Often when i explain soil encapsulation to a potential customer that has never heard it before,they seem to be stumped on one aspect: where the dirt goes. When I tell them that the dirt and soil is "encapsulated" into a crystalline form that brakes down to a fine dust, they always ask, "so, u vaccum it up when you are done?" I tell them no, but now im not sure why. I know i have lost potential business because of this one aspect. It seems that they are put off by this and think that i should do what i am being paid for, cleaning and removal of dirt. I am just curious, what do you say? I'm kinda tierd of lookin like a fool trying to sell snow to an eskimo, any suggestions?

Just tell your customers that the crystals will be picked up in the next vacuuming.

I encapped a carpet before and did the vacuuming so I could have the dirt to show future customers. My sandwich bag of dirt gets customers. ( They'll say: Was that in my carpet?)

Customers will never understand the whole cleaning process. They want their carpets cleaned and just get it done. Don't even tell them about the dirt.

There are two types of soil in carpet:
1) Dry (74-79%- depending upon the study).
2) Sticky (21-26%- again, depending upon the study).

You hopefully pre-vac and attempt to remove as much of the 79% of the dry soil in the carpet as possible.

You then use a process that immediately improves the appearance of the carpet greatly. In the process you encapsulate the "sticky" soil into particles that are then easily removed during the next regular vacuum cycle.

You are most lilely charging less for encapsulation cleaning due to the reduced manpower involved. Explain this is a cost savings to them.

If they would like a more thorough cleaning you can offer these other two options to them:

A) A full Hot Water Extraction Cleaning.
B) A return trip the following day to due a post-vac.

Either of these should be priced appropriately for you to make a profit still.

However, when I was a cop we called this a "CLUE". They probably do not understand the need for regular vacuuming, or do and know they dont do it. This is your chance to educate them and they will not mind vacuuming the encapsulated soil after that.

Enjoy,


Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

I tell each customer about encapsulation and how it works
but I can tell most of them still don't know what I'm talking about. they look at me like my puppy does turning their heads from side to side. The most important thing I do is find out about there vacuuming schedule. Most people tell me one thing but by looking at there carpet I know that most don't vacuum as often as they should or say they do.

What I say is this, after all I am offering clean carpets not carpet cleaning.. When I finish cleaning it is very important that in the next day or two that you do a very thorough vacuuming. Then I explain that keeping up a good vacuuming program will extend the life of your carpets. I do not tell them that they are vacuuming up the dirt I just encapped. All they see is how clean the carpets are when I left and thats good enough for me.

Good Luck
Ralph

I had the same question and Rick gave both barrels and it is great. I did a copy and paste from a message he gave me. Here it is::::::

Quite simply... encap works. Commercial carpets clean up easier. They look better than they do with other methods. The carpets are much brighter looking. The endless recurring spill stains can now be put to rest. Formerly dingy traffic lanes can now look great, day-in day-out. The carpets stay clean longer between cleanings. More referrals are generated. Production time is amazing. Higher profits are generated, even if we're forced to bid a little lower to get the job. It's easy to train techs, so we can easily multiply our sources of revenue.

Like I said - it's about the bottom line. We're in business to provide for our families. Sure, we enjoy the work or we wouldn't be in this business. Yet in the end we're all in business to make a profit. And the Cimex/Releasit system achieves that goal unlike any other method when it comes to commercial carpet. A Cimex can effectively clean 2,000-3,000 sq ft per hour - try doing that with a truck mount.

Now how should you respond to the bulletin board hillbillies? I think the real question, is WHY would you want to? Let 'em talk. Just smile and let the Cimex/Releasit system fill up your bank account

Mark you also asked how to explain the post vacuuming process to your prospective clients.

STOP!

The customer is not normally concerned with your methodology to any great degree. They may ask a question or two about your system. That's because they don't know anything else to ask. Heck that's all our industry has talked to the customer about. So the prospect may feel like he should try to throw out a question or two. But trust me, they really don't know or care about your truck mount's blower size.

Have you ever walked into a restaurant and asked them if their ranges have 6-burners or 8-burners? You don't care, you just want a nice meal, with quality food, at a fair price.

Do you ever ask a mechanic what brand of wrenches he uses? Don't be using no Snap-On wrenches on my car buddy, I only want a mecahinic to use Mac tools on my engine. Of course you don't care what type of tools the mechanic uses.

Now when the restaurant owner or the mechanic gets together with his buddies they may talk about stoves and wrenches. Among their peers that's the topic they discuss. But they DON'T discuss this with their customers. Because their customers simply do not care.

My point is this... Sell them CLEAN CARPET, don't sell them CARPET CLEANING.

Sure, you have to answer basic questions. Here are a few statements that have proven to work well regarding the method we're using. These points are marketable.

~ We'll be using a planetary scrubber with 3 cleaning heads that scrubs your carpet fiber from all directions.

~ The machine we'll be using to clean your carpet is imported from England. (builds mystique)

~ New technology has emerged in our industry during the past few years. I keep my ear to the ground and stay abreast of the changes. That's why we're now using a new cleaning system that has rapidly grown throughout the commercial carpet cleaning market all over the world.

~ We can eliminate your recurring spill stains. (You know the ones that keep coming back) If you have a good size spill stain in the building I can clean half of it. Then you can walk on it for a few days to see if it comes back.

~ The detergent I'll be using contains a crystallizing polymer called CRYSTALON3. This product enables the carpets to remain cleaner between cleaning. And it gets cleaner each time you vacuum the carpet.

~ The detergent I'll be using contains a built in carpet protector called Soileze. This will help your carpet to stay cleaner longer.

~ I have all of the major industry approved cleaning methods at my disposal. We will select the method that's most appropriate for the soiling conditions in your building.

~ We have been cleaning carpets for ___ years. Our reputation as experts in the area of commercial carpet care is quite good. We'll make sure that your experience with our company will be a positive one too.

~ We guarantee your complete satisfaction.

You see we have built confidence in our ability to CLEAN THEIR CARPET, rather than spending time talking about how many watts our machine draws. Draw their attention to the end result as you talk with them. Never dodge answering questions about the method. The comment above covers where the dirt goes --- "The detergent I'll be using contains a crystallizing polymer called CRYSTALON3. This product enables the carpets to remain cleaner between cleaning. And it gets cleaner each time you vacuum the carpet."

Just try to avoid getting hung up on methodology.

Use your precious limited time spent with the prospect helping them to see how your state of the art service is going to improve the condition of their carpet, their business, their lives. Sell them what they want... CLEAN CARPET.




Rick Gelinas


Thanx :~}
MA

Afterglow Carpet Care

I would only quibble with one of the above points: I don't think people in general associate England with any kind of sophisticated technology, or leadership in engineering (rightly or wrongly). I refer to my Cimex as being designed & built in Europe. This lets the customer then assume that it's from Germany, maybe Sweden - 2 countries with a better reputation for designing and building mechanical decices.

Hey Mark, you ought to go for a ride in my MINI Cooper before you conclude that England can't build great stuff.

OK, OK, I know... It took a German automaker to redeign the MINI to make it into a super hot car. But the Mini's were a pretty cool car even before BMW took the helm.




Rick Gelinas
encapman