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Hi, I am a new operator out of Exeter,California. I am enjoying the business very much. One thing I think is kind of funny is that how often the stated condition of the carpet has no relation to it’s actual state. One customer will say the carpet is in pretty good condition
and it is filthy.Still another customer will say his carpet is pretty dirty and it’s pretty good. Honesty is a great virtue,sometimes we honestly don’t know.
What one customer thinks is dirty another thinks is clean. You have to prepair the customer on the phone that you may have to charge for “highly soiled” carpets, as we put it.
John, often the customer is reveling their expections when they say it is filthy when it’s not. They may be saying they expect it to look new when your done.
A huge question to ask is: Do you have any concerns?
You may have spent five hours on the place and did your very best but if you didn’t see that hard to see outline of where little Johnny had an accident, you didn’t do a great job in her eyes.
So, always ask because they don’t always volunteer their concerns.Expect the worst…. then be happy when it’s not that bad! People have different tolerances for dirt. I have a few customers who call regularly because they can’t stand a single spot, while other infrequent customers seem to be ok with living in total chaos/barnlike conditions!! Isn’t it amazing how some folks will totally trash a really nice house for instance? I’ve cleaned some 1/2 million $ homes before that I would not live in ! Others, almost seem to not really need cleaning at all — breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy those days!!
In response to your question John, I have regularly cleaned very low income homes lately. Not because I enjoy it but because for most of us, they just make ends meet, while waiting for the next high dollar home. I have been running the phones as well and during the course of the last 4-5 months, I have been able to tell the difference of how dirty a customers home is, usually. First of all, when I do recieve a call from a high dollar customer, I know it right off the bat. They ask questions like, “What kind of system to you use” and “What makes you better than your competitiion”, and similar questions like that. They never say”Uh yeah, I neet to get a quote for come carpet cleaning” As the conversation continues on, a high end customer will ask, what is your price range. They usually ask this after a couple minutes indicationg that they are more concerned with quality than with price. Once I have determined all of this, I usually ask them how dirty it is, if a high end customer says that it is filthy, usually it isn’t. They usually see a few traffic areas here and there, and have a few spots. If they don’t even mention how dirty it is, it probably could go another 6 months before cleaning. If a low end customer says that it is filthy, most of the time, it really is. Be careful not to back yourself into a price corner. Just listen to the customer and usually they will express their concern. If you have any uncertainty, ask.
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