Scheduling.....

[TimP]

Ok, now that I'm getting slightly bussier. I'm starting to get annoyed at my customers. It seems that all of my customers want to have morning appointments. They all worried about kids and wet carpet in the afternoon to evening. Even getting the carpet to dry in 2-8 hours it still does leave the carpet wet into noon/evening and my customers seem to worry about this.

Anyway how do you overcome this? Lie and tell them that you're booked up but in the afternoons? So that I can do a few full days and that way I can get some days off? Or what? Cause I hate having to do just one job a day, I'd rather work full days and have full days to rest.

I've been thinking of trying out some airpaths and offering dry by the time I leave for an upcharge but I'm not certain my customers will bite. Since it isn't a high end market. Mostly rural and there aren't many high paying jobs around. what kind of upcharge would be worth it .05 cents a ft .10 cents? or a % of the cleaning like 1/4 to 1/2+?? I may need to start asking my customers if they would be interested and willing to pay.....as it is right now I don't get many going for protector

 

[Guest]

Its time to add a 2nd truck!

 

[Brian R]

Its time to add a 2nd truck!

Or at least an employee for the days you need off. Employees suck sometimes...most of the time.

If you do the airpath you can either just figure it into your pricing without telling the customer or do a $25 to $45 per story charge. I hate bring that or anything else upstairs.

As far as the morning, seems like everyone wants morning. I usually just tell them afternoon is all I can do (not nec. a lie) or that's the day you will be in their area...depending on the areas you do.

You have to control the phone call!!! j/k partially.

 

[TimP]

It's not so much that I "need" the day/s off it's that I'd rather work full days and knock em out then have some days to rest etc. And if I do need a day/s off I can schedule it no problem. It's sucks having to get up early and get sweated down every day just for one job. I know in my area I will never be booked every day solid so it makes sense to have the days filled then rest....at least in my opinion.

Maybe I should just take mondays and fridays off....

 

[Dolly Llama]

Tim, if you don't accommodate the custy, some one else sure as hell will

so what if you have a short day??
You're fairly new in the biz and trying to establish a good base.
If you can go out and make a profit, (even a small profit) you'd be crazy not to.

unless your biz is a part time gig and you have a "real" full time job
(or your wife makes big bucks)
get out there and accommodate the custy

you can cherry pick and choose "your" way after you're established and busy as you want to be


..L.T.A.

 

[Brian R]

Good point meat.

As much as I like to sleep in or have a full day off for nothin, one job in the morning will keep me honest. I just mean I look at it like an excersize program. Wakes me up, gives me a good sweat and I made a little money. People pay thousands to go to the gym or have a trainer and all of us carpet cleaners get paid to do the same.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Tim, if you don't accommodate the custy, some one else sure as hell will
so what if you have a short day??
You're fairly new in the biz and trying to establish a good base.
If you can go out and make a profit, (even a small profit) you'd be crazy not to.

unless your biz is a part time gig and you have a "real" full time job
(or your wife makes big bucks)
get out there and accommodate the custy

you can cherry pick and choose "your" way after you're established and busy as you want to be


..L.T.A.

Tim don't listen to Larry. I think you should tell them to GFTs.

 

[Brian R]

Tim don't listen to Larry. I think you should tell them to GFTs.

I get it.

You are ruthless rex.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Tim don't listen to Larry. I think you should tell them to GFTs.

I get it.

You are ruthless rex.

Tim Knows I am kidding.

 

[TimP]

Just so you guys know I've got the gym membership goin on......been goin about 2-3 weeks now. Oh and it don't cost near thousands!!! I don't mind the work really....I'd rather have the jobs than not at all, and I've been making them happy. The reason they want mornings is due to dry times (mostly based on experience of past cleaners) I was trying to see if any of you other BDCC went that route to fix the problem (airpath or schedule days off on purpose) or it just came to a point where they had to get it done and you were booked too far out in the mornings for them. I was mainly trying to find a way around it and satisfy both customers and see what everyone else is doing.

I for one wont turn down a job unless I have to....I even do the ones I don't want to....I just bitch behind the customers back and charge them extra for it.....and smile all the way to the bank!!

 

[Ron Werner]

With 200F water, good airflow and vac, and a greenhorn wand, you can get the carpet almost dry by the time you leave, without an Airpath.
Leave some booties behind and they love you.

 

[Wayne Miller]

Eight hours to dry? Sounds like a drying issue, not a scheduling issue. Find a way to deal with that and the problem goes away. Two or three hour dry times bring us a ton of work.

 

[TimP]

Come live in Florida Wayne. I suggest you know about what you're talking about before you say someone is doing something wrong!! When I do my own home it feels dry to the touch in 2 hours....medium length shag nylon. When I leave my customers houses the carpet feels barely damp/cool to the touch. I under promise and over deliver, I'm not about to say 4 hours and it take 5 and someone get all pissy on me. Plus there is NO way you can say for sure you that the carpet you clean is dry in 4 hours or less EVERY single time you clean under ALL typse of carpet and EVERY thickness and density of carpet. Not to mention every level of humidity and temperature, which changes throughout the year. Keep in mind some people wont run air even if you tell them. And no I don't feel I should pull a fan out for what I charge, nor do I feel I need to with how I leave the carpet. And just so you know I don't have time to check every single carpet that I've cleaned to figure out when the carpet is dry.


