Old vs Classic

I haven't shaved in a few days and needed to rid the beard....itched so bad it woke me up. Then I found out that I was out of cartridge blades for my razor. Rather than running to town for replacements, I dug out an old 1950's era safety razor that my Grandfather gave me 20 years ago along with brush, creme, and blades.

Despite this razor being old, it gave me the best shave of my life! Sure, it takes longer as you end up making 3 passes instead of one, but the results were superior. The only reason the newer razors exist was for speed....to reduce the time it takes for you to get ready for work. The problem is, that speed came with inferior quality and performance.

It got me thinking, how has it changed in business? We all try to get faster and do more volume, but did we lose out on some of the quality and performance? Is the market really unable to sustain quality or do we have to comprise some quality for speed to make it work?

Thinking about how I clean now compared to in the late 80's, and although the chemistry has improved a ton, the quality has declined out of a perceived necessity.

We used to take our time carefully setting things up. We would always closely inspect the carpets and test the fibers. We would spend time talking to the customer to understand their complete concerns and to build a relationship that lasted for years. We were patient when trying to remove stains and did lots of dry strokes with a more casual wand stroke to avoid hitting furniture or walls. We just did a better job and we dressed the part as well.

Time doesn't stop and things change. Some things get old and some things become classics. The latter one ends up being viewed as being very valuable and rare while the other isn't. An old corvette is a classic, an old pinto is just old. Ever price an old vintage Jeep CJ these days? I have owned 8 of them and they all added together didn't cost what a single vintage one does now.

So, where am I going with this? Just like I am returning to the safety razor for good, I have decided to turn my business into a "classic" and market towards those that still value that kind of service as part of my Spring launch into Full-time status.

Each service will have it's own website advertising as a specialty cleaner. Those that have high end furniture will seek out a specialist in high end upholstery instead of trusting the "do-it-all" cleaning companies. Same is true for floors, be it stone, tile, or carpet.

I want to slow down and cater to those that are looking for a specialist. The kind of client that doesn't call around asking if you are having a "special", but rather calls to ask you when you can do it. That is what I will be marketing towards.

I may be getting older, but I plan on becoming a classic....both in my business and in my self.

What you're saying makes complete sense however don't forget that nowadays most carpets are synthetic, that almost eliminates the need to do fiber test, in my experience the few times the wall to wall carpets are wool, customers always mentioned that on the phone, seems like they are aware that wool wall to wall are not common anymore.

I have been catering to those audience since a couple of years ago, Dave made me realize even further how important to screen the customers on the phone, so thanks Dave :-)

The issue with metropolitan areas like LA, there are a lot of hacks and some customers are accustomed in paying half my rates to those companies, nothing I can do or say to change their mind, especially the move outs, so many of them are saying I don't care about quality, I'm moving out, I immediately told them that I'm not the right company to serve their needs.

Fiber test was just an example, I just meant that we did things differently back then. The owner often would bring me tea and hang around talking while I cleaned....it was more social than it is now where they look at their watch and ask you how long will it take?

My area isn't saturated with cleaners yet, but we do have many "budget" cleaners. What we don't have are specialized cleaners or "top shelf" kind of cleaners. For a specialist, they have to look to the big city 45 miles away.

I believe that I can establish myself as that "top shelf" kind of cleaner who specializes for this area and take away those calls to the big city. The market is there as most of the residents had the money to move out of that big city and populate this area for lower property taxes.

Granted, I am not saying that the upper crust are always a joy to work for, but the upper middle class should be a major player in this market.

I would just rather schedule 2-3 jobs per day at a moderate pace than wear myself out trying to push volume...I am old after-all and my best attribute is charm instead of physical stamina, so I would not compete well with the younger guys on their terms.

I will be doing some research over the next few months to find out if this area can sustain it, but I feel confident that it could. Might even change the business name to "Classic Cleaners" or at least set-up a second company for that side of the business while keeping the old one for commercial.

Sounds like a good plan. I'm thinking of a similar plan come spring where a concentrate more time marketing to a resort community 25 minutes away that is very high end compared to the town where I get most of my work now. I like the idea of a separate website for each service.

For a resort area like yours, that is all I would be doing.

Sounds like one of my customers. He's O/O in his late 50s. he's very meticulous where is all white  puts on booties when it comes in the door. All his equipment is in a trailer he doesn't pull up in the drive for less than 150 bucks. most of his houses 200,0000 plus. He's going to do it right or not at all and he has a specific clientele. He walks into the high end homes where the low end cleaners would never get past the front gate. He holds himself to a higher standard. As his customers do and expect.

Sounds exactly like the direction I want to go ACE, I think it can work.

The problem with some super rich clients are arrogance, I can't stand those types, I would rather serving middle class and upper middle class, easier to ask to use their restroom, ha..ha..ha....

I agree completely with you DP and today was a prime example of that.

I got a call from one of the wealthiest people in the town over from me. He owns a ton of rental properties, trucking companies, warehouses, etc. He is also the same guy that stiffed me on a job about a year ago when I wouldn't give him a 30% discount for just being him.

He tells me that he has a big party planned for the holidays and needs the entire house and furniture cleaned on the 23rd. I told him it would be cash up front for this job and for the one he never paid....there was a pause.

Then he asks if I was still upset about that...clearly recalling the job. I said absolutely and he agreed to pay for the past bill as well, but he would only pay the 70% that he offered me back then.

I really enjoyed telling him what I thought about the way he treated people and enjoyed even more hanging up the phone.

Those will not be my customers.