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JC, awesome idea! I’d really like to have a copy if that’s possible.
Here’s what I am doing on one of my web pages for the last few months…that’s been working fairly well. We started a “monthly drawing contest” for those who fill out the estimates request form. To the 1st place winner we give away 3 free rooms (cleaned),and 2nd place winner gets 1 free room, (which everyone is a 2nd place winner) ::LOL::
Between the extra rooms we cleaned for the 1st place winners and the 2nd place winners, we are up $2500. So far it’s been well worth the extra effort. It’s been really helpful in drawing people to our websight. We tell all of our customers and just about anyone we run into about it.
(just my extra 2 cents) 8) This is how it reads on the websight….How Would You Like To Have
A “FREE” Cleaning on Us?Just Click the “Free Estimates” Button and fill out the form
We’ll pick twice from a hat
on the last day of each month
and contact you any way you like to set up your FREE CLEANING!1st Place – Any “3” Rooms Of Your Choice
2nd Place – Any “1” Room (up to 200 sq. ft.) Cleaned Of Your Choice!
What have you got to lose?
Other than a few stains!
So Click The FREE ESTIMATES Button and fill out the entry form NOW!
All Are Welcomed!
GOOD LUCK!Contest Running Now Until End Of December 2008
**CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR JUNE 2008 “1st Place” WINNER!**
Ellen C. of Thornapple Lane (3 free rooms cleaned)**CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR JULY 2008 “1st Place” WINNER!**
Patricia B. of Lakeview Terrace (3 free rooms cleaned)**CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR AUGUST 2008 “1st Place” WINNER!**
Anthony W. of Wildpine Court (3 free rooms cleaned)Randy, you CAN handle it. You’d be surprised what you can do when you have to. I had a 3 year run with one of the biggest Resorts on the East Coast, to make a long story short, it came down to Chem-Dry and us and WE WON! But I must say, Cody played a large part in helping me with my negotiations. It was 250,000 sq ft of common area carpet, 450 hotel rooms and 1,000 townehouses that had to be cleaned twice a year. Cleaning came to .08 sq ft, .03 sq ft for Protector, and .02 sq ft for Viral, Bacteria, Allergen Treatment. With the understanding that the Protector was to be applied to heavy traffic areas only. But I still got .13 sq ft for the space. The hotel rooms were $25 per room, open areas. The townehouses ranged between $45 and $55 pending on the size. When I first started the negotiations, I had 2 part-timers and myself. When it was all said and done, I wound up with 2 vans and 4 full-timers. The profit really came in with the extra charges. Spot cleaning, treatments, extractions, red-dye, ect….Anyway, I had a 3 yr run, they have new owners now and have their own team which isn’t really working out for them, since I stop in periodically. We are looking to restart in March back at the Resort. I am sure I could be of some help to you, but there are too many factors to put on the BB, so if you’d like, give me a call and I can go into more detail. Paperwork, how to keep track and other things that may help with negotiations. So gimme a call any time!
570-894-8710Hey BFerris
any way we could see your commercial? Ever since you started talking about it a while ago, I have been dying to see it. Thanks Steve šÆThe idea behind this suggestion was to have a vidoe of my wife Lori who would introduce us and our websight and explain what is on the different pages, for instance discounts, specials, ect. in brief. The video would direct them to click the live chat button and let them know that it is Lori they would be chatting with personally. With this live chat option you are literally able to follow the customer from page to page while having the opportunity to engage them before they leave the sight. I think this would be a beneficial option for us all. As they say “you never know, until you try”. Our live chat is in the works as we speak. Thanks
Mike,
I concur with what JC said, for bar situation…
I use my dirt napper with a turf pad, gum freeze and a plastic scraper for gum. If it’s really dirty, you may want to spray some fresh water on it and suck it up with your extractor or mop up with just water.Hey Mike,
I wanted to make a quick apology for the responce time on your reply to me. I had a few bouts with mother nature. 1st we had an electrical storm that basically fried anything straight thru the surge protectors, and then to top it off a tree fell on the house. So as you see I haven’t been on computer as much as I’d like, due to I haven’t had one :/
We are almost back to “abby-normal”, so with that being said, I would like to extend my thanks to you for the topic reply. Although we have not used any 2-3 room specials in the past, the information you provided was so helpful to the point that we may now be doing a room special of our own. Thank you for your “as usual” useful input, if I can be of any assistance to you, please don’t hesitate!
Thanks again!
See ya!Greg, thank you for the information! I just tried to email you and it was invalid, there is some information I want to send to you now. Can you send me your email address? Thanks
Steve
There are many effective way to find accounts and expand your business, here’s a look at some common options:
1. Make cold calls and leave a brochure and business card. This approach works quite well. āI want to ask your manager if I could leave a free cleaning proposal. It would serve as a back up bid just in case your cleaning people quit.ā
2. Phone prospects from a target account list available on-line from the Allentown library or from Info USA. Use a script that offers a free estimate. Consider hiring and training your own telemarketer.
