Free Demonstration, Tacky or Valid Marketing?

[B&BGaryC]

Give a free demo, set up and clean a small area, usually a heavy traffic area to show the difference your

cleaning makes vs. the other guy? I think anybody can put a clean patch in the middle of another guys

account if he tries hard enough. I also think it is tacky. I did however try to offer a free cleaning of an

entire apt. to all the rental agencies in town to show them that I do quality work... But no takers. They

all thought it was a gimmick and they would end up paying something, I just wanted a chance to

talk to them and was willing to pay for that chance.

 

[Jeremy]

Valid. 100 square feet in a a problem area. Solve the problem book the job.

 

[Ron Lippold]

Have you ever seen a restaurant offer come on in and try my pie or have a piece of chicken and if you don't like it you don't pay

 

[cmaster]

Most higher end restaurants don't charge you if you're not satisfied with your meal. Maybe you're eating at the wrong ones.

 

[Jeremy]

Give a free demo, set up and clean a small area, usually a heavy traffic area to show the difference your cleaning makes vs. the other guy? I think anybody can put a clean patch in the middle of another guys account if he tries hard enough. I also think it is tacky.

It's you or him do what needs to be done & get paid. It's not tacky, it's letting your work sell its self.

I offer a demo to any prospect as I'm certain once they have seen the benefits & quality of workmanship they will be sold... The "other guy" does not "own the customer" no one does. My only advice is take care of your customers & make absolutely certain that they are more than pleased with the results. This will keep you from losing accounts to guys that are willing to let their work stand alone against any & all competitors.

Competitors: root word compete.

Compete: To strive against another or others to attain a goal, such as an advantage or a victory.

 

[Derek]

Give a free demo, set up and clean a small area, usually a heavy traffic area to show the difference your cleaning makes vs. the other guy? I think anybody can put a clean patch in the middle of another guys account if he tries hard enough. I also think it is tacky.

yea it's a little tacky i think if you're going into a biz, and you straight up tell them you are going to prove you're better than their current CC'er etc...

but not if you go in and plain offer a free demo. the vast majority of my clients and prospects don't have a current / steady CC'ing contractor they deal with, so i am not out to beat him up. i'm out to take care of the high-percentage of commercial spaces (in my area anyways) that never get the CC'ed. or if they do, they certainly don't remember who it was.

thanx --- Derek.

 

[Duane Oxley]

Gary...

When I cleaned carpet years ago, I did a lot of apartments. The way I did it was to give them a $100 credit for work. That was an offer that very few said, "No." to. Maybe it was because they knew exactly what to expect.

Years ago, I got a string of restaurants from a guy who did crappy work. The way I did it was simple: I ate at the main headquarters' restaurant and got to know the manager. I solicited the biz, but was told I was too expensive. So I waited for it to be cleaned again, went in and asked how long it had been since the last cleaning. "1 week." I didn't have to pretend to be surprised at the answer or anything of the sort. I was seriously surprised.

So I offered him to come in and clean the day after the next cleaning, just to show him what I meant. An agreement was reached, and I came in as agreed. I cleaned half of the back dining room... and left it red and silver, instead of the burgundy and grey that they were used to seeing. No tricks with dye, I simply cleaned it with high flow / high heat and an early version of CleanStreak.

The guy who had the account cleaned it 2 more times and never could get the rest of the carpet to approach what I had done.... as the line I drew down the middle of that dining room was testament to.

So I got that restaurant... and the other 3 as a result.

Done right, demo's are good business...

 

[Charlie Lyman]

I've had customers flinch at my price and I tell them that I'll do 100 sq ft for free and then they can decide if they think it's worth it. If not, I'll pack up and leave and they owe me nothing. Never have left without pay yet.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I get what you guys are saying, but what I am thinking of is when some hack comes in, uses everything but bleach,

squirts it full of optical brighteners etc. etc. when they know you have a relationship with them, I think it is kinda

tacky. I would rather sell my education and experience. (For those who know me best, please stop laughing.)

