What in the heck does Surdi have going on up there?

[Mikey P]

Have to hand it to Ben


Feels like I see his want ad for a new tech every month..


Got to say, I'm impressed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:::::::::::: Top Paid Carpet Cleaning Technician Hiring :::::::::::::: (Woodinville)
compensation: 25/hr +



Carpet Cleaners $30/hour +
PURECLEAN - Woodinville, WA & South King County

Our average technicians earn $50K a year and our top techs earn over $80K. Holy cow right!

Utilizing our top-secret (okay exclusive) technology Deionized Water, PURECLEAN is Seattle's fastest growing carpet cleaner. We also clean tile and grout, upholstery and air ducts. We have achieved our "top" status by creating raving fans.

How do we do this? You! Our employees make the difference. But hey, who doesn't make this claim? We have proof!

** Best Of Western Washington
** AngiesList shows us as being the highest rated company IN WASHINGTON
** We have a 5 Star Rating on YELP

If you are looking for a great workplace with great pay PURECLEANâ„¢ is the place for you.

Okay enough patting ourselves on the back . . . here are the details. We seek Lead Cleaning Technicians responsible for creating our raving fans. You examine each job and then lay out a plan to tackle the customer's cleaning needs.

Of course you are paid while we train you on both our top-secret cleaning process as well as the not-so-top-secret way we our commitment to outstanding customer service maximizes your earnings.

Yes, this is a sales oriented position with great earning potential. Don't let the "sales" aspect scare you off. We insist that you only offer the customer what is needed--no hard sell allowed.

Our ideal employee is . . .
** Optimistic and passionate--Energetic and enthusiastic - a people person
** Interested in a five day work-week
** An excellent communicator (not too slick though)
** Committed to outstanding customer service
** Has previous carpet cleaning experience (certifications a plus)

What do you need?
** Let's start with a clean driving record
** Previous Carpet Cleaning Experience
** We're a drug-free workplace--so pass our free pre-employment drug test!
** Clean criminal background check
** Ability to lift 50 pounds all by yourself
** We clean 5-6 days a week so you'll need to be flexible about weekends at times.

http://www.purecleanseattle.com/

 

[Mike Draper]

zero rez sent me a letter ssaying they were going to sue me if I didnt get rid of the term "no residue" in my advertising becuase I was confusing potential clients. How does surdi deal with this, I'm sure he has?

 

[Jim Pemberton]

zero rez sent me a letter ssaying they were going to sue me if I didnt get rid of the term "no residue" in my advertising becuase I was confusing potential clients. How does surdi deal with this, I'm sure he has?

Mike, call me about this this week, please. There are a number of important industry issues involved here.

800-342-2297' ext 107

 

[Mikey P]

Did you comply?

 

[FredC]

zero rez sent me a letter ssaying they were going to sue me if I didnt get rid of the term "no residue"

seems like there is no way that would hold up.....the term was used, although not as often as I would have thought, in the industry before zerorez existed..............much less used the term in commerce

Take Extraction II here for instance:
http://americansanitarysupply.com/content/American-Sanitary-Catalog.pdf

search
https://www.google.com/search?q="no+residue"+carpet+cleaning&es_sm=93&biw=1920&bih=961&source=lnt&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:7/1/1970,cd_max:7/22/2000&tbm=#tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:7/1/1970,cd_max:7/22/2000&q="no+residue"+"carpet+cleaning"

I'm sure there are plenty of hard copy references out there in old trade mags

They do have a trademark though






I'm assuming they sent a letter to everyone they could contact using the phrase........most will comply.............this makes it difficult to find people that may have been using the term prior to zerorez because they essentially scrub the net of the phrase

<not a lawyer

 

[Russ T.]

Wow!

I like to give the guy some crap probably because he rarely engages here and has occasionally come of as less than genuine.

Assuming the hiring is due to growth and not high turnover, I think I was wrong.

Very impressive $urdi!

 

[FredC]

Just out of curiosity I spent a few minutes looking around and it appears "no residue" was actually quite common prior to Zerorez saying they used it in commerce

not sure if that means anything though....................not a lawyer


https://web.archive.org/web/20010419185431/http://www.therugscrubber.com/ 03/2001 (actually claims "no residue" in sidebar)

https://web.archive.org/web/20031005030057/http://carlsoncarpet.com/residential_carpet_cleaning.htm 10/2003

http://www.baneclene.com/articles/resoiling.html 1999

https://web.archive.org/web/20030210080327/http://1stopcarpetcleaning.com/sealer.html 02/2003

https://web.archive.org/web/20030522033840/http://www.denaliclean.com/ 05/2003

https://web.archive.org/web/20000916182423/http://www.1800drycarpet.com/detergent_residue.htm 09/2000

seems like the ZR trademark should have been rejected as "Descriptive for the goods/services"

 

[Papa John]

zero rez sent me a letter ssaying they were going to sue me if I didnt get rid of the term "no residue" in my advertising becuase I was confusing potential clients. How does surdi deal with this, I'm sure he has?

