Marketing and promotion discussion
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Category: Carpet Cleaners Discussion
Forum Name: Business Marketing Advertising and Promotion Discussion
Forum Description: How do you successfully promote your business? Offer and receive advertising tips
URL: https://www.kleenkuip.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=52
Printed Date: 22/November/2024 at 7:00pm
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Topic: Marketing and promotion discussion
Posted By: doug
Subject: Marketing and promotion discussion
Date Posted: 28/February/2004 at 12:48pm
| From what I understand is all anyone needs to know is you have hottest, biggest, newest and most powerful truckmount on the market. That will impress the hell out of everyone becasuse you can intimidate all the guys with just an ordinary truckmount or other method of cleaning. Does sound right? |
Replies:
Posted By: LeeS.
Date Posted: 28/February/2004 at 4:52pm
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Why of course sir. Trust, reputation, ptions, guarantee and service have nothing to do with success. Do they?? |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 28/February/2004 at 5:15pm
| Lee: In a galaxcy far far away. Where everyone cleans with a magic wand. O I forgot the star ship truckmount called the enterprize |
Posted By: LeeS.
Date Posted: 29/February/2004 at 12:17pm
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I have customers who call me year after year for a variety of reasons. Honestly I think our most important marketing plan and policy is that when we attend a home we prequalify the job and let the customer know before hand what may not come out during the cleaning. The day we switched from "price" to "trust" life became easier. |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 29/February/2004 at 12:52pm
| Lee: You are right on. We alway prefer to talk to the pretential client face to face discuss their concerns. I believe the hardest sell is to sell yourself to the client. That is why you have room cleaners telepnone solitation these are people who are bait and switch companies who only know upsell and who have given the industry as a whole a bad name. Even if they are the largest franchises and companies out there they are looking for market share and in doing so they are also quantity cleaners not quality cleaners who have to depend on volume. I have been in a county which is 60 miles long and 25 miles wide with a population of 59000 people and have survived for over 20 years and have had a lot of city companies come and go. There is a different mantality in a small area where people remember not like the city where poles have been conduted where people even a little as a week after their cleaning has been done cannot remember the name of the company or the method used. So long after the sweet taste of a cheap job is gone the bitter tast of you get what you pay for remains. I think many cleaners do not want to be put in a spot so prefer to try to clean everythin up on the phone. Most make the mistake of the phrase ( It wll look like when we are done.) What a pile of crap. If the carptet has become completely saturated with soil you will have returning the carpet to 50% of new appearance and I don't care if your truckmount has a lear jet in it. That is why the Carpet nad Rug Institute reccommend carpet should be cleaned before they become visible soiled. Not clean ed every cou[le of weeks because a carpet who is slow at the time needs work. You will show much more professional if you can use some kind of creditable information to backup your reccommendations to your clients. |
Posted By: kool-aid
Date Posted: 03/March/2004 at 4:24pm
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Relationship with the customers has been the key to my success. Two Property managers supply 40% of my buisness(with no advertising). They know I appriciate them, and would consider me their friend. I had to prove myself to them though. I've always been willing to give more than I receive. I answer my phone right away, I listen to what they're saying, I respond on their time, and I do a great job for them. I've recently branched out to a new city, and the same concepts are working here also. 1. I contact every property manager 2. I offer 3 free apartments(most managers have someone they like already, and not to excited to change.) this shows my willingness to serve and give something for nothing. 3. I follow up once a week, asking for a chance on there next vacancy, especially an eviction(they usually have to pay for these and why not use a free cleaning.) 4. When given the chance to work, provide the best cleaning they've ever seen. Answer the phone when it rings. Ask them when they want it done and do it then. Leave the place looking amazing, I usually look for anything I can do, I'll clean the lenolium to show I can do this also. And I follow up to find out how they liked my service. This has been the blood for my business. I love empty apartments. Property management is another great source for water restoration also, just don't rape them on equipment rental(I picked up a new manager as a result of this) Property Management costs you nothing in advertising once your in.
