You heard me correctly, I have a small account that I service twice a year,
Customer was due for a cleaning in March, I called her to make a date and she said call back first week in April. So rather then calling I paid her a visit today and the bad news is her carpet looks great. She wants to hold off until May because her carpet looks so good. I had to agree with her, it looked as good as the day I cleaned it back in Nov.

So now Me the Miss and my three kids are comming down to live with you, or I need to go out and get more work with the Cimex.

If we come down I promise not to spill any wine on your carpet.

Thanks Rick,

LOL

Joe M

Joe, remind your customer that if she waits until the carpet looks dirty, then she has waited too long.

Carpet could be getting damaged from those unseen nasties, such as abrasive sand and grit, etc;

The same amount of soiling is still getting onto the carpet, although using the Cimex with Releasit, is disguising the soiling, and helping the carpet stay looking cleaner, longer.

In which case, she is being lulled into a false sense of security, thinking the carpet is still clean.

Sounds good to me anyhow.

Apart from that, if she wishes to extend the cleaning time frame, you may have to adjust your price accordingly.

Cheers,

Shorty.

Hiya Joe,

As Shorty mentioned, carpets are great at hiding soil! In fact the statistic taught in my IICRC class was that a carpet can hide its face weight in soil. Using this example, a low nap 18 ounce per sq yard commercial loop carpet is capable of hiding 18 ounces of dirt per square yard. In other words, by the time it looks soiled, it's actually very soiled. And if it looks very soiled it's actually loaded with soil.

But what I'd do is this... Bring the fact that the carpets are staying cleaner to your customers attention. Ask her if business is slower this year than it's been in previous years. When she says no, ask her why she thinks the carpet is staying clean so much longer than normal. She won't know the answer so help her out.

Let her know that you keep your ear to the ground. Make a point of letting her know that you stay informed with what's happening in the industry. Make it clear that you're keeping abreast of advancements in the industry so that you can provide her with the best possible service.

Then explain that the process you're now using leaves no soil attracting residue in the carpet. As a matter of fact, Releasit's CRYSTALON3 polymer repels many types of soil. Explain that the product you used to clean her carpet also contains a built in protector called SOILEZE, so soil resistance is enhanced. And let her know that the more you clean with this system, the soil resistance performance increases and the carpet continues to get easier to maintain. As the name Releasit implies, soil releasing is what it does best!

Now that you've made your point clear to her why her carpets are looking better than ever, it's time to take it to the bank. Tell her that you haven't charged her any extra money for a superior cleaning service. And let her know that you're happy that the carpet is staying clean 50% longer. Now let her know that you are having a problem. Let her know that all your commercial customers carpets are now staying clean 50% longer straight across the board using this new system, so you're actually making less money than before. Now ask her if she can do a favor to help you. Let her know that you need more work to offset working 50% less on account of the better cleaning system you've discovered. Otherwise you'll need to adjust the prices or something, because your actually losing money with the improved service.

Now ask her if she can help you by referring you to some of her friends. And then promise to give those friends the same excellent service that she received. Turn her satisfaction with your service into a profit generator to help you grow your business. This is a great opportunity to help your customer help you. But if you don't hit her over the head and ask, she's not likely going to think of this on her own.

Another way this can greatly increase your profit is to get your larger accounts onto a maintenance plan. Paul Thompson told me about how this has worked for him. Paul told me that has about 1 million sq ft of carpet under contract. He charges a monthly price for "clean carpet". It's up to him to determine how or what gets cleaned. And his customer pays the same flat price every month for having clean carpet throughout all the buildings. Paul had been maintaining large portions of his buildings using bonnet cleaning, but he now cleans with encapsulation. His company is now cleaning 50% less in those buildings using the encap method. Yet he has effectively given himself a 50% increase in profit using encapsulation because he still gets paid the same amount of money either way. For him, the 50% increase between cleanings has turned into a win-win profit booster.

Keep up the good work Joe! I wish you the best as you turn your success with Releasit into even greater success. Work smarter, not harder. And we'll keep the spare bedroom open for ya just in case.





Rick Gelinas
encapman

What we do to avoid situations like you described is when a client agrees and signs up for a maintenance contract,no matter if it is residential or commercial,they get to pay a small monthly payment,(after a 20% down payment) as long as they do not cancel or reschedule(outside of the specific month).If so,its back to paying first time cleaning price.No one has a problem with this arrangment what-so-ever.

Btw,what Rick G. posted prior...excellent info!
Patrick

I'd tell her that your goal is to NEVER allow her carpets to look bad again and that you'll give her a discounted price if she cleans every 3-4-6 months- whatever works for you.

That way you still make more money and the carpets are easier to clean too!

Think of it as taking a little less each time to make more in the long run.

Good luck,

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care