3. Join a leads exchange club. There are several to pick from in most cities.
4. Network with general contractors, commercial realtors, owners of the various building trades, and with the staff of local janitorial supply firms. Make sure they have plenty of your business cards. Post your card on bulletin boards.
5. Use a post card mail-out to your target account list. Make sure it is professionally designed as a direct response mailer.
6. Implement a consistent follow up program with post cards, phone calls, and emails. You must regularly make contact to keep your name fresh in their minds. When the āitch cycleā hits, you will be available to meet their needs.
7. Consider the advertising power of calendars, note pads, pens etc. from advertising specialty companies.
8. Approach all the people you know (especially other company owners you do business with) and ask them for referrals. Tell your neighbor you will buy them dinner if they help you land the business where they work.
9. Ask for referrals from present customers.
Once you generate leads:
Ā· Make sure your literature and presentation materials are surpassingly attractive.
Ā· Ensure that your bid pricing is accurate and competitive.
Ā· Develop impeccable references based upon delivering excellent service to all of your customers.
Ā· Tweak your presentation skills to ensure that you can address all the prospectās concerns and are able to push all the right buttons.
Ā· Consider purchasing training programs and attending seminars that focus on marketing and bidding of cleaning contractsGrant,
That was a great idea. Emailing Realtors and offering a 50% discount. We just raised our prices to .40 cents a sq ft recently. So .20 cents a sq ft is still good money with a chance to sell additional services to them. Weāre gonna give it a try.
(we offer everybody 20% off)Half of our territories are in Resort areas. So dealing with realtors/property managers is vital to our business.
The way we usually contact new realtors is by offering to clean their lobby for free and give each agent we meet a HB folder with our brochures, reference list(which has names and numbers of the different realtors/property managers that we deal with, and explains that we are licensed, bonded and insured, certified, part of a national franchise, our rank, ect) and a copy of our Realtor/Property Management Program, which I have now added a personal 50% discount.We are in the process of redoing our web sight and will actually have a realty/property management button. If you could send a copy of the letter that you sent to the realtors to me Iād really appreciate it. I am sure there is something else in it that I can incorporate into my letter or vice versa.
Here is a copy of mineā¦.(payments are made via credit card by phone, we also leave a small stack of business cards for each agent, our cards have a 20% coupon on the back of it.)
“““““““““““““““““““
Realtor/Property ManagementConvenient Key Holder Pick-Up Program
We here at Heavenās Best understand the value of your time as well as your clients.
With this in mind we offer āconvenient key holder pick-upā.
This option works as follows:
You put us into contact with your client, we then set everything up with them personally.
(leaving you completely out of it from this point on)We set up a specific day and time to pick up the key, let ourselves in and walk thru the home, measure, incorporate the discount and any other services they may require and call them to confirm the price.
At that point if they are satisfied with the price we will be prepared to stay and clean that day and work out payment details with them directly or if in other cases if you the realtor/property manager are authorized to pay for services rendered we would call you personally to confirm the price and again stay that day to do the work.
Once cleaning is complete we return the key to the office having already been paid by the customer themselves via credit card or pick up a payment from you directly.
We offer all of your customers a 20% discount
on our carpet and upholstery cleaning services!Please take the time to look over our reference/referral list of the other Realtor/Property
Management Companies affiliated with Heavenās Best that are taking advantage of our convenient key holder pick up program!This is one way that will actually help you sell a home or offer an additional service to your clients without having to do anything but refer Heavenās Best.
**We are now offering all Real Estate Agents/ Property Managers a
Personal 50% discount on our carpet cleaning services,
as a way to help you feel more comfortable about referring us to your clients.**Dave,
Thatās a great point! The dirt napper can really tear up a baseboard. But after a while you become almost like a diamond cutter and only slip once in a while huh? ļ
And it is amazing what it can do to light coffee, tea and light filtration lines.
Also, it works great on foot traffic and body oils, be it from a cat or dogās favorite spot or where there is a lot of bare-foot traffic (in bedrooms, ect)ā¦
**forgot to mention in previous postI couldnāt find in the manual, the life span for the F.A.E. once mixed, but if memory serves me correctly at the training it was 3 hours, I could be wrong, that WAS over 7 Ā½ years ago. I have used it mixed up to at least 6-7 hours, I donāt know how many of the little buggers are still alive, all I know is, it still works. The only time I ādonātā
Pre-mix, is on commercial work. Thatās when I need all the little buggers to work for sure.See ya!
