The Unethical Bait & Switch Sales Con...

-->

"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). 
 

Guide To Carpet Protector...

The NCCA's Guide To How Carpet Protector Really Works…

Carpet Protection applied correctly to freshly cleaned carpets, creates a great ‘win-win’ as it enables the cleaner to earn more money by providing an additional service and gives the consumer a cleaner, healthier and longer lasting carpet therefore protecting their investment.

It seems some carpet cleaners think no one is willing to pay for an additional service in today’s economic climate, but if you read this blog you’ll understand how carpet protector really would benefit the homeowner if sold correctly.  

I agree times are tough, people are not spending the same as they once did, but this doesn’t mean you should give up on your marketing or your selling … in fact its time to sell more, by stepping and up offering a bigger and improved service.

The carpet cleaning industry is not alone in taking a bashing with “crazy” low priced competition and increasing costs.  Yet I still believe our biggest challenge does not come from outside forces such as the recession, our competition … instead, our problems, as a rule are “internal” ... 

       ...as Henry Ford once said ...

 "Whether you think YOU CAN 

or whether you think YOU CAN'T, 

YOU'RE RIGHT"

Only last week I was talking with two carpet cleaners, both have been in the industry for 15+ years and both have seen their work volume drop and their job tickets plummet over few years.  After quizzing them I found they are marketing less than they once did as ‘marketing doesn’t work the same’ and both said ‘people are not willing to pay higher prices … so we offer basic service at lower prices’.  When I asked about carpet protection, they both just laughed and said no one wants that nowadays.

While I agree, in this uncertain time people are looking for better deals and yes they do want to spend less money… but if you give them the facts many are prepared spend a little more now to save them money in the long term.   

Allow me to explain, most people still want quality products and good old-fashioned customer service AND more importantly are willing to pay for it … don’t believe me? Then type in to Google “John Lewis Profits” and you’ll find the upmarket department store, John Lewis Partnership, announced in early March 2013 it made record profits of 15% and will pay all staff a 17% bonus (equalling almost 9-weeks of their current salary).

Just remember the famous quote (and 1985 song by Billy Ocean) "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" meaning "When the situation becomes difficult, the strong will work harder to meet the challenge."
 
If you think your customers would refuse to pay you extra money for carpet protection then you have one of two problems...

• You are not ‘selling’ protector to each customer by fully explaining it and demonstrating the long lasting benefits.   Get tough and make a commitment to start ‘selling’ protector correctly on every job from now on.

• Or your customers are not the ‘John Lewis type’ of customers … Get tough and move on.  Start marketing to the middle-class families that are shopping and spending money in John Lewis stores … they have nice home, they wish to keep keep clean, they have the money and will spend money with you if you market yourself correctly.

Of course asking someone if they would like to spend more money with you on something they can’t even see or more importantly don’t understand is tough… nor can you tell them about protector once and expect them to say yes there and then. You must explain it to them.

They say ‘Selling is Telling’ and that’s all you need to do.  What a difference it would make if you could show people how “Protecting your carpets will keep them looking beautiful, make them easier to keep clean and save money”.

Here is my seven steps to help you sell more carpet protector in the home.
 
7 Steps To Help Sell Protector To Your Clients.

1.  Always Package Your Prices.  Not all carpet cleaners are the same!  So why should you put yourself in the same group as the ‘price-by-room’ cleaners?   Think about it, you would not book an Electrician by "3-rooms rewired for £49"… do you?   If you give the consumers nothing else to judge your services by … they will think all cleaners are equal and pick the lowest price.   For example, why should someone buy from YOU? … What makes YOU so great?  If you were to say, “I’m the best local cleaner”, or “I’m the most professional cleaner in the area” … so what??  Every carpet cleaner can (and often does) make this type of claim too!  Be different and show them your are different.
  
   Why Package Works.  Most people don’t like the cheapest offer (if we did we’d all be driving the Russian ‘Lada Cars’). If you give three choices of “small, medium, large” or “good, better, best” and a short description of each one most people will pick the middle package…as it gives a higher perceived value, so the middle package should be your ‘clean and protect’ as it’s the one you want them to buy.   

