Finding new business, Ideas.

I know squat about cleaning carpets. But, I have years of experience in marketing, and business writing. You have all been very nice, so here are some free ideas.
                         1, People who are trying to sell their house, should have their carpet cleaned. It makes it more sellable, and in this market, the more the better.
                             How do you find these people ?
    I would start by looking for " the for sale by owner people" there are websites that will list their home for them, and there are also magizines they place the home in. I would check out an ad in these, explaining why a small up front investment in carpet cleaning could bring big returns. Remember, NEVER use the word " price" or " cost " in any ad. Always use the word investment! NEVER use the word "house" in an ad, ALWAYS use the word " HOME" Afterall, home is where the heart is.
   2, Who has the most to gain from the sale of a home? The dreaded real estate broker. They want listings from buyers, and sales. A large real estate office, a Century 21, or other big hitter, needs to move homes to make money. I would go to them with a business proposal. I would tell them that offering potential new listers a free carpet cleaning would be a great way to bring in more sellers. I would try to cut some type of deal. You could also tell them that offering a potential buyer a free carpet cleaning before they move, is a great way to attract more buyers to their listings ( which I am sure are piling up ). At any rate, the brokers pay for it, and they have lots of work! You could also go to individual brokers with the same proposal and they could offer potential buyers a free carpet cleaning before they move in. It just comes out of the brokers commission, let them pay. I would jump on it, if I was a broker trying to move some inventory, and I would love it, if I was thinking about buying a home.
I have many more marketing ideas, and would love to help, if anyone cares to know.
mrbreeze.
   

With all due respect, I can't imagine an agent saying to a buyer " Congratulations on the purchase of this $ 300.000 home, I recommend putting in some cheap carpet." Bullet proofing windows is the business I would want to be in around LA.
When you team up with a big real estate office, you get big numbers.

Real estate agents don't have the time to kill with carpet cleaners anymore than they do lenders, title companies, termite inspectors, building inspectors and escrow officers.  And real estate brokers take offense at anyone thinking they are so important that they deserve the right to interrupt business with a pitch.  Good agents are hardly ever in the office.  The only real estate deals in the office are the ones someone already listed or sold.  Agents are out making deals or they are in the office waiting for the world to walk in or call.  Those agents are time wasters.  Then you have the agents who are in the business for one reason - to buy property for themselves before the rest of the world finds out about the great deals.

Work as a successful loan officer as I did the 80s and then come back with real life experience based ideas.  Not some untested theories.  Clean uniform with company logo, you should wear one when dropping off fliers.  Unless you are going to dress appropriately and would rather convince somebody that you always wear a dress shirt and tie and carry a briefcase to clean carpets, you will be seen as a scam artists in the house so guard your wallet.

The agents have cleaners they prefer and if they don't, they work with someone who does or there is always the phonebook.  They ask each other who to recommend.

Want a way to reach active agents?  Write down the name and number from the yard sign, call the agent and offer to meet for breakfast - your treat.  Work them one agent at a time, always looking for a tip on who is the whale in the office.  That is the one you want to shower with attention.  The whale is the center of influence.

Why don't I do agents?  Actually, I do but I also do their homes, their clients homes and their friends homes.  Did I pursue agents?  I pursued anything with a pulse living in the "right" neighborhood.  I clean the homes of cops too but I didn't walk into a police station to make my first sale.  If a person lives in a home with carpets, they are suspect.  They may not qualify as a prospect, but they are still a suspect.

The only people I can't sell are other carpets cleaners and anyone who has taken up residency in a cemetery.

Want to go after those real estate offices?  Visit all of them to determine your best 20.  B&W fliers in everyone's box.  Then drop by these offices every other day.  Put a small gift (deodorizer or something for the home) on a small flier only once per week.  Compliment the ones who are showing up on signs all over town and having open houses in the paper.  That gives you a purpose for your visit, just wanted to say hi to so-and-so.  If an agent gives you a deal, have flowers delivered which is real visible (oh, who is the secret admirer).  They are egotist, feed their egos.  Type A personalities too.  They appreciate the fact that you respect their time with no idle chit-chat.

