The MAGICAL Email

The MAGICAL Email

In my last Blog ‘Acres of Diamonds’ I explained how I consider carpet cleaners spend a disproportionate amount of time chasing after new leads rather than re-engaging their existing customers.

I wrote about two carpet cleaners, and fellow NCCA members, Jim from Essex and Mark from Hertfordshire, both of whom made over a 10:1 ROI on mailing their existing database (10:1 is the ‘Return On Investment’ from their mailshots, which means they made over £10 for every £1 they invested).

So far the highest ROI form a mailshot to a carpet-cleaning 'list' in this current campaign that I’ve been told of is a return of 35:1. This is amazing £35 back for every £1 they spent, which was done by a franchise carpet cleaner, based in the 'Home Counties' and the jobs are still coming in. 

This was achieved by using two of the tools I recommended in my last Blog. These were both NCCA Corporate Members, Allan Simmons of ‘Get Booked Up’ and Neil Jenkins of ‘Mail Boxes Etc…’

Before I start, hopefully this blog will answer the carpet cleaners who questioned why I ‘only’ recommend ‘Old School’ offline marketing. In carpet cleaning (as with any industry) you MUST use ALL types of MARKETING to GROW your business. More importantly, my message was to target your EXISTING carpet-cleaning clients before you spend money finding more people. 

The MAGICAL Email

Or to give it its full title, The MAGICAL 'NINE WORD' Email, works great with both existing clients and ‘Dead Leads’.

Firstly let’s start with the ‘Dead Leads’ by defining the term ‘Lead’. It’s that person who has ‘raised their hand’ and contacted you and let you know that they are interested in what you have to offer… which you do through effective direct response, education based marketing.

So when a person has simply shown interest, but not ‘bought’ from you yet, they are a ‘lead’. Maybe you’ve even gone as far in the process as giving them a 'free quotation' or even a 'Healthy Home Carpet Audit', but they still haven’t paid you any money.

At this stage what do you do? 

Just ‘write them off’ and move on, chasing after the next lead? Or do you know how to ‘dig in’ and find those ‘hidden profits’?

Don’t get me wrong, keeping a steady stream of fresh leads coming into your carpet cleaning business should be an integral part of your automatic marketing systems. However, it’s what you do with those leads once you get them into your database that can mean all the difference in the world to your profit margins.

Statics show that once a person has shown interest in what you are offering and not bought from you …there is still a 50% chance that they will buy from you in the next 18 months.

So for every 100 leads you have that didn’t become paying customers, their business could be still worth somewhere in the region of £7,500.00 to your bottom-line (i.e.; if your average carpet cleaning job ticket is £150 and you get 50 out of 100 of those leads to buy from you). Therefore it’s definitely worth your while to pursue converting your existing leads into ‘paying’ clients for your carpet cleaning services.

World-leading marketer Dean Jackson revealed what he calls the 9-word e-mail that works like magic (marketing magic) in re-engaging and converting sales from your existing leads.   His friend and fellow Marketing Ninja Joe Polish, well know to many UK carpet cleaners has already introduced this to the carpet cleaning industry in America and it's working great. 

Here it is….

First, find every lead you can in your business. Look for the email of every person who you have ever had contact with that hasn’t become a client yet. All of them, even the names of clients you haven’t heard from in 2 or more years.

Now here is the steps for the 9 word email, which works so amazingly well… (Please note: you can very easily turn this into a ‘print’ or ‘offline’ piece and mail directly).

Step 1.
Type your leads email address in the box marked 'TO:'   
(eg: keith@keithsemail.co.uk)

Step 2.
Put the person’s first name in the subject line of the email
(eg: ‘Keith’)

Step 3.
Then type these 9 words for the body…no more no less…
 “Are you still looking at getting your carpets cleaned?”

Step 4.
Press 'SEND'
 
If you want to see what that a 9-word email looks like here’s an example...

====


From: Mr Carpet Cleaning
Date: 15, May, 2013 at 9:53 AM
Subject: Keith
To: keith@keithsemail.co.uk

Are you still looking at getting your carpets cleaned?


====

That’s it. Nine words ... End of story.

