daniel@procarpet
Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
- Messages
- 3,797
Since full circle has been so heavily promoted I have made it a habit to see how long an average call lasts with my customers the past few months. Repeat customers average around 5 minutes. New customers average around 10 minutes with some calls going over 15. The time flies.
Every new customer has to explain their situation and the services they need performed. Almost every caller asks questions. How long does it take the carpet to dry? About how long will the job take? Do we need to have everything moved before you come out? I have some stains in the carpet and this is how they got there etc. These are just a few. They ask all kinds of dumb things.
I always want to know how a customer heard about me and if it is a referral the name of the person giving my info out. I also want to know who the last cleaner was and the customer’s experience with them. I explain my process or try to give a general description. Since most of my callers are repeats or referrals I really don’t have to do much selling. If a customer for instance calls me off an old yp ad etc., I can close the job, but I have to really take time to explain to the customer what I do, why my price is what it is, and why I am different than all the local hacks.
A lot of people want to know if I can stretch their carpet or clean upholstery and what that entails. There is just no way in hell you can take the customers info down, sell the job, answer questions and get pertinent information in 5 minutes. Sorry it isn’t happening or you are not closing very many jobs.
Now for pricing; the last time I checked the price was 495 dollars for 500 minutes which is high because they charge you for solicited calls wrong numbers etc. Now the cost is 645 dollars for 500 minutes. Ok that may be cheaper than hiring an employee but I really don’t think the cost to benefit ratio is as good. What if they talk to several customers but don’t close the job? How many people have booked a job only to call back later and cancel? It happens right? I have said it before if you have an average call of 10 minutes, zero solicited calls, and they book every job the cost is just under 15 dollars per appointment. That is highly unlikely though. The real cost is closer to 20 dollars per appointment. If you average 300 per job then it may not be a bad investment.
I would love to hear from someone other than Mike, Brian, or Eco Clean their experience with the service. I say that because I spoke with a local master textile cleaner the other day that has been using a messaging service for 11 years. I actually used the service at one time and they did a great job. At the time I didn’t want to give up the phone duties. Now I am ready to let it go. His total monthly cost is 150 per month. They book about 6-8 jobs week and he averages around 400 per job. That in itself is pretty impressive.
My plan is to have them sell the job and take customer info down, take down several time slots that would be convenient for the customer, and call or email me the info. In fact they can connect with me and keep the customer on the phone as well. I will tell them what time is good for me and have them schedule the job. They will then email or text the customer info down. My cost will be about 200-300 per month. I could even subscribe to an online scheduling site for about 10-15 dollars per month and let them use that to schedule my jobs. That is what they do for the other cleaner. They are different than a standard answering service in that it is set up to sound like your personal secretary. Calls after 6pm go to a 24 hour message service. They just take the customer info down. No selling is involved. The lady that runs the business has owned it for 40 years and has over 50 full time girls. She teamed up with another service and they handle all after hours calls or weekend calls. I am going to make this work. When I do I will pass the info along to anyone that wants a quality messaging service, that doesn’t bill by the minute, and will free up your time.
For some full circle may be the better choice. For me the numbers don’t match up. I am sure Brian Robison will come on here and disagree. Just remember he openly admitted to getting kick backs. I would rather answer the phone myself and save 650 per month. I actually don’t see any reason a company that is not cleaning 5-6 houses per day can’t answer the phone themselves. In fact if I did that much volume I would hire a full time office employee to book jobs, do mailings, clean equipment, call past customers, do bookwork etc for about 300 per week.
Just remember there are other options so do your homework. Same applies to new equipment. Always demo and come to your own conclusions on equipment and chemicals.
Every new customer has to explain their situation and the services they need performed. Almost every caller asks questions. How long does it take the carpet to dry? About how long will the job take? Do we need to have everything moved before you come out? I have some stains in the carpet and this is how they got there etc. These are just a few. They ask all kinds of dumb things.
I always want to know how a customer heard about me and if it is a referral the name of the person giving my info out. I also want to know who the last cleaner was and the customer’s experience with them. I explain my process or try to give a general description. Since most of my callers are repeats or referrals I really don’t have to do much selling. If a customer for instance calls me off an old yp ad etc., I can close the job, but I have to really take time to explain to the customer what I do, why my price is what it is, and why I am different than all the local hacks.
A lot of people want to know if I can stretch their carpet or clean upholstery and what that entails. There is just no way in hell you can take the customers info down, sell the job, answer questions and get pertinent information in 5 minutes. Sorry it isn’t happening or you are not closing very many jobs.
Now for pricing; the last time I checked the price was 495 dollars for 500 minutes which is high because they charge you for solicited calls wrong numbers etc. Now the cost is 645 dollars for 500 minutes. Ok that may be cheaper than hiring an employee but I really don’t think the cost to benefit ratio is as good. What if they talk to several customers but don’t close the job? How many people have booked a job only to call back later and cancel? It happens right? I have said it before if you have an average call of 10 minutes, zero solicited calls, and they book every job the cost is just under 15 dollars per appointment. That is highly unlikely though. The real cost is closer to 20 dollars per appointment. If you average 300 per job then it may not be a bad investment.
I would love to hear from someone other than Mike, Brian, or Eco Clean their experience with the service. I say that because I spoke with a local master textile cleaner the other day that has been using a messaging service for 11 years. I actually used the service at one time and they did a great job. At the time I didn’t want to give up the phone duties. Now I am ready to let it go. His total monthly cost is 150 per month. They book about 6-8 jobs week and he averages around 400 per job. That in itself is pretty impressive.
My plan is to have them sell the job and take customer info down, take down several time slots that would be convenient for the customer, and call or email me the info. In fact they can connect with me and keep the customer on the phone as well. I will tell them what time is good for me and have them schedule the job. They will then email or text the customer info down. My cost will be about 200-300 per month. I could even subscribe to an online scheduling site for about 10-15 dollars per month and let them use that to schedule my jobs. That is what they do for the other cleaner. They are different than a standard answering service in that it is set up to sound like your personal secretary. Calls after 6pm go to a 24 hour message service. They just take the customer info down. No selling is involved. The lady that runs the business has owned it for 40 years and has over 50 full time girls. She teamed up with another service and they handle all after hours calls or weekend calls. I am going to make this work. When I do I will pass the info along to anyone that wants a quality messaging service, that doesn’t bill by the minute, and will free up your time.
For some full circle may be the better choice. For me the numbers don’t match up. I am sure Brian Robison will come on here and disagree. Just remember he openly admitted to getting kick backs. I would rather answer the phone myself and save 650 per month. I actually don’t see any reason a company that is not cleaning 5-6 houses per day can’t answer the phone themselves. In fact if I did that much volume I would hire a full time office employee to book jobs, do mailings, clean equipment, call past customers, do bookwork etc for about 300 per week.
Just remember there are other options so do your homework. Same applies to new equipment. Always demo and come to your own conclusions on equipment and chemicals.
