competitor advertising riduculously low prices

[paul0120]

i have a small truck mounted carpet service, i have just started the business; and havent had a hard time getting jobs at about 15 to 18 cents a sq ft. another carpet service is advertising 2 rms $35 whole house $59. i cant stay in business if i charge those prices, how do i counter this sort of pricing?

[rgsucker1]

I have owned a carpet cleaning service for a very long time and it never fails that I see someone with low ball prices. Most people know the difference between the legitamate cleaner and the one who comes in at a low price just to upsell any and everything. Most of the time you can deal with customer questions when they first call. In my area cleaners have prices from 70.00 for a whole house to 250.00 for a whole house and everything in between. You can set yourself apart by letting your customers know what you get for the price your offering. Also let them know what they may expect from the low ball cleaner. A lot of the time low ball cleaners have either employess or sub-contractors. The only way they can make a decant wage is to up sell as much as they can because they only get a percentage of the total ticket. Try to stress quality of service and owner operator vs sub-contractor/employee.
good luck
Joe

[MarketingMan]

I just got an ad saying $4.95/room, 2 room minimum. Or any 5 rooms cleaned for $24.75 (no size limit).

LOL.

I'm thinking of calling them and saying, "I'm going out of town and want a clean house for when I get back, I'll leave a check for $24.75 with my neighbor who is watching my house, when can you come over?"

A couple marketing tips:
Actually the best thing you can do is focus the customer away from price and on to something else you can offer that customer that much more important.

You want your customers to buy more from you and buy more often. The top carpet cleaning companies have their customers on an "Until further notice" contact. They come out on a regular basis and clean their carpet 2,3, or 4 times per year.

Feel free to ask me any marketing questions you may have.
_________________
Kevin McKinnon
The Marketing Man
Carpet-Cleaner-Marketing.com

[anaroberts12]

I think the best way in my opinion is that you try to make customers that you can serve them in long run. Customer satisfaction is the top priority in any business. Take customers feed back providing service and try to make long term relation with your customers, and provide them with efficient service. It will help you in long run.
Regards
Steam Clean

[prouddadx6]

All very good points. I think that if you have a bold guaranty that is in print it helps tremendously and I would keep a book of testimonials (try to get one whenever you think of it) it will make people think of the quality and not the price. Put the testimonials in your advertising and tell perspective clients where they can find more.

[bonesheal]

I worried a lot about that when I started cleaning. It gave me a lot of trouble when I advertised in coupon books with the ultra low priced cleaners. Lots of people would act like my prices were too high.

Now I don't advertise there, and I'm more often told that my prices are too low than too high.

[anaroberts12]

One more thing that you can do to attract more customers is that print customers testimonials and feed-backs on your advertisements and your site. I think it will help your site to attract the customers.
Regards
Steam Clean