Does anyone have other great ways to pick up custormers? |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 04/March/2004 at 6:36pm
I'm just damn good....better than you...you and you!I'm the best...the best of the best. If I clean your customer, it'll be mine by the end.
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Posted By: LeeS.
Date Posted: 05/March/2004 at 11:13pm
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Dream on punk. Sears hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Who died and may you king?? First you insult Doug, who has forgotten more than you'll ever know. Now you put yourself over all here. Don't underestimate the world. I have to admit though, I like your spunk. |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 07/March/2004 at 11:05pm
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punk I think not.....but you have to believe in what you sell...if your not selling the best then why are you selling it???? When I walk into a house...like we all do, some of us sell cleaning...I sell an experience....I am damn proud of the job I do...it doesn't matter who I do it for, I'm a carpet whore I'll clean for anyone and everyone..... Yes I am King...and when I'm in your house your the kings best friend...and you get that royal treatment... Yes doug's probally forgotten more stuff that I'll ever know...but it was most likely useless stuff...cuz I know my job...I do it the damn best... there can be more than one best...two best.... three best But once Mr. Steamer walks through your door, your getting His BEST! and thats the damn BEST!!
______________________________________ Millions served 1 reservice(she was a BEE with an itch) Mr. Steamer Carpet Cleaner |
Posted By: nightrider
Date Posted: 13/March/2004 at 11:51pm
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Posted By: Americancarpet
Date Posted: 15/March/2004 at 11:20pm
| I have found that if you use your business card to it's max potential you get fantastic results. Make one side of it a coupon of some sort. You have to give them a reason to call YOU and not your competitor. Give them something worth hanging on to andn as long as you did a good job the first time...they WILL CALL you back when the time comes. |
Posted By: nightrider
Date Posted: 16/March/2004 at 2:18am
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Posted By: Monsterclean
Date Posted: 16/March/2004 at 10:15pm
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Hey Jack, I like your style, and I agree with you. We are not in the carpet cleaning business; we are in the marketing business. Marketing to one person at a time may feel good, but it's futile. I reach over 1,000,000 homes with yellow pages advertising. It costs a lot, but it works. I looked into radio, but 40 spots over a one week period cost $1k in my area. If I owned ten trucks, I might work it into the budget, but for now, it just doesn't make sense. I am considering a bulletin board ad. Has anyone ever tried bulletin board advertising? Barry
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Posted By: nightrider
Date Posted: 18/March/2004 at 11:34pm
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Posted By: kool-aid
Date Posted: 19/March/2004 at 3:22pm
I'd like to see your balance sheets. It comes down to profit, right? My best relationship(no sex) brings me in $30,000 a year with absolutly no advertising, except a caramel latte here or there. My next relationship(no sex, plus I'm not gay) He provided me $12,000. Again, no advertising except a couple of lunches here and there. I'm sure your bringing in Lots of money with your advertising campaigns, but what are your profits? Advertising is great for picking up new relationships, not making profits. How much more money do you make the 2nd time they call compared to the first(again,PROFITS)? I appreciate your confident opinions, but your wrong on the opinion that the relationship doesn't matter. What about security? My customers get other cleaners asking them for business all the time, They will not change. WHY IS THAT? The BIG BOYS in town can't get their business. The UNDERCUTTERS can't snach them away either. They're committed to me, and I to them. It's really nice to only have to service 10 major customers, insted of paying for new ones a thousand times over. Yellow pages in my opinion are the most stratigic for finding people who are looking for our services. In this case, your COKE theory is correct. The copy cat game is just a way to get your company confused with the others. The unique name and concept will be remembered when the need comes up, not "the steamer guy who was here last time, what was his name again?". (NOT YOU MR. STEAMER, I"M SURE YOU KEEP ALL YOUR CUSTOMERS )
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Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 19/March/2004 at 7:15pm
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Kool-aid I like te way you operate....... I do all my neighbours for free every single one on the street....but then I get their sisters, ant's cousins, grand parents, mom and dad, kids...the list goes on and on...it's all about relationships.... I drop my advertising in a few freebees but it pays off ten fold.... I have group cleanings....sometimes we are so busy we have to turn away some work... I promote me...people want me....I give them me...or mini me(thats my younger brother).....they love us to death.....we love them back Oh they all pay CASH! Cash is king! |
Posted By: Adwa
Date Posted: 19/March/2004 at 9:24pm
 Mr. Steamer I can't beleive you said the CASH word!!!!!!!