Don’t be tempted to say one more thing! There is no need to sign it or include a phone number in the e-mail because with one ‘click’ they will respond to you.

(Please Note: If you are printing and posting this piece make sure to include a way for the client to contact you, i.e. a phone number, email or web address, or all three, but don't go over board, you don't even need printed letterhead).

Now it might feel weird to just throw a question out there with no reason or explanation, but leaving this ‘open loop’ is what makes it work.  We want this to go off like a rock ... Putting a carpet cleaning offer in will dampen the fuse. 

You will find your ‘leads’ cannot resist the open-endedness of this conversation and it will engage them. You’ll find your inbox filling up with responses.

One business person that Dean taught this to had a 40% response in just 12-hours on leads she was literally about to throw into the bin because she thought they were ‘dead ends’.

Look at the stack of carpet cleaning ‘leads’ you have had over the last 18-months. What if 50% of those could be converted into £150 carpet cleaning jobs, and they could be if you just take the time to re-engage them in a ‘conversation’ with you…?

And remember, there is no such thing as “But I’m in carpet cleaning…” or “But my clients are different…” or “My area is different…” the response to this is universal. It’s human nature and that is consistent across the board, no matter where you’re located or what business you are in.

Try it on your dead leads … what do you have to lose?

Also, if you want to see a quick cash infusion from jobs next week, don’t look any further than the customers you already have. We know you'll have a better take up when using direct mail ... but email is FREE

I challenge you to try a ‘Magical Nine-Word Email’ to your own carpet cleaning database. You could send it in-between the direct mail letters.

Here’s a few of ideas for existing carpet cleaning clients…

Want that fresh, clean look to your carpets again?

Could your home carpets do with cleaning… again?

Remember how your carpets looked after my cleaning…?

Dirty Carpets Again? Do you like my help…?

I look forward to hearing about your ‘Magical NINE Word Email’.


Regards



Keith Robertson 
NCCA Vice President and Marketing Director

PS. For more information on the ‘Magical NINE Word Email’ and more FREE marketing tools and ideas from the great Dean Jackson I recommend you visit his website at http://ilovemarketing.com

PPS. For great tools for marketing your carpet cleaning business contact the famous 'Joe Polish' at http://www.richcleaner.com/blog/

‘Acres Of Diamonds’

“Are You Too Busy Finding New Marketing Ideas And Missing The ‘Acres Of Diamonds’ At Your Feet?” 

NCCA Member, Jim Leech of Essex, Went Back To ‘OLD SCHOOL’ Marketing And Made £7,084 (And Counting) From A £698.00 Investment …
And Took Him Minutes To Do!

Being from the ‘Old School’ of marketing myself, I was very glad to hear from TWO current NCCA members that have gone ‘off-line’ with their marketing this month.  They were ‘gobsmacked’ at the results of their ‘Old School’ marketing both with the amount of money they made for very little time and effort. 

Please keep reading and I’ll share with you the actual numbers from both these carpet cleaners and how YOU can also make between 10:1 and 12:1 return on your investments (£10 - £12 back on every £1 invested). 

Firstly, this reminds me of the story of “Acres of Diamonds” … and I’d like to give you a quick overview of it.

In marketing it is said a good ‘List’ is solid ‘Gold’.

But if lists are gold, then your own 'Client List' has to be like finding “Acres of Diamonds”.

“Acres of Diamonds” is not a ‘new-fangled’ marketing idea … in fact it dates way back and was from a parable, told in lectures over 6,000 times by a Baptist Minister from Massachusetts, USA called Russell H. Conwell.

Russell discovered the story himself while travelling in the Middle East, upon his return he spent many years travelling North America giving his lecture and encouraging his audience to find “acres of diamonds” in their own ‘backyards’.

Now this wasn’t ‘old school’ motivation; it was positively ‘pre-school’ as Russell gave his talks and lectures way back in the late 1800’s, therefore making him one of the original ‘motivational speakers’. 

It was over 100-years ago “Acres of Diamonds” was first published as a book telling this ancient ‘true story’ about a contented and wealthy farmer called Ali Hafed, -- contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented.

