How much MONEY are you LOOSING by........

[joe harper]

being on the truck ?

As I read the post tonight, alot of you are talking about loosing JOBS over the phone.
You should loose those jobs.... BECAUSE you don't care enough about it to get off your
ARSE.....and go give an estimate!!!!!!!!! You can't even answer the phone....because you
have got a wand in your hand.

You spend all your PROFIT'S on COPY-CAT generic advertizing....that at best generates 1%
exposure....AND THEN let it go to your SAME LAME cellphone voicemail....

Answer the D@MN phone !!!!!! You just increased the odds of closing the JOB by 50%.......
These people have not set aside an hour of THERE DAY to compare pricing of carpet cleaners.

CARPET CLEANING is an IMPULSE purchase.....They will more than likely take the 1st company
CALLED. IF THEY GET A HUMAN BEING....That CLICK that you here on your vioce mail is YOUR
advertizing $$$$$$$ going into my bank account !!!!! "OH and when you hit re-dial & get the
busy signal....RIGHT AGAIN...she is talking to me.

My post is targeted toward the O/Os that are still on the truck, THAT is BLINDED by the AGE
OLD MYTH that...............I have to be on the job for quality control....I can't aford the extra
employee....It cost too much to drive to the house and give a estimate... ALL BULLS@*T..

Answer the phone and let them know they are speaking to the OWNER...
Tell the cleint that you are in the area...And get off your DUFF & go give the estimate..
Not only will you get the job...But you can pre-sell enough extras to cover the estimate..
Always gently PUSH to do the job TODAY..after you have a truck in the area :wink: :wink:

I trained an ESTIMATOR and payed "HER" 10% of the GROSS......
Women are more comfortable with female strangers in their homes......
She was very SHARP... and the men would buy extras like crazy......(college student)

WEENE yourself off the truck gradually....Drive to the jobsite in a seperate van or personal
vehicle. This gives you the abiliaty to leave the job-site & do the estimate....

I would take a vacuum with me & pre-vac then set-up the job prior to the men arriving.....
SERVICE>>>SERVICE>>>>SERVICE..... Do every job you can TODAY.and take tommorow OFF.

You can ELIMANATE 100% of cancellations if they are ALREADY DONE......

NO MORE WHINNING.....PLEASE

 

[Able 1]

Any job I get from a flyer I close 98% of the time, even if they have to wait an hour or three for me to return there call. With the phone book on the other hand... if you don't answer they go right down the list.

Great points though! I need to work on building my biz. for sure.!

 

[joe harper]

keith,

The lady from the flyer is going to be probably low-end cleint....

She has in that 1 to 3 hrs been shopping your competitor...don't we all close 98% :wink:

It is the cleint that has the mother-in law coming to dinner tonight / That will pay you TOP $$
Plus you take care of her EMERGENCY...and she will always be a LOYAL CLEINT....

You are probably still working alone ...or with a part -time helper....This program will be
hard for you to implement right now...But you should try-it as soon as you can...

 

[Jim Martin]

Rule # 1 when we started this company...I will not ever answer a phone while I am working..unless it is a family emg and they all know not to call me in the day unless it is

Tia takes all phone calls and handles all bookings....she closes 99 % of them with no problems...

she handles all the paper work side of the company and I handle all the cleanings maintenance etc....

I stay away from her desk and she stays away from my steering wheel.

I am in no hurry to see this company expand...it is growing all the time at a pace that we are happy with...

I enjoy being on the truck...out there by myself only worrying about me...

 

[joe harper]

Jim,

You have a considerable EDGE over the entry level cleaner...
You entered this BIZ ,obviously well capitalized...and you very well educated.
You were committed to a business plan, that has been sucessful for you.
You make more $$$$ on 1 job than most of these young cleaners make in a week.

Most of these young men have more invested in their equipment than there home.
I just feel that the newbees have been sold so much marketing GARBAGE....that
someone should let them know that something as SIMPLE as being ON-TIME for
their appointments can give them an EDGE.

There is NO DOUBT that you have a 1st CLASS BIZ.....But you have previous business
experance that they lack...