There is enough business to go around for me and the 4 other cleaners in my town that are worth their salt.

I just want to run the other 25 hacks out of town, let "Big-Ego cleaning" discount himself out of business.

Then there will be 4 companies serving 100,000 pop., good enough for me. And I don't need to put a clean

patch in the middle of somebodies work. If there carpet cleaner sucks, they know it. If you can convince them

that you are educated and experienced, they will be curious... they will think, "My cleaner sucks, and this guy

seems to know what he is talking about..." And better yet, I can save them money buy doing a restorative

clean twice a year, and a maintenance clean 4 times a year, instead of having a half-priced hack come once

every month...

 

[B&BGaryC]

Charles and Duane,

I understand, and respect how you handle it as professionals, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give it a try. In my area,

there are only 4 other companies that have any sort of customer loyalty at all. I don't need their customers... Yet...

The other 25 companies only have loyalty from their family and a few friends who haven't given up on them.

I'll take those customers, it is easy, all I have to do is NOT hit on the guy's wife, NOT steal their jewelry,

NOT break stuff in their house, NOT leave their carpets wet for 3-5 days and NOT try a bait-and-switch,

Use a pre-spray, apply fabric protection if they pay for it, instead of charging for water, actually tell

the customer what kind of carpet they have and instruct them how to care for it, instead of saying, "I don't

think it's wool 'cause I don't smell wet sheep..."

 

[Charlie Lyman]

I think a promotional of "been taken by other cleaners?, try us for free" could work great. People are leary of carpet cleaners because of the hacks you described. Give them a demo and take the other cleaner's money to the bank.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I put together a brochure called "Carpet Cleaners Dirty Tricks and Gimmicks."

It was genius, all true stuff, a great guide to teach people how to divide the professionals from the hacks, and at the end, I encourage them to stay with their carpet cleaner if they measure up, but invite them to try my services if they have been taken in by a dirty trick or gimmick... I never used it though, I re-wrote the whole thing, "The truth about carpet cleaning, and how we can better serve you." I just didn't like the negativity it portrayed.

 

[steve r]

if im out looking for work i simply ask the prospect if they are happy with thier current cleaner. if they say yes i simply say thank you for your time heres my card if you change your mind please give me a call. if they say no its an easy sale.

 

[XTREME1]

question only asked by a person who didn't want to be shown up. It is a competition and let the best man win or the best marketer one or the other

 

[Guest]

Only thing I do for free is give advice(and opinions).
I'm certainly not going to do anything free for a commercial account whose loyalty changes with every new manager.
Been there...

 

[Al]

I love it sell your education

LOL :roll:


Wow, you got alot on your plate, 25 hack cleaners to run outa town, damn.

Just my opinion but I think you should invest time into building your own business and not worry so much about everyone else. The attitude of running people out of town is not the way to build your business.

AL

 

[B&BGaryC]

Run them out of town by building my business and educating the consumer as to what is and is not acceptable. You educate them by showing them the right way, doing it the right way, every time. And yes, you can sell an education that only took 4 days to get, as well as a 6 month apprenticeship with a master textile cleaner... You just have to know how to sell it right. Be confident that those 4 days and that 6 months was enough to make you better than the other guys. If you believe it, they will believe it. (By the way, I never let them know I got 'er done in 4 days. I just call it school, and tell them I was taught by Al Pacino's cleaner.)

 

[Kevin]

Why the hard feelings towards the 25 other companies out there?

Why even care if they are there or not?


If you are a smart business man, it doesn't matter how many are in your town.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Personally, I don't see how a demo is "tacky".

It's a chance to "show" what you can do, rather than just talk a good a line.
(like most out there)

Talk is cheap.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating


..L.T.A.

