carpet cleaner only wants 50% He does work I keep custy?????

[Guest]

Like most cleaners I am always looking for ways to expand my business, I had another carpet cleaner e-mail me today offering to sub-contract 50/50. I book the job he supplies the rest. I get 50% of the Gross ticket. Customer stays in my data-base. I understand that there are many things to consider. But assuming this guy is reputable,honest etc... Do you guys think a relationship like this can be a good business venture? Should I just stay away from it all together? Any suggestions? Advice? Thanks
Anthony Reyes

 

[The Preacher]

i believe Ron Meyer was doing this in LA several years ago???

 

[Kevin B]

Absolutely this can be done, but you will need a binding contract to pursue when he leaves with your customer list.

 

[bubba]

Would he be carrying his own insurance? When he leaves the customer, of course he's probably going to give them his card and a better offer. I would be very Leary of this.

 

[tman7]

I subbed for a company that paid me 40% and he kept custy. I wasn't real happy with the 40%. His justification was that the company charged more than most in the area. Which was true, but this actually hurt me when It came to selling high overhead Items like Teflon. 40% barley covered the cost. Sure I could have watered it down... but I ain't like that. Now I do work for a guy that pays me 60% and I KEEP the custy. He trusts me and likes me (I think). To be perfectly honest a 60-40 split in your favor and he keeps custy is quite fair.

 

[Dolly]

I think it certainly is a judgment call.

You may have a great set up with him and you may not It is can go either way.

If your gut says give it a try then walk with it and keep it in check, if your gut says no, then don't

Only you can know Anthony about this man. It can be good if he lives up to his end.

If not, then we don't have to tell you the outcome.

 

[TimP]

If I was going to do it, I wouldn't do it less than what would make you money. If you can make money at 60% then go for it. If you're working just to break even I suggest you get out and market, put some door hangers out and get the work yourself. Do some math, see how much you spend on insurance, gas, chems. And what it costs to pay yourself taxes included. Unless this guy charges like Mikey .50+ a ft and you get .25 I can't see doing a 50-50 split.

 

[Guest]

I seriously considered expanding my business by using subs,but there were a few issues that I could not work out to my satisfaction.

However, I have developed a new business plan that I will be implementing beginning in February.

No more O/O for me.
But,I don't like the idea of starving employees either,so.....

My plan.
1-Buy new TM & Van (probably Butler/tech friendly)

2-Hire sales/service type employee. Train. Pay him a livable salary.

3-Assign him a territory of 5000 residences + some comm (in his home area)

4-I direct mail to his territory(res & comm) on a monthly basis to begin with,then back off to quarterly when possible.

5-He calls on comm when possible.

6-HE RECEIVES 1/2 THE PROFITS FORM HIS TERRITORY ANNUALLY.
1/2 TO BE PAID AS A CASH BONUS, 1/2 TO BE PAID INTO A RETIREMENT TRUST FUND(fully vested in 5 years).

Why would I do this?
To build a fleet of techs with O/O values. If they know what the monthly expenses are to run their territory(open book),then they will know what they must do to be profitable,and make more money for themselves.
No limits on how much money they can earn. Retirement that they can depend on.

There's more to it,but you get the picture.

 

[Steve Toburen]

As in all things, Anthony, begin with the end in mind. Just as we talked about during SFS, what sort of business (and legacy) do you want to "leave behind"?

My personal feeling is you have two choices:

Stay small with a "boutique" operation and charge people till it makes their eyes water due to having a "cleaning super star" (that's you) actually deigning to touch their carpets!

Get big by building the infrastructure to clone yourself out on your truck(s) and start MANAGING your business, not just doing the work. (And no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with just "doing the work" IF that is what your life goals are AND IF you are providing for your eventual retirement. It takes a lot more money than you think to retire and live well. Trust me on this one. )

Anthony, I think the problem comes in where people (not you necessarily) get lazy and want the big bucks of a big operation but don't want to do the spade work to actually build the infrastructure AND implement AND make the tough choices that running employees call for.

Now Anthony, having walked away from Portland SFS with over 1,000 pages of procedures you don't have the excuse of not having the infrastructure. You do. But whether you want to go through the agony of implementing it and getting big is a decision only you can answer.

All of the above is my long-winded, irritating-all-Alabama-pork-farmers way of saying that I would bite the bullet, get serious about getting big and HIRE employees instead of going this weird sub-contracting route. It just won't work for either you or the other guy.

OR stay small, raise your prices out the wazoo to cut your volume and dramatically increase your net and then start an aggressive Personal Investment Plan to provide for a cushy retirement. (And if you wish send this fellow your unwanted customer overflow for a one-time commission since that is all you would probably get anyway since he will probably steal your clients no matter what a contract says.) It is your choice. But the "middle" road of wanting the best of both worlds seldom works.

BTW, Anthony, I am envious of you. I wish I had been exposed to the educational opportunities (including this board) you have enjoyed at your relatively young age. What a great privilege for you. E-mail me any time, buddy. I am off tomorrow to face the lions at our Langhorne, PA SFS. Pray for me!

Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training and co-presenter of the "Retiring Wealthy" seminar in Houston, TX on January 11-12, 2008.
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success

PS For those of you who do not have it I have written a Special Report called "Cleaning Up: Building Financial Wealth in the Cleaning Industry" that addresses the above points. Just e-mail me if you want a copy and include a physical mailing address if you want the companion DVD- no charge and no obligation. And no, despite what T says I don't want (or need) to "get my hand in your pocket". Yuck.

 

[Art Kelley]

Re: carpet cleaner only wants 50% He does work I keep custy?

" I had another carpet cleaner e-mail me today offering to sub-contract 50/50. I book the job he supplies the rest. I get 50% of the Gross ticket. Customer stays in my data-base. "

I think you may have been handed a golden opportunity to expand your business with little effort on your part. It all depends on the reliability of this cleaner and his competence (not to mention his honesty). When I first started in this business I ended up subcontracting for 3 companies at different times. They got their best crew (me with a helper) with an extremely low redo rate, (a small fraction of their other crew's complaint rate) and I got steady work and good money. In each instance, they eventually said that the 50/50 split wasn't working for them and they wanted 60%. In each instance I quit that moment. That was 30 years ago. They're all gone now, I'm still here running my own one man show.

 

[bubba]

Wow. 32 years? So did you like see one of the first truck mounts when they came out?

 

[rhyde]

i think he's gonna steal your clients


get in the door give'em his card tell them he can do it cheaper like 30%less which is 20% more for him .... he's the one doing the work and has face time with customer so why does the customer need you anyway?

 

[Kirk]

Steve nailed it right on the head.

It never works out.

 

[B&BGaryC]

Steve Wrote: Just e-mail me if you want a copy and include a physical mailing address if you want the companion DVD- no charge and no obligation.

Steve, I know you're a pro, and I know you have studied each word you use, but in my experience, the quickest way to get hung up on, thrown out the door or otherwise rejected is by saying, "No Obligation". I honestly think it's because infomercials make people mad. Whenever somebody reminds them of an infomercial they get very angry... And we all know, an informercial's favorite phrase is, "no obligation".

However, I trust you to be the guru... if you disagree, I will have to try adding that phrase back into my vocabulary.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Whoa, Gary, I'll back off as I don't want to be "smacked a good one"! Not a bad point re: "no obligation". I had never thought about it- maybe because I don't watch infomercials.

The point I was TRYING to get across is any of my Reports are yours without cost, without feeling put under some sort of weird guilt and certainly without someone bugging you over the phone, etc.
Steve

PS Thanks for the observation, Gary. Now everybody help me out here. What should someone say instead when they want to convey the above to a potential customer?

 

[B&BGaryC]

I know what you're saying, how do you say, "No obligation" without saying "no obligation"? I usually just hope they understand it's implied. I ran into a bad spot using "no obligation". I could physically see the person's mood change, hear it in their voice that they were done talking with me, as soon as that phrase left my lips.

And, there is a lot to be learned from infomercials, because they work on their target audience. You can use some of their tricks as long as you don't raise red flags.

One thing to chew on Steve; The subconscious mind works on pictures and images, and takes all words literally. However, there is no such thing as a negative mental image. Your subconscious mind pictures the word obligation and the phrase no obligation exactly the same. If ever somebody is trying to break a habit, the old advice is to find another habit to replace it. When you study the conscious and subconscious mind and how they interact, you realize the way to break a habit is to develop a picture in your subconscious mind of the positive opposite of the negative you wish to do away with. If you are a smoker, dwelling on how you are not a smoker, or how you wish to quit smoking, only develops the picture in your mind of you smoking, because there is no negative. If you wish to quit, you must develop the picture in your mind of yourself being a healthy person, or enjoying fresh air.... If you drill this picture into your head enough (sometimes with constant repetition of reading the phrases off of a note-card) eventually, smoking will fall away all by itself. Why? Because your conscious and subconscious mind do not like inconsistencies. If you make the picture stick in the subconscious it will play out in your conscious actions in order to balance out the two sides of the brain. This is the exact reason why people who fail keep failing. People with bad choice in partners keep getting into bad relationships. They have the mental picture of themselves always choosing to do things that make them less successful. Without replacing that picture, they are destined to continue in failure.

This is why I use the word Free in my advertising, but I use "No Cost" when talking with somebody face to face. I think if somebody hears my add 4 times a day, they might develop the mental picture of my company and some extensive "cost". However, when I am dealing with them face to face, and they are actively listening, it is easy for their conscious mind to comprehend "No cost" or "No charge" for my free room offer. Then it is assigned a value, it's not just "free" or "owed to them."

This was a short :shock: crash course, if you want a more in-depth explanation please PM or email me.

 

[Desk Jockey]

No obligation" :?:

 

[hogjowl]

Irritating?

 

[B&BGaryC]

Irritating?

Me?


Never!