So I was taking to one of my competitors in the area, and he bought the training and stuff from the us soft wash system… And I came away confused.
They apply “the mix” with a battery powered backpack sprayer, rinse off stuff using waterfed poles and hose, and one thing he was really talking about is how the product they use has a wax in it.
It just seemed so cumbersome. And the wax… Maybe I am missing something, but I don’t see why you should do that.
They also use a carbon fibre gutter cleaning system which sounds cool, but again seems slow.
But they are pretty busy and charge more than me. I must be missing something in my delivery, might have to “technical” it up more or something. I am talk pretty simply to people so maybe it’s not creating the value for them.
That or maybe I seem a little intimidating. Should maybe hire a face person to do my canvassing lol.
It’s a gimmick to sell equipment to the unsuspecting and uneducated. Keep doing what your doing while they’re charging batteries and paying royalties.
For sure. I wouldn’t think about going that route at all, but just got me thinking about how they are staying busier. I know it’s not the outcome, so it just must be the delivery I must be misfiring on. Will dwell on it while I BBQ.
The person telling you this is misinformed.
Go look at AC’s equipment.
He must of bought someone else’s gimmick
They’re both gimmicks in my opinion.
Their marketing game is on point, for sure. But anyone can achieve that with a little research and chutzpah.
In my opinion, if you’re doing things the “right way”, you shouldn’t need to use flash or fancy wording in your pitch in order to garner respect and command premium pricing.
If you establish your reputation as a company who sells superior results along with awesome customer service, as opposed to the myriad companies that just sell a service (i.e., their time), your customers will not worry about what you make per hour or day. Many will not even shop other quotes, since you’ll be the pomegranate in a market filled with apples and oranges.
I find that educating my customers, which in my case means giving detailed estimates, works. I can’t tell you how many jobs I get underbid on but when they ask the other guy about things I have “taught” them and get a blank stare, I get hired. Granted a lot of that is wood restoration related but I am having good results on the PW/SW side too. It might not be as applicable if you’re cleaning vinyl but it works around here.
Last week I went out to quote a deck restoration, the customer had contacted a local competitor and he was “backed up for 3 months” but told him they would sell him the supplies to do it himself 
. They sold him 5 gallons of SH and some surfactant and told him to mix 50/50 and pour the surfactant in and pressure wash it off. When I got there he told me all this and said he just didn’t have time to mess with it. When I gave him a price he asked why I was so much higher than my comp. who had gave him a price before telling him they were backed up. I schooled the customer and how wood cleaning is done properly without damaging the wood and landed the job within about 10 minutes talking to him. I will say I left the driveway with a smile knowing I’ve got a repeat customer.
Very cool of the contractor to take time to try to help the customer do it himself. Speaks highly of his business if he is backed up for three months.
If he would have told him the correct way to do it yes. But telling the customer to put 50/50 SH on a deck no way…
I educated the customer on the correct way to do it. And I really have no idea wether or not that’s true or he didn’t want the job but in the end he hired me and now his deck won’t look like a furry caterpillar!
( if you don’t know how to do the job correctly yourself, don’t try to teach a customer how to.)
Lots of people clean decks with bleach. What percentage did the contractor dilute it down to before he offered it to the customer. Either way, glad you were slow enough to get the job quickly. You should reach out to the contractor and see if he can send business your way. Networking with an established company with lots of work can benefit you.
Yea I plan to do that, I’ve had enough business here lately to keep me plenty busy but a few more jobs sure wouldn’t hurt. I just don’t really know how to go about talking him into handing off customer in a way that has any Benefit to him. Any suggestions @Innocentbystander ?
Call him. I wouldn’t tell him that you were bashing him on a public forum when he is booked out longer than you have been in business though.
Well that’s where you got me messed up, I was not in bashing him, he must be doing something right to have as much business as he does and good reviews. But what he told the customer to do was wrong and that’s what I stated. And to be honest I would never sell a customer contractor grade chemicals, if in fact he sold him 12% SH, but that’s just me. I would have educated the customer and then what they went out and bought is on them. But thanks for your very useful information[quote=“Innocentbystander, post:13, topic:21655”]
Call him
[/quote] I would have never thought of that.
This is interesting. I just finished the 3d bid in the last two weeks where the “same competitor” has been jerking the customer around since May. He took a 50% deposit, did a lousy job cleaning the fence and pergolas and then stained two posts. I am 32% (odd number but legit) higher than he is. I got the first two jobs, we’ll see about the third. I have a complete DIY section on my website and have since day one. I have talked people through their jobs on numerous occassions. I usually sell them the stain that I use and make a few dollars on the stain and save them more than I make. Some people need the service (HOA’s here can be brutal) but can’t afford me. I have never had anything but thanks for doing it and it’s actually gotten me work form their friends. It’s nice to be able to help people that just need a hand sometimes.
I completely agree with you helping the customers so that they can do a quality job, if they are calling you for advise they are more than likely on a budget or just diy’ers. But in the end you made an impact and that’s why you get referrals! I’m not at all saying I wouldn’t give someone advise or a helping hand or like you said sell them stain or tell them which brand I use. And if they start and decide it’s too big of a task or something comes up I guarantee they get whoever gave them the advise to do the job! But I wouldn’t sell chemicals just for the reason that if something went horribly wrong it could possibly come back on me.