ABSOLUTLY DO IT YOUR WAY ! (it works for you)

 

[Jim Martin]

Jim,

You have a considerable EDGE over the entry level cleaner...
You entered this BIZ ,obviously well capitalized...and you very well educated.
You were committed to a business plan, that has been sucessful for you.
You make more $$$$ on 1 job than most of these young cleaners make in a week.

Most of these young men have more invested in their equipment than there home.
I just feel that the newbees have been sold so much marketing GARBAGE....that
someone should let them know that something as SIMPLE as being ON-TIME for
their appointments can give them an EDGE.

There is NO DOUBT that you have a 1st CLASS BIZ.....But you have previous business
experance that they lack...

ABSOLUTLY DO IT YOUR WAY ! (it works for you)

There was no real edge..I knew nothing of what I was doing when I started this company....I got sucked into all the high dollar waste of money BS that went along starting a new company....I lost thousands in marketing..and my first year I took a 30.000 dollar loss...My machine sat and the blower locked up twice from lack of work....My second year was nothing to write home about either...

we just were not going to give up on what we wanted...so we just kept pushing until we started building relationships and a strong client base....I wish that there was a silver bullet but there is not....
As you stated ..be on time and treat your clients like people not pay checks and build good relationships with them...Pay close attention to detail...and just find something that sets you apart from everyone else...

Branding our name has been our strongest point......

 

[joe harper]

:!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: BRAVO :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:


I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU ON ONLY ONE POINT..............................




The last paragraph of your post is .......THE SILVER BULLET.......................


Well said !!!!!!

 

[Able 1]

I'm just working my way in... I know my marketing isn't that stong but damn man this is my forth year! I do want to have a multi truck op. but only 3 trucks max, for quality control. I also don't go out and do estimates, kind of a waste of time unless you plan on up selling the hell out of them,and thats just not me. Being in biz as long as you have you have created a brand or great name for yourself... I'm working on it.

I don't really piss that much money into marketing since I do most of it myowndamnself.

 

[Moser Bros.]

My girlfriend is good on the phone, she answers 95% of the calls, and books the repeat and referred customers. Most are very easy to book.

And get's rid of 95% of the calls from the other business line that I bought last year with the line "Are mininum is $120" and they say," that can't be right Ron clean's my house, my sister's, are neighbors, my aunt's and my Mother's for $60 whole house", with rotary scubibing with a truckmount. He's charge one of his customers $150, that was for a 4,000 szft house. But the 5% that we do book pay $300 to $500. They are usually referrals or found us on the web,. I quit doing estamites for the Quest customers since they won't even pay enough for a quick shamppo with a Cimex, let a lone a steam cleaning for .45 cents a foot.

 

[joe harper]

WOOOOOOOOOOOO. keith,

I am on your side !!!!

I am not passing judgement on anyone......I spoke to a young cleaner from this board
today.....I thought that it was great that he was calling me for some advise.....I just
see that it is sooo much more expensive for the newer cleaners to compete in this
market... There is constant PEER pressure that you have to have a MASSIVE truckmount,
expensive marketing campain, & 28 patches on your shirt...

You have to clean @ .60sf or you are a hack....I am just saying there some very simple
ideas that you can implement that are FREE... As Jim , said Market your NAME...Concentrate
& cultavate on a very localized area.....Traveling long distances to do jobs is your ENEMY..

I have a 24 year old son which I am teaching the BIZ....I am just reflecting on how tough
it would be for him to start from SCRARCH....

 

[Mikey P]

Just how old are you Mr Harper?

 

[joe harper]

50

 

[Ron Werner]

Thanks to the invention of Call Display, I can answer the phone when I'm working, tell the potential client that I'm in the middle of work, and call them back later.
I will schedule a time to do a in home quotation and/or give them a rough idea of what the price would be based on what they tell me. Depending on the source of the call, I close most of them. If they are from the YPg's its 50/50, most are just price shopping. If they are calling from the local busn directory, I'll get 75%+

Been doing it this way for several years. AS an O/O there is only so much I can do and people can appreciate that. The only time I will hire someone is when I know I can pay them at least 20K+ per year, anything less than that and I'd be wasting their time.

 

[CleanEvo]

I answer the phone while I'm working, only let it ring thru to voice mail if I'm in a conversation with a customer. Most of my callers leave a message, I think it's due to a good voicemail message I have. I still close most of those calls.

