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After reading some of your replies I went to their website and found the following…
Two rotating 15″ heads feature 17″ floor pads and can clean a 33″ wide path. Capable of operating at variable speeds depending on the level of soiling, the cordless Twin Bonnet 33 provides true wall-to-wall cleaning without causing the operator to stop and hunt for a power cord. Additionally, this machine fits through a standard 30″ doorway.
I also move basic furniture but nothing really big, a couch is about as big as I’ll go. I did a house the other day and found that this woman had about twice as much furniture as was necessary for a house this size, and pushing it around was nearly impossible because there was no room left. Took me about twice as long as it should have to clean 5 rooms and a 2 stairways, I’m thinking that I will limit the amount of furniture and if (or when) I see this again I may charge extra.
What I do tell me customers that if they want the carpet under beds or large items cleaned then if they have the item moved off of the carpet and into a bedroom or kitchen, I’ll happily do the extra sq. footage at no extra charge. They really seem to eat that up and appreciate it. And to be honest I’d rather do empty rooms and vacant houses any day of the week even if there is more sq ft. I think you all would agree on that too.
I agree with your points ron, I’m sure this machine wouldn’t perform in any residential applications. However, movie theaters, hotels (halls & conference rooms), and other commercial applications could have a use for it. Only if the machine held up the standards and performed the same quality as the nobles buffer that is. I have done a few large hotels and let me tell you, this thing would really help for those jobs if it performs like they claim. What I’ve found is most hotels, movie theaters, and other places have price as the #1 determining factor, this could be a way to land any job you could imagine regardless of the price they are willing to pay. If this thing were all it’s cracked up to be, you could have a 45,000 sq. ft. facility buffed in roughly 2 hrs, plus factor in vacuuming etc. Charging $.05 a ft., the total would be $2,250.
Another concern now is if it looks to good to be true, is it? I’m thinking “too good to be true” but thought I would show it to everyone.
But if the price was right, I’d get it in the van one way or another.
Keep in mind that all of us on the board already have a HB franchise, but if we know someone in the area or who is interested in buying we will send them your way.
A guy in my BNI Group gave his presentation yesterday and talked about Health Savings Accounts. It made good sense to have one.
My Wife and I just signed up with an organization called Christian Healthcare Ministries. We found the rates for normal insurance a bit extreme and some friends of our recommended we look into CHM. Their rates are extremely reasonable, especially for families. For excellent coverage with only a $500 deductible you pay only $405 a month no matter how big your family is. Could be a couple with only one child, or a couple with 10 children. Our friends that referred this to us run an adoption agency that they inherited and growing up her folks adopted several children and had quite a few of their own, 18 total to be exact. They were always fully covered and never left hanging out to dry by any insurance company. CHM always took good care of them and honored any claims, all for the same payment as a family of 3. We are pretty excited to have found it. For more info visit their website…
This picture from corporate may work well for a magnetic van for a fridge…just customize to look good with your own name and phone number on the side maybe.
This is a good point and a concern that I have also. However, I think it has to be a step of faith, just like buying into Heaven’s Best in the first place we all took a risk there right? All the operators that I have heard of that do this only have a handful of customers that ask to not have protectant applied and they have a small percentage of calls that don’t book due to “high prices”. I think my approach to this will be that if a repeat customer who doesn’t ever buy protectant calls I will say something along the following lines…
When Mrs. Smith calls I will say…”Mrs. Smith, we recently changed our pricing structure to help accommodate and take better care of our customers and their carpet. We now have an all inclusive price which includes all of the things we find necessary to get the job done right and help make our customers carpet last longer and continue looking great. In the past you have not purchased protectant for your carpet, but we would encourage you to do so for the following reasons. First of all, protectant helps your carpet to last longer. Secondly, If you have a spill of some sort then chances are better that you will be able to clean it up and not have to bring us out to have it professionally removed. Another benefit is that your carpet will stay cleaner for longer between regular cleanings. We encourage you to use carpet protector and with our new pricing structure you will get more bang for your buck by including this in your price.”
Of course if Mrs. Smith still doesn’t want to, I’ll give her the same old price because she is calling me back and is obviously happy with what I have been doing for her in the past and at least I am still getting the repeat.
Currently my prices are as follows but I am going to change this ASAP, read on…
3 rooms = $129
each additional room = $30
Stairway counts as a room
Protectant = $15 a room
Sofa = $99
Sofa & Loveseat or Chair/Ottoman Combo= $149Minimum of $99
Like I said this is all changing very soon…I am coming to grips with a concept that is very simple that has been explained by Brian Sutton many times here on the board and was reiterated by Jamie Calloway this weekend at our regional seminar. INCLUDING PROTECTANT IN YOUR PRICE!!!!
This is the reasoning behind it (and I pulled these numbers out of a hat BTW)…
Let’s say that a Heaven’s Best operator averages $199 per job and does 400 jobs a year resulting in $79,600 in gross sales.
Now lets suppose this operator quotes every job with protectant included in the price and loses 15% of customers who call in due to “high prices”. But on the same token, this operator increases the average job to $275.
Now the operator is doing only 340 jobs per year but is now making $93,500 in gross revenue, a difference of $13,900 which equals more $$$ in pocket, more time for good networking and marketing, more time with family, etc.
I think that if an operator is pulling a majority of business from referrals/word of mouth, networking, and being face to face with potential clients then 15% is a very realistic number that can be expected to not want to pay the higher prices. Whereas, if most business comes from flyers, yellowpage ads, coupon magazines, or other such advertisements then 15% may not be as realistic since I find that most coupon clippers and yellow page shoppers are price driven.
This is my two cents and where I plan on taking my business as soon as I figure out the best way to present it to the person on the phone. I’m thinking the best way is to go with a flat per room rate instead of 3 room pricing set up.
Was in a vacant property of a client who has several rentals. I make sure I never have to use the restroom at a clients house but this was a vacant property so I decided that it shouldn’t be a big deal. So I go No. 2 and go back to work, within about 30 sec. of starting my buffer the door bell rings. It was a maid service that my client had called to clean the place the same day I was cleaning the carpet. Just my luck they started in the bathroom I had just used, busted! Richards sure got us all beat though.
I’d love to get a copy of this, I’m always looking for things we can ad to the advertising center. Tim@heavensbest.com
Tim Robison
This may be something I can implement. I’ll do some digging around. I think there may be a way to tag different users as “buddies” that will allow you to see what their recent activity is.
Update on citysearch. I have been with them for almost two months now. I’ve gotten a total of 1 call that wasn’t even in my area. Needless to say, it has not worked for me and I will not be continuing after my three month contract is up. I even got customers that were close friends to take the time to give me good reviews and so forth. Of course when I talk to my rep with citysearch, they can only say that it takes time to develop an effective presence on the website, which in a way is true, but is also easily said when they are collecting my $$$. My bill is up to $80 so far this month and that means 250+ clicks with no calls. Certainly not worth it in my opinion and fro this area. Hope this helps. I know we have to advertise to make money but this is my experience with this particular advertiser. I would like to know what kind of web presence has worked for other operators. I know that people are searching for carpet cleaning online. Where are they going to find it? And what is the most cost effective way to get good results?
Thanks for the input. We’re looking into a solution that will be scalable. It may be most useful at the state level, but has the option of being individualized as well. The important part is having the contact information available for each area, and so far that has proved to be the biggest frog to swallow.
