Does the IICRC offer you or your customers any value?

[Bob Foster]

Lots of questions surrounding the IICRC these days.

In its present form does the IICRC offer any value to you or your own customers?

Name one change that would make it more valuable to you.

and

Name one change that would make it of more value to your customers.


Have you lost confidence or trust in the IICRC that it is acting in your interests?

 

[Ken Snow]

Lots of questions surrounding the IICRC these days.

In its present form does the IICRC offer any value to you or your own customers?
Not really, other than some remedial education that could be done without iicrc
Name one change that would make it more valuable to you.
hands on
and

Name one change that would make it of more value to your customers.
probably nothing except customers may benefit

Have you lost confidence or trust in the IICRC that it is acting in your interests?

many years ago

 

[Desk Jockey]

Yes it acts as a locator for potential customers. Too bad for me that its been more than a decade since I received a referal.

They would have more value if they could weed out some of the low lives that use the logo, but don't clean to any standards.

 

[KevinL]

The classes leading up to the tests give us some benefit but the IICRC itself, NO. We are just threatened by the CRI that we have to be certified to clean some carpets. Sounds like extortion to me.

 

[Shorty]

I no longer get upset or angry with the iicrc.

I enjoyed doing most of the courses that were sanctioned by them.

I was also a "certified firm" for a couple of years.

During the time I was with them, I never received one single referral.

Then I figured, as long as I have learnt what to do, why bother being a member of an orgy that appears not to care for the people that own it............... the members.

So I stopped paying my dues.

Down under, apart from people in our industry few, if any, have any idea what the iicrc is.

Nor do they seem to care when one mentions it.

Ooroo,

 

[cleanimagemarketing]

Down under, apart from people in our industry few, if any, have any idea what the iicrc is.

It's the same here.

The classes are good. There are some really talented instructors. But the certification really is meaningless.

 

[Brian R]

Maybe referrals were sent and the potential custy didn't like the website? Not Shorty or anyone else here of course...I'm just saying.

I wonder how many times a PC was sent to someone's website, only to turn around and run.


Back on target.

If the IICRC acted more like an advertiser than a scare tactic then it would might work out better.
They instead focus on the manufacturer end and depend on THEM to create an awareness to "our" customers that just doesn't work for us.

The need would have to be when the customers wants a cleaning done for the IICRC to be the forefront of the cleaning world....I'm not too sure I would agree with it, but it would probably be in their best interest to get the customers of carpet cleaning involved and that would get more carpet cleaners to get on board.

With the revenue they have, it wouldn't be hard to do.

Again, I probably wouldn't be on board with it. It would be like the BBB in my opinion.

 

[The Great Oz]

Lots of questions surrounding the IICRC these days.

In its present form does the IICRC offer any value to you or your own customers? Yes, it offers value to us, as the courses offer a way to make sure a new employee has the basics, and at a lower cost than doing the same training in-house. We'll take care of the more thorough training.

There is no value to customers. The Certified Firm marketing program has so many bad companies using it that many of the more established firms have dropped out to avoid being lumped in with the low-lifes.

Name one change that would make it more valuable to you. On-line basics.

and

Name one change that would make it of more value to your customers. Flat out dropping the idea that they should have anything to do with customers. If theyre respected within the industry, customer education will come through.


Have you lost confidence or trust in the IICRC that it is acting in your interests? Yes, but that happened back when I first got into working with trade associations and could see that many of the guys that called the shots at the IICRC were in it for themselves and controlled others that loved feeling important. The majority seemed to be nice guys that meant well but were easily led, and argued that a flawed organization was better than nothing.

I think they're wrong.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Bravo, Bryan...
Good post.

I especially like the response to the question as to the change to make it more valuable to customers.

The IICRC is a monumental asset to this industry. It's just a broken asset, that's all. A "broken asset" is not simply dumped like a liability,...instead, you fix it.

The IICRC is principally owned by Industry Trade Associations, but are little influenced by them. Instead, all of the management, oversight and business planning has been ceded to interests that do not represent the Association' s interests. In doing so, the IICRC has evolved into an entity that supports those interests above that of the intent of the ownership. In fact, the IICRC even competes in many cases with Associations on their purpose!

Over time, the ownerships interests have seen a myriad of small skirmishes that were intent on reversing this problem. Each time, one step forward and one step back has been the terminal result. In the last year, we've witnessed some serious changes that offer promise to return control to the ownership's interests. Coincidentally, and unfortunately the industry has observed some serious blunders as a result of some awkward transitioning that make the IICRC look worse off and less polished than it ever has. The result is threads like this...questioning the value of IICRC to the industry.

We have some serious power to produce change. A few people actually have done so. People like Tony Wheelright, getting involved at the right level... the ownership level. Like him, we need to get more people involved in leadership positions within the trade associations that own the IICRC. Others need to support those who take on these volunteer positions, and hold them accountable. Too many good people have been either beat back by the machine, or in a few select cases, corrupted by the machine that resists the change we'd all like to see.

-Shawn-

 

[Desk Jockey]

In doing so, the IICRC has evolved into an entity that supports those interests above that of the intent of the ownership.

Boy did you ever nail that one!

 

[cucu]

i have two people going to class in oct..i,ll pay for the class but not the test (they can pay for that part if they want) Both have been cleaning for a few years but never been to a class before , i cant wait to hear what thay have to say about it

 

[TulsaCarpetCleaner]

I can't say that I have gotten any direct business from the IICRC, but I think it gives credibility especially when you have it plastered across websites, yellow pages and other ads.

Also, as a newbie I learned a ton of useful info from the class. Maybe because the instructor Sherman Guffy was phenomenal.

 

[Brian R]

Having the IICRC logo on your website and/or ads means nothing to most.

 

[The Great Oz]

Also, as a newbie I learned a ton of useful info from the class. Maybe because the instructor Sherman Guffy was phenomenal.

Sherman is one of many good instructors that teach IICRC courses.

Not picking out the culprits in a group can paint everyone with the same brush. I hope everyone understands that I think the bulk of the participants within the IICRC are good guys. I have gripes with some of the systemic problems within the organization, and that I don't think those can be fixed as long as the self-serving group remain involved.