i am curious

[Greg Cole]

I often catch crap from the usual suspects for my marketing practices. They always thump their chests and curse those that offer carpet cleaning at a lower price. it is reminiscent of the small mom and pop stores in the 80's complaining about walmart coming in and offering goods far below their costs. Many said that Wal-mart would never stay in business , called them unethical, slave drivers, cheats, etc. Of course most of them perished and Walmart remains.....

So, here is my question: would the usual suspect please lay out their business plans for taking their 1-3 truck ($100k-$500k) operation to a 7 million dollar business?
Both Ken and I have explained in detail how we run our businesses. We've both explained how we got there. And we have defended our positions.
How would you get enough jobs to create revenue of that magnitude? How would you maintain it? How would you keep your lead?
Do you dare to dream? Do you have the balls to go for it?

 

[Brian R]

Asking for trouble?

 

[Ken Snow]

I think Greg and I were both born with that same middle name.

 

[Mikey P]

it's not what you charge Greg, not at all.

It's the poor workmanship, the bait and switch tactics that insure that the home owner will get lied to about the need for preconditioning, the effectiveness of protectors applied over heavy detergent residues, the whole we only dry clean Berber line (because our POS portys cause them to streak and wick) and the brow beating a home owner has to go through so your techs can make a living by upselling on each and every job.


I worked for your business plan Greg, it royally sucked but I didn't complain cause I didn't no any better. I moved north and went to work for Ken's business plan and for 13 years I made a increasingly better living but until I found the boards, was a total hack. A charming hack with great customer retention but a hack none the less.


Now I am a carpet cleaning god with well trained chimps and I would LOVE to have a company like yours around to play off of with price shoppers

As it is, we only have a Stanley which is sort of like your scam only with better boobs.


I am fully aware that this industry needs price points but I feel the low end would be better served by a company that pays its guys hourly..

Read this thread for some insight on another way to serve YOUR client base.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33237&hilit=bigmike


btw, nice to have you back.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

If I rememeber correct you have subs going around cleaning for you, some with portys, right?

To sum it up more are concerned with quality vs quanity. You do a lot of work at low cheap prices. Basically you get what you pay for; a guy showing up with his mini van and a porty to boot. You have your system in place because you want the money. For some its the opposite they would rather charege a fair price, offer good customer service, build that relationship.

For me personally I woouldnt want you business structure, it seems to shady for me. I am content being a 1-3 truck operation. For me its more than about the money.

How is theft amount the subs?

 

[Mike Draper]

I would hire Vawter to deploy his nail technique, then sit back and watch the competition fall like dominos.

 

[Ken Snow]

Mikey is so predictable- he constantly takes his past experience and projects it on the world. Never mind reality or even trying to find reality- it is all in a nice box wrapped and signed with Mikey's perspective. No one else knows a thing but a bdcc made Legend In His Own Damn Mind, in Santa, frickin wherever the hell that is, Cruz CA. Talk about out of touch with the real world.

Ken
Ps Love ya Mikey

 

[Mikey P]

Love ya too Kenny, can't wait to cuddle at the Hooker Bar.






btw, who's reality do YOU live in?

 

[joe harper]

Here is what your "FormEr" customers..."Have to SaY"....

Go to some of the LATER pages ..."If you want some BEAUTIES"... :shock:



These are NOT RUMOR'S...They are the standard...B&S...nIghTmAreS... !gotcha!


http://www.kudzu.com/m/Pro-Carpet-710334/reviews/


Who writes your RESPONCES... :roll: ...Ron BLAGOavich...

 

[harryhides]

There are a couple of huge differences between the Greg model and the Hagopian model.

One uses subs and one does not.
One has several rug stores to support it with image and referrals and one does not.
One is 60 yrs old and one is not.

Having said that, it is my view that revenue is a very, very poor measure of "success".
I'd say that some better measures are -

Time ie real spare time for family, friends and hobbies.
Profit
Pride and reputation.
Lack of head aches and life shortening stress.

That said, we are all different and I say " to each his own".

 

[Ken Snow]

My customer's Mikey - they are the only one's whose reality matters.

Tony we are actually in our 72nd year and 3rd generation ownership.

