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Post by Crowz on Jul 15, 2005 13:38:38 GMT -5
Well, the Chiropractor didn't go for the deal. Figured she wouldn't. I had to send her a certified letter to get her attention, then she didn't even give me the courtesy of a phone call. Had her office manager send a very poorly written email on the 13th terminating services. John delivered the key to her building in person... she was standing there right next to the receptionist and wouldn't even acknowledge him! Made her receptionist take the key! So, as soon as he got home I replied to the email stating that we are requesting all moneys owed be paid immediately. I have gotten no response, and probably never will. They are now 5 days late on one invoice (the deal was we bill via invoice on the 10th & 25th of each month and we were to receive payment for one before the next one was sent) and there are 2 outstanding. There is also an open invoice from the 21st of June that was billed to her personally for the cleaning of 3 areas of carpet at her residence. All totaled $$650.00 is owed us. Now I have to check the laws in this state to find out how long I have to wait until it is considered delinquent before I can send the account to collections. Never again will Crowz do a verbal agreement! In fact, I am going to contact our 2 other customers with with we have a verbal agreement and ask them to do a specifications sheet and service agreement.... sign on the dotted line!
Live and learn I guess......
Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Jul 8, 2005 11:44:26 GMT -5
Yes Kevin, I did attempt a deal for the offices and her residence.... I took your advice and as I said in my first post, offered her $90.00 a visit plus the sign in her lobby or $120.00 per visit with no sign. BTW it takes 2 people 2 hours to clean her offices above standard clean, so figured at least 2 people 3 hours to get the detail she wants.... that's $15.00 an hour per person, low commercial industry standard for this area @ $20.00 per hour each. I don't think I would ever swap services with her... could you imagine what kind of adjustment or acupuncture we would get? LOLOL! Anyway, John and I are talking over your suggestions about a fleet vehicle from the Ford Dealership if and when we get that contract. We really need a utility van or truck with large shell. Our Astro van is slowly on it's way to vehicle heaven, the wrecking yard. Fixing it would cost more than it is worth. The '78 Chevy Step-side is John's baby and restoration project, so we use it only for carpet cleaning jobs.... unloading and reloading the van got to be a real pain in the behind. The Chevy is all new under the hood & brand new brake system... have spent $6000.00 in the past year alone on her. She is a big hit at car shows like Hot August Nights in Reno, or Route 66 Show 'N Shine here. Anyway....... if you have any more suggestions on how to get a new/slightly used vehicle without exchanging actual $$$ I would love to hear them! Oh, we will be hanging our 'shingle' in the Toyota dealership we currently service. Great suggestion Kev!
Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Jul 7, 2005 20:13:06 GMT -5
Hey everyone! I haven't been around for a while.... my apologies! So much has been happening here I barely have time to eat and am asleep before my head hits the pillow! I had to write a very difficult letter to our chiropractor client today. We have been cleaning her residence and offices once a week each since February 9th. We gave her a great price on both jobs and even did the billing as if we were only servicing her offices so she could get it all off on business taxes. What she signed up for was a basic/standard cleaning. She is one of those people who leaves notes asking for extras free of charge. Over time we were doing more and more until it got to the point where we were just breaking even, but we still did the job at the same price. So yesterday we arrive at her residence to find a letter stating "after today I will no longer have you clean the house. I need much more detailed home and as this is your only residential service (not true, we have one other currently) thought you would be relieved...... I do need a more complete job at my office or I will no longer be able to use your service there...." quack, quack, quack. I wrote a 2 page letter to her describing what she signed up for (we were new in the industry and only have a verbal agreement... we know better now), what she was getting, what industry standard pay is for a "professional" cleaning company, licensed & bonded - license, bond, insured - then nonprofessional rate for one who does cleaning under the table. Then I offered her deal at industry standard prices for her residence, detailed clean estimated at more than double her current rate. Then I offered her a firm price on her offices for a detail cleaning at only half our current price more AND we would be able to hang a tasteful modest size framed ad in her reception area that would say "This facility cleaned and maintained by Crowz Cleaning & Maintenance" with our logo and contact information..... OR we could do a detail cleaning at industry standard pay which would be double what she has been paying for basic.... I am ashamed to tell you all how very low our charge to her has been all these months. I ended the letter by saying that if neither of these deals were sufficient she should contact us and the key to her offices would be returned promptly..... we will no longer be cleaning her offices at anything but industry standard rate. I included a Job Specification sheet for customization and a blank Service Agreement. John hand delivered the letter to her office manager (a real nice girl named Jennifer) as the Dr. was busy. A conversation ensued and Jennifer informed John that the Dr. "has been on the rampage for a week since they came back from Maui". Who is in a bad mood after 10 days vacation in the Hawaiian Islands? Geesh! I'm glad we won't be around when she comes back from a month long vacation in Italy in the Fall! LOL! Ya, I am pretty sure she won't be going for my offers! Anyway.... that was today & part of yesterday. Big day tomorrow starts early at 2AM so gotta get ready for bed. I have lots more news, but it will have to wait.... sorry! Until next time.........
