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Get some needed practice. Clean your carpets and those of your family and friends and ask for referrals. They will come!!
You might go door to door with a brochure and business card and introduce yourself. Scary, but will get you practice and in front of people.
Wish youthe best.
Dave Dilts
Lancaster County PAJust yesterday my son, Dan called me and asked for help. He was cleaning a home with 3 black labs. I walked in and almost fainted…the tan carpet was literally black with hair on the carpet. The crpet cleaned up nicely, however a big tip…never, ever clean pads like we got in your washer at home. Use the laundromat and let them deal with the hair left in the machine. I think I ran the washer 6 times afterward to flush out the hair fromthe pads…
We had cleaned our pads in Speed Queens in a laundromat. The agitator beat them up too much and I could see replacing pads regularly. The front end loader tumble washes and with the max time, gets the pads very clean.
A year ago we bought a top of the line, front end loader by Kenmore (Whirlpool) I believe. We were impressed by how dry the clothes and pads are when removed…some 1600 rpm. Saves on drying time for clothes, hence $$$. The only drawback is the waterpump is very sensitive to any staples, etc that may pass through. I am glad we bought the extended warranty, 5 years.
Anyway, I might take exception with the payback in 2 years thought…Perhaps less withless wear and tear on the pads and alowing them to last much longer. With the added saving on the drying time I think it may be les.
Look at any of the high speed front end loaders..plenty now on the market and prices dropping.
Just my 2 cents.
When our bag began to stink, I sprayed a few shots of Lysol up and into the bag and then the outside of the bag…odor eliminated. Also use with the Port a Vac.
I use a shop vac to empty the cup into…less mess. I crack open the cup assembly and hav the shop vac at the opening and it suck out the contents.
Minimal mess.
I likr Brian’s logic. I don’t know how to phase this in with my regular customers. any suggestions? I suppose I could just do the up front approach that might just work..looking for ideas though. Thanks, Dave
DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have walked into several homes where the stench from cat pee was terrible!!! This coming from a guy who smelled bodies roasting on the ground in 1970, SEA… lye was covered that up.
Also, restaurants can be terrible…grease and oil are sometimes well hidden in carpeting. I do not waste my time on them anymore, period!!! Unles they are on a very regular cleaning schedule and 5 star, like weekly or so, I would run away from any average or less than average restaurant. Lots of work and they nearly ruin your pads.
Someone once said
If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting
.
Don’t wait, get some brochures and business cards,, pick on an upscale development, and go knocking on doors. Go door to door, giving them a brochure, business card and a 20 second spiel about what you do and who you are and are looking for an opportunity to provide an excellent service for them.
If anyone in this bulletin board says this does not work, ask the men in Washington what they did when they started out ….. in December!
It beats the heck out of sitting and waiting for August or September to roll around. And anyway you will be seen by potential customers, your van will be seen, be prepared to write some quotes and to business….be prepared!
You might also pray for business…that also works very well
Just my 2 cents worth.. wish you the best.
DaveBrian,
Just out of curiosity, could you share how many pads you used on that 6,500 sq ft job? Or did you have someone take dirty pads and launder them and return?
Just a little curious.
Thanks,
DaveDave is absolutely correct, except for one possibility to keep aneye out for. There are a few instances where carpet in glued to the floor and slight water leakage is chronic from certain bad rainfall events.
My very best customer has a couple of basements that have this problem and it is not huge, their fans and dehumidifiers run and I am asked to remove as much water as possible with my Ninja. On occasion, in less than 30 minutes I have removed 20 gallons or more. I remove until it doesn’t squish when stepped on. And yes, I charge about 50/hr or so for that…real easy and they are grateful. Otherwise, they would be having to evaporate 20 gallons of water and that takes too long.
This is an exception! I would reread Dave’s response again carefully. He is right for the vast majority of events.
This has been discussed before and commented upon.
In adddition, since you are new…ask for a first-time discount. This will be your first ad and tell them you are looking to grow. Here in Lancaster county, PA we have 3 main books and we are paying approximately $1,800 a month for all three. Population is almost 500K.
We are placed #3 in all of the books.
We receive calls almost every day from them….it is really rare when we get zero.
Try to get to the front…it makes a huge difference. Be prepared with your 15-30 second pricing spiel and closing.
All the previous meessages are right on the target.
With no other advertising or other than minimum effort, we are 45% ahead of last year, thru June. Yellow Pages works.
Wish you the best.
Again…as Laura, many of our customers, 80-90 % of our repeat customers will leave the door unlocked, pets put away in a room, outside or cage, and have a signed and dated blank check on the kitchen counter….
We clean, leave a pair of booties for them if they might be returning before carpets may be dry, fill-in the check and leave a receipt and lock the door.
We love this business!!!
Dave
