For the past couple of weeks I've been asking my customers what they think about other methods of cleaning...

most believe steam is the best..yes it's a pain with the drying times, but the carpet always feels good after....

one customer said the feel after chem dry was horrible and the carpet has never felt the same after the cleaning...

I joked with another customer about just cleaning her carpet with a pad... first thing she said was "NO TRUCK?? NO STEAM??? NO WAY!!" she told me she believes in the rinse and the power of water to wash the dirt away...

I even tried to sell one of my commercial clients on just padding and no truck mounted service... They said "YES" but they still wanted it done by the truck once a year...  They also asked if the rates would go down since I was only going to pad it

The feel I get from the customer is just keep doping what I'm doing..

My "niche market" (another term thrown loosely around this forum) are customers that want Steam Steam and only Steam

The people that Pay my bills have spoken... and Steam they will get until they change their minds!!!

Good grief Steamer, you are SOLD and BIASED and you expected less from YOUR customers?

I don't know of ONE customer in the last 31 years that likes STEAM, what does that tell you?

First thing is your customers haven't SEEN or had their carpet PADDED, it they have you would have a tough sell. That little poll means NOTHING.

PadMan wrote: Good grief Steamer, you are SOLD and BIASED and you expected less from YOUR customers?   I don't know of ONE customer in the last 31 years that likes STEAM, what does that tell you?   First thing is your customers haven't SEEN or had their carpet PADDED, it they have you would have a tough sell. That little poll means NOTHING.

I'm just speaking on what the people want... I'm a phenom with steam...a pad will never enter any house that I clean...

the old saying.... if it ain't broke then don't fix it

Mr. Steamer "phenom steam cleaner"

I think this is justified when pad man says he doesn't know one customer...

NOT ONE customer

NOT EVEN ONE CUSTOMER..that likes steam

again i say

How ridiculous, my customers call me BECAUSE they don't want steam or have had a bad experience with steam, yours call you because they LIKE what you do. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that BOTH statements are TRUE and should be EXPECTED.

Now "I" didn't say ANYTHING about it being the best in the world, I was just saying your POLL is so biased that it has NO VALUE.

Just as MY poll has NO VALUE, because it is what is EXPECTED.

Go eat pickled herring you Odin Lover Nordic 1   LOL

Steamer you need to open your mind a little. I spent a day working with a tech of a Padding only Company and guess what

ALL their customers liked the service, were repeat customers and did not want hot water extraction in their homes. 

Why would you expect a homeowner that is stuck on HWE to phone John's Company ?

Here we go again....

I did say my niche customers want steam... I did speak to them about other methods just to get a feel... no one is interested...

I didn't say nothing bad about OP... it's just not wanted in my niche market...

Harry no one needs to open their minds but you... read the posts a little more before you fly off and post your comment... no one is closed minded to any method that gets the job done.....

So why should I push for change when most of the customers I've dealt with like the method that I use...

Everytime you mention something about padding  Padman has to tell you about his 31 years in the business...

Well ssoooooorrrrrriiiiiiieeeeee Mr. Padman xxxxxccccussseeee me...

I don't have 31 years under my belt so I guess I don't have a clue ..and I should just shut up my mouth

I can hear what Team OP tells the customers about HWE.....

like.....

It over wets

You get mould

It really isn't clean

it takes long to dry..

They have to condem HWE to get business.... I don't have to condem OP.. I don't even have to think about OP... cuz no customer in my area is either

OP what who???

People get used to a certain way of cleaning.

Pad Daddy might not believe me ,but I get asked quite regularly if I'm one of those guys that just brings the hoses in.

had a few make sure I wasn't going to only use a Rotary.

Maybe for your commercial accounts and apartments where you have the keys you could sneak in the OP??

hey Steamer??

J/K

My customers also like their carpet Pile to be steamin

once again doug we have crossed that OP line in the carpet.......

we have gone where no OP'er has gone before......

We have taken it to the people... the people that pay our bills...

My people have spoken... and the words have come out hot and steamy

do they want OP???

NO!

Seems your customers know what YOU want to hear steamer.