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Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 20/March/2004 at 1:49am
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Adwa...I'm not worried unless you are an auditor from the government...and if you are ....in that case I ment Johnny Cash you know the singer |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 20/March/2004 at 10:51am
That difference from certified cleaners with echics. They are for hire they are not for sale. Cash or no cash |
MR. STEAMER wrote:Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 20/March/2004 at 12:08pm
| Oh so I shouldn't take payment for my services.....listen buddy I see no where here in this ethics book where it says "don't accept cash" |
Posted By: nightrider
Date Posted: 20/March/2004 at 4:51pm
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Posted By: Monsterclean
Date Posted: 20/March/2004 at 11:54pm
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Kool-aid. It is not difficult to get commercial work. I can do large areas for a low price and still earn a profit, but commercial only covers 9pm to about 3 am. Residential property (days) is another matter. I do a lot of work, much of it from referrals. I charge $30 a room (up to 400 sq ft a room, but it all averages out). Some of you may be able to get the work with a low-dollar campaign. I haven't learned how. I tried using a credit-card sized ads (in the yellow pages). The problem with small adds is that they tend to draw the wrong callers. All they want to know is how much is it going to cost. I get much better callers from bigger ads. I now run what are called double-quarter ads. I don't know why Verizon calls them double-quarter ads, because they are really only 1/4 page. I run my ad in two major yellow page areas for $30k a year. I plan to expand and will buy a bigger ad next year. The yellow pages are my most effective (and most expensive) advertising medium. I tried the value clipper, flyers, quarterly magazines, etc., but barely returned what I spent on the ads. For what it is worth.... The Verizon Yellow Pages will not run a credit check. If your are operating on the margin, set your company up as a corporation, use your equipment as start-up capital, then run an ad that hits 500,000 people. If it doesn't work, declare bankruptcy. You are not the corporation; you are only a stockholder. Declaring bankruptcy will not effect your credit (this is why it is so difficult to borrow money as a corporation.) If it does work, you are a hero $$$. At least you will have given yourself the chance to succeed. It is the American way. Oh yea....Make sure that you operate the corporation as a corporation. If you don't follow the rules, the attorney's will "pierce the corporate veil" and attach your assets (assuming you have any). That is also the American way. No, I have never used this strategy myself.