If you are doing fliers in neighborhoods and repeating the same neighborhoods every month, the owner of the home will probably call you anyway.  I do full restoration with a shampooer and rotovac on many homes that go on the market right away.  And I do many just before the open house.

I'll bet you that many guys here get lots of agents by just doing the same thing they have always been doing.  Most of us are too busy with what works to try something that has a longer sales cycle than fliers do.  Joining one of those referral clubs will give you contact with plenty of real estate people and will be more effective.

Hire a guy or gal, commission only, to work the real estate offices.  That way when it doesn't pan out, you aren't out any money.

Soil,
I think your way of thinking will work great if your target group is flipp'n houses in the " hood." But, a $300.000 home usually has a decent high grade carpet. The owner ( a decent hard working family man) most likely took care of it. Why would you want to tear out a carpet like this, and replace it with a cheap low grade carpet? Can you move out all of the furniture, replace the carpet, move it back in, cheaper than the cost of a good " cosmetic " cleaning to compliment the home when it is viewed by a buyer? Why would anyone tear out a $6000 carpet in a $300.000 home, and replace it with a cheap low cost carpet? I would rather have it cleaned, make it look like a well kept home, make it smell fresh, and let it compliment the place. A great low cost investment for a homeowner, and a great market for a carpet cleaner. I have bought many homes, and all the sellers had one thing in common, they cried at the closing, and talked about the memories they had, and how much they hoped I would have the same happiness living there. They didn't throw me the keys, and run out of the room. As far as brokers not having time for carpet cleaners, title companies, bug control, they should find a new line of work, because a prick like that would never get my listing. The people reading on this board are Canadian, who clean for decent people who most likely dread selling there place, and have lived there for years. JMO

Since a large number of the members on this board are from the states, congratulations of effectively alienating the lions share of them.  You implication is that americans are somehow inferior to canadians in matters of caring for homes.  NO, we are equal and as I previously stated you are talking out your ass when it comes to marketing to real estate agents or homeowners who will gladly trade a fast sale at a higher price for a few dollars upfront.  In todays real estate market it is dog eat dog. 

And you should know (before making yourself into an even bigger fool) that real estate in America is being bought by Canadians, not Americans, in droves.  Oh, of course you wouldn't know that.  You aren't in daily contact with real estate agents like those of us who see them everyday outside of the office.  You are living a bubble of ignorance, sheltered from the truth that would quickly unravel your fantasy world and leave you no solid terra firma on which to make your febble stand. 

The shift in currency exchange rates makes our property very attractive right now.  So, competing for the same finite collection of buyers, sellers attempt to out do each other.  And we, being experienced at what sells, know a new car or near new will always sell quicker and at a higher price than a used one.  Either put in new carpet or give them a carpet allowance.  

Put your ideas into practice before offering them as gospel.  I have fired employees like you or encouraged them to walk for challenging everything that is status quo as if by some miracle they had been endowed with divine inspiration making them the messiahs sent to save your business.  Remember what college does for society.  It provides "A" students the forum to teach "B" students HOW to work for the "C" students who will then teach them how to swim with sharks without being eaten.

Do not pretend to be an expert when you are surrounded by people who are experts at promoting their businesses.  Go sell it to a panhandler on the street.  Or get a job and stop trying to sell us your worthless swamp land.



Edited by Soil Lint Green - 22/February/2008 at 12:46pm

Let's take a look at your own profile, written by you, that speaks volumes about who you are, how you do business, and your " professionalism."

Real Name:	Jojo Mama
Gender:	Female
Date of Birth:	Not Given
Age:	Unknown
Location:	Oregon
Homepage:	Not Given
Occupation:	Pimp
Interests:	Not Given

This reads like someone who was recently released from prison wrote it. It is an earthquake of " ignorance" as you put it. Maybe you should print it out and you can use it as your own self written character reference and give it to your potential customers. You can pump my gas, you can even cook my burger at MC'Donalds, but who would let a creep like you in their home to be around women and children? The answer is nobody, and there is no amount of slick marketing that will change who you are when the doorbell rings.

Not to take sides, but I have fairly nice home, bought it new but if I bought previously used house (for me, not for one of my rentals) I would rather have my kids playing on cheap new carpet rather than someone elses problems(could care less how high end it was!)