I end up having to use textile rinse on two out of three homes for first time clients.  This is mainly due to peeps using laundry detergent or chem dry to clean their carpets or some other store bought substance. 

Does anyone else run across this situation as frequently and what technique works for you?  I run a Ninja 500.       

Welcome to our forum Canei.

Make sure you use lots of defoamer, you wouldn't want to ruin your vacuum motors.

Please correct me!  I was thinking that after every cleaning job  you are suppose to use a rinse , that way you can bring the ph back down?   am i mistaken?     

fastone

From a chemistry point of view, there is no question that the use of Textile Rinse will remove more residue than water alone. This has been proven many times over.

i will agree with others that some like it and some don't. Fresh water will help lower the pH after cleaning but not as effectively as a rinse agent.

Best results with a rinse agent will be acheived by prespraying first and then running a rinse agent through your equipment. Alternatively, you may spray it on and then run fresh water to rinse it off.

Jim,

You neglected to tell fastone that if he used ECOgent as a pre-spray that a textile rinse would not be necessary. And remember wool carpets love ECOgent.

Hi All,

We're using a rinse agent to knock ph back down from "our" high ph pre-sprays (say that fast ten times)....correct....if you're using a lower or neutral ph...not needed so much, staright water might be just fine.

Then again I do use textile rinse from Chemspec...would you dare use something else!....you're welcome in advance Jim.

kind regards,

royaltouch

Yeah thanks, I took IICRC 101.

Canei...try reading this...may shed some light.

A good article on ph...testing, cleaning.>>>>

http://cleanfax.com/article.asp?indexid=6634781 - http://cleanfax.com/article.asp?indexid=6634781

royaltouch

The odd time I do decide to boost a bit with Extreme Clean by Pro's Choice...depending on the conditions. Then again every situation is different.

At the end of the day a few things matter to me...the effectiveness of my cleaning and of my time...and obviously...customer satisfaction.

Doug it seems you've been around this industry for a while...what have carpet cleaners done to create such a bad name for themselves. What I mean by bad name is I do run across clients that seem to think we're all the same...and it's just a matter of price point. "The cheaper the better, because there is no difference".

Care to shed some light? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

On another topic....Funny thing...every time Ted and I have a discussion in his shop...I always come back to this one thing:

With such a great area (KK's posts) to read and learn and ask questions...why is it that Marketing isn't one of the top topics. It has always baffled me. Such a great wealth of information yet it seems to get lost in the "my slide-in is stronger than your PTO...Do other cleaner's really think that sharing their great marketing ideas could possibly bankrupt them. I find that it's something we rarely address. And like I always say "I can't clean it if I can't sell it".

Yellow pages mistakes 101, Do flyers really work?, Where do I spend my hard earned dollars in marketing...and get results?

kind regards to all

royaltouch

royal... you brought up a great topic... I'm not a grand master like douggie, but I've been around. 

CC'ing is one of the easiest business to get into... get a used machine, fill it with some Bisell soap or zep... print up some cards, pin up a few flyer's and BAM BAM BAM!!! you're a carpet cleaner.  I've met a guy using a bissell... I've met a guy running 100 ft of hose to his ninja, which he plugs in the customers garage outlet and calls it a truck mount...

CC'ing takes no skill, you don't need a license, you don't have to go to school.  without proper training things get damaged, and bad reviews sweep the land.  Now all carpet cleaners are the devil...lol

On your second question about marketing...

we all know what to do, there is no secret to the madness.  You have to advertise.  You advertise until it hurts.  You advertise on everything everywhere. 

when do you stop??? you never stop, brand recognition is what you strive for... you have to take your nothing and make it into something BIG..

Most carpet cleaners don't have the coin behind them... it's just that plain and simple. Money gives you staying power and staying power produces the money...

royal I'm also trying to build my business, I've worked for many evils.  I've learned that results don't come over night.. Whatever media you choose you have to stick with it. One flyer run isn't going to do it, Just yellow pages isn't going to do it,a web site isn't going to do it, radio ads aren't going to do it, TV commercial no way

but imagine if you had the coin to do them all or just a few of them it would pay off big.

Just remember you have to pick your battles to win the war. Basically pick battles you can win

Mr. Steamer "The Carpet & Upholstery" Cleaner

Make as much money as you can cleaning carpets in the summer ...........save all your money...........buy a nice car and deliver pizza

                                 Nightrider

everything Joe Polishes says sounds good on paper when you read the written word, Joes answer to everything is just the flip side of a particular problem, he adds icing, sweet words, and put a cherry on top of it all, then sells it for a price. He does well at it and makes alot of money, the only problem is that he plans and amateur marketing schemes don't work and when put into practise you look like a fool and insult other peoples intellegence. All marketing is directed at the ill informed and uninformed consumer and even businessman, people from all walks in life are fooled at least 5 times each and every day............I might well be fooling you right now.........how do you know.........you don't.

                           Nightrider

Adwa.........................Marketing cannot be learned in a classroom, or by just reading some marketing tricks that have worked in the past.............the best marketing plans come from within a persons conscience, creativity, persistance, and hard core selling attitude, and the finesse in packaging a sentiment into the equation, such as fear, love, cleanleness, sorrow, happiness, etc etc etc........If it's not in you, and you are not into it, then it's not for you...........If you can't call a restaurant and tell them you're from the health inspectors office and there was a complaint regarding the windows, tile floor and carpets being very dirty...........then go there after an hour of the call and offer your services for carpet cleaning at a discount price over another company, then you're missing the whole point of marketing..............In other words .........It's all bullsh*t..........you just have to make it look and smell nice.