 

[Desk Jockey]

After setting up an appointment and waiting all morning, the technician showed up and immediately began complaining about how much work my three story home was going to be. He also told me that steam cleaning would "ruin" my carpets and I would have to have a much more expensive dry cleaning method. It was clear from his complaints about how many more jobs he had ahead of him that he did not want to "bother" with my home. I sent him on his way and will not use or recommend them again. What a waste of my time!!! ***** I DON'T HAVE BERBER CARPET*******

Pro Carpet replied on 04-21-2010
This complaint is a little strange. YES - steam cleaning BERBER carpet - can damage it. It is clearly printed on all of our advertisements that we DON'T steam clean berber carpet.

WTF? :shock:
That's news to me, we Steam clean it all the time!

 

[Greg Cole]

Here is what your "FormEr" customers..."Have to SaY"....

Go to some of the LATER pages ..."If you want some BEAUTIES"... :shock:

These are NOT RUMOR'S...They are the standard...B&S...nIghTmAreS... !gotcha!
htp://www.kudzu.com/m/Pro-Carpet-710334/reviews/
Who writes your RESPONCES... :roll: ...Ron BLAGOavich...

Fake reviews- as many of thos on Kudzu are hardly represent my company. But let's for a minute say that they are ALL true - Let's do the math. This year we are on target to perform over 60,000 jobs. 25 complaints/ 60,000 = .0004% are dis-satisfied. I will put that number up against anyone on here (except Ken). You can please everyone, but we certainly try.
somewhat amus

 

[Greg Cole]

Time ie real spare time for family, friends and hobbies.
Profit
Pride and reputation.
Lack of head aches and life shortening stress.

That said, we are all different and I say " to each his own".

Great quote Harry. Let me answer these (honestly)
Time ie real spare time for family, friends and hobbies - the last 2 years I have worked 70-90 hours a week. I have taken 6 vacations (each about 7-10 days) during this time. I attended every soccer game, wrestling match, and now every football practice and game. Many of my vacations are shared with friends (usually on my dime). Hobbies - I fish every time I go to Tampa on business or on vacation.

Profit: Currently at 19% for the year RTO - hoping i tweak it to 21.5% by the end of the year

Pride and reputation. - I take great pride in my work. There are few people that can run an organization at the size I am. My biggest strength is advertising. I take pride in being better than most.. Reputation: over 1/2 million jobs and currently a 36% repeat business(down from last year as a number of jobs has grown and we have added Tampa). The average coupon company runs at 11%-14%

Lack of head aches and life shortening stress: That is where you get me- tons of stress, lots of headaches. Nothing in this life comes without a cost.

 

[Ryan]

Revenue and profit are the only measures of business success. Everyone has enough time to spend with their family if they choose to.

Its funny no one has answered Greg's question?

I've never in my life seen a carpet he cleaned so I don't know if his employees hack them out or not, and neither do any of you unless you've seen it. This is just forum heard mentality.

 

[Mikey P]

Seven jobs a day
One tech and a porty.

Get real Ryan..

Sent from my DROID2

 

[Greg Cole]

Seven jobs a day
One tech and a porty.

Get real Ryan..

Sent from my DROID2

Sadly Mikey, the business you claimed to have worked for is NOT mine. Are they possibly similar?- perhaps. But the managers make the company - not the base model. There is a reason why franchises with the identical services flourish while others flounder. MANAGEMENT!
Seven a day - I WISH! - but the quality would suffer unless they were all 3 roomers. usually 4-5 per contractor.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I've never in my life seen a carpet he cleaned so I don't know if his employees hack them out or not, and neither do any of you unless you've seen it.

Ryan, i don't have a dog in this fight .
but this might give some indication ...
"
36% repeat business"


..L.T.A.

 

[Brian R]

Larry, that just could mean he is getting so much new business that it just makes the repeat % lower.

Happens to me sometimes when I get a push of new custys.

The true Repeat rate is what's the percent of your past customers coming back?

Got 1000 customers and 500 come back that's 50% repeat customers.

Get 1000 new customers and that repeat rate goes down to 25%.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I think what Greg is doing is amazing and he definitely knows how to generate sales and built a money making machine. He is a sharp businessman and if I were not a cleaner myself I'd be very impressed. Actually I'm still very impressed, I just don't like that model.

I don't think it's good for the industry as a whole. A portable and a sub doing the cleaning just does not sound like a recipe for success.

