Experienced CC Vetrans

I have a question for all you experienced vetrans who have tried everything in relation to marketing! Maybe Ed Valentine or Doug or maybe Mr. Steamer....this would be a question for you guys.

I am considering hiring a sales person to bang on some doors. I am expanding to a new city and would like some advise on what to pay this guy. I am thinking along the lines of commission....but how much. We do residential carpet & upholstry/ceramic tile & grout/air exchange installation and cleaning/commercial carpet cleaning.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My advise is to hire people to do the work and you do your own sales, every job will be different and you are the one who needs to make on site desicions as to whether you want this job and how much you need to charge to make it profitable. I think anyone who has tried to hire a sales person has found it very expensive, with little in return, exceptions to this are the very large commercial carpet maintenance contractors in large urban centers that need the constant addition of new contracts or contact with present clients to upsell other services.

Cleaner1 Great Idea... a live person is the way to go...I hope the guy you hired is good... They all start off motivated with high energy, then they loose that drive quick.  You don't want to be saddled with dead weight(someone who is not producing).

if this guy is going to knock on doors in residential areas ...send him out with a small spotting unit and a spot kit... The best way to get your foot in the door is to do a few free spots...  This could work for commercial as well.

your business will only be as good as your sales person... and good sales people cost... and those that are really good leave and take all the accounts with them....lol

I hate to have the rug pulled from under me...  I want to do everything... me me me ... at least I can control what goes on...flyers give you that control... or a nice communication package

there is no "I" in team but there is one in wIn!!

 

The only thing is ... staffing the cleaning my ruin the business... good cleaners are hard to come by... say if you hired a "NO GOOD" the wrecks a few things... they could put you out of business.

I'm sorry I know business can not grow without hiring, but no one will ever do the sales and service as well as you can...

I'd give up the sales before I give up the service I think Don is wrong...  The most important thing is the customer that you actually get to clean..you want to make sure they are looked after properly... Employees don't care... if they wreck something you'll have to cover the cost..only the owner can ever truly go that extra mile

let me ask you one thing...

what can a sales man wreck????

anyone disagree???

Cleaner1;

 

IMHO, I do not think that hiring a sales person will achieve your goal because I believe that whoever this person may be, he/she will quickly get discouraged and leave.

I think a much better way is for you to "Lateral Sell". This involves convincing others in the service trades (ex: Interior designers; Carpet/Furniture Stores;etc..., local Country Clubs, etc..) to recommend you and your company. My own experience doing this in the past has been a terrific success and increase in business. It builds a terrific reputation way before you ever arrive at the door step. And, that helps to build customer confidence.

 

There are other ways of getting the business that I have learned to. Tune into: www.members3.boardhost.com/johnmmerritt/  and look under Archives. Download.

 

Hope this helps;

Ed valentine

www.cross-american.com

cleaner 1,

that is why I am in the process of developing a piece of software
with a partner of mine that takes away a lot of the time consuming part of
running a 1 man show. It lets me concentrate on running my business.
The software keeps track of all the invoicing and collections and also is a
postcard reminder and coupon creator . It allows me to stay on top of my
business with less than 15 minutes per day on average use. I will be
allowing other cleaners to check out a free trial shortly . After the free
trial We will be looking for companies to purchase a Beta version of the
software at a drastically reduced price If they agree to use all aspects of
the software and report back to us with constructive criticism and ideas.

They also would have to agree that they would not publicly criticize the
software . That is the purpose of allowing them to see the software
before it is 100% complete.

I strongly believe that if you religiously use our software for it's intended
purpose you will get a handle on the things that are overwhelming you. !!

Any questions of me , please Private message me if you wish. Or I can
answer them here. Thanks



Edited by danmarck82