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I am having a clean off against three other competitors for a commercial company that has 13 buildings and they want them cleaned 4 times a year. We are going to be doing them the same piece of carpet divided into three sections. I don’t know what order I will be. They only thing I know is that I am going to win and they won’t be able to come close to the drying time of course. They did mention that they didn’t want us to use or do anything that we normally don’t do. She used the example of a coffee vender that used distilled water in the coffee when the building doesn’t have distilled water. I am so excited! I wanted so sort of clean off with other competitors. I may even higher an employee to clean these buildings everyday. I want them in there mind to not even consider using someone else. Suggestions please I really want this and this will be my biggest account ever.
Hey Matt,
Sounds like a great opportunity. We have been asked to do this previously on commercial accounts. In fact the first commercial job I ever went to was a “clean off”. Had been in business 3 months. I made sure every thing absolutley shined before I went. Not so hard as it was all new, but you get the point. Me, the van, equipment, pad, towels, invoice book, etc. Introduced myself to everyone, including the competition. Gave them all a business card. One of the competitors looked like I had just handed him a sack of, well you get it. I knew I had him on the run. We had to give a presentation about our companies in front of our competitors as well as clean next to them. I focused on what we could do and not what the others could not. Some of the others spent more time talking down the competition than explaining why they were worthy of the job. Some of the customers have required fiber ID as part of the process. Last one I did had 3 fiber types. 2 of 4 cleaners got all 3 correct. High buck condo’s with all sort’s of inlays. Practice how you think this might go, before you go. Be prepared, Boy Scout. Focus on the things that have made your business the success it is today. Honest, quality service at a fair price. This is a great learning experience! Good luck. RWM
Matt,
I have no idea how they will be judging…but I do know one of the best ways. Walking over the damp carpet with white socks! If the carpet is dirty, it will…WILL…show.
You might test yourself before the clean off…with this test. The HWE guys would fail it miserably…. Not as easy to do as it may sound either, but if you are pretty dry, will be impressive.
Oh, and wear booties when cleaning…makes a heck of a good subliminal impression on the customer.
One more thing..try to clean the others after they are done….show what they left behind..if you are the last guy.
Hope this helps…
Thats an awesome way to grow your buisness. Thats how we’ve gotten some good repeat customers. Go gettem.
Jim Wilson
Matt,
Let us know how this turns out. Also, I’d be curious . . . do you set the price if hired or do they tell you what they’ll pay?I’ve done this a few times!
Steam cleaners get steamed…
Bottom line is if you use a towel, YOU WIN!!!Once a year, in-door apartment building (halls & stairs- 20 Hour job) $1000 a year job, 17 years, and still going!
WOW I didn’t expect this much response. Thanks I do plan on cleaning up the equipment, van, etc. The towel test is a great idea and know that I think about that it should be done after every job we do. Bryan to answer your question: They were thinking of still doing it themselves. They already have some little portables and some solution. But I asked them what to figure out what it cost them to clean, pay employees, insurance, etc. I said I would match that, but have it be a professional job and not done by the house keeping. They also were going to buy a HWE unit with 500 feet of hose and they already have a van. She still hasn’t given me that number, but when I gave her the proposal she said “I am surprisingly surprise”. That being a good thing. Still haven’t finalized a price though. I assume it will be around 50k a year though. I will let you all know what happens and what I learned.
Evan sure I would love for you to come, but only if you bring the music. ha ha Thanks again.Matt,
One of the closing points I use is “we can save you money becauise with our state of the art process instead of cleaning 4x’s a year you would only have to clean 3x’s a year because our process does not leave any stickey residue” This pitch has not failed me yet & has allowed me to make more than I originaly expected on these commercial jobs. Your saving them money because your cleaning 1 less time & they don’t have to pay employees & everything that goes along with that like you mentioned in your post. Sounds like you know the value of the product your offering them & that will translate to them knowing as well.
Jim WilsonIf you bring pom poms you will also need the outfit. If we have that we also will need a camera and someone who has a user name for youtube. I will try the three times a year thing and maybe I can tell them that we will play it by ear. I can see cleaning the dining rooms in these buildings because some of the buildings are assisted living and that’s where all the residents eat. But the hallways not so much. Thanks again.
Matt, Have you considered dual processing to really kill the competition?
I don’t know what equipment you have but that would really do a number on them…I will try to be kind here…
“They didn’t want us to use anything that we normally don’t do.” Matt.
I don’t normally use a dual process, and I wouldn’t want to do the entire place using a steam cleaner and buff behind it and then try to explain how we can have the carpets dry in 1 hour as it says on our vans. To make a long story short.
I believe in the low moisture process. I’ve won these competitions without the flood and I would highly recommend against a dual process for these reasons.
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