What a slap in the face

Friend owns a carpet cleaning company in county south of me he just lost a good steady account he has had for years

So after the last cleaning no real notice the manager tells him they are going with a national company and his services wont be needed anymore.

So latter he gets a call from Cleanway not sure if Cintas owns them? They wanted to know if he could take on the account.

The new price which requires truck mount hwe for pennies on the dollar he was cleaning the account before.

ouch!!!!

he turned it down

yep cintas owns cleanway http://www.cleanway.com/index.html?#section-2

I would call the account and tell them what has transpired. Let them know that they have done is negotiated a cheap price so the company they have hired can cut corners take their cut and sub contract the work out, lesser quality, more hassles. All they have done is hire a middle man and lowered the service they will receive. If he doesn't call them and let them know Cintas/Cleanway wins. If they choose not to hire him back it's their loss. Pisses me off- they are parasites with a fancy sales pitch. F Them.

it's a chain business and the local managers have no say it's a corporate thing

look at the cleanway web site what a joke

ya I would like to think all it would take is a call to the account manager and tell them exactly what happened.


I have a portable friend that has been cleaning carpet since before truck mounts really existed, he only does work that cannot be done with a TM but man he gets crapped on by this national company that sends him sub contracted work... wonder if its cleanway?

No shame

"Middleman Management" is what it should be called.

Just another example of the devision between a corporate mentallity and a human mentallity. One is about the profit, the other about the service.

He should call the main office of the chain get hold of the ceo and let him know. Can't hurt. Make waves, big waves.

I get called by cleanway a few times a year it's always about a store in the mall. They want me to go look at it and give them a quote.

I asked the lady on the phone you already have a set price so why do I need a quote, she said your bid might be less than the set price.

So i asked her what store is it and what is the sq footage she gave me their set price for it I just started to laugh so hard he hung up on me.

ODIN wrote:I get called by cleanway a few times a year it's always about a store in the mall. They want me to go look at it and give them a quote.

I asked the lady on the phone you already have a set price so why do I need a quote, she said your bid might be less than the set price.

So i asked her what store is it and what is the sq footage she gave me their set price for it I just started to laugh so hard he hung up on me.

I get that from the flood repair guys out there. They are billing according to Exactimate, but they want me to work for half without any minumum charges for just cleaning a single room. Just doesn't work that way.

it gets better with clean way

not only do you get to clean at cheap rate but they want you to have top rate insurance with millions in liability $$$$$

When I first started I did a jewelry store at the mall and I never got paid. It was a great lesson

  

ODIN wrote:it gets better with clean way

not only do you get to clean at cheap rate but they want you to have top rate insurance with millions in liability $$$$$

That doesn't seem very fair, but I have to carry a 2m policy due to the commercial work that I do now...just part of the show. In fact, I am even insured against a terrorist attack!! You know, if there are a group of bad guys out there in a cave trying to target me and my van...forget it, I am covered. What can I say, it was like 12 bucks a year, it was worth it just to tell it to those customers that ask if I am well insured.

Jumbo jet crashes into the rug shop....covered.

ODIN wrote:I get called by cleanway a few times a year it's always about a store in the mall. They want me to go look at it and give them a quote.

I asked the lady on the phone you already have a set price so why do I need a quote, she said your bid might be less than the set price.

So i asked her what store is it and what is the sq footage she gave me their set price for it I just started to laugh so hard he hung up on me.

That exact thing happen to me yesterday. Mall store, wet mop 4000sf for $150. I told her, "sorry, I'm worth more than that". Click.

milspec6 wrote:  

ODIN wrote:it gets better with clean way

not only do you get to clean at cheap rate but they want you to have top rate insurance with millions in liability $$$$$

That doesn't seem very fair, but I have to carry a 2m policy due to the commercial work that I do now...just part of the show.  In fact, I am even insured against a terrorist attack!!  You know, if there are a group of bad guys out there in a cave trying to target me and my van...forget it, I am covered.  What can I say, it was like 12 bucks a year, it was worth it just to tell it to those customers that ask if I am well insured.  

Jumbo jet crashes into the rug shop....covered.

I'm with ya brotha!.............it pays to be insured, well, someday it will.    And in the mean time, no prob getting those commercial jobs, that require it.   

I had a local Nuclear Waste company carpet account  100,000 SF per year spread out 2 nights per week, I bid 22 cents and won the bid next year comes I bid the same and some company bids 10 cents they were 1 hour away. Following week they call and ask me to do it for them at 5 cents. I laughed and said your going to lose money at 10 cents. They lasted 3 months.