Unfortunately one day Hafed learnt of the discovery of precious diamonds in Europe from a travelling Monk. This left Hafed feeling less than contented, in fact he felt ‘poor’. This feeling ate at Hafed so much he sold his farm and left his family to go in search of Diamonds for himself.

After years of searching, without any success, he lost his health and his wealth and finally in desperation he flung himself in to the sea, never to be seen again.

Ironically, the new owner of Hafed's farm discovered, on the very same land the great diamond mines of Golconda, which were to produce some of the most magnificent diamonds in all history. Even the Koh-i-noor diamond, in the British Crown Jewels was found in the Golconda mines.

The moral of the story is that we often dream of fortunes to be made elsewhere. The idea that the "grass is always greener on the other side"... and so on. 

Instead we ought to be open to the opportunities that are around us.  Now I’m not suggesting you physically go and start digging up your back garden, so how can you find your acres of diamonds?  Just look around you now and find your Diamonds.
  
“Acres of Diamonds” For UK Carpet Cleaners Now. 

To bring this back to marketing for carpet cleaners in the 21st century, is simple… A lot of carpet cleaners seem to always be looking for new clients.  Trying to find the new magic marketing tool to bring them success.     Some of these cleaners tell me they attract all their new customers on the ‘Internet’ and ‘it doesn’t cost them much money’.

While I completely agree, the Internet is a great way to find new customers and if done correctly, it can be very cheap too. However, it often costs far more than people think!
 
When I question these ‘Internet Cleaners’ I find they spend hours and hours per day online tweaking multiple sites, or you can see them posting on Facebook 24/7 etc… they seem to forget their 'time' is precious! 

So the Internet can be a great tool to help you bring in new customers, but may I suggest you spread your marketing budget (on-line and off-line) around a little more.   And the first place you should be focusing on is your very own customers.

Building a ‘good list’ from your customers will become your “Acres of Diamonds” and all you really need to do is keep in regular contact with them offering deals and specials etc...

Now, if you are new to business and don't have a single client then compile a list of your "circle of influence", or people you know or are acquainted with, and start from there.

Or, align yourself with a business owner who already has lots of your type of customers - and offer his list an amazing deal only for his/her customers. (Hint: It might help if you demo your carpet cleaning service to this business owner for free so he can confidently recommend you to his clients)

Why Is This List So VALUABLE?

Because you already have a relationship with these people!
 
Rather than only searching for new prospects and working with 'cold' lists, we want to convert your 'warm' database of customers (a customer is a one time transaction) into a 'hot' list of clients (with regular, ongoing relationships), full of people who are familiar with you, they have used your service before and trust you.

You’ll get between 500% and 600% increase in return from your investment when you market to your clients instead of running after new people all the time.

NOW, for a ‘quick-start’ I recommend you use ‘Old School’ off-line marketing first.

There are two main reasons for this…

1. Ask yourself how many emails, addressed to you, came in your inbox last week (not including spam). Then ask how many letters (not bills) did you receive by post last week? A letter by Royal Mail stands out more than an email and will provoke more people to take action.
2. How many emails do you have in your list for your customers? And of those emails how many are current??  People often DO NOT give out their main email, they a secondary ‘home email’.   The secondary or home email is often from their broadband suppliers and will change them every couple of years or so when they change internet providers… and shock horror they do this without telling you first!

Unquestionably the most reliable way to contact your customers (and convert them in to clients) is via good old direct mail and by posting them a letter.

With direct mail you need to aim for your ‘lowest hanging fruit’ … or market to the warmest list, which is the people that are more likely to purchase now. Try dividing your customers into four groups.

1. Current Customers. People that have purchased in the last 6-12 months, you like them and are mid to high-end ticket jobs. This is your hot list. 
2. Past Customers. People that last purchased between 12 and 24 months, you like them and they can pay your invoices. This is your warm list.
3. Old Customers. People that last purchased between 24 and 60 months and are willing to pay your invoices. These are cooling down. 
4. Dead Customers. Anyone not returning within 60-months are now cold. Plus anyone you didn’t like working for or that you don’t think would pay £100 plus for your service. You should think carefully marketing to these people, it could be very costly.

