Upsold!!

S

Scott D.

Member
So I had a large well known company come out to clean my carpets this weekend. The price for the down stairs and the stairs was $120.00. Cool, no problem. Then he points out our dirty grout/tile, and how dingy our sofas had become. so $200 for the grout and tile, and $350 for the sofas. Then all of the sealers for them. After everything the total price was $1,500.00. I told him no, that I cant spend that right now and to just do the carpets. So he comes back and says that he can do everything for $800 + tax. So thats what we did.

So we start out at $120, and end up spending $800 thinking we got a great deal. Got to love a good salesman who can upsell. I asked him if he wanted to sell for us on the side and take a percentage of everything he sold. He declined, but it shows you the power of upselling.

Just thought Id share.
 
Scott,If it were not for me upselling on 90% of all the calls I get I probably would not be posting right now...:)
 
That is a great story Scott, thanks for sharing. You are right----you didn't even realize you wanted that stuff until he pointed it out to you.


Funny, I posted a thread about this on PTstate a few months ago---about my positive experience with Chemdry (carpet cleaners). I told about how systemized everything was and how they did EVERYTHING they said they would, down to the minute. I compared and contrasted with some other service providers I use......I found it all very interesting.
 
The company's name was Dirt Free. They do alot of radio ads here in Houston and tout a system that uses no detergents and H30 instead of H20, so clean with.

They were scheduled to be here between 8 & 10am and he showed up at 9:10. Uniformed and clean. He even called about 20 minutes before he got here so he didnt wake us up by knocking on the door. I was quite impressed with the company, or at least that tech. But theyre customers service was great too. I emailed them on friday that I needed it done this weekend, and they scheduled me for Saterday morning.

We may have paid more for the services than if a smaller company had done it, but I will pay it again simply because I know I can trust them.
 
How much of an area was the tile and grout?

How long did it take them to clean it?

I am thinking of getting into the tile and grout cleaning, have some of the equipment already, just need a little bit more.
 
Great Salesman.... Hey I always upsale... Example.. day before yesterday I sold and did a hood cleaning (10ft vent hood ) $300.00 , I then said for an extra $ 100.00 I can surface clean the concrete, The manager says go ahead thats a great deal, then I told him , his fire equipment was due for an inspection and he had some extinguishers that needed recharging.. I left there with close to $600.00 in my pocket .. He was happy ,I was happy..

I always sale the customer everything that I think they need.. If they say no I usually do the math of what it would cost them if they had to call 2 or 3 other companies to do for them what I could do since I am already there.. They see that they can save money and next thing you know they end up saying just do it all.
 
Christopher said:
How much of an area was the tile and grout?

How long did it take them to clean it?

I am thinking of getting into the tile and grout cleaning, have some of the equipment already, just need a little bit more.
Click to expand...

When he cleaned the tile I was gone. But I was only gone for an hour and he was already done and started on the furniture when I came back, so less than an hour. And it was only my kitchen/dining room which is maybe 20x6 and entryway which is about 9x7. He had a 8 or 10 inch surface cleaner with wide fan nozzles pushing about 1800psi, and had a hose connected for reclaim. It dried in like 5 minutes. It was very simple and easy, and made them a quick $350 with the sealant, which was just a spray on and rub in with a towel.
 
Scott D. said:
When he cleaned the tile I was gone. But I was only gone for an hour and he was already done and started on the furniture when I came back, so less than an hour. And it was only my kitchen/dining room which is maybe 20x6 and entryway which is about 9x7. He had a 8 or 10 inch surface cleaner with wide fan nozzles pushing about 1800psi, and had a hose connected for reclaim. It dried in like 5 minutes. It was very simple and easy, and made them a quick $350 with the sealant, which was just a spray on and rub in with a towel.
Click to expand...


I have to ask you. Did you have the protection put on the carpet and furniture? If so, do you know what brand he used and did you actually see him apply it? I was also wondering if you knew what sealer he put on your grout? When you say spray on sealer do you mean out of aerosol can?
 
Great story.. like Fife I get excited when I hear about companies that have their sh** together. They have to charge more to have those uniforms, the well spoken salespeople and the best cleaning technologies/equipment but look at the value you are getting. Only one in five people buy on price alone yet 9 out of ten contractors sell that way. Nobody has to. We are entitled to make money as well. Good sales will make or break a company. The work is secondary. That doesn't mean a company that does crap work can stay in business, but, even if you do decent work and provide an experience like described above you will be far more successful than the technician owner that straps on boots every day and believes working hard is the path to success.
 
Sentinel said:
Did you ask him why he tried to rip you off by quoting you $1500 first?
Click to expand...

Well I looked at their pricing sheets, and help him measure the areas, and the price came out correct. I just think that they inflate the prices on the price sheets they show you, so that when you balk at it, then they can "discount" it and make you feel better, and more likely to say yes.
 
Spencer said:
I have to ask you. Did you have the protection put on the carpet and furniture? If so, do you know what brand he used and did you actually see him apply it? I was also wondering if you knew what sealer he put on your grout? When you say spray on sealer do you mean out of aerosol can?
Click to expand...

The sealer for the carpets and furniture was teflon brand, and yes we watched him apply it. Im not sure about for the tile and grout sealer. It was not an aerosol can, but was a spray bottle. I watched him pour 2 different things into the bottle, but I dont know what they were.
 
Scott D. said:
Well I looked at their pricing sheets, and help him measure the areas, and the price came out correct. I just think that they inflate the prices on the price sheets they show you, so that when you balk at it, then they can "discount" it and make you feel better, and more likely to say yes.
Click to expand...

No they are looking to screw the customer right off the bat, why should you have to debate the price? We don't live in barter town if you said nothing would they of lowered the price?....
 
Alexy said:
No they are looking to screw the customer right off the bat, why should you have to debate the price? We don't live in barter town if you said nothing would they of lowered the price?....
Click to expand...

Well of course they wouldnt have. Do you usually give 50% off of your stated prices? No, you charge as much as possible. Or as much as the customer is willing to pay.
 
I am one to ask for discounts from people always, but on something like that I would have been pissed. I am glad you are happy with the service and the work they did, but when I deal with salespeople that price stuff does not fly. Give me your best price and I will decide if I want to pay that. If you discount for no reason other than I said no, to me you are a crook.
 
By the way Scott I am really not trying to argue with you, I really am glad you got a deal that you are happy with I have no idea how much that stuff cost, I am just saying I do not like that sales tactic at all I think it is very underminded
 
Sentinel said:
By the way Scott I am really not trying to argue with you, I really am glad you got a deal that you are happy with I have no idea how much that stuff cost, I am just saying I do not like that sales tactic at all I think it is very underminded
Click to expand...

And I agree to an extent. However, I used to be a car saleman and have a thick skin for the games. As under handed as it is/seems, Dirt Free is one of the largest providers of the service in this area, so there is obviously some wisdom to it.
 
Christopher said:
How much of an area was the tile and grout?

How long did it take them to clean it?

I am thinking of getting into the tile and grout cleaning, have some of the equipment already, just need a little bit more.
Click to expand...

Tile and grout is good money. Everyone views grout as being impossible to get clean. With the right equipment it can be really easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top