I was doing the local Applebees for years. Very high volume beach store during the Summer. $300 for two and half hours of deep grease removal every week at 5:00am from May - September than monthly the rest of the year. They got bought by a large franchise and went to a once a month schedule starting at midnight, with another company who charged $175. When they called me back the following year after they got new carpets, I did it a couple of times and then told them they would need to find someone else. Because of the frequency and the traffic it was taking four to five hours - starting at midnight - for 40% less.  :thumbs down: 

ya commercial can be good, but man I hear all the time about just cut rate super competitive work. Sometimes just doesnt seem worth it.

Someone out there will do it cheaper and find a way with pure paint thinner or something

Another classic case of OO vs BNC.
As a supplier, I only serve OOs.
I haven't sold to a franchise in years.
there are some BNCs who are also OO but they're rare. I will serve this type of BNC as much as I can; but not the classic BNC for sure.

To my knowledge, the only suppliers who sell to franchises are the retail box store types, Big Name Suppliers, 'BNS' if you will.
Boycott BNSs and there will be no BNCs.
OOs will get to pick & choose who they work for and of course they will draw top pay for their stellar service.
This is not just a dream of mine is it?????????????

Joe Bristor wrote:Another classic case of OO vs BNC.
As a supplier, I only serve OOs.
I haven't sold to a franchise in years.
there are some BNCs who are also OO but they're rare. I will serve this  type of BNC as much as I can; but not the classic BNC for sure.

To my knowledge, the only suppliers who sell to franchises are the retail box store types, Big Name Suppliers, 'BNS' if you will.
Boycott BNSs and there will be no BNCs.
OOs will get to pick & choose who they work for and of course they will draw top pay for their stellar service.
This is not just a dream of mine is it?????????????

I don't think so. I'm with ya! Even if it is a dream, the ones that experience it live in a fresh reality.   

I could tell you all so many stories, true stories, from Real Cleaners, OOs,  who 'confide' in me... who I beg to come tell their story... but they never do.
Like all those guys who've told me they were walking in (to the BNS) to buy some juice, and the BNC was walking out with the same juice. I saw what he paid and it was way less than what I had to pay. Why is that?
Answer: Because you let it happen.
All you have to do to FIX it is find the manufacturer and buy direct from them.
I teach you guys what little I know.
Like liquid peroxide instead of powdered peroxide.
Like powdered reducing agents instead of liquids.
Like concentrated glacial acetic or Dupont's Hydroxyacetic.
Like drum pricing and free financing and pay-as-you-go usage.
Where's the other suppliers, the big boys who dwarf me? Why aren't they doing what I'm doing?
Why are you still doing business with them?
Like call me to save on equipment you'd normally pay retail for.
Like networking with other RCs in your area,
like breaking down the walls of separation that BNSs have put in your path.
like taking the initiative in promoting owner operatorship in your communities.
like several companies sharing booths at Home Shows instead of individually selfishly promoting their own damned selves.
Like speaking the truth and shaming the Devil.
Like thinking like your mother and grandmother think.
Would they want a stranger in their home or business or would rather have a regular guy, the same guy, the guy who knows the kids and the pets?
The guy who knows where the breakers are. The team that gets it done fast & efficiently; that same team that was there last time?
Do they get any of this with BNCs (Franchises)?

ACpower1 wrote:ya commercial can be good,  but man I hear all the time about just cut rate super competitive work.    Sometimes just doesnt seem worth it.

Someone out there will do it cheaper and find a way with pure paint thinner or something

About 90% of my work is commercial and the secret is that you can't go head to head on price. If the only thing that really seperates one company from the other is price, then the lowest one wins every time. You have to offer something that the other guys do not and I am not talking about what kind of machine you use or the wands or even the chemistry. To a commercial client, they don't care and rarely understand the difference between those things.

What you have to do is set yourself apart by making the personal connection...just as you need to do on residentials. Time and time again, I see cleaners bid on commercials like a robot, pretending to be some company giant like General Electric instead of just being themselves.

I don't just get my contracts, I make sure that I keep them by becoming more of a co-worker than a contractor. Take the time to connect! If you can't tell me about your client (first and last name, hobbies, any kids, etc.) then I can easily take your contract. People want to work with people that they like, not just who is the cheapest. I have one that prides himself on being a "semi-professional break dancer" which I nearly spit up my soda trying not to laugh at first, but I took the time while the waste tank was draining to share a coffee with this guy as he told me about his recent competition. A little odd, but we become more of a co-worker at that point instead of just another contractor. He know brings me the coffee when the tank is draining and talks about all the workplace drama from the week, just like we worked for the same place....which we do.

Sure, they could drop me and hire someone cheaper to save some money, but they would be firing a co-worker that they like which is much harder to do than some lifeless company that sends them invoices with a "thank you, we appreciate your business" under the heading. Be yourself more and the corporation / business less and you will get and hold your commercial accounts.

milspec6 wrote:

ACpower1 wrote:ya commercial can be good,  but man I hear all the time about just cut rate super competitive work.    Sometimes just doesnt seem worth it.