What If You Don't Have The Tools?

Don’t worry if you haven’t got the ‘software’ to segregate your customers or indeed the ‘knowledge’ to set-up and send out an effective mailshot yourself … as help is at hand.

In the last year or so we have had THREE NEW ‘Corporate’ members join the NCCA that can really help you convert your ‘list’ in to “Acres of Diamonds”.

Two of them have ‘Client Database Marketing Software’, or in other words computer programmes written for UK carpet cleaners to you get the most out of your customer database and create great marketing lists.

Both software packages are designed and owned by genuine people and both are still carpet cleaners, you may know or have heard of …

Allan Simmons, with Get Booked Up www.getbookedup.com

Kevin Loomes, with Cleaners Mate www.cleanersmate.co.uk

Please give them both a try as they have FREE sample software on their websites.

The third Corporate Member I recommend you contact is Neil Jenkins, he runs a ‘printing and fulfilment house’, called Mail Boxes Etc... of Maidenhead.   Neil will provide the paper for letter, the envelope, print the letter, stuff the letter in the envelope and post it for you ... all cheaper than you can buy a 2nd class stamp for!  

And the great thing is as a NCCA Corporate member Neil will give NCCA members the same great deal of just 39p (47p inc vat) for one letter or up to 1 million letters. 

So a for 500 letters, you just send the letter and 500 names and addresses, along with £235 ... and Neil will do all the hard word of printing and posting ... to generate you £2,350 worth of work. 

Neil Jenkins, with Mail Boxes etc… Maidenhead www.mbe.co.uk/maidenhead

DO YOU want to fill your diary next week and bring in immediate money into your business, send out an "irresistible offer" to your existing clients that haven't used you in 6 months or more.

Harvesting Your "Acres Of Diamonds"

As I said at the start of the blog I have had TWO long-term NCCA members send me their results of their off-line mailshot to their ‘list’ or current customers.   

One member used a letter and the other postcard, however, both these cleaners used a on-line printing and mailing company to take out all the hard.   And thankfully both these guys have allowed me to share with you their numbers. 

The first is Jim Leech, from Essex.    Jim, who would be the first to admit he is not great on computers and dealing with mailshots.   He had his daughter help him put a letter together and built a list for him from his database.

Jim's mailshot was a letter with a £10 OFF voucher and over the last few months he has been sending the letters to his list in groups of a few hundred people … here’s Jim's results...

Marketing Piece:	Printed Letter
Marketing Target:	Old Customers
Printed Offer:	£10 off Voucher
Printed & Posted by:	DocMail
Total Pieces Sent:	1,800 letters
Total Cost:	£698
Total Booked:	42 people
Total £'s Taken:	£7,084.00
Average Job ticket:	£168.66
Return on investment:	10:1

1,800 letters, gets 42 jobs and makes £7,084.00, plus this amount is growing as Jim still has more prospects to quote for and more calls almost daily.

For this campaign Jim used Docmail (www.cfhdocmail.com) which is an online printing and post company.    It now takes Jim just minutes to send out a few hundred letters.  However, Docmail does have a number of downsides compared to Neil at MBE, like...

• Docmail only use 'window envelopes' which means your customers address will take up a large chunk your letter, Neil at MBE allows you to use all the letter for your message as he prints the clients address on the outside. 
• Docmail will not allow 'teaser copy' on the outside of the envelope, as MBE print on the outside they allow you to add teaser copy for free.  Teaser copy is making an offer on the outside of the envelope which gets it opened quicker and increases responces. 
• Docmail charge extra for your 'return address', with MBE its free, so allows you to clean your list with people that have moved.
• Docmail need your list 'post ready' and sent to them in certain way, if not they will not send or charge you extra. Just call Neil at MBE and he will talk you through it. He'll discuss what you need to do ... and send you a printed sample of your letter FREE.     

The second person to do really well with his mailshot is Mark Pritchard of Hertfordshire. 

Mark, said he didn’t want to write a letter, (couldn't be bothered more like) so he asked his wife to make up a postcard out of an advert she already made for him.  Here is a copy of the postcard...