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Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 21/March/2004 at 11:13pm
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you got to take the chance to make the money |
Posted By: Rick/Magic
Date Posted: 18/February/2005 at 1:05pm
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KEEP IT SIMPLE, people, KEEP IT SIMPLE...customers don't know (and don't care) who has the greatest truck-mount in the world...they just want their carpet cleaned...with the least hassels as possible...put yourself in their shoes...they don't want a sales pitch...they just want you to clean their carpet as quickly as possible and you to get out so they can get on with their lives...and they want to be able to trust you to do the job right...and believe me, price is not that important...they don't want referal programs, or any other programs that complicate what they want from you...clean carpet...learn the difference between "feature" and "benefit" when you do any advertising... ------------- 25 years of cleaning carpet and my back hurts |
Posted By: surroundings
Date Posted: 18/February/2005 at 4:12pm
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I agree that no one I've met cares about the greatest TM, but they don't want me to be quick. I tell them that their 4 rooms & hall WILL take 2+ hours as a minimum. If any of them have had the '15 minutes per room' guys, then they will appreciate what I tell them: The reason it takes time is that the room has to be vacuumed first, then I will scrub in a hot pre-spray, giving extra attention to the traffic areas, then when I 'steam-clean' I'll pay extra attention to these areas again. I'll also clean behind the doors, get all the corners etc... my cost includes helping to move lounges, recliners, tables, & chairs, (customer deals with electroninc gear & knick-knacks.) Is that a sales pitch? Sure is... but it's the truth. Some people respond to features or advantages, while others dig benifits. Do I list the extra attention to detail as a 'feature' of our service? You better believe I do. Do I also tell them the BENIFITS of using our service? I'd be silly not to. I sprinkle in the advantages on an as-needed basis. At this stage, price is not important. If they are not interested in what our procedure is then it's time to change the attack & ask some more questions. I agree that the customer does not WANT referal programs, but they can be excited into being a part of one. This is something that you do for YOU... not the customer. (sure, you make it seem as if you're doing the favour..) Most of them have only had the cheap guys: butt-crack showing, late on arrival, over wet carpets, edges not done, stains come back: they're just a bunch of yobbos. cheers, Allen |
Posted By: Rick/Magic
Date Posted: 18/February/2005 at 4:40pm
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you mean like the mass mail bait and switchers...showing up an hour late wearing a "AC/DC' tee shirt, dragging in some grocery store portable machine and "upselling" the second they walk in the door...I get so tickled at seeing all of their ads...with all those disclaimers...they are really doing real carpet cleaners a favor....because they never get repeat business...once we clean someone's home after they have used one of those clowns, it's so easy to make them a repeat customer...I used to get some of those guys calling me trying to get me to give them a job with my company...they would always say "man, I can sell"...and then I'd say "but, can you clean?" ------------- 25 years of cleaning carpet and my back hurts |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 18/February/2005 at 4:47pm
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anyone can pressure sell... I preffer not to sell... I always do a few extras... people don't like feeling hostage in their own home ------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: Rick/Magic
Date Posted: 18/February/2005 at 5:16pm
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true, mr steamer...do the job right first of all...and the add ons will come... ------------- 25 years of cleaning carpet and my back hurts |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 18/February/2005 at 9:53pm
Rick: If you are charging a fair market price you do not need add ons to make a profit on the job. It is when you use the carpet cleaning as just an oportunity to sell it comes back to bite you. ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: surroundings
Date Posted: 19/February/2005 at 10:55am
Yeah... I know those guys! Cheers, Allen |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 20/February/2005 at 11:59pm
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if I see a carpet that doesn't need the gard I don't sell the gard... sometimes I'm a little to honest, when it would have been a few easy bucks ------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 8:33am
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Your a good man Steamer. There are few of us left. ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 9:16am
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Doug the customers love me......I clean most with no complaints and a lot of referral and return business. For a big name my sales are way to low... 50% up sell is the min....they would love to fire me.... but it's hard to get rid of someone that can clean and is a crowd pleaser ------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 9:21am
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They would replace but they don't know what you are yet? ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 2:26pm
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it's been about 10 years doug.... I'm a man that is willing to work for the devil... thats the only way one can be intoduced to true evil ------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 2:49pm
