can you pencil me in?

No we only write in pen

I love it get a call go over what she wants done bla bla bla every question under the sun
then wants to know can I do it on this date and time I say yes I can.

Then she says OK can you pencil me in on that date and I will get back to you I have a few more cleaners to call for a quote. 

Guess who doesn't get penciled in. I just tell them to call us back when they are ready to schedule.

exactly

she did not call bakc:tongue: 

Just had that happen today. Lady spilt scented wax on "new" carpet. Wanted it out. She said she noticed we have advanced stain removal procedures and carpet repair. I said yes and went over options. She then asked price, I told her and then never said a word. While I listened to her say "I though it would be $50-75. What is the company name, are you owner? I said "yes, mama I will be the technician that will be taking care of you." Then " you are welcome to call around to find a lower cost, I'm sure you can find one." I love these calls. Totally ignored her disrespectful probing.

This is not my client. So I told her she could do it herself with limited success. Have a great day!  

Some people just don't value our time.

Ryan I see you found the Emoticons. I'll be adding some more.

I don't have the patients for what I call the "time wasters"! haaha

Hell, I don't even own a damn pencil, "so no I can't "pencil you in"!!   

What I get once in awhile, and can now spot from a mile away, is the cust that wants to schedule 3-4 weeks out. For I believe for nothing more than to give themselves time to prepare (mentally or for real lol), I use my fingernail to 'nail them in' because I know they will be canceling the day before, and they usually do. And then that's where my "two strikes n ur out" rule comes in. You pull that sched weeks in advance and cancel last min on me twice, there is a no thirds time!! I don't bother calling them back, and neither do they usually. If they do call back I blow them off, they can go waste someone elses time!

Mo wrote:Some people just don't value our time.

Ryan I see you found the Emoticons. I'll be adding some more.

I love them Mo! Just I time too for the post.

Fortunately these types of calls are in the minority, but I feel your frustration. I had one the other day for 4 rooms, but 3 of them will be "just around the beds." I gave her a price and she reiterated that it's just around the beds. After a polite explanation from me on why that doesn't matter much she decided to look elsewhere.

Davey Cracker wrote:I don't have the patients for what I call the "time wasters"! haaha

Hell, I don't even own a damn pencil, "so no I can't "pencil you in"!!   

What I get once in awhile, and can now spot from a mile away, is the cust that wants to schedule 3-4 weeks out. For I believe for nothing more than to give themselves time to prepare (mentally or for real lol), I use my fingernail to 'nail them in' because I know they will be canceling the day before, and they usually do. And then that's where my "two strikes n ur out" rule comes in. You pull that sched weeks in advance and cancel last min on me twice, there is a no thirds time!! I don't bother calling them back, and neither do they usually.  If they do call back I blow them off, they can go waste someone elses time!

this is funny hardly any of my customers plan months in advance for a carpet cleaning ( I have some that plan a year in advance but it is a yearly thing and I have a key or something and do it while they are away )

yes I find the one's than pin you down for a date long in advance your now their ace in the hole, so now they go shopping they usually never call and cancel. So I call them long time in advance of the cleaning only to find it was already done or they found some one cheaper. 

Ring me when you are ready is my answer. A firm booking is worth more than a pencil booking anytime. Me thinks.

ODIN wrote:No we only write in pen

I love it get a call go over what she wants done bla bla bla every question under the sun
then wants to know can I do it on this date and time I say yes I can.

Then she says OK can you pencil me in on that date and I will get back to you I have a few more cleaners to call for a quote. 

Terje,

This topic is dead over at that the posers forum.   Heck far as that goes, I think there is only four posters on the whole forum. Two of them paid Joe for it  

Your an outcast over there. Stop fighting it your one of the Real Cleaners and they know it.  

I see someone is lurking there, ha..ha..ha....
Anyway, regarding the topic, usually in my experience the 15 - 20 minutes calls are the ones who cancel their appointment cause they're the ones who will weigh every single item that they're getting against the costs, and I can tell you that I don't feel sorry that they cancel cause they're the ones that will never happy no matter what you do.

dp1 wrote:I see someone is lurking there, ha..ha..ha....
Anyway, regarding the topic, usually in my experience the 15 - 20 minutes calls are the ones who cancel their appointment

Boy, if that ain't true!!@! I never put 2 n 2 together, but you're right!! The people that will spend forever on the phone asking you questions are usually the ones that back out, I just had that happen a week ago with a Yelp call. It was last Saturday about 1pm and after a good 20 min for time wastin' questions she agreed to let me come out Monday to give a quote, and by 3pm she was calling to cancel!

Yup, and what I hate most about these suckers is they make appointments and they usually cancel on their appointment day, so when I have those 20 minutes custy scheduled, I made sure that they have to call 48 hours in advance to cancel, that usually enough to back them out from scheduling

I can pretty much feel who is "going to cancel". 2 weeks ago she ask about moving furniture(80% of my jobs are empty). I explain that I'm willing to move small items like recliners, end tables. And she asks(pushes) about the bigger items. " mam, after 20 years, I don't move those pieces. " you know that by moving those goes along way in providing good customer service, some customers would appreciate that alot". Bla, bla bla.
-we get it scheduled for the next week. Day before the job she calls and_________?
*I knew it would happen. Thing is, there are only 2 other CC that service this town. Good luck to them.

My carpet cleaner wrote:Thing is, there are only 2 other CC that service this town. Good luck to them.

Man, you are lucky!!

I have 14 other co. in a 3 mile radius of me!!!!..........that's no Exaggeration either, I really wish it was!!  
And about 20% of the owners first names are the same as mine!!!. WTF!   

Davey Cracker wrote:

My carpet cleaner wrote:Thing is, there are only 2 other CC that service this town. Good luck to them.

Man, you are lucky!!

I have 14 other co. in a 3 mile radius of me!!!!..........that's no Exaggeration either, I really wish it was!!  
And about 20% of the owners first names are the same as mine!!!. WTF!    

LOL, that's weird because a local cleaner around me who bought my older performer, his name is also Dave, he became a good friend of mine, actually the guy who used to work for me, his name is also Dave, wow your name is popular, lol.
The good thing about that is next time you screwed up *knock on wood*, you can blame the other Dave, ha..ha..

Yea, really!!

"Dave's NOT HERE"!!!!