Marks postcard was A6, but when he noticed it was just 2p more for A5 size, he went for that printed full colour side.

Here's Marks results...

Marketing Piece:	Postcard
Marketing Target:	Old Customers
Printed Offer:	3 for 2 Offer
Printed & Posted by:	DocMail
Total Pieces Sent:	896 postcards
Total Cost:	£397.83
Total Booked:	30 people
Total £'s Taken:	£4,813.00
Average Job ticket:	£160.43
Return on investment:	12:1

Marks figures are great, although one of Marks domestic clients works at a school and got him a £900 job there (what a shame). So if you wanted say that one job didn't count and remove the commercial job, Marks average job falls a little to £134 and his return on invest falls just below 10:1.  

Regardless ... Mark did a great job and made £4,813.00 from a £397.83 investment.

Which works best Letter or Postcard...?   I personally like the letters, as you can add more details and personalise them more.  The real answer is they both do ... try mixing them up a little and test the results for yourself.

(Please Note: Most letters/postcards sent before the post office price increase 1st April 2013). 

So there's my proof ...  Old School marketing does work.   Jim and Mark have made it look easy, don’t they? Well I’m going to make it even easier for you.

But first here's something you should remember when using direct mail...

Most people live their lives with tunnel vision, they only see what they want to see.  Therefore Jim sent his letters to 1,800 people and only 42 purchased ... so he CAN keep on mailing, every few weeks to the other 1,758 people.

Don't think because you sent someone a letter this year you will have to wait until next year to write again.     

Here's what to do...

Step 1: Fill in the form below and I’ll send you THREE ready-made letters all with vouchers attached...FOR FREE. These cover the 3 main sections of your customers...    
     a.  Current Clients: 6-12 months with a £10 off Voucher. 
     b.  Past Clients: 12-24 months with a 3 for 2 offer 
     c.  Old Clients: 24-60 months with a FREE ROOM offer 

Step 2: Download the ‘FREE Client Database Software’ packages from both of our Corporate members. Allan or Kevin can help you create three groups from your database, as above be selecting the people you want to work for. I suggest you work in batches of 300-400.

Step 3: Contact Neil Jenkins at Mail Boxes etc… call him on 01628633336 and he will help you put the mailing and database together for you. He will even send you a sample of the letter FREE.   

 Get these letters here for FREE...

What could be easier? As Jim and Mark have already shown, you could be making between £4000-£7000 additional money over the next few weeks.

Please let me know your success stories.  

Regards

Keith Robertson 
NCCA Vice President and Marketing Director

PS. I’d like to thank Jim Leech and Mark Pritchard for sharing their actual marketing figures with us all. And please remember these guys have their own businesses, so please don’t call them … call the three Corporate members who are willing and able to help you better.

PPS. If you have any successful marketing you would like to share with others please contact me via the office.

The Unethical Bait & Switch Sales Con...

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"Don't Get Caught Out By Unbelievable Low Prices For Carpet Cleaning -
As BBC's Rogue Traders Found It
Could Be A 'Bait & Switch' Con"

Here's a short video by the Rogue Trader’s Team recorded for the BBC's Watchdog Television Programme.  The Rogue Traders have been investigating some of the unethical carpet cleaners in the UK for using 'Bait and Switch' to sell their services. 

Click on the image above to watch the video

Thankfully not all carpet cleaners are like this!!  To find your local 'Professional Carpet Cleaner' please visit the National Carpet Cleaners Association's website at http://www.ncca.co.uk or call office hours on 0116 271 9550

Unfortunately every industry has a few 'bad apples' and these so-called 'carpet cleaners' are starting to give the professional carpet cleaning industry a bad name.    However, 'Bait and Switch' selling is only the start as often the cleaning is very much questionable at the best of times and you run the risk of long-term damage to your carpet.   

Therefore we would like to make it clear that the company filmed in the video by the BBC are NOT members and NOT trained by the UK's leading trade association ... the NATIONAL CARPET CLEANERS ASSOCIATION (NCCA). 

Being endorsed by the UK's Government under the 'TrustMark' scheme of approved service providers the NATIONAL CARPET CLEANERS ASSOCIATION (NCCA) are the only nationally recognised trade association dedicated to the cleaning of carpets, hard flooring and soft furnishings.

