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I always ask the customer if they would like carpet protector but I don’t push it very hard. And they often will ask if it does that good of a job. I usually say that it’s a great product that primarily helps prevent spills from becoming stains. Often people want it in their traffic areas thinking that it will help stop dirt but it doesn’t really help with that does it?
Our stain protector is not only a great stain protector, it is also made from from silicone which is a slippery product. This helps to prevent rapid re-soiling, therefore, your carpets will stay cleaner longer. I use this line almost every day. Never undersell stain protector! Some of the other advantages to our stain protector is it is an anti-static product and it has uv protectants in it.
UV protector as well! ah, I had forgotten about that point – thanks! Sometimes customers will get confused and actually believe that protector should keep their carpets from getting dirty – ha – so I always point out that they will in fact get dirty, but come clean easier w/out as much chance of staining becoming permanent – including heavy traffic areas!
Educating the customer is the key. If we can give multiple benefits of the stain protector, we sell it much easier. I keep a cheat sheet that I review pretty often . . . especially if I miss a few sales. Greg Miller had a post a while back that gave some narative about the benefits. Among the ones mentioned are these: Reduces permanent stains, Helps save traffic areas from becoming destroyed, Makes spot cleaning easier,
Makes next professional cleaning more effective, and helps avoid costly service calls. I think there is more information under his post. Pull up his name for that post.This reply is not so much about our protector, as it is about customers expections…
A line I’ve used for years…“Going to the dentist once, twice, or even three times a year for cleaning, will never make up for the lack of daily brushing. so it is with carpets, calling me several times a year to clean will not make up for daily vacumming. It takes both for a winning combination”
Moral of this story: Protector is neither bullet proof or fool-proof, but it helps with everything else!
Trevor,
Protectant can be an easy up sell. If you have it priced correctly and can explain the benefits of having it applied then the hardest part of selling protectant is just remembering to ask. Here are a few of the benefits I tell my customers. It protects against soiling and harmful UV rays which cause fading. It prevents most spills from becoming permanent stains and it helps reduce fiber wear.
I still tryingto get my phone script down when a customer calls in and repeats that same old question.
HOW MUCH TO CLEAN MY CARPETS.
I like the idea of including the protectant in a higher price when it’s an option (kinda sounds like a car dealer tactic) and offer not too much back if they don’t want the protectant.
How do you guys do this when asked for a price over the phone.
It seems that I would have much more success with this in person but if they want a approximate price over the phone prior to scheduling then I feel that including the protectant in the higher price might scare them away before I get in their door.
I also feel that TMI (Too much information) can ruin a sale.
For me in person sales is much easier than when they want a price over the phone and as much as I’d like to schedule an estimate walk through for same time cleaning it seems that most people want a good ida before I pull up to their house.
Any feed back is appreciated.Kurt, it goes back to what are you selling?
In todays time the cheepest is going out of business.“I am the most humble top quatily carpet cleaner you will ever meet! My prices are humble and my quality is tops!”
“If all you are looking for is a cheep take the dust of the top cleaner, I respectfully ask you to call another cleaner, but if your looking for a top quaity cleaning at a far price, you’ve called the right place!”
Hope you feel comfortable with one of these. Truly you are looking for the best customers (the ones that want the best.)( As well as the ones that tell everyone they found the best!) The very best combo!
Kurt Im not sure how you charge. SQ Ft or by the room. We charge by the sq ft. When a customer calls we find out what they are getting cleaned only so we can estimate enough time to schedule their appt. After we find out what the clean we tell them, all that our service includes. Pre treat, vac, clean, no extra for stains, and fab pro. Then we tell them a time we have avail. Most of the time they dont ask for a price. If they do ask. We tell them it depends on the size of the rooms. We ask for a rough size of rooms to be cleaned. Then give them a rought idea based on their sizes they stated. We stress the fact that the price may be a little higher or a little lower. The tech will measure everything before he starts and give you an accurate estimate. If you agree he stays and cleans, otherwise he shakes your hand and leaves as a new friend with no charge.
We hardly ever have people not book. As long as you are upfront and let them know everything they usually have no complaints. Hope this helps a little.
Mike
Thanks Gordon & Mike for the feedback.
No matter how we all price by room or by square foot it all comes down to how much we make in how much time spent.
I guess when quoted by the room sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
Mike do you charge by the square foot for simplicity or does it seem to be an easier close on a sale.
Also when you include all stain removal in the base price can’t that either over committing or turn out to be too much time for the price quoted if the problems are intense an need the upholstery mate dragged in for an hour.
Do you adjust your per square foot price depending on the information provided over the phone by the customer?
What would you quote a gas station that calls and said their office carpets or “just a little dirty”.
Also do you publish a price per square foot offer on any advertisements?
Thanks for your help.
Kurt,
My 2 cents here. I never like to give business estimates over the phone. If I do, I shoot high. Commercial jobs are usually bigger than a residential and dirtier, so I like to go out and do an estimate on them so I can see exactly what I’m dealing with. I also never publish a price. If you publish it, you are stuck with it for as long as that medium you published it in runs. Also, all the fine print in the world at the bottom doesn’t necessarily get you out of trouble with some customers that just want to be a pain. I also don’t do an all inclusive price (protectant, pet spots, etc.). I would love to have a clean/protect price, but that just aint happening for me in my area right now. I always let a customer know that certain spots may be extra, most notably pet spots, kool-aid, coffee, wine, or extremely dirty carpet. Let them know each situation is different and sometimes no extra charge is needed. Example, I had an eight room job today in high end neighborhood. 1 room had a cat spot, and 6 rooms had at least one large red dye spot. I had $160 in extra charges for cat and red dye on top of regular cleaning price (and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our red dye remover rocks!).
As for our pricing, we do by sq foot. I am a firm believer that each has pro’s and con’s and I recommend basing it on your area. If you have smaller homes in your area, go by room. Bigger homes, go by sq ft. We have both and chose sq ft. Avg’s out to be just a little more profitable that way in our area when we do comparisons.
Another thing, as an example, many times when you tell the customer that to protect everything, it will be an extra $125 (on top of $300 they are already paying), they cringe. I always have another lower number ready if I think they may not like the first one. “Or if you like, we could just hit that family room and stairs that seem to take the most abuse and that would only be $50.” An extra $50 as opposed to nothing never hurts especially when it takes only 2 min to do. (although an extra $125 is so much nicer)
Thanks Dave,
Right now as a newbe I’m publishing a price of $124.95 for 4 areas.
It’s quite low but it’s just listed in the fliers which will be done next month.
After that runs out I will probably start to creep my prices up as more biz flows in and use your idea of sq ft price in large homes and by the room in smaller ones.
Right now I’m trying to be a little lower than I would like just to get a feel for the market and have cash flow.
Thanks again
Kurt,
We do by sq ft for all homes. We do this b/c most or our customer’s homes in our area are larger. We just bite the bullet so to speak on the smaller ones. I wouldn’t vary your pricing structure based on homes. I guess I should correct my comments from before. Make sure you put a expiration date on ads that have prices listed and give the customer a sense of urgency. If there is no urgency for that price, they will wait and possibly forget. If you want to honor that price after the expiration, that’s up to you. Makes you look like a good guy if you do, even if it is still your regular price you don’t have to tell them that.
We price by the room for all rooms under 180 square feet. 55 dollars including protector. Any room over this size we price at 35 cents a square foot. This way we make on the smaller homes and the larger ones as well. It does take a little more time on the phone but has worked well for us. We only have one pricing structure for everyone. Easier to keep up with.
Jamie
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