No kidding.

The FBI called and ordered a Cimex package today. One of their purchasing agents had visited the Cimex booth at the ISSA show. Well today they placed an order for their first Cimex package. So guess what... the FBI will now be encapping too.

Hey I'm glad they have one of my machines.
They can add it to my photo at the post office




Rick Gelinas

I hope that sale did'nt cost one of us cleaners a contract there for the FBI.

I get concerned sometimes when clients see how easy some of this work is,...first thing they say is "that's too easy". Next thing ya know they want to get rid of the Cleaning Company and do it themselves.

I don't mind losing an account here and there, it's does'nt take too long to find another, but it stinks to lose a "Good One"

hiyas Tom

which office of theirs do you clean?

take care --- Derek.

I don't think I do any FBI buildings,......although I do a lot of Gov't buildings and many of them don't tell me who they are, or what they do. I have seen the Black Trucks, like the "Men in Black" at certian buildings, but like I said they don't tell me much, and I don't ask.

I did recently lose 2 retirement home accounts because they decided to buy thier own machine.

It happens,....fortunatley I don't miss those 2 retirement home jobs at all. Yuck!

Tom,

Here's something to consider. How many guys in your town clean with HWE? How many "in house" programs in your town clean with HWE? 10%? 20%? 50%? 75%? I'm guessing the number is over 90%. So now you're competing with them every day using basically the same systems. So then what is it that really influences a carpet cleaning purchase decision? I'm guessing that it's not so much about your method as you may suspect. I believe the purchasing decision primarily comes down to YOU and the way you run your company.




Rick Gelinas

I think when they look at a $50,000 truckmount they are curious, but they would never invest that kind of money.
When they see how easy encapping is, and how well it works they are just as curious, if not more curious since it looks so easy.
The difference is that they would consider investing $2,000 or $3,000 for the equipment, rather than pay me $400-$500 per month, every month. Which is exactly what these retirement homes decided to do.

It really came down to the price of the equipment in this instance. The previous manager said he would have already bought the equipment if he had an employee that he felt could do the work. Well, they got a new manager, and he decided to buy the equipment and do the cleaning himself and save the $400-$500 a month they had been paying me for the last few years. Heck, after a few months of paying me, they could have used that money to buy the encapping machine of thier choice.
Frankly, I'm surprised they did'nt make that decision sooner.

Honestly, if I had been using the Truckmount, I don't think he would have went out and spent the money to buy one. The only reason they had me encapping it in the first place was because the carpet manufacturer recommended it. Since the encapping equipment is relatively inexpensive it made sense to buy thier own machine.
It was just a matter of time, and money before they pushed me out, and did it "in house"

A couple of years ago, I cleaning carpets for a local school district for 15 years, 3 guys doing over 1.5 million commerical hwe per year. We all lost our jobs to outsourcing, great pension, holiday pay, unlimited sick leave, paid medical, 4 weeks vacation, etc. all gone. It happens to the best of us. We are in this to make money, Rick included. I always be careful about what I tell my customers. Sell clean, not the method you use. This is one reason I still push a hwe rinse, I know they won't buy a truck mount system, It works both ways. Some times these people will call back for you to clean the carpet. It isn't always as easy as it looks.

Steve Frasier
Drew and Steve's Floor Care
www.drewandsteve.net

Scratch off the "Cimex" on the front of the machine and replace it with "Vortex". When they research it they'll find the $50,000 machine and wont buy it. Sorry Rick if this costs you a few sales...lol.

The costs include not only buying the machine and chems, but buying the right machine and chems. Also, they do have to have a trained guy that is willing to labor to do the work and give time for a learning curve.

I would take a company 8 months or more to recoup the costs of a $400 monthly job, if ever. Even when they do recoup costs, they will have the hassle of dealing with an employee to do the work.

Explain the facts to them.