I clean carpets alongside of pressure washing (maybe not for long though!)and had a job tonight in a rent house.This carpet was terrible, full of stains, and had rat crap all in the closet. The lady on the phone acted like she was a penny pincher before I even told her my phone estimate. I almost and should have turned down the job but my bleeding heart proceeded anyway. The price for the entire job was 84 dollars. (not much huh?)I charge for most spots to be removed included in the price unless they are severe where I switch to an hourly rate. This lady thought her severly worn,browned, urine spotted, stained carpet should come out looking like new for 84 dollars! What are people thinking? Im new to pressure cleaning and I hope the folks arent the same with exterior s****. I just about wore myself out completely fighting all those stains. If I continue to enjoy pressure cleaning as I do, I think Im going to drop that carpet mess! Just my thoughts and Dan this DID have to do with pressure washing!
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Peoples Expectations
- Thread starter Kevin
- Start date
Hey Kevin;
it's like this , today I went to estimate a house, and fence job today, the house wasn't bad and the fence was reasonably new, anyway the first thing I did was to ask the customer "now what exactly do you expect", I listen then I give a quick 101 class on what the reality of the matter is. This has nipped quite alot of problems in the bud, O by the way I never give a price over the phone or sight unseen. Just my 2 cents
Richard
G
Greg - GCR PowerClean
Guest
Hi Kevin,
Richard is right, the key to providing a customer with what they expect is to TELL them what to expect. Pressure washing is the same... you cannot work miracles 100% of the time and some surfaces are forever damaged, be it stained or otherwise. OUR solution to this is to include a outline of our service and explain what they should expect for the estimate given. When doing the estimate we also make notations on any areas of the job that MAY give us problems. This way the customer is educated as to what they are paying for and should problems arise it's in writing.
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Greg Rentschler
GCR PowerClean
www.gcrpowerclean.com
Richard is right, the key to providing a customer with what they expect is to TELL them what to expect. Pressure washing is the same... you cannot work miracles 100% of the time and some surfaces are forever damaged, be it stained or otherwise. OUR solution to this is to include a outline of our service and explain what they should expect for the estimate given. When doing the estimate we also make notations on any areas of the job that MAY give us problems. This way the customer is educated as to what they are paying for and should problems arise it's in writing.
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Greg Rentschler
GCR PowerClean
www.gcrpowerclean.com
JR Wood
New Member
Whenever I do estimates I include a sheet called "Frequently asked questions"I made a bunch of different ones for a bunch of different services.Almost all the questions are asked and answered.This has worked extremely well for me.I save a lot of time because you hardly get the 'I am interested and I just have a few questions".Since I started including this letter,most of the time it's you got the job please put me on your schedule.I always list my other services that I provide.
<FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by JR Wood on March 04, 2000 ]</font>
<FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by JR Wood on March 04, 2000 ]</font>
Hey Kevin,
Man I feel for you guys that do residential!! We clean trucks and eqipment, no residential for us, no one truck here and another there. We work mostly with large companys. If you are good at building relationships this works quite well. One contract generally produces a substancial weekly or monthly income. We are not looking for the one time job. We want to spend our time pulling the trigger not chasing down jobs. You may not have this kind of work available to you in your area, we live 2miles off the interstate, lots of trucking and logging. I guess what I am trying to say is this, find your niche, find out what you are good at,do what you want to do, do it well, if that is residential have at it. We never give prices out over the phone, that gives your competion a leg up when they call checking prices and if you meet with people to look at the job it provides great oportunity to start building the relationship you want to have with the individual who will oversee your work. Have a good weekend ..........Rob
Man I feel for you guys that do residential!! We clean trucks and eqipment, no residential for us, no one truck here and another there. We work mostly with large companys. If you are good at building relationships this works quite well. One contract generally produces a substancial weekly or monthly income. We are not looking for the one time job. We want to spend our time pulling the trigger not chasing down jobs. You may not have this kind of work available to you in your area, we live 2miles off the interstate, lots of trucking and logging. I guess what I am trying to say is this, find your niche, find out what you are good at,do what you want to do, do it well, if that is residential have at it. We never give prices out over the phone, that gives your competion a leg up when they call checking prices and if you meet with people to look at the job it provides great oportunity to start building the relationship you want to have with the individual who will oversee your work. Have a good weekend ..........Rob
L
LightningClean
Guest
Kevin,
Pressure washing, carpet cleaning, painting, carpentry, brick laying and all other trades are just alike. Penny pinching people always thinking there going to get something for nothing. You have two simple choices to do or not to do. I never do a site unseen! But that is just me. I charge the same for everyone, I show no favorites and show no mercy on my bids, if they want quality work they have to pay for it. If they want someone new to the business then usually I get a repair job out of it and I really nail them then. Just my cents.....
Hey its just a job and there'll be hundreds of others much easier. It took a long time for me to turn down my first one but boy did it feel good. Now I just say NO and hand them my compititions card and go to the next bid. 8 out of 10 times before I get to my truck they hire me. Makes for a lot of fun.
I love bids the most.
