Thoughts on why IICRC non insurance driven classes and certs are down?

[Jim Pemberton]

I found myself unwillingly skip reading Jim’s post. I had to force myself to read it.
I’d have the same difficulty sitting through an IICRC class.

You're right Marty

It was a rant, and when I write rants they end up just being verbose sermons.

Let me improve it:

A class that would teach you what to do when you clean carpet in the real world is worth a lot more money than one that tries to teach you to be a half a**ed chemist and textile expert, and doesn't do that well either.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I love Dr. Seuss

I thought you just liked the pictures.

 

[Jimmy L]

I heard they canceled some of those Dr. Suess books.
People were offended I think?

 

[Mikey P]

Give Meg a raise.

I always do

 

[Cleanworks]

I heard they canceled some of those Dr. Suess books.
People were offended I think?

The owl and the pussy, I mean, come on now, you want kids reading that?

 

[hogjowl]

What’s the problem with pictures?

 

[Trip Moses]

Ive been asked by some Board members to share my thoughts on why carpet, uph, rugs, odor, color etc, (non insurance mandatory) courses are down dramatically.

my replies have been:


-Very few Millennials are applying to jobs that involve actual work. Especially ones that involve dealing with piss, shit and selling to mother figures.

-Those that do, take two days to figure out that there are 1000's of other ways to make $16 an hour.

- A few companies have enough "culture", higher end client bases and can pay $20 + an hour to attract and keep a few hard workers around, but are most likely being trained in house (YTU, *** etc) for the first two years to prove commitment.

-Most IICRC teachers are can not keep millennials awake and involved so the reputation of the classes/cert suffer badly. Tom Cermak and Shawn B are the only two that bring a good amount of props to class from what I can see.
The IICRC needs to set up learning centers around the country, Vegas, Chicago, Dallas, East Coast that can be used by various teachers. These centers need to be homes or simulated homes that have all flooring and furnishing options installed, showers, counters, rugs, pet urine, mdf, oxy bleach stains, fume fading, delamination, corn rowing, soil filtration, spotter residue etc all waiting for the students. So far they have left this up to the schools, who have failed to pull it off, with the exception of a few Stone schools, who are not involved with the IICRC, yet...

- Provide continuing value to being a certified Techs or Firms. Firms should get access to (all) online standards as well as cheap online classes and testing for unproven new hires, Owner Op/techs should get serious discounts and BOTH should get my Consumer Info App.



What do you got?

Until someone pays a Senator enough to make the IICRC a government organization. Joe Polish will will out earn them.

 

[Mikey P]

Until someone pays a Senator enough to make the IICRC a government organization. Joe Polish will will out earn them.

Polish has been out of the cleaning industry for quite some time there young fella

 

[Trip Moses]

Polish has been out of the cleaning industry for quite some time there young fella

Still has a marketing podcast. It’s all about sales in the end. IICRC doesn’t have a marketable product.

 

[Walrus Gumboot]

All sarcasm will now be purple...

I think all of Mike's post should be in RED.
I'm sure he would agree.

 

[hogjowl]

You bet

 

[darcie smith]

I think you can make a "lowly" carpet cleaning class worth 1500.00:

What's it worth to know how to keep out of trouble?

How to talk to people like a sane human being (You know, Mikey's "minty fresh breath" routine)

To understand not just low moisture, but OP versus CRB?

All the stains and stinks that you can get out, and that you can't, and why?

How to work in a real world environment and not demolish the place or look like an idiot tripping over things?

Preventing all the damage that gets done to driveways, hard surface floors, furnishings, walls and on from stupid things you don't know how not to do until you do them

How to talk at an intelligent level about cleaning products, carpets, and soil without sounding like a half a** chemist.

You guys can keep the list going, but you can't learn this for 200.00 through a Zoom Meeting or "Death by Powerpoint"

There just has to be the will to do it, and mostly the decision not to try to do it at a supply house and not to have it taught by someone who isn't nearly qualified.

Sounds like you should put together that course… I’ll help you. We’ll be the new Mikey and Meg

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Sounds like you should put together that course… I’ll help you. We’ll be the new Mikey and Meg

Thank you Darcie

I take the offer seriously, and I'll be thinking on how to make that happen.

 

[Mikey P]

Thank you Darcie

I take the offer seriously, and I'll be thinking on how to make that happen.

 

[Nomad74]

We’ll be the new Mikey and Meg

Who?

 

[hogjowl]

Stay in your own little universe Damon.
There’s less ego there.

 

[FB7777]

View attachment 110797

I picked a helluva time to quit being Friday Night Crowley

 

[Mikey P]

So the big question is and one that hasn't neen addressed in this thread, how do we attract new energetic vibrant and very knowledgeable and experienced teachers to the IICRC?


Number one, allow for niche instructors ..a guy that just wants to teach Stone shouldn't. need to be certified in color, odor, carpet stretching and rug washing...

 

[Jim Pemberton]

So the big question is and one that hasn't neen addressed in this thread, how do we attract new energetic vibrant and very knowledgeable and experienced teachers to the IICRC?


Number one, allow for niche instructors ..a guy that just wants to teach Stone shouldn't. need to be certified in color, odor, carpet stretching and rug washing...

Sorry Marty, verbose rant coming:

The roadblocks to be becoming an instructor made back in the days when I was there were nearly impossible to get by.

It was easy to see that it was done to prevent otherwise qualified people from competing with the existing instructor base. The color repair class (one that shouldn’t have existed) was nearly impossible to qualify to teach, but required for cleansers to get Master Cleaner Status.

So few instructors taught classes that everyone had to take to get their highest status.