Don't bother trying to goad me into an arguement, your poll is WORTHLESS, common sense would tell you that, however common sense is not any to common anymore.   :~)

Besides YOUR customer have no CLUE what OP is, My customers ALL know what HWE is... humm, so HOW accurate is YOUR poll?

FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, THEY HAVE A CHOICE

and most choose steam cleaning.

LilNiteRidrhood wrote: FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, THEY HAVE A CHOICE and most choose steam cleaning.

I wish everyone would answer.... as carpet cleaners what method would you rather in your own home???

I would not have HWE in my home, and I have BOTH!

My carpet is 12 years old and we BEAT the crap out of it, it still looks close to new.. the proof is still in the pudding.

Lee, you were HWE before OP, how much MORE do you charge for OP? If you WANT customers to use it you should charge 25-30% more for it.

If you don't understand that one Steamer I will explain it too you!

I understand it... your tricking the customer in thinking that it's better..

more money always means better....

good I will raise my HWE prices 40-50% higher than your OP prices...lol

i think you should offer your clients a choice hwe, bonnet, op, what ever. if the only tool you have in your toolbox is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. 

Well Harry I guess the pad guys did a good job of of pushing their system.  Now tell me they were completely truthful about hwe.  It is not the system it is the operator. Do you think???

Well, actually Yes.  It's often a case of a poor job done by a HWE guy that causes the customer to switch.  I don't expect my "trained to have HWE cleaning to switch or to go back to Portys but I will now have a answer for new customer who are concerned about dry times or wicking.

It's really not very complicated.

good I will raise my HWE prices 40-50% higher than your OP prices...lol

You won't get that price for HWE, sorry, but that is simply a fact.

Instead of looking for what is WRONG with something, consider the advantages.

You can charge whatever you want for any method if you're good at it IMHO.

I personally know some high priced HWE cleaners.

I have troubes seeing someone pay more for a guy with a floor machine than the guy with the $50,000 worth of equipment in the driveway......but whatever

I think there is so many bad experiences with hwe just because there are so many MORE hwe cleaners.

I'm sure there are some hacker rag spinners too.

I would really like to try out an OP honestly.

just the only feedback I've gotten is that they're too darn expensive for a machine that isn't much better than a standard rotary (bonnet machine).

now relax padders............that is from another cleaner not me personally

You can charge whatever you want for any method if you're good at it IMHO.

This is VERY true!

I personally know some high priced HWE cleaners.

So do I but they are NOT the norm.

I have troubes seeing someone pay more for a guy with a floor machine than the guy with the $50,000 worth of equipment in the driveway......but whatever

You don't impress them with expensive equipment,, you impress them with CLEAN carpet and DRY carpet.

I think there is so many bad experiences with hwe just because there are so many MORE hwe cleaners.

Not only that, but many have an arrogance thinking it is the only and the best way to clean carpet, hence someone comes along and kicks their butts and then they have two choices, raise the bar or deny that it happened.

I'm sure there are some hacker rag spinners too.

I have to agree with that one

I would really like to try out an OP honestly.

just the only feedback I've gotten is that they're too darn expensive for a machine that isn't much better than a standard rotary (bonnet machine).

Think about that, it doesn't CLEAN like a cheap rotary, it cleans like a TM, so I don't understand the EXPENSIVE comment, my question would be WHY would you spend so much for a machine that can't do any better work than a cheapOP?

now relax padders............that is from another cleaner not me personally

I am relaxed...LOL

Anythting is possible in Kentucky.... I had a relative that made Millions in the novelty juice business...

he bottled water color and sugar....in a teddy bear container...

anything will fly in America..... Now in Canada people are much more anal.. it ain't gonna happen...

Paddaddy you could be giving away free cleaning and you would still have people that would refuse....

It's a different Market up here...

Canadians want it clean... and there is no way there going to pay more for something that you plug into their hydro... and use there water...

What about the corners...like that little grease drop behind the doors...how the hell are you going to get into that corner??... or the flitration marks...you'll nevere get that unit close enough without marking the base boards???? how the hell do you push an OP under the bed???.....I guess you have to stop to pick wax or gum out of the carpet?? what happens to thos areas that you don't have 15 inches of space, they don't get done????say if you grab a snag like on a berber carpet???

to many problems for me...

