Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Robin Ray on June 22, 2018, 10:52:51 pm
-
So what is your opinion, is training on a personal level really necessary in the carpet cleaning industry?
I personally subscribe to the idea that you can never stop learning and nobody was born an expert. Every course I have attended has been really beneficial even if I don't offer that particular service anymore. What are your opinions?
-
Depends if you want to earn good money, if you want to earn £20 a room then knowing the basics might do.
if you want to quote £120 for a living room it helps if you can back up your price with the impression that you are worth the price you are asking, the best way to do this is by talking with authority (which requires knowledge which come from training and studying our business)
I know a lot of carpet cleaners and It’s no coincidence that the people who know their stuff are charging higher than the average in our industry
-
Depends if you want to earn good money, if you want to earn £20 a room then knowing the basics might do.
if you want to quote £120 for a living room it helps if you can back up your price with the impression that you are worth the price you are asking, the best way to do this is by talking with authority (which requires knowledge which come from training and studying our business)
I know a lot of carpet cleaners and It’s no coincidence that the people who know their stuff are charging higher than the average in our industry
I would agree with that wholeheartedly but it applies to all trades not just CC’ers. Knowledge is power
-
And it goes further than industrial knowledge, we should all try and grow personally as well.
I have just quoted a big job ( and booked it in) the reason I got it was I could communicate at the same level as the customer (who although retired was obviously in his time a very successful business man)
I spent more time discussing the impact on local traffic from the new school at the bottom of his lane than what we were going to clean. This is what a lot of people don’t get, initially we are judged by people on 3 things....
What we say.
How we say it .
How we look.
Increasing our knowledge of the industry and the world ( and more importantly the little bit of the world where we live ) is a big part of how much success we achieve in life
-
And it goes further than industrial knowledge, we should all try and grow personally as well.
I have just quoted a big job ( and booked it in) the reason I got it was I could communicate at the same level as the customer (who although retired was obviously in his time a very successful business man)
I spent more time discussing the impact on local traffic from the new school at the bottom of his lane than what we were going to clean. This is what a lot of people don’t get, initially we are judged by people on 3 things....
What we say.
How we say it .
How we look.
Increasing our knowledge of the industry and the world ( and more importantly the little bit of the world where we live ) is a big part of how much success we achieve in life
I would agree with that. Its also being able to adapt the approach to the particular type of person. After all Mrs Little old lady needs a particular approach, and Mr Chief Executive needs another. Using the same approach on both would be inappropriate and talking to anyone the same as the Geazzer down the local will only appeal that particular customer base, repelling others.
-
So far we have 3 comments and 9 votes. What are the others thought on the matter?
I would be particularly interested to know the Rug Doctor and Laundry detergent users reasons ;D
-
just been laughed at for quoting £85 for a three seater laura ashley...
makes no difference that i'm spent over a grand on training in the last year...
-
Ignore the laughter unless it was because the price was too cheap.... because the price was far too cheap...
Laura Ashley furnishings can be a bugger to clean and the rugs are notorious for shrinkage if you are not careful..
My quote for a 3 seater Laura Ashley would be at least £150 (mainly because I used to hate doing suites and charged accordingly,but more often than not I got the job, so it was worth it for the money).
Price high, be confident.... it does work (especially if you have done the training and know what you are on about)
-
So far we have 3 comments and 9 votes. What are the others thought on the matter?
I would be particularly interested to know the Rug Doctor and Laundry detergent users reasons ;D
I was not the one who put rug doctor, however I could do a very good job with the said tools, but unfortunately not every time, as some stains and browning would never come out with just those tools... ;D ;D
-
People laugh at prices because in their mind the work required is not worth price stated,
You need to sell the price you quote so the customer sees what they are getting for their money, I quoted a job on Saturday morning which was £860, the guy nearly passed out! He told me there was no way he was paying that, it wasn’t until I was leaving that I mentioned it was a 3 man job at that point his attitude changed, he thought it was just me ( it was my fault I hadn’t given him enough information to justify the price) so the price was the same but now he thought he was getting his monies worth.
To get back on topic about training, if you want to use your training in your sales presentation then tell the customer a white lie. when you inspect the suite or carpet tell them what a coincidence it is that their carpet or suite is the exact same one that was used on your last specialist stain removal course, then tell them a little bit about your ongoing training schedule to learn about the many new fabrics that are being used by modern furniture manufacturers ...bla...bla....bla...bla
-
Selling whether it be condoms or sand to the Arabs is all about finding an affinity / common ground with the customer. I often attend a job and may spend 20 minutes chatting about everything but the proposed job they called me out for. Don’t get me wrong it doesn’t work with everyone but it does with most. So this brings me to the point that not only Is it important you are knowledgeable and understand your particular trade / skill, it also helps if you have a good grasp on current affairs and a wide range of other subjects as well. This skill is what puts your customer at ease and helps oil the sale.
