10/31/2009
A WORD OF CAUTION!
The post following this talks about us getting a Mall from the IICRC. I had a cleaner respond by saying "All they need is the nightly company to get some Cimexs and some Encap DS and Punch and your services will more then likely not be needed.
Signed David
The following is my reponse to David. What do you think?
"David we have been told that the Mill Warranty has to be observed to the letter.
In fact the night company had to pay out yes you heard that right pay out of their own pocket a % of the new carpet price because they had not followed the Mill requirements and the Mall blamed them for the carpet needing to be replaced by the mear fact that they did not have records of a planned APPROVED plan for keeping the carpet clean.
Hey this is not a dig on the products that you mentioned as our own product "Ultra-Restore" is not a Green Seal product plus using the Cimex voids the Warranty.
Please don't kill the messanger as I am only telling you the warranty & maintance instructions of the Mill."
We now get involved with non warranty cleaning problems by other cleaners every 1 to 2 months. Don't use the Cimex when the paper work says "Use of a Rotary Style machine voids the Warranty". Painful but true.
10/29/2009
MUST BE FAIR TO ......YOU WILL NEVER GUESS
I am sure that at some point actually many points along the way I have said some bad things about the IICRC.
So I think it fair that when something good happens that I need to tell about it.
We had a customer call us because we were listed as a IICRC certified company(God I hate paying that fee). The real news is that it is a shopping mall. In Minnesota (home of the enclosed mall) our Malls are carpeted. It is now down to us and one other company. It will be monthly cleaning of all entry areas and quarterly cleaning of all walkways. The nightly company will provide interium cleaning with us pulling the heavy TM work (fine with us).
All products have to be "Greenseal" and yes we have to have a IICRC certified cleaner on the job.
I just bit my finger typing this.
We have alot going on look for more post weekly.
10/14/2009
I HAVE A STAMP OF APPROVAL !
Let it be known that on OCT 14th, 2009
STEVE TOBUREN said on Cleanfax Board that:
FRED GEYEN IS SO RIGHT.....
10/13/2009
PRICING CAN BE DIFFERANT FOR EACH OF US
I had put this comment on the Cleanfax Board and thought it made a point that was worth keeping.
It occurs to me that one area we as carpet cleaners do not discuss often is ACUTAL work rates/time by process or the better term being "Time & Motion".
ISSA has work rates for Janitorial service and Equipment but besides our own experience and the "Overly Postive Reviews" by manufactures there has been no real information published on the many different machines we use.
For example what is the true efficiency or advantage of a wide 16" wand with glide verses a 12" without a glide? One must do the work faster with an equal operator but how much faster?
Point is depending on which piece of Equipment we might be thinking about using or possibly we only own one type of machine. A 100,000 sq. ft. Job will look very very differant to each of us. Which is also the reason bids from one company to the next can vary.
9/25/2009
OH! OH! ROTARY ALERT!
Just got out of yet another meeting where the Carpet Manufacter had us go in look at a carpet that was one year old and the customer was not happy with color and wear. The customer was not happy with their choice of carpet and SEEMED to know that the CLEANER was using a ROTARY style machine to clean their carpet and that it WAS NOT suppose to be used.
So to maybe get their carpet replaced they were blaming the cleaner for VOIDING their warranty ............more to come.
9/15/2009
NITWIT MARKETING
NETWORKING FOR NITWITS (that would be me your author)
I just had a case where something paid off after allot of time and doubts. Networking is a word I simple hate. All I hear is "it is a new time past methods do not work". What are these past methods that do not work? I think the big one is cold calling. The idea that you send out post cards or e-mails then follow up with a phone call is fast becoming a dead old plan.
Ask anyone you know who calls on the top give you their percentage of call backs. You are going to hear 5% or less. How horrible call 100 people and only have 5 call you back! So what is going on are we NOT in the age of communication with i-phones, blackberry’s, e-mails, facebook etc..... The truthful answer is NO we are not in the age of communication but the age of Comisolation (Isolated Communication). Written or phone communication lacks much of what is needed to truly communicate.
BACK ON POINT: Networking is now the best way to get business period. God I hate saying that because I hate networking. I think most Guys have a much harder time in the new world of networking than Women (a blog offers and area where you can make random generalizations) because women pass info back and forth easier then a guy. Any argument ask your wife not me.