Natalie
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Post by Crowz on May 31, 2005 13:39:11 GMT -5
As time goes by we all know that it takes less time to do the same job. We are now familliar and have a cleaning routine. I always try to see how fast/efficient I can be and still get the job done right. Friday morning on our last job of our "workday", a car dealership, I had finished all but hard floors in the service area and rest rooms. I always dustmop then use the extension hose with crevice tool on my vacuum to get under the vending machines and along/on top of baseboards. I saw a dead roach behind a vending machine and in my rush to get the job done forgot that the employee time clock was mounted on the wall where I was bending/reaching. I hit my head on it so hard I saw stars! Certianly slowed me down, I'll tell you that! So much for productivity! I still have a goose egg on my head to remind me. So, the moral of this story is that productivity & efficiency are important, but not to the point of distraction!
Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Jun 12, 2005 14:52:42 GMT -5
LOL.... don't worry, they're not!
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Post by Crowz on Jun 11, 2005 16:27:55 GMT -5
You two have me laughing to tears! Now I can laugh at what happened, Thanx! BTW, we bought separate key rings for each client that have a tag to write the code & instructions on and we keep keys hanging on a wall rack in our office. The tags are color & initial coded so we know who is who and if a key gets lost it is no good to anyone who finds it.
Still laughing... Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Jun 10, 2005 14:59:15 GMT -5
Great idea Kevin. Think I will add that to my new client packets. I get so many great ideas from you! We have 2 commercial and 2 residential clients that have alarm systems. I arrived to clean a new commercial account all by my lonesome about 330 am a couple months back and after I put in the code the it didn't disarm. Talk about LOUD! I kept punching in the code until it finally stopped. About 10 minutes later Kingmans Finest arrived.... no, I did not have the # to the alarm company or an after hours # for the client. Luckily the system re-set by it's self and after the officers checked my ID and so forth I was shaken up, but finished the job. Had to contact the client durring business hours to tell them what had happened. Ugh... felt like an idiot.
Natalie
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Post by Crowz on May 19, 2006 0:09:04 GMT -5
Hey Manuel! Another from Arizona.... WELCOME! I didn't see a post from you in the Introductions section. What kind of services do you offer? Residential, commercial, windows, carpet, janitorial maintenance..... Would be easier to help you choose if we knew. What is the name of your company now? You have a lot of competition down there in Phoenix, right? Well, Crow is our last name and Crowz Cleaning Services is our company name.... no problem because of the "crow" in our logo: Makes people remember the name here in Kingman. My suggestion would be that if you keep your name, Flores Family Cleaning Services, then incorporate a picture logo with it.... something that says "family". Good luck to you! Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Mar 11, 2006 23:57:24 GMT -5
Dan is right. Nothing else worked for late pays (IE calls, letters, faxes, emails) so we started putting due dates and terms (all are net 20 days) on Invoices as well as a footnote stating that all accounts that were 30 days past due would be charged a 10% late fee. Yes, I checked with an attorney who just happens to be one of our clients and here in AZ it is legal to charge pretty much whatever you want with compounded interest as long as it is in writing. We started in January and are giving all accounts until 03/25/06 to come current and stay that way. It has already gotten the attention of some late pays! So, we will see......... I'll let you know come the 26th how well it is working!
Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Apr 6, 2006 23:33:06 GMT -5
We found that most commercial businesses wanted minimum city license and basic janitorial bond. Looks more professional when you hand over with your bid too. Our bank would not give us an account without the license either. Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Mar 12, 2006 0:04:57 GMT -5
Franchises are not all they are cracked up to be. I would definitely stay away from them. Perhaps more information is needed from you if we are to help. For example: your location, services you provide, marketing you have done, your logo/company name, etc. Your profile is all but blank No one will hurt you here, I promise. Fill it out and put a picture in to get faster responses from the membership. There is a lot of good information here, but you have to read it.... read, read, read, the posts. Seriously! Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Feb 8, 2006 14:49:53 GMT -5
Thanks I will do that Is it Christy that does logo designs too? I was thinking someone in here did them? Linda Yes, Christy Caley does great work but I haven't seen her here in a long time. You can always contact her through her website www.cleanoutlook.comI have her personal email address in my email files somewhere. If I can find it I will email it to you. If you have any artistic talent, you can create a logo yourself. I drew ours myself, scanned it in to the PC, then cleaned it up with a photo/art editor. I looked at a lot of pictures of crows and other birds in flight, found a font that I liked, then adapted and incorporated all together. Took me 2 months to complete. Fortunately I did it when we first started out..... I don't have the time now days! I still do everything myself.... from business cards to uniform transfers heat stamped on baseball style shirts! Here is what I put on b-ball uniform shirts & hoodies, car magnets, etc: Natalie
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Post by Crowz on Feb 5, 2006 8:40:03 GMT -5
1040 w/ a schedule "c"? also do you pay state taxes & how? Our first year in business we were a sole proprietor (actually a partnership, but since we are married it really makes no difference) so no reason to file any other way than 1040. We have only been in business a year so this will be our first filing and I am not sure how. One of our clients is an investment company and they will be doing our taxes more than likely. We will have to pay state income tax like anyone else I'm sure. Man, I'm getting a headache just thinking about tax season!
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Post by Crowz on Jan 30, 2006 16:50:50 GMT -5
Our county requires no licensure, at all, for anything..... but if you want to do any business in the City of Kingman, you must have City Licensure. We hold a Janitorial license that cost $78.00 a year because our physical location is in Mohave County ordinance. Same license is $20.00 if physical location is inside city limits, no matter where your customers are. We collect and pay no tax. Only taxes are on wages and file a 1040 to feds on income.
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Post by Crowz on Dec 8, 2005 23:54:18 GMT -5
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