Before & after pics in your ads.

I saw a franchise cleaner's before & after pic of tile & grout cleaning shows a HUGE difference, makes me think, kinda dangerous to do that since customer will have super high expectations that their stuff will be super clean and super shiny ( human brains just get excited about shiny stuffs ).
We all know that not everything will turn out the way we expect, even though we explain things prior to cleaning, those pictures will stick to their brain and when they don't get results that's close to those pics, guess what happens ? They will go to those review sites like bats out of hell and rant, what say you ?

Kind of like ordering a cheese burger at a fast food chain.

Bob, that's so true !
I remembered Taco Bell was sued by someone here in CA due to the size of their burritos were misleading and Taco Bell lost the case, that doesn't seem to stop them from similar advertising now, if you see their new "burrito taco" for $ 1.49, it looks SOOO much bigger in the picture, although I haven't bought one yet, I knew that it's not nearly as big, they would lose money if it's that size !
Anyway back to the discussion, I think I feel much more comfortable putting before and after pics of carpets and sofas rather than tile & grout, since tile & grout cleaning results are much more fluctuate imo.

Why bother with a before pic at all?

All they are really concerned with is what it looks like after anyway. If you go around showing the worst looking carpet you cleaned, it could leave a negative feeling with some people. Most people don't want to know what kind of gross stuff you are sucking from other people's carpet, and dragging your "dirty" equipment into their house.

And like it's been said, showing extreme examples may set you up for failing expectations from the get go.

I always think like that too James, I don't want those people with filthy carpets to call me anyway, not that I don't like the challenge but if I can work less and make the same amount of money, that's what I call success, and I'm not being lazy either, I still see dirty carpets here and there but not like filthy, I actually haven't cleaned one for a while, now I'm sure I just jinxed myself.

Do you ever see a mechanic show a before / after pic? How about a plumber, electrician, or doctor?

The problem we have is that out industry is so focused on appearance, that we pretty much have to show an "after" photo at least. You know that I believe that there are other worthwhile benefits to cleaning that should be emphasized, but the appearance is still the main-stay of our industry.

It's the in-laws man, if they don't exist, most likely appearance wouldn't be priority and we wouldn't make so much money out of it

dp1 wrote:I always think like that too James, I don't want those people with filthy carpets to call me anyway, not that I don't like the challenge but if I can work less and make the same amount of money, that's what I call success, and I'm not being lazy either, I still see dirty carpets here and there but not like filthy, I actually haven't cleaned one for a while, now I'm sure I just jinxed myself.

Even with glass, I don't want to work with people that never clean their glass. If they are not interested in KEEPING their homes clean, I'm not interested.

It's a lot of work getting something (glass or carpets) from a horrid state, to looking good. And there is not enough money to make me want to go through all that, to wait another 10 years to clean it again. People are like that here with their carpets. Lots of people like that with their windows too.

I got a call from an owner of an Insurance agency last year. His windows were absolutely terrible. I would have had to ladder up on every window, and steel wool each one. Pine pitch, bird crap, and years of filth. I left him a FAT quote for it. It would have been nearly an all day job, and it was like 600 bucks or something close. He never bit on it, and I was relived.

I don't like working with dirty people, and my advertising will never reflect the sad state (before) and the awesome look (after). Any pictures/advertising I tout, will always be AFTER photos and the cream of the crop.

The before and after pictures can be beneficial, even if it doesn't make that much sense, people would rather look at the pictures than read text...

Actually, I think people would rather watch video, rather than read text.

Besides, adding YouTube videos linked to your site drive you higher in Google ranking.

Yup, video is a must these days. Nobody bothers to read anymore.

For some customers, it gives a good impression for an end result, just like for a person heading for a slimming/gaining diet

I have placed the same for my site Mike on the Spot Carpet Cleaning

Hey Mike, welcome !!
Where is Mo when we need him, lol.
Just fyi, Mo is a cleaner in Prescott as well, assuming it is Prescott, AZ is there any other Prescott in any other state ?

We really need to be a picture for a good impression.

Just keep the before / after pictures real and I think it works. What I dislike are the stock photos that so many cleaners use as they come off fake...which they are. I don't think that helps a business's image at all and can actually make them seem dishonest.

I know that is how I view them online. Fake photos sends the business into the ignore pile when I am looking for a service company. Honesty is too valuable to a customer and too rare in a business these days.

dp1 wrote:Hey Mike, welcome !!
Where is Mo when we need him, lol.
Just fyi, Mo is a cleaner in Prescott as well, assuming it is Prescott, AZ  is there any other Prescott in any other state ?

I had to ban that guy DP. It was pretty obvious he was just using the site for SEO juice with hyperlinks in his message to his site.