So anyway I grin and bear it and take my body and force it into an uncomfortable "networking before presentation" situation. Oh I hated it and soon found myself at a table ALL ALONE I felt so self consience that I just moved to the first table with an open chair and sat down. A lady asked me a question about what I did, instead of giving her an elevator speech I told her that I was a parole officer for TIM who was sitting across the table from me. I had just remembered Tim from 10 years ago. It broke the ice our table loosened up (I loosened up) I met people got names and liked the people plus Tim and I made a renewed great connection.
Keep at it even if you hate parts of it.
9/8/2009
WILL I MAKE IT!
WILL I MAKE IT?
If this is the first time you have read this Blog you are now wondering two things:
1. Will he make what? (If you are a women you are asking why did he assume HE)
2. Why so long between posts?
In answer to the first question you have to go back to the 2nd post ever made on this blog where it says “Starting Nov 1st 2008 and ending Oct 31st 2009 we will have $120,000 of repeatable revenue”. That was a scary commitment. During the year I had Andy out selling which gave me great material to present to you the reader. Then Andy left “the scoundrel” to go out and work with my son Peter cleaning of all things Apartments! Can you believe it! Apartments! He left for apartments!
This month that apartment business did $19,000 in business! With at least half of that repeatable. I take a fraction of credit in helping get this business going. It was truly the hard; I mean HARD work that Andy and Peter put in that made this thing go. They now have two TM’s and lots of regular customers. Forget all the fancy programs. It still takes Hard Scared Sales Effort with an underling fear of failure that makes most people succeed. That is what drove these guys to do what they had never done before.
So where am I at coming in on the close of OCT 31st? We had the Fluke for 600,000 sq. ft. of business that will repeat starting in Jan 2010. Plus I am just closing a deal that I cannot expose the name of (dang it!) for my own fear of giving to much info to my local friendly carpet cleaners. But anyway it looks like this one account (I hate big accounts) will produce $19,000/per month for 8 months and $24,000/per month for the 4 other months and one time work of $60,000. It looks like I will make it.
By the way the answer to the 2nd question is that I wanted to wait for Cleanfax to start a monthly column on Commercial Carpet Cleaning of which they are next month and they are making this Frog a Prince by letting me write it.
NEXT WE WILL SET NEW GOALS FOR COMMERCIAL CARPET CLEANING THAT WILL BE OF GREAT BENEFIT TO YOU AND ME. LOOK FOR IT IN THE NEXT POST.
7/2/2009
Another look at HOST
We are taking a lot of heat from Millicare in Tampa. They have become very aggressive (good business) with them really going heavy on Green in fact they funded the Green LEED guide that IFMA sells. Their name is on the inside front cover (good marketing). In Mpls they have 3 full time sales people hitting the streets.
I do not think the world is falling but sure would like their position in the market place. They have the total backing of a carpet mill, 50-75 franchise members with good business skills plus they have one of the greenest systems in terms of credentials. So after looking at Host again I think I have gained a new level of understanding of how to place it in the market. On our side of the boarder rotary style cleaning has become the "swirl mark of the devil" to the point that Tandus and others are stating right in their warranty that using any type of Rotary cleaning will void the warranty. Host allows us to use the dual cylindrical brush style machine which the mills love and we can "mist a cleaner in front of it or use the Host Sponges (as they call them) to clean.
Let me repeat the most important part. You only spread host down on 50%-65% of the carpet and you let the vac-pilelift do the rest. In this way you will get more of a buy in from your guys as it is easier then they have seen. I think you do more pile-lifting with HOST. We will market in class A office buildings with this being our first foot in the door from a system standpoint as good service and people are always a great sales aid.
It may not be for you but it can be a good tool in your box.
6/10/2009
I AM BACK AND GOING STRONG
UPDATES:
1. Andy and Peter did hit a $17,000 month! Can you believe it!
2. I did not get one call on the 850 mail outs. I have to believe it.
3. Got a call from a property management company that I have been working on for a year! Yessssssssssssssssss!
4. Have kept Minnesota customers with no cutbacks or cancellations. I love this
Business!
5. Completed a GREEN CLEANING MANUEL
6. Presented at Connections with LMCCA
7. Was asked by Jeff Cross to write a monthly column in CleanFax. I am jazzed about that!
8. Made several cold calls and got many names.
9. I got my rhythm back for commercial! It took awhile but staying at it and lifting the heavy weight of starting over has paid off!
10. Info on here will get better because of it.
Take care and look for the electronic Clean-Fax article as I think it is one of the most insightful articles into commercial that I have ever written.
