[Ian Alexander]

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.   

[john martin]

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  ...

[Ian Alexander]

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

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

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  , 

[Robin Ray]

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?

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

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 

[Kev Martin]

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

[Shaun_Ashmore]

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.

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

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 

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 !

[Kev Martin]

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 

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 !

................

[MarkSutcliffe]

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..

[Cleanevangelist]

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