[Simon Gerrard]

Derek,
He probably thinks analine is some kind of cheap not frills analogue telephone service only common sense really

[mike roberts]

Simon when you started out did you do the courses before you cleaned a carpet? Truthfully?

Simon its not a proper professional trade all youve got to do is clean the bloody carpet. At the end of the job if its clean smells good and its not soaking wet or missing a few inches youve succeded END OF thats all youve got to do. The same applies to all types of cleaning youre there to clean something wether its a car, plate, clothes, windows,
Stop kidding yourself into thinking it something it aint.

Wish your customers could see that quote - what a joker

[derek west]

i'm sure he's a nice enough guy, i just have to defend basic training, its obviously not for him but to advise other newbies not to take that route is wrong, maybe he can pay there excess if it all goes teets up if they get unlucky on there first job.

[Simon Gerrard]

They say there is one in every village; this one is in Cannock  commonsensical really

[gaz1984mcc]

Simon when you started out did you do the courses before you cleaned a carpet? Truthfully?

Simon its not a proper professional trade all youve got to do is clean the bloody carpet. At the end of the job if its clean smells good and its not soaking wet or missing a few inches youve succeded END OF thats all youve got to do. The same applies to all types of cleaning youre there to clean something wether its a car, plate, clothes, windows,
Stop kidding yourself into thinking it something it aint.

Wish your customers could see that quote - what a joker

well come on what else have you got to do to the carpet spray it with gold. do a little dance on it after youve finished. bless the bloody thing.

NO youve just go to clean it guys nothing else get it

[Griffus]

You know what guys you really must think this carpet cleaning lark is something special it aint training courses are good for whatever your gonna do but it doesnt guarantee that your gonna be good or bad at it wether you do them or not.
There are plenty of people who go to college or uni learning something for years and years and it still doesnt mean there gonna be any better than someone who hasnt. And i know that for a fact i did joinery for 8 years learnt my trade luckily i managed to get a job with a joiner aswell as go to college at the same time and honestly im good at it but ive seen many who have come straight from college and havent got a bloody clue could barely use a hammer or saw in a straight line. And they went to college for 3 years not a 3 day course

I would say that training helps make you better at what you do, it gives you a greater depth of understanding.

You seem to think you know enough to get by, but the truth is that you won't ever know what you are lacking without some form of formal training. This will either confirm your self taught expertise or maybe help you to realise that there was a bit that you didn'y know / understand.

You seem intent on ruffling a few feathers which I find hard to understand as by your own admission you have clearly benefitted from advice taken from those on this forum.

Why are you no longer in joinery?

[gaz1984mcc]

Its not that ian its the fact that there are a few on here who really believe that if you aint done a course you cant clean a carpet or if you aint spent over ten grand on a machine your not gonna do a good job.
And its just totally wrong!
Im not against going on these courses and i will be attending a couple in the new year.
But the way some people are put off the idea of starting a carpet cleaning business on here is bang out of order.
Same goes with the few on here who call everyone whos done groupon marketing deals amatuers (i wouldnt touch groupon with a barge pole)

[Tony Rowley]

Gaz

When you try to get your point across to people like Simon and some others you are in all honesty on a hidding to nothing because he/they wont back down or concede that they could be wrong or appreciate another point of view.

I have trained many individuals in my working life ( as I am sure have many others) in many different tasks, everyone is different and I can say that in my opinion that training is important BUT common sense is invaluable. You are probably right that you could train a monkey in the basics of carpet cleaning and send him out to clean carpets but if the monkey lacks the ability to learn from practice and realise and correct his own mistakes to improve his work then the initial training is pointless.

The person that cleaned and wrecked the carpets that Simon talks about could have been on every training course in the country, the fact that he lacked the ability to realise his mistakes would therefore have nothing to do with his training BUT his ability.

Tony

[gaz1984mcc]

and then assume there gonna do a bad job because there on groupon its bang out of order to be throwing presumtions around like that.

I stopped doing joinery 3 years ago at the time it was hard to get constant work month to month i still do a bit now

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

We use this term training loosely, it does depend on who trains and on what basis.

There is absolutely no better way than training on the job with an experienced CC or at least having one on the end of the telephone.

Courses where 15 or more do very basic training will be limited.

Cheers

Doug

[Simon Gerrard]

Douglas,
You've changed your view. When you were pushing the Clean project you were insisting that all new members complete your training course. Now you 're saying you can do it as part of a ride along, make your mind up.

Simon

[Mike Halliday]

slightly of topic but I wonder how much training a Chemdry franchise owner receives before going out alone to clean carpets.

 no matter what we think of chemdry i do think they are big enough to have a full system in place to train their franchisees, I actually drive past their 'school of excellence' every morning. I don't think they would allow some one to clean under their name with out being sure they are fully trained.

hopefully Jason will see this post and let us know..... but i think i was once told it was a 2 week residential course. if this is the case then they receive 5 times the training the NCCA members receive before being told they can go out and professionally clean carpets

[peter maybury]

All I would say to Carl is to get as much training as you can afford to , see the way that as many different people as posible work and see as many different types of machinery in action as you can. The 1st people to introduce me to carpet cleaning had very little knowlege of the industry, they had crap machinery and no technical knowledge at all. They did however not realise this themselves and in their minds they were a competent , proffessional organisation. These opinions were made out of total ignorance, they were a total bunch of cowboys and if they did not have the answer or could not remove a stain they would "flannel" the customer.
The standard of cleaning that I started to do was a  totally diferent standard to them, there was no comparison. Improvements and investment in equipment has also improved the standard of the cleaning that I now do. I do not have the best machinery but personal pride in what I do is constantly pushing me to improve what I have. The most improtant thing is knowing which advice to take and which advice is not worth a t*ss.........
Good luck

Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[elliott cleaning]

I stopped doing joinery 3 years ago at the time it was hard to get constant work month to month i still do a bit now

...and you spent 8 years at it as well as going to college? Good  joiners have no problem in getting constant work & can make a very decent living from it.   Same applies to good carpet cleaners who know what they are doing. If your approach is that there ain't much to this business - then I reckon you won't last even half the time you lasted in the joinery business

[Steve Rothwell]

When you try to get your point across to people like Simon and some others you are in all honesty on a hidding to nothing because he/they wont back down or concede that they could be wrong or appreciate another point of view.

sorry ......... beg to differ there

I have met Simon who was the most anti LM person on this forum at one point,

If you ask him now he is nowhere near as biased against it as he was before, so it just needs a convincing argument and proof, to change his mind.

Common sense really

[Neil Williams]

but i think i was once told it was a 2 week residential course. if this is the case then they receive 5 times the training the NCCA members receive before being told they can go out and professionally clean carpets

But then it's down to the individual. When doing window cleaning on a property some years ago I arrived there just as CD were leaving.
I was amazed by how wet they had left the sofas and although my equipment at the time couldn't be classed anywhere near to what CD have, I have never before or after that day left a customers suite anywhere near as wet as that one.
2 weeks training.......2 days training.....at the end of the day this business comes with 50% knowledge and 50% common sense

[Griffus]

but i think i was once told it was a 2 week residential course. if this is the case then they receive 5 times the training the NCCA members receive before being told they can go out and professionally clean carpets

But then it's down to the individual. When doing window cleaning on a property some years ago I arrived there just as CD were leaving.
I was amazed by how wet they had left the sofas and although my equipment at the time couldn't be classed anywhere near to what CD have, I have never before or after that day left a customers suite anywhere near as wet as that one.
2 weeks training.......2 days training.....at the end of the day this business comes with 50% knowledge and 50% common sense

We were called in to a nursery after a franchise cleaner had soaked their goat hair floor tiles. We got the rep in with us as the tiles should have been dry or at a push vlm only and we thought the tiles had been wrecked beyond salvage.

We were right and so ended up with no job out of it as the nursery had all carpet tiles replaced with vinyl. Not ideal for a nursery, or us, but after being stung by the national's they didn't want to risk carpet again.

Point is, I wouldn't assume knowledge / quality from anyone.

[Tony Rowley]

sorry ......... beg to differ there

I have met Simon who was the most anti LM person on this forum at one point,

If you ask him now he is nowhere near as biased against it as he was before, so it just needs a convincing argument and proof, to change his mind.

Common sense really


Hector, with the deepest respect, no one asks him to to provide a convincing argument or proof of what he says is right or wrong, its not yours or anyone elses job to convince him (or anyone else) that he may or may not be wrong.

Tony

[Simon Gerrard]

Tony,
I've been in this business for 36 years and have learned an awful lot of things along the way. Some of the most important have been the things I learned on training courses. I have over the years changed my view on a lot of things, LM being one of them, micro splitters another and yes, some of my views have been born of ignorance to certain facts of which I was not fully aware because of that ignorance.
I would not have the business I have today, or my family the benefits they have enjoyed because of it had it not been for the training I did back in the beginning. I consider myself a professional carpet cleaner and professionals in any job spare no effort to try their utmost to be the best they can be in their chosen profession. Being the best is of course a journey and not a destination. With the benefits that have come to me through my efforts you would hardly expect me to not to recommend as ardently as I do in the need for training. Just because I won't change my view when challenged doesn't make it wrong, I just means I believe in something that others don't, so what?

Simon

[robert meldrum]

Can't resist

There are thousands of joiners out of work along with many thousands more from the building trades and anyone who is not aware of that is living under a rock.

I've done a great deal of training in my life and always pitched at a higher level of training than the required standard. That mean't my trainees became BETTER trained than average BUT never guaranteed they would retain the standards or allow them to drop in their day to day lives.

Training is fine for theory and knowledge but in any PRACTICAL skill experience rules.

Basic training PREPARES you for the practical tasks along with DEMONSTRATIONS followed by PRACTISING the tasks under supervision. After that you need lots of EXPERIENCE and COMMON SENSE allied to CAUTION.

Like many others on here I started with ZERO training but loads of common sense and a fair measure of caution. Just reading and paying attention to labels can be very educational.

Many others on here started with LOADS of training and falsely believe themselves to be better equipped and more PROFESSIONAL just because they've got the certificates.

A blatant ERROR in this THINKING and ACCEPTANCE OF THIS BELIEF was highlighted within the past few days when it came to light that ; -

A " MODERN" MANAGER WITH " PAPER CREDENTIALS WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF A YOUNG FEMALE WHO WAS TRAPPED ABOUT 30 FEET DOWN an old mining shaft which collapsed beneath her.

When a fire crew arrived and the experienced guys quickly assessed the situation and got ready to rescue the young lady.............THEY WERE PREVENTED FROM DOING SO by a Senior Officer who it transpired had VERY LITTLE EXPERIENCE BUT loads of certificates.

The young lady was left down the hole for EIGHT HOURS and on eventually being pulled up she DIED .....NOT FROM INJURIES.  iT WAS STATED THAT SHE WOULD HAVE SURVIVED HAD SHE BEEN RESCUED BY THE EXPERIENCED PEOPLE WHO KNEW THEIR JOB.
Not intended as an analogy which it's not but there's a message in there.