So what has been your experience over the last 6 months?

[FB7777]

Business has been very good for me but the vibe has shifted.


I am required to do more estimating and I am not closing as many of the deals due to price resistance.


I have even negotiated some numbers on follow up of bids.


I have held my per square foot prices over last year. My repeat residential business is strong, I attribute it to being price competitive, relative to my market.


What are you guys experiencing?


and what measures have you taking if things aren't going according to your business plan in 2009?

 

[Jeremy]

Well, February was our worst month in long time but, our sales have grown, but it's mostly increased volume from existing customers. A few accounts have gone from regular maintenance to "as needed" (read as we can afford it). But on the whole we're still growing and have a few new customers & some of them are on service agreements. We'll see how it goes through Q2.

 

[Mikey P]

Business has been very good for me but the vibe has shifted.


I am required to do more estimating and I am not closing as many of the deals due to price resistance.


I have even negotiated some numbers on follow up of bids.


I have held my per square foot prices over last year. My repeat residential business is strong, I attribute it to being price the best value, relative to my market.

 

[Royal Man]

Your link didn't appear to work Odin . So, I searched golfcleaner on google. All that came up was someone that wanted to clean my balls.....





















And clubs.

 

[Desk Jockey]

It's still been a roller coaster with incredible highs and incredible lows, but over all we haven't had it as bad as others around the country.

The vibe has changed and we have seen many people do a lot of the work themselves that a year or two ago we would have done for them.

On the positive, winter is over and the sun is actually shining here, which usually begins the cleaning season for us.

Sales are actually ahead of last year to date, but it doesn't feel like it. I still feel uncomfortable mostly cause by the uncertainty of what this year might be. Watching my spending, which needed to be done any way.


If things don't go as planned, we might have to bump up the marketing dollars to stimulate some business. I rather not drive up the cost of sale.

If things got really bad and we needed a cash infusion we have some prime commercial property we own that was to developed, we could liquidate if we had to.

However I don't foresee that happening, OK I hope that it doesn't happen! :mrgreen:

 

[Bob Foster]

Very quiet here. My competitors has definitely lowered their prices and I have followed. It's all your fault you Americans!

 

[Jeremy]

What would Brian Boytano do?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have an idea, but it can't be said in this room. :shock:

"Not that there's anything wrong with it"

 

[bob vawter]

Yep...same here...the basstagers are PRICE SHOPPING my $44.95 two rm $ h..........

several low lif $39.95's in town now!

 

[Gary Taylor]

Odin, you forgot to mention the killer business of in-plant rug cleaning. One rug and you can golf the rest of the month!

 

[Brian R]

I have been able to hit the marketing hard this year and it helps.

As I have said, my March and April are double what they were last year.
Even with the changes, I am bringing home more money and that's what it's all about.
Although I should say that those two months were not that great last year because I was just beginning to ramp up after a screwed up marriage that I got out of (that started in July 07 and went on through Probably March 08.)

I have tons of support from my new lady....almost 2 years new...and that gets me going.



I guess what I am trying to say is that because I have spent more time getting work than doing it AND I have an incredibly good outlook on things...I have been able to succeed.

The Market makes no differernce...there is always work.

 

[Jack May]

Very boyant for me still down under.

We just finished our financial year 31st March and up 14.8% over previous year.

We had a slow Cot/Nov (late Spring) but a huge summer (Dec-Feb) and March was 'normal'.

We haven't adjusted any prices at all, and my staff have even had a minor wage rise as well instead of like everyone else, laying off (not meaning industry specific, just in general across the country)

But by the Grace of God, go I.

John

 

[klewis4]

January and February were normal for that time of year. March was good (up over 50%). So far, it appears April will be up a little over 25% over last year. Have been doing a fair bit more to promote business this year. Our area has been in a recession for about 3 years already.

 

[hogjowl]

I am actually up over the first quarter of last year by 4.2%. For some reason it just doesn't feel like it.

I am in the process of adjusting my business away from the ICS business model to more of a practical, customer orientated, business model.

Imagine trying to do things to actually make it easier to do business with me, instead of letting them know how lucky they are to have me.

 

[BradFenstermaker]

I have been working but are numbers are down from last year. Like Richard said, a roller coaster.

Marty you one smart pig. We are trying to adjust as well.

 

[hogjowl]

Thanks, Brad. Fear is a strong motivator.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Imagine trying to do things to actually make it easier to do business with me, instead of letting them know how lucky they are to have me.

Ummm.......................................never mind!

 

[steve r]

over the last 6 months things have definately slowed.much of it i blame on myself for not working the business more.i am going through a divorce myself and moved out last august,we just filed for the divorce this week so things will be bumpy for a while with me.

however,things have recently been picking up.starting to hear from more and more repeats and apartments have been busier than usual.i am also losing more jobs than any other time in my short time in business but its been mostly commercial due to cost.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

am in the process of adjusting my business away from the ICS business model to more of a practical, customer orientated, business model.

Imagine trying to do things to actually make it easier to do business with me, instead of letting them know how lucky they are to have me.

Short of any details from Mr S, I can tell you that this is a growing trend throughout the industry (yes, even in the barren lives of those who do not participate in BBs).