I give the estimates over the phone and only go out to quote very large jobs, tile or stone jobs and all commercial work.
So far that works quite well for me.

It really all depends on what your business plan is.

 

[Chris A]

too bad the phone never rings when your in the truck, packing up, setting up, or cleaning an empty. Nope, only when your right in the middle of pre-qualifying or collecting the check. That's why my wife answers the phone most of the time. I wish it was 100%, but were just not there yet.

 

[Jim Williams]

In 5 years I have never had a problem answering the phone myself. Why do some people think that being a one man show is a curse? I have no desire to hire any employees. I prefer the stress free life I have. I enjoy getting out there and doing the work, I would not be happy off the truck.

And you don't need to charge .60 a sq. ft. to make a living. Geeez.

Neither way is wrong or right. Just depends on what makes you happy!

BTW I rarely do in home estimates and this year will spend no money on "lame advertising" Got all the repeats and referrals I can handle.

 

[Steve in Omaha]

CARPET CLEANING is an IMPULSE purchase.....They will more than likely take the 1st company
CALLED. IF THEY GET A HUMAN BEING....That CLICK that you here on your vioce mail is YOUR
advertizing $$$$$$$ going into my bank account !!!!! "OH and when you hit re-dial & get the
busy signal....RIGHT AGAIN...she is talking to me.

Surly you jest. Maybe and emergency service job...but regular carpet cleaning an IMPUSE purchase?????

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

In 5 years I have never had a problem answering the phone myself. Why do some people think that being a one man show is a curse? I have no desire to hire any employees. I prefer the stress free life I have. I enjoy getting out there and doing the work, I would not be happy off the truck.

And you don't need to charge .60 a sq. ft. to make a living. Geeez.

Neither way is wrong or right. Just depends on what makes you happy!

BTW I rarely do in home estimates and this year will spend no money on "lame advertising" Got all the repeats and referrals I can handle.

Good point Jim. If an owner operator still has to advertise after a couple of years maybe he needs to look at what he doing. Maybe his customers are not as happy as he thinks.

For me the expected profile of an owner operator is answering the phone and doing the job. I have never advertised, just repeats, referrals and web. I like having a simple business.

If does not have to be any more complicated than that. It's up to you.

 

[joe harper]

I see that my thread is maybe offending some single operators. This was not the intention
of my post.. Let me clarify my position.....

We all start as single operators....
We assume that (when we are younger) that our health will always be good...
We all brag about making a $100.00 + a hour...(When we are working)
We all like the fact that we don't have a boss..to answer to...
These are some of the reasons we chose this path....
**************************BUT********************************

HERE ARE SOME FACTS:

Your body cannot take this kind of work forever!!!!!!
You will have to get off that truck.....
You better learn to turn a wrench..
You must have financial Stabilaty to survive the down times.....
You better have a disabilty plan & health insurance.....
One fender -bender can put you out of BIZ.....
If you are your company ? and you cant work...YOU ARE TOAST....
The phone will STOP ringing & the BILLS will not stop coming.....

SO PREPARE A BUDGET:
When you feel that you have a solid budget prepared....."DOUBLE-- IT !!!"
Then live buy that budget untill you have 6 mths. SAVED & in the bank.....
By doing this when the HARD times come....You won't PANIC & the stress will be manageable.

YOU WILL GET OFF THAT TRUCK:
No one is born with the self-disapline required to run their own company.....
It cannot be taught in a book...it is a learned behavior....
Anything thing can happen in this financial envioroment....So Be Prepared !!!!!!!!!
If you have done your homework & prepared for the worse............
You will actually see an INCREASE in business...from the attrition of those that HAVE NOT.



ps man do I need spell check...my brain is fried today

 

[Ken Snow]

Only thing that offended me was 3rd grade grammer & spelling and major shaming and shoulding messages coming from someone, to others who didn't ask for his opinion.

Other than that it was great!

 

[joe harper]

Thanks KEN.