IMO I don't think Zero Rez has a patient or trademark on the words- "no residue"-- they might be bluffing you-- besides I don't think anyone can legally guarantee No residue.

 

[FredC]

IMO I don't think Zero Rez has a patient or trademark on the words- "no residue"-- they might be bluffing you-- besides I don't think anyone can legally guarantee No residue.

 

[Papa John]

wow! I stand corrected.-- Glad I never used the term.

Fred-- I'm impressed with Your Intelligence! Are you one of those Alien reptile humanoids- wackos talk about?

 

[Desk Jockey]

The problem is they have deep pockets and can afford to make you defend yourself ($$) if they want that term .

 

[Mike Draper]

Yes I complied. It now says " free from residue". Lol. They lost 2 large big ticket clients to me within a month or so period. Over 30k a year they lost. They begged for the work back and the companies responded that I do the work now and it's much better. I honestly think this is the reason they targeted me. Funny thing is, the one facility I clean quarterly has almost impossible water hookups which they said they required. I guess the magical fairy water just means till they run out, then it's hard tap water.

 

[Mike Draper]

Thanks Jim pemberton. I'll call you Tuesday.

 

[bensurdi]

How did this turn into a zerorez post lol.

 

[hogjowl]

How did this turn into a zerorez post lol.

Because it's Mikeys B0ard.

 

[Mikey P]

How did this turn into a zerorez post lol.

turn it back around Ben



tell us how you've grown to this point..

 

[bensurdi]

Well, there is a lot that can be said to answer that question.

#1. Build a unique, high end brand
#2. Be different
#3. Create a service experience that allows you to charge more $$ so you can use that $$ to reinvest back into the company for future growth
#4. Do Monday sales meetings with your team and Wednesday production meetings with your whole company
#5. Make it fun for your employees to work - create contests, etc and promote a good energy throughout.
#6. Use the best equipment and products available

Ok enough with the numbers...

I basically just always focused on branding, marketing and then built on that and recently have gotten more and more aggressive with my marketing systems to drive in more and more jobs. All of my marketing is very calculated, I run a lot of different campaigns and have call tracking #'s for everything so I know what works.

I could blab on but i'm very blessed to have a good team of people working for me and to have gotten this far - we're excited to see what the next few years bring.

 

[hogjowl]

If I do all of that, will I still have time for a nap?

 

[bensurdi]

We could make sure you have plenty of time for naps Marty.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Sure, need one of these

 

[bensurdi]

Well if it has any measure, i worked my ass off for the last 5 years on building PureClean and now I don't need to be there. I get to go to work by choice not by obligation so there is definately room for sleeping, fishing, vacations, working another business, etc.

 

[Mikey P]

Ben, you're the first company that I've seen from the boards that wants to hire employees with prior experience.

I figure it can take up six months getting a guy with none ready to roll on his own


How many months does it take to undo bad habits learned from the past company?

 

[Mikey P]

4. Do Monday sales meetings with your team and Wednesday production meetings with your whole company

can you elaborate on each please..

 

[thecleaningdude]

Not to digress....but does the word 'residue' actually resonate with people? I rarely, if ever, here customers use the term.

 

[Desk Jockey]

How many months does it take to undo bad habits learned from the past company?

In my experience you can't ever undo what has been done for years or decades. they listen, acknowledge what you want but that only lasts so long and eventually they fall back to what they know.

 

[Brian H]

I totally agree Richard!!

Oh and you forgot about the part where they tell you that you are doing it all wrong...

The last guy I hired with any experience was about 10 years ago. Even though I knew better, I did it anyways. That hire helped to reinforce why we don't hire experienced cleaners.

 

[Desk Jockey]

The last guy I hired with any experience was about 10 years ago. Even though I knew better, I did it anyways. That hire helped to reinforce why we don't hire experienced cleaners.

Same here, about the same length of time too.

He was actually a very skilled technician but had been taught to clean at 250 psi and had some strange drying ideas for wdr. No matter what you turned the unit up to, when it came back it was at 250. LOL

We didn't let him go he moved back to his home state after 3-months. I wish he would have stayed longer but he was definitely not listening. We were too busy with mold remediation at the time and I think he got caught in the shuffle. We didn't take advantage of what he did know, he was highly trained in hard surface work. He had spent time with Fred Hueston and knew marble and stone.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Seems to be doing great!
Thought he posted a pic of the new porsche he just bought.

Wouldnt recommend being too hands off tho, just like building up comes brick by brick... death comes from a thousand cuts!
Never one thing either way but the sum of your daily actions.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Wouldnt recommend being too hands off tho, just like building up comes brick by brick... death comes from a thousand cuts!

I agree. You better have a good manager with some skin in the game or you are asking for trouble.

 

[bensurdi]

My manager gets paid a salary with KPI bonuses paid off of gross profit so he's got skin in the game.