-
good grief.... I agree with the drop short...
When I was a timeshare salesman, the first 90 mins was the warm up, where we just walked around the village and talked about anything and everything except the product.... the next 3 hours was plenty of time to talk about the product and close the deal..
;D ;D
-
just been laughed at for quoting £85 for a three seater laura ashley...
makes no difference that i'm spent over a grand on training in the last year...
Mark, no worries I have also been laughed at many times for quoting certain prices on certain jobs. The fact of the matter is they just couldn't afford my prices. A business costs £X to run which dictates the minimum which can be charged, if less than £X is charged the business will fail. An old bloke I know put it this way " There is no point in buying work".
I don't want to be presumptuous as I know nothing about your business. So please don't take this as a criticism, you may know all this information. There is another thing which effects hugely how much you can charge, its marketing. Specifically the message to market match. A marketing message needs to match the audience you want to attract. For example if you put 1000 leaflets in the doors of 1000 council homes with 50% off all cleaning on them you are not going to be able to charge top dollar to the people who call. (No offence to council house dwellers, I live in an ex council house myself) If you put 1000 leaflets in to 1000 country homes with the message "Exclusive carpet cleaning for discerning home owners" you will be able to charge more money because not only do the audience have the money but they also want the best service possible. Training gives you the ability to back up your claims. Conversely if you put the 50% off flyers in the country homes and the "Exclusive" flyers in the council homes that wont work either.... the message must match what the audience is looking for.
-
So far we have 3 comments and 9 votes. What are the others thought on the matter?
I would be particularly interested to know the Rug Doctor and Laundry detergent users reasons ;D
I was not the one who put rug doctor, however I could do a very good job with the said tools, but unfortunately not every time, as some stains and browning would never come out with just those tools... ;D ;D
Maybe I should have put tooth brush and terry towel. Its possible to clean a carpet with those too... not very efficient tho. ;D
-
Some really sensible posts in this thread...
May I respectfully suggest those starting out read them again... and again
Of course there are those in the 'Trade' who will accuse this approach as 'ripping off the customer'
Talking to the customer....otherwise known as 'Kitchen Sink Marketing'... worth its weight in gold
Cheers
-
Training is of vital importance! It gives you knowledge, confidence and peace of mind when dealing with sensitive items. I did the advanced fabric cleaning course (this may not be the actual name of the course) at Alltec last year. Prior to that i had always shied away from using moisture in viscose, cotton velvet etc. Beginning of this year i did a job priced at £860, 3 duresta sofas cleaning & protection. Customer didn’t question my pricing at all simply asked when I was available. Re speaking to customers I remember reading a post from Ken Wainwright years ago where he calls the approach “ kitchen marketing”. Engaging with customer on casual topics is so important. I often just look around the house while setting up and try to find what intersts them and simply start a conversation arond that. It can be anything really, say their well maintained garden or the retro car on the drive or just ask them which location from the many fridge magnets they liked the best etc. People like this...
-
You need to learn to talk to customers while quoting jobs, especially if you are high priced. People need to time to come to terms with a high price, tell them £350 and they will go into shock, they need time to process the amount. if you give them the price then ask for the order they more than likely will say no or some other excuse ( need to talk to the wife/husband etc)
Tell them how much it will cost then judge their reaction if they just say “that’s fine when can you do it” great but if they hesitate talk about this something else let them Relax but asking for the order.
Maybe give them the price then ask if it ok to do a colour fastness test just to make sure the suite is ok to clean, this allows time for the price to sink in
-
Hi Mike,
I didnt think you did carpets anymore? Im sure I read a post last year that you just do patios etc.
-
the focus for carpet cleaning training has been for ever on just carpets and sofas plus rugs. this needs to change.
it needs to be much wider. how can you sell odour and hygiene if you dont know your stuff.
cleaning for hygiene has long been neglected.. If we stop thinking about ourselves as cleaners and more hygienist then things will improve for us all. Thats what BICSc will teach you.
Prochem has the best course because they focus on products and work back from there. every product is a problem solver and a service we can sell.
people wait until their carpets look dirty before cleaning but dont apply this to everything else. Hygiene has done more and still does for humans life span that any drug.
With antibiotics nearing what they can do hygiene is going to become more important. stop the germs getting and spreading and you dont need the drugs. drug companies are sitting back waiting for someone to find the answer so they can just buy that answer and control the market, or for it to become a much bigger issue and then they can get the attention of governments and our taxes.
