I spoke to a facility mgr of a HUGE church, (actually a mega-church with over 14,000 members)about maintaining their carpet. He very nicely told me that they have been cleaning their own carpets for over 16 years...They have a few walk-behind extractors that they use. He DID however tell me to send him some info. I did explain about no reoccuring stains, encapsulation, etc. and he seemed a little interested, but "still stuck in his ways" so-to-speak.

Basically my question is - How do I approach this situation and convince him that it might be cheaper having an outside vendor come in and do it rather than in-house, and that encap will be an improvement. I offered a free area cleaning to demonstrate the benefits, etc. of my service also.

Thanks for the help!

Joe

PS I started daydreamimg of putting them on the perpetual clean program and having 5-6 cimexes cleaning monthly LOL!!!

It's not a pipe dream. I have done just that (put the largest church in my city on a monthly program) for almost 20 years. What I have learned over the years is that when dealing with churches of size, it's a business. The business minister is a businessman first, and maybe a minister second. So, you have to be able to show them how you can save them money, AND provide a better final result than they can provide themselves.

It's easy to prove to them you can provide better results. All you have to do is ask them to let you demo your skills in an area of their choice for one month. Don't describe your method, or give them too much imformation about HOW you are doing what you are doing. This info. could come back to haunt you later. Just DO it, and let the results speak for themselves.

As for showing them how you can save them money, that takes a little business skill that you may, or may not posscess. It's a matter of backing into the salary, matching benefits, retirement, healthcare, etc of the man doing the cleaning and the costs of chemicals and machine maintenance. Most times you don't really have to detail all this financial info. for the business manager. Just mentioning it in passing is enough to have him agree with you about saving them money because he's already aware of the costs involved with doing it themselves.

I also love large Churches and have several under contract. Marty is giving some good advice. I never mention my system, I just start with a free area cleaning at no cost. I prefer a large wide hall and then I'll take a 12' length of the hall and place masking tape across the width of the hall in two places (I do not do the whole hall) It is useally Olefin or Nylon, After a good cleaning with OP, CRB or Cimex I will apply Protector and speed dry it with air movers. I will set up an appointment at that time for 1 week later to re-view the area I have cleaned and discuss a maintenance program or a 1 time cleaning every 3 or 4 months. We will cover cost and the advantages of having a outside contractor. (always agree to bill them every month for any services you provide) (works well with their budget) I assure you you can do a better job for less overall cost then they are now spending now. Last one I got was at .105 cents a sq. ft.. You can't do a small church at those numbers. Has anyone but me noticed that Martys posts are getting longer?

It's all the exposure I've had of late with Island Boy's never ending posts, Rambo. Sorry.

I noticed that we agree on another thing. On the necessity of monthy payments. I owe that to Steve, as well.

My church account has areas that are cleaned monthly, quarterly and semi-annually, but I have a flat monthly charge that covers all of it.

I love regular monthly payments. Both residential and commercial.

What do you say the advantages of an outside cleaner are?
I'm glad there are smarter people than me. I'm good at cleaning carpets but lousy at sales.