first concern. i also give away a lot of work to the poor. its a good business practice. imho at least in a market like mine.
besides brian, ive dealt with you before and i learned not to do that again. youre not the most honest person to do business with. i would never take advice from you.:oldrolleyes:
 

Brian R

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my point is its not bait and switch if they know up front before the job is booked.

just went trough this twice this morning on the phone. one from the phone book another was a referal. booked them both.:rockon:

i live in a repressed market, price is usually first concern. i also give away a lot of work to the poor. its a good business practice. imho at least in a market like mine.
besides brian, ive dealt with you before and i learned not to do that again. youre not the most honest person to do business with. i would never take advice from you.:oldrolleyes:



Who me? What happened?
 

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