The NCCA membership comprises of fully insured companies and professionally trained technicians that follow a strict Code of Practice and are recommended for a full range of services related to the carpet and upholstery cleaning industry.

YOU CAN TRUST NCCA MEMBERS

Find your local member http://www.ncca.co.uk

How 'Bait and Switch' Works: 

Some companies send out millions and millions of leaflets each year, bombarding letterboxes of homes all over the country, in addition they back-up their annoying campaign with telesales teams to 'cold-call' you and tease you offer which are too good to turn down.   Both of these selling methods use a similar 'bait' of an unbelievable low price, like in this video £8.99 for two rooms.  In this current financial climate £8.99 for two rooms is an offer to good to be true… which it is!

Once you have taken their 'bait' and allow them in your home they make sure you are hooked before they start using their hi-pressure sales tactics, to 'Switch' you to a much higher price for cleaning the same two rooms.   

In this secret filming by the BBC's Rogue Traders, the carpet cleaner tried to fool the elderly undercover 'customer' into paying ‘18 times’ more for cleaning the same two rooms with what we can only call a master-class in the three simple steps to sales success.    Or we should say ‘unethical selling success’?  As a matter of fact, this ‘Bait and Switch’ method is considered such an unfair selling technique that it's a banned practice in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations act 2008.

Instead of getting on with the clean he had been asked to do, the technician immediately began his master class.  Here’s how he does it…

BAIT AND SWITCH - STEP ONE:

The 'Cleaner' demo's the two test patches

Get the more expensive product that HE really wants to sell in front of the ‘Mark’ (sorry customer). In this case, showing the customer two test patches to demonstrate the difference in quality between the two levels of clean.  By doing this they hope to entice you into ‘upgrading’ your cleaning service.

But why would we possibly want to upgrade our service when we can have a much cheaper maintenance clean?  Simple...

BAIT AND SWITCH - STEP TWO:

The 'Cleaner' is rubbishing his own cheap service

Rubbishing the cheap service that the customer asked to buy. The technician explained that if we did go for the £8.99 service it would 'make your carpet look worse'. Amazingly, it's true! If your carpet is dirty the service that this type of company advertises for £8.99 could make your carpet appear worse because the deep down dirt would 'wick' up to the surface as the carpet dries. The Carpet Cleaner told the 'customer' that for the £8.99 clean, they don't even spray any ‘shampoo’ on your carpet first.  In other words they only use water!

BAIT AND SWITCH - STEP THREE:

Room price for one, and square foot price for the other??

Close that sale! It's time to raise the question of what the more effective - but more expensive - clean will actually cost. A crystal clear comparison is what's needed here, especially seeing as it's be given to an elderly lady on her own. But as you can see in the video this is an unethical person, using unethical tactics, so instead the vulnerable customer was offered a lower quality maintenance clean for £8.99 and a deep clean for 49p a square foot.

Selling by the square foot is fine, as long as you explain what the total cost would be from each room, but how can anyone compare a square foot price like 49p against a price of £8.99 for cleaning TWO rooms?  It's like comparing apples and oranges ... they are both fruit, but they are NOT the same thing. 

£167.90 is almost 18x MORE
than the £8.99 service asked for

Just in case you maths fans are wondering, 49p a square foot for the rooms used by the BBC for this video comes to £113.68. But the price hike didn't stop there. The technician also offered a 12-month warranty, which works out in total to £167.90. That's nearly 18 times the amount the leaflet was trying to bait us with!

At this point the actress kindly thanked the carpet cleaner for his demonstration and asked him just to do the £8.99 clean, the one he was initially invited into the house to do. It was then the technician showed yet another ploy at the company's disposal to help make that sale - 'THE DISCOUNT PLOY'.

£126.00 - First discount is about 25% OFF

‘The Discount Ploy’ required another award winning performance from the technician with him making a call to his office to ask for special permission (a tactic from the dodgy 1980's double glazing salesman) to see if they would 'allow he to discount the price down'.    