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Mr. Steamer went down to the GTA He was looking for a sole to steal He was in a bind and a way behind And he needed to make deal The devil said my neame is Earl And it might be a sin But I will only tell you once you son of a gun I am the BEST THRE HAS EVER BEEN ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 3:00pm
 couldn't have said it better myself------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 4:04pm
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Well I if you don't believe me ask Steamer? ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 21/February/2005 at 4:50pm
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It's great to work for yourself... but it's also great to get all that experience with all the calls the big guys get ------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 27/March/2005 at 9:52am
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Mr.Steamer: You are right SGK is a real winner? ------------- Just My opinion |
Posted By: Americancarpet
Date Posted: 27/March/2005 at 11:29am
| I make a nice profit without having to upsell. If I don't think they need protectant then I don't try and sell it to them. One of the major problems with this industry today is high pressure sales. People call companies because they offer a good job at a fair price and then when they show up to clean all they want to do is sell you extra stuff. That leaves a VERY BAD taste in a customers mouth and gives the overall industry a bad reputation. Kinda like a used car salesman......not all of them are golddiggers and not all are out to cheat you but the stigma that has followed the profession has haunted them for many years. I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to upsell a little but don't try and take the person to the "cleaners" (no pun intended) with the charges. Rather than sell them something they don't really need....try selling them something they DO need. Like a service plan! |
Posted By: MR. STEAMER
Date Posted: 27/March/2005 at 12:13pm
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Well said AC.... no one like a hostage in their own home.... Tech's pressure sell because it makes the boss happy... 300% and 400% upsell makes everyone happy except the customer, that will most likely never use your service again ------------- www.mr-steamer.com |
Posted By: Erik06Erik
Date Posted: 06/June/2005 at 11:14am
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To americian cleaning guy Boost your web site popularity by creating signiture every time you post a reply. We also use the rotovac technology and we spend all of our time optamizing our web site. In fact our web site is our number one marketing tool. Set your signature by going to EDIT PROFILE, then uses the forum code to set your link to your page like we have at the bottom of this post. Every time you post a message on this or any forum you will increase your site's popularity in the eyes of search engines. Just a little tip we paid big bucks to learn!!! |
Posted By: jtuseo
Date Posted: 22/February/2006 at 11:41pm
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I know those guys to. Im my city they have their mail out flyer advetizing 2 rooms $19.95 They really are a disgrace ------------- WWW.PREFERREDCARPETCLEANING.COM |
Posted By: OxyMagic
Date Posted: 15/March/2006 at 11:13am
Good post. Thanks for the info for us newbies. Looking forward to learning a lot about cleaning and adding some info of my own to these posts. ------------- OxyMagic of Indianapolis Carpet Cleaning Powered by Oxygen http://oxymagiconline.com/indianapolis - http://oxymagiconline.com/indianapolis |
Posted By: Babs
Date Posted: 02/June/2006 at 10:10am
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Hey Knightrider, I just posted you regarding your TM. Put all the nit picking aside and I intend no offence to others on here you seem to really have it down patt. I would like to pick your brains regarding advertising, I am spending thousands a month in flyers to homes, the response has been pretty good though I put it down to my closing ratio and getting the booking on the enquirery. Though I need more calls coming in, and have been considering the yellow pages, but I did not think it was worth having a smaller add. A half page here in Australia is about 30K p/a scared me off a bit though it could be worth it. And your comment regarding radio got me thinking also.
I would appreciate any advice or foresight ideas from yourself to help me in my fairly new businessseen as it wont conflict with you in USA.
Some of the best advice I have received in my life have been from guys like yourself who have done the hard yards.
If you like you can email me direct.
Thank you,
Babs.
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Posted By: nightrider
Date Posted: 02/June/2006 at 10:19am
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Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 23/March/2007 at 8:36am
Some customers DO care..
I ran portys for 15yrs and TMs for 5 and from my experiences many do care what you clean with...
I was turned down about 5 times by NEW customers when i pulled in their driveway with a porty in a hachback car or a mini-mini-van..
And always was thinking "I feel like a fool using this piece of plastic crap, hope they don't cancell on the spot! Which a few did...
CUSTOMER: Where's your big machine in the Van?
 ME: I would show them my porty...
 CUSTOMER: Oh no, your not cleaning my carpets with that, I can rent one of them...
 The rest of your post is on target...
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Posted By: soaklord
Date Posted: 13/April/2007 at 3:55pm
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It's not about the equipment, it is about building trust and sending the right message. Just posted this elsewhere, thought I would share it here as well. You can adjust the information to suit the equipment you use, but the gist is worthwhile I think.