Until you've tried it out yourself, all of your hot air theories about  Canadian customers, STeamer it's just a lot of pontificating. I've done here in cheap Winnipeg and you are just flat out wrong. First customer that we used on wanted to buy the damn machine.

I've got 6 tm's, a Cimex, a Demon, immersion pool, steamers coming outta my ass and you know what..... there's a use and a customer for all of them.

Harry I am surprised, the attitude of the people were you come from will not have a cleaner in their home unless they have a TM. To me out west would be a harder sale then the east.Truck Mount sales are 80% higher there then here.

We have to take into account the ethnic and population here is changing ever thing and I am not sure it is for the good. Faster and cheaper is what most people want. What do you think?

I have had cleaning business's in California, Texas, Wisconsin, and Kentucky... seems to be the same everywhere here and if you knew how many padders were in Canada you would know that I KNOW better than to believe the line about TM only... LOL

But that is ok, I LIKE arguing with you anyways..

Thanks Harry, you have been around and you keep your eyes OPEN..

This is true and we worked hard for many years to get folks who were used to Portys to learn about about tm's and now many are hooked on them. BUT there are many folks who had a bad experience with overwet carpets or rippled carpets or were concerned with slip fall issues.  Property managers love the Cimex and now insist we use it on all their buildings which we used to tm. They claim that since we switched two yrs ago that the carpets have never looked better, hard choice only one tech vs two. As for OP we are promoting to seniors in highrise condos which involve a lot of hose and/or are concerned with slip/fall issues. Also to homeowners with 12 yrs or older carpet - more likely to ripple or wick.

Danmarck, if your selling tickets to this event I will be the first to buy.

Actually I am disappointed that John has not as yet come up to Toronto.

Harry wrote: Until you've tried it out yourself, all of your hot air theories about  Canadian customers, STeamer it's just a lot of pontificating. I've done here in cheap Winnipeg and you are just flat out wrong. First customer that we used on wanted to buy the damn machine.   I've got 6 tm's, a Cimex, a Demon, immersion pool, steamers coming outta my ass and you know what..... there's a use and a customer for all of them.

don't come before it's time... no matter how right you are

LOL !! Try not to get all steamed up cause then your glasses will fog up and you may go BLIND !!

For a guy that's never offered OP cleaning, Steamer how would you be qualified to speak of your market's view on the subject.  You know it is permitted to say "I'm not sure" or "my guess would be" or would that be asking too much ?

Perhaps you should consider a career where pont IF icating is valued like politics or philosophy:-)

I know dozens of TM owners in all kinds of markets that have PERSONALLY seen Padman clean trashed carpet with his OP machine and been SHOCKED and AMAZED at the results that they NEVER expected due to their own stubborn BLINDNESS.

In answer to your question Padman, we charge 76% more for OP over HWE.

Still like the OP most after the HWE has been done.

True Lee, but then again you are still using a old model, that has 40% less oscillation, that it what has really made the huge inroads into cleaning with this method. IT changed everything, cleaning quality, cleaning speed etc.

Adwa, I will get up there in the Spring!

It's winter season soon... just 4 more weeks until deadsville

then I'll have all the time I want

Not here, so far this week I've just booked another $3,500 worth of Leather work for January and last week it was $3,600 for Jan/Feb. It will be nice to turn up the radio and the furnace and fire up the air-brush for 30-40 Leather sets.

Next class in GTA will be somewhat up to Ted and when we have a good 10 or so interested folks. You want me to pencil you in Steamer ?  Taking this class would surely put you on a higher plane than Master Doug and close to the level of the renowned Mr Senter...

Harry:  Have you not realized that everybody is on a higher playing field than doug. I am not a master. I am  just a small town boy trying to survive. 

He's an Up Town Boy.... Harry pencil me in....

douggie... I have a lot under my belt not just carpet cleaning... I think leather would be a good thing to add.....

you just never know... it might keep me out of the poor house

you right doug thats why I stick to CC.... I can duct clean... I can strip and wax... I can epoxy... I refinish Marble... I can refinish hardwood...

but if you try and do everything you become a chicken with his head chopped off...

never spread yourself too thin... but always have another Ace up your sleeve

why do you think I kept my porty..... just in case they ever re-poed my truck...lol