 

[B&BGaryC]

Average Residential cleaning in this town: 22 cents a square foot. That is the price charged not for the whole room, but only the open carpet

Average minimum service call: $55.00- $65.00 dollars

There is a company that I will call, lets say, P.O.S. services, that is doing 6 cents a square foot for commercial.

National average: 32 cents a square foot for cleaning w/out fabric protection. Whole room is measured, baseboard to baseboard.

National Average min. charge: $100.00-$130.00

There is a problem with the other guys bringing the price down.

 

[Kevin]

Every city/town has low ball cleaners. They aren't going away. Those type of companies have been around since the 70's and maybe earlier.

Some of them do well financially. Some go under but another just pops back up.

There is a guy on these boards making huge money with $99 Whole House specials. I don't think he cares about the guy charging 59.95 whole house special or the guy calling him a hack that charges .50 sq ft.

 

[steve r]

if you were refering to my comment greg and im not sure you were,all i can say is it works for me. i show them respect and i dont want to waste there time with a sales pitch. i also display my confidence and show that im not desperate so when they do call i can get higher prices. besides i get quite a few who do call me with in a couple of months. its just the way i do it. it leaves an impression.

 

[steve r]

also greg i disagree about the competion part. the only one i compete against is myself. im my own worst enemy.
really who cares what everyone else is doing i only care about what im doing or not doing.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I am just going through withdrawals. I worked for the "Perfect" carpet cleaning company. I had the best clients, charged premium prices, stayed busy cleaning clean carpet in giant houses filled with people who would brag to their rich neighbors about how we cleaned for them. Never an objection about price.

The downside: I got paid terribly, treated like garbage by the owner, who used the company like a credit card, over-extended himself, and the bank started taking vehicles from the staff while we were AT THE CUSTOMERS HOUSES.

So, I moved on. Now I am cast down with the rest of them, the "Perfect" company is bankrupt and their reputation is irreversibly soiled and forever tainted. I haven't been down here with the rest of them before, and I can't brag that I was the top dog at the "Perfect" company, because nobody likes them anymore.

 

[Scott]

Demos aren't "tacky", but they are a huge waste of time to the client, but most importantly - YOU.

You? Yes, you read right.

You're a professional, aren't you? You have rights too, don't you?

How many prospects have actually asked you to back up your claims? Maybe 1 out of 1000, if that, right?

So it's YOU wanting to "prove" to the prospect that you're better, so you offer a demo. Am I right?

But honestly, how many times does quality even come up in conversation? Isn't your word good enough? Isn't it implied that as a business owner you do a great job? As a consumer, I would certainly hope that the person I'm talking with on the phone knows in his heart of hearts he's the best cleaner that walked the planet.

Hey, I've seen it and have done it too:

Prospect: "How much do you charge?"

You: ".xx / sq foot" or "$xx/room"

Prospect: "wow, that's a lot!"

You: "ma'am, I'll show you I'm worth it by doing a free demo"

Am I right here fellows?

If that's how you're handling it, I think you're doing it wrong. How about digging for reasons why they don't believe you - over the phone? How about discovering their reasons for calling you? How about establishing a rapport with the prospect whereby they believe what you say almost right from the start of the conversation? How about exercising your rights as a business owner by setting the ground rules on the sale and attracting good quality prospects instead of those who won't believe you, even if you do a demo, quote, or presentation?

It's easy to waste our - and our prospect's - time by doing demos. Do they really want to see one? If the answer is yes, then I would ask myself why they don't believe what I'm stating and ask the important questions to overcome those objections.

I'd love to see a survey:

Do you do demos?

1) Yes, almost every time
2) On occasion, but only after every objection is out of the way except for physical proof
3) Never

Mikey P, can ya hook up a survey? It'll be an interesting study.