                                Nightrider

Huh we are talking carpet cleaning... not selling blow-up dolls

How does one market carpet cleaning?.... apply your post to that nightrider

doug you have to get in the door first before you can start upstealing up selling

Hi All,

Found this online... seemed an interesting read. More of a game plan. May help in planning your marketing.

Now, plan the entire year

The following is a simple guideline of what a successful carpet and furniture cleaning company can follow, utilizing the above information.

If the seasonality does not match up for your area you should adjust the timing.

January

This is the dead of winter and most people are not thinking of carpet cleaning because they don’t want to leave their door open and there is a lot of winter soil still to be tracked into the house. Think about a special on upholstery cleaning or air duct cleaning.

January is also a great time to “fill your pipeline”. Line up work for spring. Try making those personal sales calls in commercial areas.

If they are not ready for cleaning right now, get permission to call in March.

A newsletter this time of year might contain an offer to pre-book their spring cleaning.

Mention that spring gets very busy for you, so pre-booking is a good idea.

If they would like to beat the spring rush they can save 20 percent (you have to choose the actual discount) by cleaning in January or February.

February

The same activities as January should work well.

Consider a post card to previous customers restating your January offers.

March

This is the month that you have to get them thinking about spring cleaning.

Be sure to contact all of your referral sources — your Realtors, carpet retailers, etc.

Their customers will be asking them to refer someone good to clean for them.

A special early spring offer to your referral sources could get you some early business and assure that they will remember you when their customers ask.

You should send out a direct mail piece to your target market areas and your previous customers.

This can be a newsletter or a personalized letter with an accompanying brochure. Be sure that you list all of the services that you offer.

April

You should be very busy now, but don’t let that stop your marketing effort.

The most important thing when you are busy is to make sure that your technicians are well-trained and have an incentive to do add-on sales.

Be sure that they are doing their “5-arounds” so that they can maximize your marketing effort.

They have to bring in every possible dollar from every job.

April is a great month to send a post card to previous customers with a special and a referral offer. “Dear Customer, did you know that you can earn free cleaning when you refer us to your friends and neighbors?”

May

This should be about the height of spring cleaning. Focus on your referral sources.

A post card reminding your previous customers to clean now before they get too busy this summer would be in order. “Let us help you clean up the interior of your home this spring before you get busy with gardening, golf, boating and all those other summer activities”.

A Mother’s Day special is very much in order.

June

How about a Father’s Day special? “Give your husband the gift of clean carpet for Father’s Day. He won’t notice, but it will make you feel better.”

This should be a newsletter or target letter month. Summer is a great time to clean, and you can tout “quick drying, long days and great cleaning specials”.

July

Offer a two-service special. For instance, “Have your carpet cleaned and get 20 percent off any upholstery or tile floor cleaning.”

Many families are on vacation in July, but a well-thought-out special offering will keep you busy.

August

Either they are on vacation or winding down from vacation.

Send a post card: “You are busy with your end-of-summer activities. Make time for cleaning and we will make it worth your while.”

September

Fall is big for cleaning. This should be a newsletter month.

Offer back-to-school specials and maybe a “beat the holiday rush” offer.

Hit your referral sources very hard this month.

They will have a lot of requests for cleaning between now and Christmas.

October

Post cards like the following do well in October: “Colors change in the fall. Let us change your carpet to the color it used to be.” Give them an incentive they can’t refuse.

November

You are no doubt in a busy season, but don’t lose touch. Send out another post card like this: “We are thankful for our customers. We would like to show our gratitude by offering…”

December

This is the final push of the year before things get slow.

Get a post card out early or take the month off from mailing.

Once the Christmas tree goes up people don’t usually think much about cleaning.

This is a great time to visit your referral sources with gifts to build the relationships for next year.

Tha above post is a typical and prime example what one has to go through to drum up business and catch the potential residential customers eye.............I get tired and can almost feel $100.00 bills just flying out of my pockets as I read the above. I am sure some are actually using this sort of method but will soon realize.........IT DOES NOT WORK, Sears, The Bay, Eatons and few others have tried it and Sears still does on a smaller scale, but when all the money has been counted at the end of the season, they know it doesn't really work......but they keep trying it anyway. I can tell you a simple one time approach system that I know works and unlike flyers where the response is somewhere between 1 % to 1.5 %  I have reached 30% to 42 % response ratios. I do not cater to residential so if you want to know what works e-mail me at SPECTRUM_CANADA2000.COM and I will tell you ABSOLUTELY FREE

                            NIGHTRIDER

Post it right here nightrider...

I wanna know what works... your e-mail addy doesn't work

Minor error on my part, mailto:spectrum_canada2000@yahoo.com - spectrum_canada2000@yahoo.com

If you want, come and get it.

Please note it's Spectrum_Canada2000 ( the above makes it look like the under score is missing.

                      Nightrider

Ken, Thants funny Steamer and Doug got through, I hope all works out for Steamer, and I will fill Doug in on the same idea, except I will have to give an additional one to Doug seeing his target is somewhat complex as to the larger cities...............another thing, I will not give out the information to another person working in Steamers area, neither Dougs. If Steamer is working the GTA and he was first to contact me then my idea  now belongs to him exclusively, he can develope it further if he likes, or sell it ,or leave it on a shelf to collect dust.

                              Nightrider

MR. STEAMER wrote: pretty good info nightrider

Nightrider I have to wonder why Steamer has put on an embarrassed face. Did you in fact give him some good advise or was it one of your quick witted remarks.

All advice is good only if it works

                        Nightrider