   How to ‘Package’, you will need to describe your services and package them into three groups.  To start with, can you tell me, off the top-of-your-head, how many ‘processes’ or ‘steps’ it takes for you to clean a carpet?  Many cleaners don’t know and will spend a few minutes counting them on their fingers … so how are the consumers expected to know? 
List out the 7 – 15 steps it takes for you to clean a carpet, then add all additional related services like carpet protector and package these into three sections.  You can call the packages anything you like, a common name is ‘Bronze, Silver and Gold, however I suggest you try using more descriptive names such as ‘Healthy Home Package’. 
   Here is an example of three packages...
•  ‘Clean Only Package’  Explain each step you do, like... move the furniture, dry-soil extraction, pre-condition and agitate, deep extraction clean, fresh conditioner rinse, rapid dry, etc...,etc... (do this using words they understand, like words used in a hairdressers).
•  Clean and Protect Package’  “Same clean as above, but a special application of our ‘Triple Action’ carpet protection” and you explain the benefits.  I recommend you also offer a short (3-months) ‘Stain-Free Warranty’ included in this price. (see step 6)
•  ‘Healthy Home Package’  This is the same as ‘Clean and Protect’, but with additional services, such as deodorisation. And a longer (6 or 12-months) warranty to really add value. 
  
2. Charge By The Square Foot (or 30cm2) NOT By The Room.  Although we are in this ‘metric world’ everyone still understands feet better for room sizes… most Estate Agents still list room sizes in feet first (and give the metric size in closed brackets).    You can list or give your prices when asked without putting you in the ‘price-by-room’ section.   To explain this to the customer you can say … “We only charge for the ‘cleanable’ area i.e. the carpet we can see, not what’s under the wall units.  We offer package prices depending on the service you would like and volume of carpet you require cleaning.  For example, the cost of our travelling and setting up is put on the first room, therefore each additional room becomes cheaper … our prices start at £0.57p per square foot for clean, £0.77p p/sqf for clean and protect and £0.99p p/sqf for our top 'Healthy Home Package' and as I said the price will come down by the more volume of carpet you have cleaned at one time”.   
Even if you wish to NOT carryout a separate ‘quote’ or ‘audit’ you can tell the customer you can give them a ‘quote and clean’ by offering a full quote prior to cleaning.   This will help you get in the home to measure up and demonstrate your professionalism and reassure them you are the best local cleaner by talking with them face-to-face.  You can offer the final price as a “small, medium, large” package as this has proven to give a much higher ‘job ticket’ because people will trust you and have more cleaning done.
3. Bring The Cost Of ‘Clean Only’ And ‘Clean & Protect’ Closer. What I mean is some people clean for a price then charge the same price again for protection … to the customer you’ve just doubled the price.  For example if you charge 35p per square foot now and charge the same again (or double it) for protection your clean and protect price would be 70p per square foot.   So with a clean and protect price at 70p per square foot you could keep it there (or increase it a little) and bring your clean only price up to say 50p so the gap between ‘clean only’ and ‘clean and protect’ is much closer.  This will make it easier for people to select your protector without thinking it really is too expensive.  If done correctly you will find this will help you sell protect between 5-8 times out of 10 quotes.
4. Don’t Pressure Sell. If you have explained your packages and your services correctly the customer should see the charges for your cleaning as great value.   In other words you have not blurted out one high figure, but explained in detail how… ‘We do this’, and ‘we do that’ and ‘then we do all of this’, finally you give the small, medium or large package prices.   
However, once you’ve offered the three prices and you don’t receive an immediate yes, tell the client its OK … they don’t need to decide which package they want now.  If they select the ‘Clean Only’ now they can decide on the other packages once they have seen how good the carpets looks after cleaning.  This takes the pressure off them and allows them time to think about the additional cost and if this service would give them value for money. 
5. The Best Time To Sell Is When They Have Just Bought.  (This goes with step 4…) If your client didn’t agree to protection before you started cleaning don’t worry.  Once you have cleaned the carpet your client will hopefully be delighted with the results.  Then you go into your new Protector Sales Pitch… “I am delighted with the way the carpet looks too Mrs......, however I do feel I’m only doing half the job.  Now I’ve cleaned your carpet by removing the soil and stains so it looks great…but the carpet will be even more susceptible to stains from little spills and damage from soil.  The reason for this is any protection treatment the carpet may have once had, has now been worn away with everyday wear and tear.  If there is one thing I’ve learnt, as a Professional Cleaner is you don’t leave a beautiful carpet, like this one, in a family environment without renewing the original carpet protector.  Almost daily I see stains on unprotected carpets, which I struggle to remove … and sometimes they are simply not removable, but as yet, I’ve always be successful in removing stains from carpets I’ve cleaned and protected within the last 12-months.   So as a professional I really do recommend you have the protection treatment re-applied to the carpet today, because you have (the children, pets etc..) using the carpet and the protection treatment will keep the carpet healthy for them and help preserve the great look is has today for a long time to come.    As we discussed on the pricing, protector will only cost you an additional 20p per square foot above the cleaning price… for this room that’s only £40 more for 12 months peace of mind.  Shall I go ahead and renew the protective coating today?” (The price must be calculated beforehand and it is the difference between the ‘clean only’ and the ‘clean and protect’ price).   
   