Rob
Pressure washing, carpet cleaning, painting, carpentry, brick laying and all other trades are just alike. Penny pinching people always thinking there going to get something for nothing. You have two simple choices to do or not to do. I never do a site unseen! But that is just me. I charge the same for everyone, I show no favorites and show no mercy on my bids, if they want quality work they have to pay for it. If they want someone new to the business then usually I get a repair job out of it and I really nail them then. Just my cents.....
Hey its just a job and there'll be hundreds of others much easier. It took a long time for me to turn down my first one but boy did it feel good. Now I just say NO and hand them my compititions card and go to the next bid. 8 out of 10 times before I get to my truck they hire me. Makes for a lot of fun.
I love bids the most.
Rob
Russ in Chicago
New Member
HEY KEV
Don't get down because of one customer. Even though us "residential guys" have to sell and resell over and over again. Don't think of that one customer as an $84 headache. If you sacrificed and made her a satisfied customer, you planted a seed of good will. That seed will grow into a flowering tree, reaping benefits far beyond your $84. You've got to take your lumps at times, a small price to pay for such valuable knowledge. We do carpet cleaning and power washing. The scenario you describe has more to do with how you sold the job than what industry or niche you're in. It's tough to walk away when you got bills to pay, but sometimes it's necessary for your peace of mind.
Don't get down because of one customer. Even though us "residential guys" have to sell and resell over and over again. Don't think of that one customer as an $84 headache. If you sacrificed and made her a satisfied customer, you planted a seed of good will. That seed will grow into a flowering tree, reaping benefits far beyond your $84. You've got to take your lumps at times, a small price to pay for such valuable knowledge. We do carpet cleaning and power washing. The scenario you describe has more to do with how you sold the job than what industry or niche you're in. It's tough to walk away when you got bills to pay, but sometimes it's necessary for your peace of mind.
Jon
New Member
Kevin Kevin Kevin,
Kenny Rogers had a song one time,something about knowing when to fold, hold or walk away!!
What you should have done with this job, my feelings only. Now you did see this job before bidding? Years ago when you was either a baby or not born I did carpets, I took anything when just starting out, but after I was in I found it easy to quote a high price when they should replace it but won't.
Next job like that be honest and mention it truly is time to replace the carpet as you know it won't come out like she or he wants.
If they insist then charge the heck out of them, then they will get the hint and replace it next time.
Now what others say is another way to go about it, do it, do it good and win a customer, albite a miserly one!
Jon
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I'm always cleaning up other people's me$$es.
Jon Fleischer
Oasis Pressure Cleaning
(909) 792-2247
<FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by Jon on March 04, 2000 ]</font>
Kenny Rogers had a song one time,something about knowing when to fold, hold or walk away!!
What you should have done with this job, my feelings only. Now you did see this job before bidding? Years ago when you was either a baby or not born I did carpets, I took anything when just starting out, but after I was in I found it easy to quote a high price when they should replace it but won't.
Next job like that be honest and mention it truly is time to replace the carpet as you know it won't come out like she or he wants.
If they insist then charge the heck out of them, then they will get the hint and replace it next time.
Now what others say is another way to go about it, do it, do it good and win a customer, albite a miserly one!
Jon
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I'm always cleaning up other people's me$$es.
Jon Fleischer
Oasis Pressure Cleaning
(909) 792-2247
<FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by Jon on March 04, 2000 ]</font>
C
Craig/PowerWashUnlimited
Guest
Kevin,
Your will find all types. As a general rule, i have found that the wealthier the folks are, the less they nick-pick you. For example, did two houses today. The first one accepted my bid last week, and when i did them first off today, they stood outside and watched all morning long and asked questions thruout the cleaning. They were happy of course, but looked worried as they could be. The second was a wealthy lady, and when i called her with the estimate figures friday, she said ok fine. I called her and after the first job today and said i was on my way, she said ok fine. I got there and she had left. She came by about an hour after i got started and i walked out to the road and she handed me a check and said thanks, and left, never to be seen again. In other words, she couldn't have cared less. Obviously i didn't slack up any, and will call with a follow up to make sure she was happy with the work. You never know, just have to take the good with the bad.
Craig
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Craig Knight
Power Wash Unlimited
www.powerwashunlimited.com
Your will find all types. As a general rule, i have found that the wealthier the folks are, the less they nick-pick you. For example, did two houses today. The first one accepted my bid last week, and when i did them first off today, they stood outside and watched all morning long and asked questions thruout the cleaning. They were happy of course, but looked worried as they could be. The second was a wealthy lady, and when i called her with the estimate figures friday, she said ok fine. I called her and after the first job today and said i was on my way, she said ok fine. I got there and she had left. She came by about an hour after i got started and i walked out to the road and she handed me a check and said thanks, and left, never to be seen again. In other words, she couldn't have cared less. Obviously i didn't slack up any, and will call with a follow up to make sure she was happy with the work. You never know, just have to take the good with the bad.
Craig
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Craig Knight
Power Wash Unlimited
www.powerwashunlimited.com