Cleanfax - January 2012
Q A ASK CLEANFAX Cleaning and restoration questions asked and answered Once in a while we get an advertisement from Groupon featuring a competitor of mine offering a super cheap carpet cleaning deal I know I should just ask him how it works for his company but Im not sure how he would receive my question Is this marketing approach something I should look at Barbara Cincinnati OH Q Since its inception Groupon has become a hot topic for many industries from hair salons to restaurants and yes even to carpet cleaners Using a marketing platform such as Groupon and realize there are many others but Groupon is definitely the leader at this time means you can instantly get your message in front of thousands of potential buyers via e mail All it takes is a little online research and you see that all major markets have seen an influx of carpet cleaning specials and deals Some consumer responses You can instantly get your message in front of thousands of potential buyers have been amazing with hundreds of purchases made in one day In some locations this has approached a thousand purchases Yes this means that a carpet cleaning company becomes busy very quickly and had better be in a position to handle the huge increase in work A onetruck operator will find himself in quite a pickle if he suddenly has hundreds of Ive bid some carpet cleaning jobs at a few area school districts but its been virtually impossible to get the work Is there a secret to this Richard San Diego CA Q Many commercial jobs like this are tough to get because they are based more on price than quality Thats not to say you cant earn these contracts at a lower price and still deliver quality But schools like other civil and government entities are required to go through the bidding process This means some of the submitted bids will be so low that you wont be able to compete So there are no secrets just a realization that you must be very competitive with this demographic Using some of your traditional cleaning methods and techniques might not have a place with schools as you must increase production significantly You should analyze if it is part of the market you even wish to pursue Q Have a question for us Ask at Cleanfax com Experts or JCross@ NTPMedia com 10 CM Cleanfax JAnuary 2012 CLEANFAX COM new customers all wanting the 19 one room deal done by Friday But the real value of Groupon isnt the deal you offer since the revenue you receive might just cover your costs of doing the job The real value is in the upsells doing extra rooms and landing new customers for future work Should you look at this marketing approach Its always smart to investigate various methods to grow your business If you need more customers and can handle the workload that a Groupon campaign can generate and you run the type of business that touts quality and repeat customers this may work for you as the goal is long term growth and not simply getting a bunch of jobs at once But if you work based on quantity and think that Groupon jobs will generate a lot of revenue for your company dont do it You will face an uphill battle to make this worth your while When I do some commercial carpet cleaning jobs such as hallways in apartment buildings where tenants put down small plastic backed mats I often find a yellowing problem underneath which is impossible to remove Is there anything I can do Josh Coeur dAlene ID Theres nothing more frustrating than a problem in a carpet that you cant fix And thats no doubt what you have here According to carpet inspectors who see this condition this is most likely a condition known as plasticizer migration What happens is that oils in the vinyl backing of the mat leach into the flooring including carpet and VCT Common fibers that suffer from this are olefin and polyester both known as oil loving fibers But it can affect nylon as well especially if the mat is down over a long period of time You can try some aggressive cleaning using a citrus solvent degreaser and an oxygen booster but the staining from this is often permanent and theres not much you can do With this knowledge you can inform the customer before cleaning what to expect Dont inherit the problem CF
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