I don't think comparisons to what Ken is doing can be realistically drawn.
Hagopian uses van powered units to clean with and has their own employees, those two things separate Greg's model from Ken's.

I do believe Greg does all he can to please any dissatisfied customer and I think he genuinely thinks he's delivering a good product.

Greg if you want to get a good look at what you're actually selling have a friends or neighbors call and schedule an appointment. Use a camera and video what takes place from beginning to end. She if the lady of the home is pressured for upsales, see if they actually care about how well it cleans.

It could later be used as a training tool for all your new contractors.

P.S.
Greg
This is not meant to chase you away, in fact I hope you stay, not just for the controversy but because you offer a different perspective to MB.

 

[Willy P]

Excuse me Mr. Chavez-

NOT ALL PEOPLE OPERATING PORTABLES ARE HACKS

Here's an email I got from a customer's daughter yesterday. Short and sweet:
Hello Bill,

Thank you for the fantastic job you did on my dad's carpets today (8-- East 15th)

I will recommend you to everyone!!

Thanks again,

Jenny

Geez, the bias towards using electricity to achieve outstanding results is gonna make Odin turn me into a Norse God and start tossing lightening down upon thee. Do vikings say thee?
BTW- That was a new customer, all other jobs yesterday were repeats. Today, all repeats. Most of my business is repeat and referral.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Excuse me Mr. Chavez-

NOT ALL PEOPLE OPERATING PORTABLES ARE HACKS

Sorry Willy! :shock:
I need a Willy disclaimer.

However Willy you're not working a sub for someone either. Subs are going to be more concerned about the dollars than how great a cleaning job they are doing. They don't have anything into it, it's not there name on the truck, they are anonymous.

It's the other 99.9% using portables I'm concerned about! :mrgreen:

 

[Brian R]

I started steaming with portables and did a great job....I even subbed out for a guy for awhile with my portables....and still did a great job.

It all comes down to the person doing the work. Some subs are good, some are bad...some employees are good, some are bad....some O/Os are good, some are bad.

A guy can have the best equipment, chems, van, uniform...you name it...but if his heart isn't in it then what's the point?
The opposite is true as well.


So FU Chavez. :mrgreen:

 

[rhino1]

This really brings to light the differences in perspectives of the members here. Some are in this gig to have a business and make money, period. Some are in it to clean carpets. Many of us fall somewhere in between.

 

[tim]

The bottom line is, Ken and Greg run sucessful businesses and feed thier families well. Isnt that what a job is suppose to do? They dont want to be the best carpet cleaner, they want to provide for thier families and the future of thier companies. Truth is, some of us are the best carpet cleaners nobodys ever heard of! They have built companies that obviously fills a big niche in the marketplace. I dont have 40 trucks so I do what my size company can do to carve out its own niche. I would trade my company for thiers in a heartbeat! Different ways to get where we are going. Nothing but respect for those of you more sucessful than I am.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree with you Brian, I spent years cleaning with portables before we ever owned a TM and I know you can do a good job with one.........but I also know to do so takes more effort than it does with a TM.

I just do not believe after lugging in a portable getting it all setup and filled with water that some hack, oops I mean some tech (NOT Willy :mrgreen: ) is going to be interested in spending the time necessary to do the job thoroughly when he will receive the same amount money if he does it fast.

If he does it fast he can get back on the road and to the next job so he can shake them down....I mean clean their carpets fast too.

Besides if the customer complains Greg is excellent at smoothing over ruffled feathers and if not, "fook Greg, I can go find work else where, after all it's my rig ($900.00 Ninja) I don't need him."

 

[Ken Snow]

Thank you Tim- and I like many others do believe we are the best- actually by a long shot :-)

I would expect most everyone thinks that of themselves and their company.

 

[tom mcfadden]

Profit: Currently at 19% for the year RTO - hoping i tweak it to 21.5% by the end of the year

Greg what does RTO mean?

 

[bob vawter]

I would hire Vawter to deploy his nail technique, then sit back and watch the competition fall like dominos.

seeeeeeeeeeeeee...this jus PROVES that MY technique.....WORKS!

 

[Greg Cole]

Profit: Currently at 19% for the year RTO - hoping i tweak it to 21.5% by the end of the year

Greg what does RTO mean?

sorry for the delay. Sitting on the beach drinking a cold Corona.
RTO = Return To Owner ( aka. PROFIT)