Ron, I run 230-240 ATM. .10 flow greenhorn wand with hole glide in a cds 4.8 with 47 blower of course, and rarely over 100 ft of hose. My customers are used to SS or a bane clean machine and anywhere up to 3 days to dry. So they find it hard to believe that the carpet could be dry as quick as I even tell them.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Tim Don't take it personal. Some guys like to play "Name that Dry Time". Most have no idea what it would be like to clean in a 98 degree and 60% plus humidity environment. Also the travel time in a rural market often dictates it is better to say "I don't have any openings in that time slot until...." .

 

[Royal Man]

Tim,

Wayne is a low mosture guy. He can get then dryer than you.
Most of my customer's leave when I get there, Go back to work, Take the kids out to lunch, or go to the gym.

Drying doesn't become an issue.

When they return the carpets are dry and most furniture is back in place.

Make it easy and convienent for your customers and you'll get more customers.

 

[TimP]

What I'm saying is I'm getting more customers. And I suppose in the future they shouldn't have a problem taking a later slot after seeing how dry I do leave the carpet compared to the Bane and Stanley Steamer whom they used before. It's a matter of convincing them, hell most are shocked to death when there carpet is clean when I leave because they are used to just a dent being made in their soil. They all want mornings not based on how I clean but the hacks before me. And that VLM BS about it drying faster is BS, the only reason it dries faster is cause olefin doesn't absorb moisture you're still leaving the same moisture as I leave when I HWE. I do encapsulation so I know and it doesn't dry any faster than when I HWE. I'm just not a full of bull cleaner who goes around lieing and talking myself up just to make my balls feel bigger than someone elses.

 

[joey895]

I wouldn't sweat it too much. Mornings are just more convenient for most people regardless of dry times.

I think the obvious answer is two fold. #1 if someone absolutly insists on a morning appointment I would accomodate them the best I could even if it means getting out to just do that one job and then back. #2 is you have to direct the conversation. In the phone call I'm normally the first to bring up appointment times. After I've answered whatever initial questions they have I assume that they are booking with me and I'll just ask if they have a certain day they need the work done by? From there it's pretty easy. If they need the work done in the next couple of days I give them my available slots for those days. If they say it's a week or more away then I pretty much let them pick their time. By directing the conversation you can figure out if they really "need" that morning appointment and if you don't accomodate you'll lose them or if they just "prefer" the morning appointment and they are willing to accomodate your schedule.


Really these days they only people I have who insist on mornings are the people where both spouses work and they don't want to leave the door unlocked all day. So they leave when I show up and just have me lock up on the way out. Also during the school year people with kids like to get it done while the kids are at school but I explain to them that even if we don't clean it until 11-12 I can have it dry or close to dry by the time the kids get home at 2-3.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Joey, WELL SAID. Best advice on this thread.

 

[Wayne Miller]

Speaking of pissy, Tim, who said you were doing something wrong?

You said,

" Even getting the carpet to dry in 2-8 hours it still does leave the carpet wet into noon/evening and my customers seem to worry about this."

If Mrs. Piffleton hears you say that about your 1PM time slot next Tuesday you might meet a little resistance.

No offense, my friend, but it sounds like a drying issue to me. If you want a sure-fire way to make the scheduling objections go away, reduce your dry times. I see HWE guys advertsing "Dry In One Hour" more and more all the time. Just cuz' you ain't figured it out yet don't mean it ain't bein' done.

BTW, Dave, most of the carpet we cleaned in FLORIDA was truck mounted and we promised two to three hour dry times regardless of the method we used.

 

[ronald pantelas]

Hi Tim, I try to let the customer decide what is best for them. It does not matter what time of day to me. When its the least crazy in that house, is when i want in there to clean. Once finished its up to them to stay off/out during the drying process.

 

[TimP]

I understand the advice. And it's basically what I do already. My wife handle's booking and we accomodate all requests and work with them. I have not told anyone we couldn't do what they wanted when I could, and they do cave if there is no way to do a morning for them or just book farther out. I was trying to really see if other people had came accross the issue. It seems nobody has really thought about it the way I have. It just seems I've had a run of customers that want morning appointments and are willing to book out over a week to have them. I was seeing if there was a way to get past it. And I have to say that Joey has given the best advice by far. Thank you Joey!!

 

[SRI Cleaning]

I am dealing with the same thing. If i dont have anything scheduled then i suck it up and do it. But, lately I have been booked up every morning for a few weeks out so i am just up front and honest with them. usually i have them agree to a later time.

 

[Wayne Miller]

We all come across it, Tim. We do just what you do, the best we can. You can only offer what you have available. If they're concerned about dry times be honest about what to expect and work them into the schedule in a time period they're comfortable with. They'll find out first-hand what to expect and it won't be a problem next time around. Do what you can to reduce your dry times and remind them to use air conditioning and ceiling fans to speed the process. There's no doubt in my mind you can have most carpets dry in a few hours.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Yo

look at the guy on the left.

would YOU trust a guy who wears a 1960 Walter Cronkite tie and shirt?????























:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


..L.T.A.

 

[hogjowl]

I bet it's a clip-on.

 

[Wayne Miller]

Larry, could you show him how to tie a stupit tie so maybe he'll stop thinking everybody wears clip-on's......

 

[Dolly Llama]

Larry, could you show him how to tie a stupit tie

Probably not, Wayne
He doesn't like arrogant yankees and I find it hard to tolerate ignernt rednecks...


...L.T.A.

 

[Wayne Miller]

Soften 'em up first with a FREE sample,