Scott

 

[Derek]

Gary,

i agree with everyone else...quit focusing on your "competition", you ain't gonna change them or scare them. if you were in my town i'd care less and i'd hope the feeling was mutual. it wouldn't mean a thing to my biz, and my feelings about your biz practices wouldn't amount to a hill of beans to your biz.

focus on positive marketing, not negativity...prospects don't want to hear more negative talk during their day. my 2¢



Scott, i vote for #4: i offer a free demo to 99% of my prospects but not all accept (i'm talking about commercial). the rare comm referral i receive, i don't offer the demo as their usually already sold.



thanx --- Derek.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I get what you're saying Derek, and I don't necessarily want my marketing to be negative. I enjoy positivity, but I am just getting sick of the "You cost more than the other guy, so I'll go with him." I lost a bid this week because the guy at "Big Ego Cleaning" bid $1 less than me.

I just don't know what to do or say. If I start bidding low, I sell myself short. When I am done with a carpet cleaning job, it is done, and done right, dries quickly, looks great, and the customer is educated on how to care for their carpet, and proper spotting techniques, they got a bottle of spotter with my name on it for free, and they are smiling, happy, and tell me they will recommend me.

What the F*&# do I say or do to get that yes? So they can be happy with me and the service they got? So they can tell me I am the best cleaner that they have ever had?

At 20cents a square foot, I will cost the company more money than I make them. Bid low still? or should I bid 28-50 cents a square foot. (Depending on Fab prot. and furn. moving.) and make money for the company? "Yes" used to be automatic for me at the last company I worked at, and now it is keeping me up at nights.

 

[B&BGaryC]

If that's how you're handling it, I think you're doing it wrong. How about digging for reasons why they don't believe you - over the phone? How about discovering their reasons for calling you? How about establishing a rapport with the prospect whereby they believe what you say almost right from the start of the conversation? How about exercising your rights as a business owner by setting the ground rules on the sale and attracting good quality prospects instead of those who won't believe you, even if you do a demo, quote, or presentation?
Scott

How do I do that? I tried this shpiel when I got a call about price. "No offense ma'am, but in an industry that isn't regulated by the federal government, do you really want to shop on price alone? If I was calling to get a carpet cleaner, I would want to know how much experience and training they had, wouldn't you? Just something to think about."

And then she started asking questions about a rug doctor. The conversation ended with her deciding to rent a rug doctor and me cutting my wrists.

 

[Scott]

How do I do that? I tried this shpiel when I got a call about price. "No offense ma'am, but in an industry that isn't regulated by the federal government, do you really want to shop on price alone? If I was calling to get a carpet cleaner, I would want to know how much experience and training they had, wouldn't you? Just something to think about."

And then she started asking questions about a rug doctor. The conversation ended with her deciding to rent a rug doctor and cutting my wrists.

Where did this prospect hear about you? What defines your company culture? Are you a value company or a high-end company?

There's money on all ends of the spectrum, but I have no idea what your company stands for except that it appears that carpet cleaning is merely an inconvenience to get to the next big water loss.

If that's your company culture, the cleaning side of your company is never going to prosper. Maybe it is time to do your own gig or work for a place where they'll let you grow that part of the business, WITH FULL SUPPORT.

Scott

 

[Scott]

How do I do that? I tried this shpiel when I got a call about price. "No offense ma'am, but in an industry that isn't regulated by the federal government, do you really want to shop on price alone? If I was calling to get a carpet cleaner, I would want to know how much experience and training they had, wouldn't you? Just something to think about."

And then she started asking questions about a rug doctor. The conversation ended with her deciding to rent a rug doctor and cutting my wrists.

Where did this prospect hear about you? What defines your company culture? Are you a value company or a high-end company?

There's money on all ends of the spectrum, but I have no idea what your company stands for except that it appears that carpet cleaning is merely an inconvenience to get to the next big water loss.

If that's your company culture, the cleaning side of your company is never going to prosper. Maybe it is time to do your own gig or work for a place where they'll let you grow that part of the business, WITH FULL SUPPORT.

Scott