Oh....and the existing “blessed few” were grandfathered in and didn’t have to meet the new stringent requirements

Mike, do all you can to change this.

 

[BIG WOOD]

View attachment 110797

He said he only trains one person at a time, and his class is almost sold out. LOL

 

[Mikey P]

He said he only trains one person at a time, and his class is almost sold out. LOL

Hilarious

 

[Mikey P]

Bryan Thomson should be here shortly with plentyOpinion...

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Do master mechanics have to paint cars?

The expression "jack of all trades, master of NONE" comes to mind.

 

[FB7777]

Sorry Marty, verbose rant coming:

The roadblocks to be becoming an instructor made back in the days when I was there were nearly impossible to get by.

It was easy to see that it was done to prevent otherwise qualified people from competing with the existing instructor base. The color repair class (one that shouldn’t have existed) was nearly impossible to qualify to teach, but required for cleansers to get Master Cleaner Status.

So few instructors taught classes that everyone had to take to get their highest status.

Oh....and the existing “blessed few” were grandfathered in and didn’t have to meet the new stringent requirements

Mike, do all you can to change this.

Guys like Heiferman are walking dildos that feed the ’students’ the answers


probably because they were so busy wiping off his spit while he was teaching


makes sense that he calls himself a snake

 

[High Functioning Stoner]

Please bare with me on this long post but this is a very important subject that I believe if not addressed fully, will stifle and hurt the next generation of professional cleaners.

All the comments have very valid and pertinent statements about the lack of relevancy the IICRC certifications have towards promoting your business.
However, that doesn’t negate the fact that training especially “hands on” adds tremendous value to your business.
Especially if that training adds true value /$$$$ by increasing your service menu.

Also, not staying relevant on new materials and cleaning issues like Porcelain wear layer issues (water stains) LVP & LVT, engineered stone (quartz’s) has contributed to the lack of interest in IICRC certification.

With all that said, it still doesn’t answer the question, “how do I stay on top of my game” and build a strong brand and repeat customer base ?
We all know it starts with offering quality service at a fair price, but not expanding your business/ service menu means you’re limited to how much money you can make at each stop.

“Niche” services like granite countertop reconditioning and re-caulking backsplash and under mount sinks, is an automatic money maker with very little tooling expense.

The O/O “old timers” are comfortable in their business model and don’t need, or want to change their service menu; and if that works for them there’s nothing wrong with the “same old same old”.
What I’m trying to convey is….what about the next generation of professional cleaners ?

The IICRC needs to understand that they must change their “mindset “ on not only how to train the next generation, but also how to bring relevance back to the certification process.

I believe this can be done by including certification class specific to those niche services and “problem solving” that can increase your bottom line on every job.
And that combined with how to properly educate/ sell the customer on those services is an absolute necessity in becoming a successful business, and bringing relevancy to the IICRC certification.

I know there is much, much more to creating and running a successful cleaning and restoration business; but in my opinion it must include “new services “ that your competitors aren’t qualified to do and aren’t marketing to their customers.

I say all that to say this……More “real world” relevant hands on…..less theory, and a more varied class format where you learn procedural techniques in a classroom setting in 1-2 hr blocks, and then go immediately to a hands on setting to apply the knowledge learned before you forget or fall asleep in class.

Just my 2 cents and I hope it makes sense

 

[hogjowl]

You started off correctly.

 

[Cleanworks]

You started off correctly.

No he didn't. He misspelled bear.

 

[hogjowl]

Other than that, he was fine all the way up to the first comma.

 

[Dolly Llama]

The O/O “old timers” are comfortable in their business model and don’t need, or want to change their service menu; and if that works for them there’s nothing wrong with the “same old same old”.
What I’m trying to convey is….what about the next generation of professional cleaners ?

what about them?
I'd expect they'll do same as the youngest generation here now do.
Guy's like Damon, Trip, Matt, Chris A and other O/Ops currently growing past their capacity now

Why won't the next gen be the same?

Or are you predicting there won't be enough carpet, uph, rug and "normal" hard floors to clean, that they'll need to offer more services like stainless appliance restoration and caulking sinks to thrive like the Gen X'ers I mentioned above?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for education. "knowledge is power"
and anyone considering selling a service need be educated before so.

Lemmie ask, I "presume" you're a natural stone guy and not a Steveo
Is that your primary biz focus or do you clean more carpet, rugs and upl?


lastly, do you have anything to sell us?
(classes, products, etc)
not that there's anything wrong with that (fo-reel)

just curious if the "need" you're suggesting is predicated on zeal, personal biz experience or sales to CC'ers

Thanks
shut up Marty


..L.T.A.

 

[Mikey P]

what about them?
I'd expect they'll do same as the youngest generation here now do.
Guy's like Damon, Trip, Matt, Chris A and other O/Ops currently growing past their capacity now

Why won't the next gen be the same?

Or are you predicting there won't be enough carpet, uph, rug and "normal" hard floors to clean, that they'll need to offer more services like stainless appliance restoration and caulking sinks to thrive like the Gen X'ers I mentioned above?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for education. "knowledge is power"
and anyone considering selling a service need be educated before so.

Lemmie ask, I "presume" you're a natural stone guy and not a Steveo
Is that your primary biz focus or do you clean more carpet, rugs and upl?


lastly, do you have anything to sell us?
(classes, products, etc)
not that there's anything wrong with that (fo-reel)

just curious if the "need" you're suggesting is predicated on zeal, personal biz experience or sales to CC'ers

Thanks
shut up Marty


..L.T.A.

Bryan is my partner in crime @ our hard surface course