Ian Harper
-
Benny, yep kicked the carpet cleaning into touch and now concentrate of the exterior cleaning.... best thing I ever did :) :)
-
I think Mike has it spot on with his answer, i run an oven cleaning business and also started carpet cleaning as an add on, i dont advertise at all for CCing, when i'm in cleaning the oven i find it very easy to upsell a carpet clean or a hard floor clean. 2 weeks ago i cleaned 11 ovens and sold 11 carpet cleans, 2 leather suite cleans, one was a living room at £150 and the others were well above market average for my area, ive got no interest in offering 3 for £60 ...... i invested in training and equipment and i'm worth more than that and sell that to the customer.
-
Iv never been on a training course in my life ... i probably saved a fortune :)
on the subject of the first option , the rugdoctor ... this is what i arrived to this AM , the restaurant owner started with a rug doctor ...but then panicked when it was taking ages ... and a bit streaky .
In fairness though ... the rug doctor was lifting the dirt fairly ok ...
(http://i64.tinypic.com/214phu.jpg)
-
In your post John you said it had been a rug doctor ..... in fairness if they had some training in it they would probably have the confidence to finish and you wouldnt have got the Job
-
Training is of vital importance! It gives you knowledge, confidence and peace of mind when dealing with sensitive items. I did the advanced fabric cleaning course (this may not be the actual name of the course) at Alltec last year. Prior to that i had always shied away from using moisture in viscose, cotton velvet etc. Beginning of this year i did a job priced at £860, 3 duresta sofas cleaning & protection. Customer didn’t question my pricing at all simply asked when I was available. Re speaking to customers I remember reading a post from Ken Wainwright years ago where he calls the approach “ kitchen marketing”. Engaging with customer on casual topics is so important. I often just look around the house while setting up and try to find what intersts them and simply start a conversation arond that. It can be anything really, say their well maintained garden or the retro car on the drive or just ask them which location from the many fridge magnets they liked the best etc. People like this...
i sat on training coarse once and i had forgoten more then what the guy at the front of the class was trying to teach us yet he thought he was some kind of god !!!
if he really knew what he was talking about why would he still be working at 50 ? surly if he was as good as he said he was he would of retried when he made a load of cash not carry on working and training people in the mean time , when i asked him this at the end he couldnt give my the answer to the question ,
-
Training is of vital importance! It gives you knowledge, confidence and peace of mind when dealing with sensitive items. I did the advanced fabric cleaning course (this may not be the actual name of the course) at Alltec last year. Prior to that i had always shied away from using moisture in viscose, cotton velvet etc. Beginning of this year i did a job priced at £860, 3 duresta sofas cleaning & protection. Customer didn’t question my pricing at all simply asked when I was available. Re speaking to customers I remember reading a post from Ken Wainwright years ago where he calls the approach “ kitchen marketing”. Engaging with customer on casual topics is so important. I often just look around the house while setting up and try to find what intersts them and simply start a conversation arond that. It can be anything really, say their well maintained garden or the retro car on the drive or just ask them which location from the many fridge magnets they liked the best etc. People like this...
i sat on training coarse once and i had forgoten more then what the guy at the front of the class was trying to teach us yet he thought he was some kind of god !!!
if he really knew what he was talking about why would he still be working at 50 ? surly if he was as good as he said he was he would of retried when he made a load of cash not carry on working and training people in the mean time , when i asked him this at the end he couldnt give my the answer to the question ,
Where did you learn all that information you had forgotten?
-
Training is of vital importance! It gives you knowledge, confidence and peace of mind when dealing with sensitive items. I did the advanced fabric cleaning course (this may not be the actual name of the course) at Alltec last year. Prior to that i had always shied away from using moisture in viscose, cotton velvet etc. Beginning of this year i did a job priced at £860, 3 duresta sofas cleaning & protection. Customer didn’t question my pricing at all simply asked when I was available. Re speaking to customers I remember reading a post from Ken Wainwright years ago where he calls the approach “ kitchen marketing”. Engaging with customer on casual topics is so important. I often just look around the house while setting up and try to find what intersts them and simply start a conversation arond that. It can be anything really, say their well maintained garden or the retro car on the drive or just ask them which location from the many fridge magnets they liked the best etc. People like this...
i sat on training coarse once and i had forgoten more then what the guy at the front of the class was trying to teach us yet he thought he was some kind of god !!!
if he really knew what he was talking about why would he still be working at 50 ? surly if he was as good as he said he was he would of retried when he made a load of cash not carry on working and training people in the mean time , when i asked him this at the end he couldnt give my the answer to the question ,
Where did you learn all that information you had forgotten?