Direct mail does have the possibility of working. Referrals are, of course, better, but if your direct mail is well written and creates the need in the consumer's mind you will get it to work. It is going to have very poor results if you have a picture of you in your work gear pretending to use your truck mount equipment. (How come no one is sweating in those pictures? I get a little steam going in the room and suddenly I am dripping in sweat!) A couple of tips: Coupons are fine if you are looking to do discount work. But there will always be someone willing to undercut you eventually. Your direct mail has to appeal to their needs! If you don't know what their needs are, you can't market to them. Your direct mail has to be specific to the target. A direct mail piece that trys to appeal to apartment dwellers, seniors, luxury home owners, real estate agents, property management companies, pet owners, industrial complexes, your grandma, and that surfer dude down the street just are not going to work. Freebie alert!!! If you are going to try a direct mail piece, start small. If it will work small, it will work big. If you can't get it to work small, you won't get it to work big. (I know the temptation is to get a volume discount, but don't! Prove it first, then use it.) As an example of what you can do for a successful direct mail campaign try this: Pick an apartment complex in your area. Get to know the complex. Talk to the onsite manager, find out how many units, how often they replace the carpet in the unit, do they allow pets, etc. Then mail out a piece to everyone in the complex that states the following (for the example I am about to present, I am using the pretend name of Silver Oaks). Dear Silver Oaks Resident, As I am sure you are well aware, the carpet in your unit is not replaced every time a new renter leases the apartment. That means that you are relying on the cleanliness of the previous tenant for your health! If the cleaning of your apartment did not include a thorough carpet cleaning using a hot water extraction method, your carpet could be home to cat/dog dander, mold, bacteria, pet urine, human bodily fluids, and a host of other unpleasant and possibly allergy/sickness causing contaminants. In addition, regular carpet cleaning helps to keep the carpet looking great and reduce the liklihood of permanent staining. This means that when you check out, you cash out. We help you get your deposit back! At Specific Region Carpet Care, we offer top of the line cleaning with special prices to Silver Oaks residents. To schedule an appointment, please call phone number. Give it a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the response and it does not require 4 color printing, large volumes, etc. Make sure that you track where people got your information from. The nice thing about targeting a specific apartment complex is that you will know instantly what your marketing is doing. If you suddenly are cleaning 8 apartments in that complex, you know exactly how succesful your campaign was and now you can start rolling it out to other complexes. Email me if you would like some help with specific coaching on how to tailor your direct marketing piece or to tell me about your success. soaklord (at) yahoo (dot) com |
Posted By: Johnbraun
Date Posted: 06/June/2007 at 10:20am
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Marketing your carpet cleaning business is definitely NOT about the biggest truckmount. Your client doesn't usually care what you are using. They care about the results. Now, you could tie in what the benefits of having a big, bad truckmount are, like "A healthier home with the hot water our machine uses to flush your carpet fibers out." But only mentioning your equipment, no matter how big and bad it is, won't impress your clients. ------------- I started my carpet cleaning company while majoring in advertising. Ten years later, I started Hitman Advertising. We deliver specialty advertising to the carpet cleaning industry. |
Posted By: Johnbraun
Date Posted: 06/June/2007 at 10:23am
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You can expose these guys in your marketing. I ran an ad once with "NBC Dateline and 20/20 Expose Bait and Switch Carpet Cleaning." People knew I wasn't one of them because I was the one exposing them. Go ahead and talk to your prospects about this problem. You'll benefit from exposing the bad guys. ------------- I started my carpet cleaning company while majoring in advertising. Ten years later, I started Hitman Advertising. We deliver specialty advertising to the carpet cleaning industry. |
Posted By: CDRX
Date Posted: 18/October/2007 at 3:03pm
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Hi John,