After his telephone conversation he came back, this time offering to do…"A beautiful deep clean with all the products and a stain shield warranty", all for "£126".

For a second time the elderly actress had to say NO. But the salesman was more stubborn than a ‘red wine stain on a beige carpet’ and hoped it'd be third time lucky. He informed the actress that because it was his last job of the day, he was going to offer her,

£75.00 - The second discount almost 55% OFF

"A cracking deal. £75 and that includes all the chemicals as well."

The actress still wasn't interested and managed to resist his Bait and Switch tactics. The carpet cleaner spent 56 minutes trying to sell a more expensive product before he finally gave up and reluctantly cleaned the two carpets for just £8.99. How much time did he spend cleaning them? Just 17 minutes.

You may be thinking some guy running a small carpet cleaning business wouldn’t fool you.  Unfortunately, companies like the one recorded in the video for Rogue Traders allegedly have a booming business. According to the BBC they have five branches in England and Wales and say they have 90 employees. They also say they've made more than 26,000 house calls – and over three quarters of the people they visit end up buying MORE than the £8.99 clean they were interested in signing up for.

So, it isn't just the gullible that fall for this technique. Bait and switch works – and often without you realising what’s happening.   There is nothing wrong with paying trades person a high price for a quality service.  There is nothing wrong with a trade’s person ‘upselling’ his services in the home, like offering you carpet protector, which will stop spills from becoming stains, and prolong the life of your carpets.  BUT not to ‘Bait’ you a misleading low price for a service which wouldn’t make a difference and ‘Switch’ you to a much higher price for would allegedly still be a substandard service. 

THE LAW: Consumer Protection from Unfair
Trading Regulations 2008

Bait and Switch selling works so well for UNETHICAL salesman across many industries it has been made illegal since 2008. Breaking this law can result in a criminal prosecution, an unlimited fine and two years in jail.

How can you stop this from happening to you?

Well, it doesn’t take much to work out a ridiculous low price like £8.99 isn’t going to get the cleaner far.  There are two old sayings to remember …

“If it seems too good to be true … it probably is”

and

“You always get what you pay for”

If the price being offered seems low you need to ask yourself why.  No one is going to travel across town and spend an hour or more working on your carpets for £8.99.  And would they follow all the step of a professional? 

This offer is from the £8.99 leaflet.

In most homes carpets are beautiful, they take a long time to choose the right colour and design for the home and normally are one of the largest investments you make in the home.  So why would you even look for a cheap cleaner to give you a cheap job?

In the long-term it costs a lot more money to use a 'cheap cleaner', even if this cleaner is not part of a large company trying to 'bait and switch' you ... he may not be fully trained or insured.   And often our members are called in to put right the poor cleaning or quick resoiling.  Also poor cleaning can cause long-term damage to your carpet and may require replacing.

A professional and ethical cleaner could not afford to run his business on £8.99 for two rooms, not when you consider the cost of his… Marketing, Training, Cleaning Equipment, Cleaning Solutions, Van, Fuel, Insurance, Wages etc…

What to Expect from a Professional Carpet Cleaning Company…

Although we CANNOT say what price everyone should be charging for their service, we do set code of ethics and from them we have come up with EIGHT questions to ask any cleaner before you allow anyone to clean your carpets…

1.  What method of carpet cleaning do you recommend and how is it done?

All cleaning methods are designed to produce good results and each has its place within the industry. Some methods use more water and others more mechanical action. More important however, is whether the employed technician is able to demonstrate to you the methods he recommends is the best for you and your carpets, and he has the required training to carry out the cleaning properly and safely.

This method should include…

Dry Vacuuming. The cleaner should start by vacuuming the carpets thoroughly to remove most of the dry soil before they wet the carpets. This is an important step.

Moving furniture. Unless clearly specified, moving of most furniture, like sofas and beds is required to clean the carpet underneath and should be considered part of the normal cleaning job.

Spot-cleaning. Special attention to spots is included in normal job performance. However, you have a major stain this maybe time-consuming and require specialised procedures, which may incur an additional charge.

Preconditioning. Unlike the technician in the video, special treatment with “preconditioning” agents in soiled traffic and general areas should always be used and this will be included in the cost of the cleaning.