Someone out there will do it cheaper and find a way with pure paint thinner or something

About 90% of my work is commercial and the secret is that you can't go head to head on price.  If the only thing that really seperates one company from the other is price, then the lowest one wins every time.  You have to offer something that the other guys do not and I am not talking about what kind of machine you use or the wands or even the chemistry.  To a commercial client, they don't care and rarely understand the difference between those things.

What you have to do is set yourself apart by making the personal connection...just as you need to do on residentials.  Time and time again, I see cleaners bid on commercials like a robot, pretending to be some company giant like General Electric instead of just being themselves.

I don't just get my contracts, I make sure that I keep them by becoming more of a co-worker than a contractor.  Take the time to connect!  If you can't tell me about your client (first and last name, hobbies, any kids, etc.) then I can easily take your contract.  People want to work with people that they like, not just who is the cheapest.  I have one that prides himself on being a "semi-professional break dancer" which I nearly spit up my soda trying not to laugh at first, but I took the time while the waste tank was draining to share a coffee with this guy as he told me about his recent competition.  A little odd, but we become more of a co-worker at that point instead of just another contractor.  He know brings me the coffee when the tank is draining and talks about all the workplace drama from the week, just like we worked for the same place....which we do.

Sure, they could drop me and hire someone cheaper to save some money, but they would be firing a co-worker that they like which is much harder to do than some lifeless company that sends them invoices with a "thank you, we appreciate your business" under the heading.  Be yourself more and the corporation / business less and you will get and hold your commercial accounts.

Well Said.

I attended a meeting at BIOLA university this past monday night and the speaker was Dan Caffey of Chik-Fila' (the Caffey family owns Chik-Fila').

In a nut shell that company was built on and continues to grow by making that personal connection.

They open at least 80 stores a year. As he spoke about the plans for the company I noticed there wasn't one mention of the competition. It was almost like they operate in a vacuum. Just them and their customers.

I was convicted. I am not on the truck anymore but I'm not sure I have emphasized enough to my guys about making that personal connection.

Thanks for the reminder.

Twice in one week. I think somebody is trying to tell me something

Well there it is. the most important thing you could learn from this or any other forum. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. The 5 minutes you spend with your customer/client as they are cutting the check are the 5 most important minutes of you business day. Millspec is a genius. Thank you for putting into words what I do naturally but failed to realize how very very important it is. Realize this: you are in their homes, in their bedroom, in their kids rooms, in their corporate offices. By building relationships you are building trust. The cornerstone of success. Spend that extra 5 minutes. Listen, listen, listen, observe, observe, observe. Example from the other day: "Is that a Datsun 240Z in the garage? I used to have one, I miss that car so much...................." Talked for 10 minutes about adjusting the air intake on dual SU carbs. I attended a local viewing of a live Ted Talks topic a couple of weeks ago. A speaker was talking about how to accomplish a lot during a public policy meeting. "Spend the 1st half of the meeting socializing she said, you will accomplish more in the last half than you would if you did not, you have built trust and relationships". It's not about the method, price or results of you cleaning, it's about you and the way you relate to your clients. Millspec is a Jedi of carpet cleaning, we are just Padawans....

eldiabloz wrote:Well there it is. the most important thing you could learn from this or any other forum. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. The 5 minutes you spend with your customer/client as they are cutting the check are the 5 most important minutes of you business day. Millspec is a genius. Thank you for putting into words what I do naturally but failed to realize how very very important it is. Realize this: you are in their homes, in their bedroom, in their kids rooms, in their corporate offices. By building relationships you are building trust. The cornerstone of success. Spend that extra 5 minutes. Listen, listen, listen, observe, observe, observe. Example from the other day: "Is that a Datsun 240Z in the garage? I used to have one, I miss that car so much...................." Talked for 10 minutes about adjusting the air intake on dual SU carbs. I attended a local viewing of a live Ted Talks topic a couple of weeks ago. A speaker was talking about how to accomplish a lot during  a public policy meeting. "Spend the 1st half of the meeting socializing she said, you will accomplish more in the last half than you would if you did not, you have built trust and relationships". It's not about the method, price or results of you cleaning, it's about you and the way you relate to your clients. Millspec is a Jedi of carpet cleaning, we are just Padawans....

Doubly hard for those of us sending employees into the field to do the work for us.

Then you have to make absolutely sure that whomever is answering your phones is engaging, kind and personable. Then you might wan't to have a mini seminar of your own design to inform your employees how important this is. If you are giving in home estimates- that is your chance. Follow up phone calls- that is another chance. It is harder but doable.