   
   
   
6. Offer A ‘Stain-Free Warranty’.  To many the alarm bells may be ringing now.  Don’t worry… read on and see what I have to say first, and remember ‘when the going gets tough...’.   One of the best ways to really get tough and win over a customer is to show them how confident you are about the protection you supply by offering a Warranty with your stain protector.  This is NOT an additional sale on top of your protector …for example don’t you just hate it when you purchase any new electrical item and immediately the salesperson will try to sell you an ‘extended warranty’?   Well I suggest you offer the Stain-Free Warranty for FREE … (or built in your new higher price!)   You could offer a FREE 3-months warranty with your middle package and a FREE 12-months warranty with your top package.    This will give the customer Unlimited free ‘spot and stain removals’ and if you can’t remove the stain you will write a free report for their insurance company.  One of the best ways to sell the protector with the ‘free warranty’ is telling the customer… “Almost daily I see stains on unprotected carpets, which I struggle to remove … and sometimes they are simply not removable, but as yet, I’ve always been successful of removing a stain from a carpet I’ve cleaned and protected".  Remember the warranty is to help you sell at a higher price … this is not a rip-off price, but a price that allows you to make a profit and the customer to have a great service and product that will benefit them financially and health wise long-term. You should NOT worry about all the extra “free” spotting ‘call outs’ when you include an unlimited spot and spill warranty with all of your protector applications and here’s why:
• Less than two percent will ever call you. Give them a FREE bottle of your spotter and a stain removal guide and most will be able to treat any spills themselves, yet all of them will view this free bonus as a very valuable, and desirable service.
• Do not put a number on the free call outs … if you say they have TWO call outs worth £75 each there is more chance of them using one or both the calling outs.  It’s the strange thing about people, but weirdly when you limit your numbers to just one or two call outs, you will get higher call outs than ‘unlimited callouts’.
• Use the warranty to raise your protector prices. If you are so confident about the protector that you’d offer a FREE warranty it must be good – right?   If you raise protector pricing your net profits will soar which will more than cover your few extra free service calls over the course of a year.
• If you do get called out for a warranty (and lets face it how hard is it to remove a stain from a carpet YOU have recently cleaned and protected?) you will become the hero.  They will tell more friends and you may also sell more services while you are performing these “free” spot and stain call outs.
• Before you think I’m completely mad … there are several NCCA members that have been offering this type of warranty service with protection sales in the UK since 1999.  They hardly have a call out, but what I can tell you is their protector sales range between 50%-80% of all the carpets they clean.  Not such a mad idea after all is it?
  
  
7. Finally to help educate the customer use my new “Guide To How Carpet Protector Really Works…” leaflet, (which you can see below).  This will explain to the client how carpet protector works.  This is not a flashy printed leaflet … it is in Microsoft Word (.docx 2007) so you can change the wording if required to fit your business and add your contact details.    You can even print this on the back of your quotes or survey form so the clients will always have it.  This leaflet could also be sent out to your current clients now, just add a piece of patterned kitchen roll (shows its domestic not factory treated), which you have sprayed protection on one half (the pattern can help explain which way/side up).  You can ask them to pour a few drops of cold coffee on the unprotected half, then on the protected half.   They should see the coffee 'bead' on the surface protected half and the untreated section it soak in. 
   On the covering letter make a strong OFFER like half priced protection or even FREE protection if they have three or more rooms cleaned…and you’ll have a lot more work coming in. 

