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Who is your biggest competitor or who do you think can hang with Heaven’s Best? I know no one can hang with us but let us know. I ran into one of ours. We both got called to so a water extraction(owner of the hotel was desperate and called several). We were first to arrive and they couldn’t give an answer as to how long it would take the carpet to dry. It was Rainbow(stem cleaners). They did give a faster time of how long it would take to do the work. I gave a faster time on the drying and landed the job.
Mike Nowlin
Heaven’s Best of South Texas
The Stanley Steemer in Denver is always #1 or #2 nationally for their company. I see one of their trucks at least every other day. My employee worked for Stanley and Coit (the other big boy in Denver that does huge numbers). Over 30 Chem-Dry’s listed in the Denver phone book. Haven’t heard many good things about them from customers. Only quality comparisons would be one of the mom/pop shops like us that take pride in their work.
A grip of mom & pops. I see stanely more than any other, however there are a few CD’s.
Chem-Dry is the biggest competitor. They have 2-3 full page ads in the yellow pages and hit the area with newspaper flyers as well as direct mail. There is also a company called Freshstep. Has any one heard of them before? Usually when I go to peoples homes they mention CD but are always disappointed the second go around.
My competition is partly the 59.95 whole house lowballer and then changing the mindset (I’m in the south)of the people who are lured into the price.
I’m slowly making headway to the masses who realize “you get what you pay for”Chem Dry doesn’t offer a protected territory like our company does. That’s why you find so many in one city, right on top of eachother.
“There are 30 Chem Drys in the Denver phone book”
DevlinSteady ed,
I hear ya, this has been a problem for us as well. In this years phone book I noticed half of those low priced places are out of business. The remaining ones will follow because they take their money and run. I also mention to potential clients asking for prices to watch out for the bait and switch or I tell them they might get what they pay for.
Mike Nowlin
@ddevlin wrote:
Over 30 Chem-Dry’s listed in the Denver phone book. Haven’t heard many good things about them from customers. Only quality comparisons would be one of the mom/pop shops like us that take pride in their work.
MY BIGGEST COMPETITOR IS STANLEY. THAT IS IF YOU LOOK AT THE YELLOW PAGE AD. HE IS HAVING A HARD TIME HIRING GOOD TECHNICIANS. I AM NOTICING A FEW VANS AROUND THE AREA WITH THE HOT WATER EXTRACTION MOUNTS INSIDE. I DO NOT KNOW WHERE THEY ARE HEADED (COMERCIAL OR RESIDENTIAL). I BELIEVE THAT STANLEY HAS DONE SUCH A POOR JOB CLEANING THAT THE PROSPECTS ARE SEARCHING FOR A NEW CLEANER. I HAD A CUSTOMER JUST YESTERDAY, SHE IS 82 YEARS OLD. BEEN IN THE AREA SINCE SHE WAS 4. HAD STANLEY COME OUT THE LAST 2 TIMES WITH BIG DISAPPOINTMENTS. SHE CALLED ME. COMPLETE SATISFACTION. IN REFERENCE TO CHEM-“SUCK ME DRY”. MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 3 YEARS AGO AT MY HOUSE. THEY SPENT 1HOUR IN THE HOUSE. I SPENT 180.00. THE CARPET TOOK 18HOURS TO DRY. I HAD MOVED ALL MY FURNITURE INTO MY FAMILY ROOM. THIS WAS GOOD. THE VERY NEXT DAY I SPENT 3 HOURS OR MORE CLEANING MY CARPETS WITH MY BISSELL PRO STEAM FROM HOME DEPOT. THIS IS THE OTHER HALF OF THE REASON I GOT INTO THE BUSINESS. SORRY FOR THE EXTRA KEY TAPPING.
CHEERS
No Chem-Dry or Stanley in my area, only Service Master and other soak and suck guys. Many of my customers have had it with the swamp cleaners and won’t call them again.
Mostly just local guys “soak and suck” also. Althugh Chem-dry is also here, like 5 franchises, they don’t really advertize the low-moisture. Probably because most of them have switched to a truck mount. Really good busines for me though. People are hearing about us here and almost jump at the thought of Dry In 1 Hour!
we have 3 local guys and hagopian,modernistic,stanley,chem dry,service master,aand sears.those are the vvns i see daily.we clean regularly afetr all of them.finding good help i see has been tough for them.alot of disapointed costumers,ours now.
I don’t understand.
If HWE is so bad then why do all the respected authorities in our industry endorse it?
Entities that are non-biased such as the Carpet & Rug Institute , IICRC, Mohawk, Shaw all say it is the recommended way to clean.
I did some research and the equipment out there now to do HWE dries in about 2 hours, maybe a little more if an area is heavily soiled.
I tried my friends HWE machine and it was dry in just like I said….2 hours.
I would think that if dry time was such a major problem then measures would be taken in our industry or by our competotrs to rectify the problem or many companies would change their method of cleaning.
EVERY system as it’s advantages and disadvantagesKurt you are correct in the new equipment out there does dry a lot faster. They are still using massive amounts of moisture, but they are able to extract much better. It comes to philosophy for cleaning. I my self think less is best. I do not throw my entire arsenal on every job. There are times that a HWE would be best, and then there are times that we are by far more superior. It really comes down to the man behind the equipment. What we do is so unique that we have seasoned veterans in the industries that you mentioned like IICRC and so on scratching there heads. If you look there are tons of companies that use a bonnet system for cleaning. The motions that we go through are not as unique as some might think. What sets us apart is the training, chemicals, and the operators themselves. I have employees that have been with me for years that still don’t clean like I do. It is not a lack of training or self discipline. Most of the operators in the heavens best family are family run and operated. This makes a big difference in the quality of our work and our reputation. As far as why the unbiased entities that you mentioned are not in our favor there is a huge misunderstanding in the business. Most of the guys that make up these boards are very biased. They do have a financial stake in the carpet cleaning industry. It is like Washington and the lobbyist involved. There are trips and perks given to these guys, and most run a business that is financially tied to the carpet industry. Franchises like ours are often looked down upon for the financial reasons alone. How are they going to make money off HB. We don’t buy from them in any way. Most of them have seen our method used for the last twenty five years and they were not impressed. I don’t blame them I would not either from what I have seen out there it can be pretty bad. Unfortunately we have been grouped in to a category in their eyes that we really don’t fit in. We are our own catagory and I am proud of it. Sometimes it just takes some extra work eductaing our clients.
Thats a big 10-4 Greg
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