I'm on your email tip of the week list. I notice that you seem to prefer ads in the newspaper opposed to other options. Does that really work? I've done full page 8 1/2" x 11" flyer inserts in the local newspaper and received so-so response. It seems like it'd be hard to target your market well in a small newspaper ad. ------------- http://www.completecarpetcare.com - carpet cleaning bellevue http://www.completecarpetcare.com/organic_steam_cleaning.html - carpet cleaning redmond |
Posted By: darrlowe
Date Posted: 23/October/2007 at 2:02am
| Hello. I'm very new to this industry and It was very up lifting to read your comments. |
Posted By: CuttingEdgeFlooring
Date Posted: 04/February/2008 at 2:13am
| same here thanks for all the great info |
Posted By: Steam Man
Date Posted: 08/March/2009 at 9:11am
I've just got a TM and been getting lots of great marketing ideas off this thread Has anybody just turned up in a nice neighbourhood and put a card through the door saying Free demo, I'm here for 30 mins first come first served. I'm thinking if I have some downtime this has to be better than delivering 1000s of flyers. Mike ------------- http://www.carpetcleaningwestonsupermare.co.uk - Carpet Cleaning Weston super Mare http://www.carpetcleaning-somerset.co.uk - Carpet Cleaning Somerset |
Posted By: Americancarpet
Date Posted: 06/July/2009 at 8:31am
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Just an FYI here..... We had several companies around town that were into the bait and switch tactics and high pressure sales. Some of these companies have been around for several years and some are fly by night. I had one owner of a company tell me that he's been in business for 15yrs and although he has had some complaints he has never cheated his customer or trapped his customer with wrongful business practices. So I set him (and 3 other cleaners) up for a challenge. Here's what I did......
We rigged a house with hidden camera's and mics. We had a woman call up each of these companies that offered the to good to be true prices and had her set an appointment with each. When they arrived EVERY ONE of them either tried to pressure sell her on something she did not need or told her that the advertised price only applied to "basic" cleaning. We had already cleaned the carpets prior to any of them coming over. We got EXCELLENT video of all 4 companies doing this. We approached the owners and asked them to start practicing good business rather than ripping off their customer. All of them insisted that they had good business practices.... until we showed them the video. 2 of them got so mad they wanted to fight and the other 2 were simply speechless. They couldn't believe someone actually caught them in a lie. We told each company that we would submit these tapes to all three local news channels as well as the attorney general if they did not change their practices. 3 of them immediately changed there advertising and started listing all the extra charges. The one that didn't made the 10pm news of two different channels and was out of business in less than a month! He threatened legal action but there was nothing he could do because we had him and the accusations all on video. He could not dispute anything. Our lawyers said that as long as we had video proof that they were practicing like this we could do it to any cleaner to expose them. Sounds like a 20/20 thing I know but it was the only way we could think of to get these guys to stop taking advantage of the customer. They were truly crooks! Needless to say we have leveled the playing field! ------------- Home of the FIX PRIXING carpet cleaning! |
Posted By: John L
Date Posted: 29/August/2013 at 6:46am
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Posted By: annfully
Date Posted: 20/February/2016 at 7:06pm
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Posted By: Robert W
Date Posted: 07/July/2016 at 12:44am
| Tricks, you need the tricks for foolish someone. Also self-respect and Also, self-respect. |
Posted By: JeffdaCarpetCleaner
Date Posted: 03/September/2016 at 3:03pm
| What is robert saying? I dont follow! |
Posted By: denispark
Date Posted: 22/September/2016 at 11:35pm
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The reputation and a solid plan are good |
Posted By: DaisyDigitool
Date Posted: 31/January/2018 at 9:50am
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Hi - I help my family's cleaning business with their marketing and post some of the most effective tips I've found onto youtube for the cleaning community. You might like my latest video re Referral Source marketing - its a cheap and effective method https://youtu.be/nyKmQkHrE80
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