I bet it is HOT as HELL on that TRUCK today :roll: :roll:

How many you got left today :?: :?: Hope you get home early...it is a Holiday :wink:

 

[CleanEvo]

[quote="Jim Williams":1pbostsr]In 5 years I have never had a problem answering the phone myself. Why do some people think that being a one man show is a curse? I have no desire to hire any employees. I prefer the stress free life I have. I enjoy getting out there and doing the work, I would not be happy off the truck.

And you don't need to charge .60 a sq. ft. to make a living. Geeez.

Neither way is wrong or right. Just depends on what makes you happy!

BTW I rarely do in home estimates and this year will spend no money on "lame advertising" Got all the repeats and referrals I can handle.

Good point Jim. If an owner operator still has to advertise after a couple of years maybe he needs to look at what he doing. Maybe his customers are not as happy as he thinks.

For me the expected profile of an owner operator is answering the phone and doing the job. I have never advertised, just repeats, referrals and web. I like having a simple business.

If does not have to be any more complicated than that. It's up to you.[/quote:1pbostsr]

Amen

 

[Able 1]

Thanks KEN.


I bet it is HOT as HELL on that TRUCK today :roll: :roll:

How many you got left today :?: :?: Hope you get home early...it is a Holiday :wink:

I think he has 2 or 3 trucks Harper... :roll:

 

[Ken Snow]

I've been grilling Hotdogs for my 100 + emplyees today, not on a truck. It is the Detroit Tiger's opening day and we all need to work so we have an annual tradition of making it a fun day for ourselves and our customers who come in.

I have the utmost respect for anyone wo wants to be an owner operator and tremendous respect ad appreciation for our 25 or so crews that are cleaning day in and day out in customer's homes and our rug cleaning spa and also our restoration crews and office, customer care & admisnistrative staff. They are the lifeblood of my business.

 

[joey895]

I've been grilling Hotdogs for my 100 + emplyees today, not on a truck. It is the Detroit Tiger's opening day and we all need to work so we have an annual tradition of making it a fun day for ourselves and our customers who come in.

I have the utmost respect for anyone wo wants to be an owner operator and tremendous respect ad appreciation for our 25 or so crews that are cleaning day in and day out in customer's homes and our rug cleaning spa and also our restoration crews and office, customer care & admisnistrative staff. They are the lifeblood of my business.

As politically correct as you usually are I hope you have something besides hotdogs to offer your employees on Good Friday. :wink:

At one of the best companies that I've worked for the CEO would fly down from Virginia everytime we hit a new Sales monthly sales record and grill steaks for our location. There was about 70-80 employees at that location, it was good times.

 

[joe harper]

Keith,

Thanks for the update...But I am very aware of Kens DYNASTY.....

I was just jabbing back @ his .02 post...

I think it is just WONDERFUL that he is so proud of his MANY employees.....
He by all accounts seems to be a very good employer...


IF YOU DON,T BELIEVE IT JUST ASK HIM :?:


ps Pardon me ...But I am DUCKING NOW!!!!! "because I have a glass-jaw"

 

[Ken Snow]

We did have lots of alternatives for those who are observing whatever religious food restrictions they may have. We have lots of Christian, Muslim and Jewish employees and even a few Hindu people as well as many that do not put themselves into a "spiritual box", so to speak.

 

[Rex Tyus]

As politically correct as you usually are I hope you have something besides hotdogs to offer your employees on Good Friday. :wink:

Joey, you say that as if Hot dogs actually have meat in them.

 

[Mike Draper]

I look at advertising this way.....Mc.Donalds is one of the most recognized restaruants in the world, every knows about their food, their prices, yet every time you turn on the t.v you see a Mc.donalds commercial. Abviously there is a benefit to continual advertising, no matter how bug you are.

 

[Brian R]

Keeping with the times in advertising is key. If you can't afford TV then you have to be creative. Internet is where I am getting any new leads that are not referrals.

You don't have to spend thousands a month to make that amount back but if you spend it right then it should get you an awesome ROI.

I just doubled my advertising dollars in a campaign that has helped me make money over the years. It is still a leap of faith or a risk but that is just the way business goes.

I will let you know how it turned out when Dec. hits. :wink:

If you are happy being an O/O more power to you...but if you want to make your company grow, you better have a marketing program in place that is flexible and changeable....is changeable a word?