   
       Over 5-steps it shows…

• How most carpets are protected from new 

• How carpets get dirty with both soil and pollutants

• How the lack of cleaning with cause long-term damage to the fibre

• How you need regular professional cleaning

• How the long-term solution is to reapply carpet protection after cleaning.  

As I said at the beginning the biggest problem with selling protector is YOU!  Most customers will love the product and the benefits it gives them.  Get behind a product and a supplier, test it yourself and go out and ASK FOR THE SALE.

To help you 'get tough' my recommendation is for you to set yourself selling targets or goals and give them deadlines.  Your long-term target should be protecting 75% of all the carpets you clean within the next 18-months.  To start out you'll need to set smaller goals while you are perfecting your sales pitch (which is really just telling) so set your first goal to make protector sales on 25% of every carpet cleaning job you do within 6-months.   

When you reach 25% in sales you should give yourself a small treat … a reward for doing well.  Then move the sales target up to 50%. Just imagine what you could do with the extra money you’d make if you could protect half of everything you clean as you don't need more marketing or equipment or even staff.


-->

I hope this has given you some ideas and some encouragement to go out and offer carpet protection on every carpet cleaning job... good luck. 

Regards

 
Keith Robertson
NCCA Marketing Director

PS.  Don’t worry about the ‘FREE Warranty’ … if you do your cleaning and treatment work correctly … give a free spotter and explain how to blot and spot any spills, most people will never call you out for spot clean, BUT it will help sell lots more protection.
 
PPS. If you are a current NCCA Member the ‘Protection Leaflet’ below and the 'Warranty Certificates' with hi-res images are in the members’ section http://www.ncca.co.uk/members/carpet_protector_marketing_tools.php to be downloads in  a MS Word format for you to add your details to and start selling … ALL FOR FREE.


-->

NCCA Guide To How Carpet Protector
Really Works…

New carpet with Protector applied

New Carpets – Protected

Most new carpets have a ‘protective treatment’ applied to them at manufacture or by the store. Although this invisible coating is NOT ‘bulletproof’ you will benefit from a special ‘Triple-action’ that…

•  Repels liquid spills
•  Resists damage to the fibres
•  Releases dirt and grit from the carpet

  -->

Soil, Pollens and Allergens make a dirty carpet

Dirty Carpets. 

Your carpets are under a constant attack by soil, pollens and allergens in the home.  These are trapped and held in the carpet as if it were a filter for your home.  Unfortunately grit in the soil will rub against the fibres when you walk on the carpet and scratch the protector.  Luckily this damage is only to the protective coating. So, with cleaning, the carpet can be restored to a ‘like new’ condition.

  -->

Non-Protected carpet after cleaning - Damaged

Damaged Carpets – After Cleaning.

Without regular professional cleaning and renewing the protective treatment, the dirt & grit starts to cut like knives directly into the fibres, deteriorating their appearance and causing irreversible damage, so even with the best cleaning system possible the harm can not be removed. In addition without regular cleaning the spills, ‘airborne’ pollens and allergens penetrate deep into the carpet.

  -->

Protected carpet after cleaning - Not Damaged

Regular Cleaning.

It is recommended, for both the health and appearance of the carpet, that the average family, have their carpets professionally cleaned every 12-months … although you may not see the soil you’ll be amazed at the build-up of harmful dirt and grit in the base of the carpet.  This will stop the grit from removing the entire protective coating and preventing, long-term damage to the fibres.

  -->

Carpet after cleaning and protector renewed

THE LONG-TERM SOLUTION Re-protection

Re-protecting your freshly cleaned carpet will reinforce your carpets original ‘Triple-action’ protection shield by…

1.     Repelling liquid spills, allowing you time to mop them up to keep the carpet looking great longer.

2.    Resists damage to the fibres giving you longer lasting carpets, which saves you time and money replacing them.

3.    Releases dirt and grit from the carpet making it easier to vacuum clean and keep healthy.

Protect, your carpets and you’ll protect your investment, saving you time and money from not having to replace the carpet and make your home healthy and the carpets beautiful for years.

NCCA current members you can download both the 'Guide To Carpet Protector' leaflet and the 'Warranty Certificates' for free from the members section, by clicking here:
http://www.ncca.co.uk/members/carpet_protector_marketing_tools.php  

-->