i learnt from my old man we have been in the cleaning trade for over 100 years now long before training was ever invented , we had 8 vans out at our biggest point and not one person had been trained as there was just one training cores that was run by a load of fat old men feathering there own nests thinking there were clever , it was called the ncca i am guessing its changed alot from back in them days
i use to love going to jobs then there local rep had been to and put them right , training is ok but not the answer by a long shot , sitting on the shoulder of someone that been doing it for over 20 years is the only way you learn not sitting behind a desk
i just proved this when cleaning my sons office carpet , he did half with a truck mount i did the other with a extract model c my very first carpet cleaner i got when i started out both sides look the same when fished !!! ones worth 50k the other 40 quid yet same results mind it did take me 14x longer but i had a ace up my sleve extracts lift off god i forgot how good that stuff is
mine it been a few years since i retired i forgot how hard cleaning carpets was guess i got lazy
-
Training is of vital importance! It gives you knowledge, confidence and peace of mind when dealing with sensitive items. I did the advanced fabric cleaning course (this may not be the actual name of the course) at Alltec last year. Prior to that i had always shied away from using moisture in viscose, cotton velvet etc. Beginning of this year i did a job priced at £860, 3 duresta sofas cleaning & protection. Customer didn’t question my pricing at all simply asked when I was available. Re speaking to customers I remember reading a post from Ken Wainwright years ago where he calls the approach “ kitchen marketing”. Engaging with customer on casual topics is so important. I often just look around the house while setting up and try to find what intersts them and simply start a conversation arond that. It can be anything really, say their well maintained garden or the retro car on the drive or just ask them which location from the many fridge magnets they liked the best etc. People like this...
i sat on training coarse once and i had forgoten more then what the guy at the front of the class was trying to teach us yet he thought he was some kind of god !!!
if he really knew what he was talking about why would he still be working at 50 ? surly if he was as good as he said he was he would of retried when he made a load of cash not carry on working and training people in the mean time , when i asked him this at the end he couldnt give my the answer to the question ,
Where did you learn all that information you had forgotten?
i learnt from my old man we have been in the cleaning trade for over 100 years now long before training was ever invented , we had 8 vans out at our biggest point and not one person had been trained as there was just one training cores that was run by a load of fat old men feathering there own nests thinking there were clever , it was called the ncca i am guessing its changed alot from back in them days
i use to love going to jobs then there local rep had been to and put them right , training is ok but not the answer by a long shot , sitting on the shoulder of someone that been doing it for over 20 years is the only way you learn not sitting behind a desk
i just proved this when cleaning my sons office carpet , he did half with a truck mount i did the other with a extract model c my very first carpet cleaner i got when i started out both sides look the same when fished !!! ones worth 50k the other 40 quid yet same results mind it did take me 14x longer but i had a ace up my sleve extracts lift off god i forgot how good that stuff is
mine it been a few years since i retired i forgot how hard cleaning carpets was guess i got lazy
All well and good provided that the guy who learned it 20 years ago mastered it back then, has not picked up any bad habits and technology has not appeared that he failed to take note of and embrace. I am in my 60’s and still working, we run training courses on a regular basis and I have still never met a delegate who knows it all and does not learn something on a course including me as the instructor. Training is mega important IMHO
-
Training in the classroom doesn’t just show you how but also why it’s more in-depth and educational also it can help you can learn or even work out how to correct wrong doings.
-
Training in the classroom doesn’t just show you how but also why it’s more in-depth and educational also it can help you can learn or even work out how to correct wrong doings.
said like a true new comer to the trade lol 8)
when we moved state side it was great spending a few days out with a fellow cleaner i first meet on here 20 years ago , and how they cleaned different and the range of chems they carry is mine boggling still the v8 engined truck mounts rock and his had over 70.000 hours on the clock and still on the same blower and never had anythink done to it !
-
Training in the classroom doesn’t just show you how but also why it’s more in-depth and educational also it can help you can learn or even work out how to correct wrong doings.
said like a true new comer to the trade lol 8)
when we moved state side it was great spending a few days out with a fellow cleaner i first meet on here 20 years ago , and how they cleaned different and the range of chems they carry is mine boggling still the v8 engined truck mounts rock and his had over 70.000 hours on the clock and still on the same blower and never had anythink done to it !
???................ ???
-
training gives you the confidence to do a decent job,
sofa today just didnt feel right, low and behold, jute backing..
imagine hitting that with 400 psi and ph14..
-
Let’s not forget that as sole traders we are marketers of carpet cleaning services. Both in our day to day work and what training courses we choose to attend or take.
Learning also comes from testing marketing ideas. So much bs that the only way to truth is by your own learning curve.
I am also interested in why carpet cleaners dont take city & guilds or NVQ