 

[hogjowl]

Everything I am doing is the complete opposite of the things I have grown accustomed to seeing advocated on these boards and things that I previously bought in to. (I wish I hadn't.)

I am giving prices over the phone.

I am now offering reduced price specials.

I am no longer spending 1/3 of my time prevacuuming.

It is amazing what these three adjustments have done for my business.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hack!

So you're now a room pricer?

Were you sq/ft before?

 

[hogjowl]

Oh yes. S.F. pricer to the core. As it happed, I found the boards (ICS) at the very moment when I quit doing insurance work and decided to concentrate on just cleaning for a living. I bough into the ICS line of BS hook, line and sinker. I spent the next 15 years following that plan and have 800 good, high paying customers, that call me when they absolutely have to, can't live with the stinking carpet anymore.

If I had gone the other way, I would be a house hold name in my community and be running multi-trucks now. I am convinced of that.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Everything I am doing is the complete opposite of the things I have grown accustomed to seeing advocated on these boards and things that I previously bought in to. (I wish I hadn't.)

I am giving prices over the phone.

I am now offering reduced price specials.

I am no longer spending 1/3 of my time prevacuuming.

It is amazing what these three adjustments have done for my business.

Ditto. It still sucks here but if I hadn't made some adjustments it would be really bad. Jan and Feb were up slightly. March was down 35% and April is trending down to flat. April sucked mostly because of the weather (I think). May better be good, or I will REALLY start whoring myself out cheap.

 

[Desk Jockey]

So Marty are you changing models completely? Is your goal to be a multi truck room pricer? (not that there's anything wrong with it! Really this time.)

Are you concerned that you may confuse your customer base?

If you had to make a drastic change this would be the year to do it.
Good luck!


P.S.
You realize by making a radical switch like this, it gives Danny hope!

 

[TimP]

I've always given prices over the phone, or a best guess. And I usually tended to tell them higher than the actual on site quote.

I have been working for less when needed to get more jobs. Not much less though. However I offset this with moving less. I've been running emulsifier and skipping scrubbing unless the carpet is in very bad shape. I spray my PS out heavy and give lots of dwell time by spraying as much as 5 gallons out at a time. I know many think I'm crazy but this has improved my production times and hasn't hindered the quality of the jobs.

I still vacuum my jobs. I don't have so many that by vacuuming I can't complete them all.

Last December was bad, November was good. Jan-Feb were poor months. March was down right awfull. April is shaping to be a very good month for me, but by no means making up for the other months. My summer institution jobs should be better than last year as in more SQ ft to do, and should be completed sooner due to the addition to a 2nd back up TM that I about have put together. Which will be completed in May and maybe parts of June. The 6-8 weeks that these jobs take make probably 80% of my actual overhead and probably 30% of my year based on last years #'s.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

While Marty thinks up either an erudite or abusive reply (depending on his mood), I can tell you what I'm seeing:

Many of the premium priced cleaners that I know are simply adding in a budget package that eliminates the frills. This avoids the image of a massive price cut across the board, but allows flexibility for customers who, as my friend I talked about last month said:

"I don't want to pay an extra $100.00 for you to vacuum my carpet"

I agree that from a technical point of view, a cleaner should be able to vacuum the carpet better than their customer can (though not all do). But the point is, what does the customer want? They are the final arbiter of satisfaction with the job.

If you cannot let go of the vacuum cleaner (I have a difficult time doing that myself), there are customers who may be satisfied with carpets that dry in a few hours instead of minutes, who only want open areas cleaned, etc.

Sacrilege? Perhaps. But there can be a difference between "Hack work" and a "Budget Package".

 

[hogjowl]

Tim:
I have started running an emulsifier as well. I used to use the Judson rinse, but now I run the emulsifier and that has cut my production times down a good bit. With the heat this Vortex puts out, and the vacuum of it allowing me to clean at 750 psi, I can clean under furniture and out of the traffic lane areas with no prespray. That saves me a huge amount of time.

 

[Bob Foster]

Now Vawter's never going to let up...

 

[Royal Man]

I did well through the Carter years and I'm sure the Obama recession shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't seen price as an objection. (maybe I should raise my prices.)

Most of my clients are repeats, referrals or from warm marketing. So, they call to make an appointment. Not to haggle over price.
Their main concern is choosing a date for the cleaning.

It's a little hard to judge, since the season is just starting to get underway.

Back to the Carter recession, clients were cleaning and spending more in an effort to make their carpet last longer. So, they could then avoid spending even more on replacement.

It's time to turn lemons into lemon-aid and make this time a great opportunity to educate your customers.

Then you can both benefit.

It's not a time to use the recession as an excuse.


Dave Yoakum

 

[Art Kelley]

"I don't want to pay an extra $100.00 for you to vacuum my carpet"/quote]

Wow. Someone actually cares about saving the customer money? I vacuum more now than I ever did which means every few jobs when the hair or debris is obvious and would pose a problem with the finished job. Not with how clean it is but with the removal of all that remaining stuff. It only takes 10 minutes to do the necessary vacuuming, not one or two hours. I've never seen a difference in appearance in how a carpet looks whether it is vacuumed or not (even anal retentivly) but my truck filter box has a lot less crap in it now when the job is done.