Minimal drying time. It is the cleaner’s responsibility to ensure that the carpet is dried and returned to normal use within a reasonable time frame. The amount of time required for drying will vary with different methods, the degree of soiling and the aggressiveness of cleaning necessary, but the carpet should never be left wet.

2. Will you remove all the stains from my carpet?

No guarantee can ever be made that any particular stain will be removed. Some stains may permanently damage the carpet fibres and no amount of specialist cleaning will reverse this. Many NCCA members have received advanced training for spot and stain removal and will be able to deal with most problems. If you have a stain you are concerned about, discuss it with a member beforehand and they will be happy to advise.

3. How often do you recommend I have my carpets cleaned?

Most manufacturers recommend that a qualified technician should professionally clean domestic carpets every 9 - 18 months (on average every 12-months).   However, you should always clean a carpet before it looks dirty for TWO reasons...

 

  a) Before they look dirty on top the build up of grit in the bottom of the carpet can cut the carpet fibres like little knives, and will significantly reduce the life of a carpet.  

  b) Your carpet works like a filter to the home.  All the dust, airborne allergens and pollutants float in the air and slowly sink down in the carpet.  Your carpet will trap and hold on to these particles until cleaning.  Without regular cleaning the carpet is wrongly classed as the pollutant … when in fact it is filtering the air in your home, you just need to clean your ‘air filter’.     

4. What training have you had in cleaning carpets?

It is recommended that professional carpet cleaners attend regular training for one or two days each year.   Therefore they should be able to show you copies of their certificates for at least 2 or 3 training schools over the last few years.   If they can’t we would question their professional experience.

5. Will you give me a fully inclusive written quote? 

YES.  You should expect no hidden costs. You should be given itemised costs for services and firm prices before technicians begin each portion of the work sold. Consumers should never feel pressured to accept anything more than the services they request. 

6. What written guarantees do you offer?

Customer satisfaction is important.   It is known in carpet cleaning for some stains to reappear as the carpet is drying, and of course the technicians are only human and could miss a bit.   All cleaning firms should offer workmanship guarantees in writing.  A NCCA member would be happy you called them, and allowed them come back to put right any problems you may have, regardless how small.  Most members would re-clean any area for FREE.  If you are still unhappy with their service you may ask for a full refund.

7. Are you a current member of the National Carpet Cleaning Association?

If yes you will know they are a fully insured company, with professionally trained technicians that follows a strict Code of Practice and are recommended for a full range of services related to the carpet and upholstery cleaning industry.  You have the peace of mind knowing any member will have to answer to if they step out of line.

8. Are you a member or certified by any other industry or trade bodies?

The NCCA is the main industry body for the carpet cleaning industry in the UK, endorsed by the Government under the 'TrustMark' scheme.   Another body we are in partnership with is The IICRC.  The IICRC is a certification and standard-setting non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries and serves in more than 25 countries worldwide. However there are other business related bodies, both national and local so we recommend you do your own research on any additional trade bodies.

These are included as standard with most
professional carpet clean services

We hope you will understand our friend in the video did everything wrong, with NO Pre-Inspection, NO Written Quote, NO Pre-Vacuuming, No Spotting and No Rapid Drying etc... we can't force people do it all one way.  There are many different people and different levels of service in the carpet cleaning industry, in fact there are different levels of service and pricing within our own association, however by selecting a member of the National Carpet Cleaners Association you can have the reassurance ALL our members are fully insured, trained to high standards and follow our Code of Practice to give you a first class service every time.

Thank you.

To contact us or find a local 'Professional Carpet Cleaner' please visit…

http://www.ncca.co.uk

or call 0116 271 9550

If you wish to see all the 'Bait and Switch' section as seen on
BBC's Watchdog programme please click on the video below.  
This video is 20 minutes long in total.

The NCCA would like to acknowledge and thank the BBC's Watchdog for making this 'Rogue Trader' promgramme and allowing people to see some of the con's and unethical services being offered today.    The person and company filmed in the video by the BBC are NOT members and NOT trained by the NATIONAL CARPET CLEANERS ASSOCIATION (NCCA).