Military Veteran Carpet Cleaner vs. The Competition
Spotless Flooring is owned and operated by a Military Veteran Carpet Cleaner. We are in Houston, which is saturated with competition. For years we have strived to raise the bar in service and quality of our services. Upon meeting another cleaner from a different company, we have been reassured that our techniques, philosophy, and capabilities are beyond what the competition is offering. Here is the story.
In some of my off-work time I came across another carpet cleaner. Though, I would not refer to this cleaner as a floor care expert. Through a few conversations over a few weeks I learned a lot about how his company operates. It was surprising, disappointing, and reassuring all at the same time.
I showed my new acquaintance our cleaning van and equipment. His first reaction when I opened the doors was “Wow, this thing is really organized!” And he was right, we have done a lot of small things to keep our equipment and supplies well organized. Then he showed me a picture of the back of his van which consisted of a few small pieces of equipment covered with some hoses all just thrown into the van. Simply put, it was messy and dirty.
I asked him if he knew what all the equipment was he was looking at. His reaction was confusion. As another so called cleaning professional, he didn’t have a clue what most of our equipment was or why we might use it. This was the disappointing part.
And when he spotted our vacuum bright and shining, he asked if we vacuum. “Of course we vacuum and then we use the little crevice tool to vacuum along the edge of walls and around furniture” I said. He responded, telling me “We just tell the customers to vacuum before we get there.” This was also disappointing to hear.
His explanation for the cleaning processes used by his company left me in shock. He told me how short and simple the cleaning procedures were. I went on to explain to him why we do so much more and the effects of each detail.
Him: Yea, we just tell the customer to vacuum before we get there. We go in and spray the carpet with our sprayer then run the hoses in and start steam cleaning.
Me: Right, no vacuuming. We still vacuum every home because far to many homes claim to vacuum or to have a maid service vacuum and yet the carpet still has loads of debris. We know from experience that more often than not the carpet is not properly vacuumed. So we still do it regardless. Then we pre-treat, agitate, extract, place fans, and close the deal.
Him: Ohhh, yea that makes a lot of since. What do you mean by agitate?
Me: You’ve never scrubbed the carpet with any kind of machine? Not even like a floor buffer of any sort?
Him: No. How does that make a difference?
Me: Well imagine washing your hair. You pour soap onto your head and then just rinse it out. Without working it into your hair and moving it around, your hair will still be dirty. The scrubbing part makes a big difference because it works in the cleaning solutions but even more, it breaks loose debris that is lodged into the fibers that not even household vacuums can remove. This makes the rinsing process more effective and with less effort.
Him: Now I see why yall charge so much more than we do. You must be spending a lot more time on each job too.
Me: It usually takes us about an hour an forty five minutes to clean 3 bedrooms and a hall. How long does it usually take you guys?
Him: We would probably spend forty five minutes cleaning that.
Me: Wow, I have so much to teach you!
At this point in our conversation I realized that the cleaner I was conversing with lived in a different world. Where he may clean five homes a day, I may only complete two or three. The difference is that I know I’ll be leaving a few homes very clean with very happy clients. As a military veteran carpet cleaner in the competitive city of Houston, we all have different ways of getting along and selling our services. His company survives through lower prices (lower quality service) and my company survives through providing great service (at a higher price).
