Sooooooo.......I even suprised myself

Good friend was doing dinner for the kids and one kid hurled his pizza and red pop UP. So he calls his friend(my friend and a customer of mine) and the two proceed to use 3 or 4 different spotters and a rug doctor to clean it up. Did I mention his wife was out with friends, oh boy; he's going to get in deep. So I hear him replay the story and I hear something about, "it looks like Moses offered a sacrifice in the middle of the family room".
  So I go over there with 30vol peroxide and do a heat transfer. 85% better in my opinion. Her's----1000% better.

2nd job - move out, white carpet(might of been lite grey, eyes are going south), been cleaned with a rug doctor. Brown, long streaks everywhere. NO problem on this one, AR'd it...wham bam.

Matt

Nice job,
Man!

It's nice to have those days where you get that huge improvement by cleaning a bad one, or you shock yourself, like you did today by doing something you didn't expect.   It's what makes me continue enjoying to clean!   

I actually had one of those days myself today!.......matter of fact, I need to go post the pics from it now in the "The Best of Trashed Carpet" thread.  

It's a beautiful day when you are the hero. When you get results that even impress yourself, all the better. Good job sir.

Just stay cool and don't look shocked in front of the customer.  

Those are the reasons that I enjoy this business, real morale boosters.

no pictures

I know the guy who invented the Rug Dr. He's loaded. He laughs pretty hard at how ineffective it is. It's by design. He told me, "Why make a product that cleans carpet? Make one that just gets it 'cleaner' so they keep coming back."

He's rich. I'm not. Hmmm.......

REALCLEAN wrote:I know the guy who invented the Rug Dr................."Why make a product that cleans carpet?.................."

One good reason I can think of.............It would be a real BIEaTCH getting a 1000 lbs TM loaded in the back of your Honda Civic, Especially if you're a 90 lbs female!!    

I really question how happy the RD guy is.

I think this is just another classic example of Giver vs Taker:
Which statement fits you better:

“Those are the reasons that I enjoy this business, real morale boosters.”

"Why make a product that cleans carpet? Make one that just gets it 'cleaner' so they keep coming back."

Which guy is really happy?
At the end of the day it’s not about money. It’s about Happy.
Cool thing is that Money follows Happy.

I see it in my trading everyday. Greedy traders are the Takers.
Givers give to them and usually end up with the winning trades.
Takers end up with strokes, broke.
Givers just keep on giving.
Simple trade Plans, executed without flaw, makes for happy, profitable traders.
The key is Execution.
Have a plan. Know your Plan. Follow your Plan.
Matt had his plan and knew what to do. So he just went out and did it.
Simple. Happy.
Money follows Happy.

Two examples from RCs over the last couple of days (both 25+year veteran cleaners):

Bob calls, to buy more Lil Better vac hose. Hadn’t heard from him in 5 years or so. He says
“It’s still holding up great; just getting ugly, so I wanna replace it… reminds of the Amish (Bob lives in Ohio)…they have no electricity, no cell phones, no cars, maybe a bicycle… real simple people… really good carpenters.
I had ‘em make me some furniture few years ago... just reordered some more.”
Amish guy asks “…the last pieces aren’t holding up?”
“No” says Bob “it’ll last forever. I’m just tired of it… just want a new look.”
So Amish gets a new order cuz he executed the last one correctly. Simple. Happy.
Money follows. Happy.

Don calls, feels bad cuz last two calls were just Qs, no order. So he orders something, Red Release.
Told me, “gotta tell you since I met you, I’ve changed the way I do business. First 20+ years it was all about upsells and IICRC Certified this & that. I made money but I wasn’t very happy… not like I am now. Last 3 years I’ve relaxed more … just try to do the best job I can for people. Don’t push anything on them… just focus on helping them get done what they need. It works. Haven’t had to advertise and still busier than ever. Plus I’m a lot happier.” He actually said that. Ask him. He's Don on the Lounge and old café.
Don’s like 60yrs old. Hard to believe he’s just discovering how cool it is to Give. Weird, cuz I know the guy and he’s a true Giver inside. I guess he was just like a lot of cleaners – following Industry Standard protocol. Now that he’s broken out of that mold he’s profitable AND happy. Money follows happy.

But come on... after 25+ years how do you stay motivated?
All you had to hear was the way Don said what he said. You could tell he was excited.
I'm pretty sure it was this newfound focus on Giving.

The Paradox. Once you get good at something, it gets kinda boring, right? But boring translates into dollars, right?
Since you're good at it you just go there and execute. But still, boring it is.
That's why they replace old salesmen with young ones. The old ones were just in it for the money; they lost their passion as soon as they learned how to make the money. You gotta find other ways to stay excited other than the money.

For me, it was the seven year mark. I would catch myself saying "well she-it... I've already seen this before... and this too!"
The excitement of a new challenge was gone. The only thing left was the excitement on peoples' faces I made happy.
I tried everything... execution's always been the key.
I got so good at repair that people would lean over me working and say you're so good with that knife, you shoulda been a brain surgeon. And there I am making $60/hr instead of $60,000/hr. Oh well, she's happy, so I'm happy.
It got really stupid, how far I went to make people happy...
I even let people sign my van after the job. They happy. Me happy.
So the key to the money was to make people happy; top do that, it gets back to execution... follow the Plan, as boring as it is.

Money follows happy.

Surprise yourself... make a goal to execute 20 things, perfectly, and really grade yourself hard.
It might have slowed you down to take a little more time and do it right, but which way actually made you more money?
Once you reach that goal, try to do it with one hand behind your back.
Or if you're MJ, how many free throws in a row, with your eyes closed. You know it's true.

Great post Joe! I've read countless books on success, business, happiness, etc., and the one thing that they all have in common......

Success does not create happiness, happiness creates success.

Fwiw, The Rug Doctor is CRI Gold certified. Lol! Don't get me started on the lunacy that is CRI and IIRC!

Can't agree more Joe, "money follows happy", happy people will always be happy, money or no money, but unhappy people will never be happy, money or no money.

Joe, no truer words have ever been spoken about business.

I watch my rich brother and how he operates, it is all about the dollar. He has about every toy a person could ever want...million dollar beach house, boats, cars, exotic collectibles, spends his winters in Hawaii, and yet his is often miserable.

If all you value is money, you can never win. If all you want is the dollar, you always just want more...it never ends. His hair is falling out, his health is declining rapidly, and he takes medications for stress and anxiety. Money has not made him happy.

The happiest I can ever remember him is when he was working as a carpenter. He was actually a very good craftsman and really seemd to enjoy building decks, home additions, garages, and gun cabinets. Then he got married to the daughter of a wealthy businees owner....everything changed.

Being healthy and happy beats money every time!

Wow, reading that Joe is like sitting on the porch swing on an early summer day with my Great Grandpa, telling me about the trueness of life, and how to live it to the fullest, and how by living it to the fullest, life gives back. Really, I can see the old white house Great Grandpa built. It was white, with green shingles, and the porch wrapped around half the house. The swing, it was hung at the corner turn, facing the road. The wood on the porch was old, it had turned dark gray, it was the kind that had aged enough that when you walked on it bare foot you had to be careful not to get a splinter. The paint on the house was old too, white, cracked, and pealing off. Man, that's life to the fullest, sure wish people could know that today. Aren't many left to tell those stories.

I never get enough of that passion you got Grandpa Joe. Thanks, that was really cool.