P u l l i n G it back with Ron Werner

Mikey P

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-How and when did you get into the rug sucking trade.

-Describe your best cheerleader and what it took to make him or her so.

-Where was your business five years ago and where will it be five years from now?

-Who do you emulate in this industry and why?

-How often do you vacuum your own home?

-Please compare the Big Red to the Can Am and post some pictures of both units.

-How will you celebrate on the inevitable day the you crack the Waldo top 5?

-Have you ever asked a female client to go ballroom dancing with you?
 

Jimbo

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-How long does it take to vacuum your own home, Ron?

-Do you ever go back later in the evening to check on some client's 'drying?'

-Give us the scoop on that new Judson you are using!
 

Ron Werner

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Ron Werner
Art Kelley said:
KevinL said:
He's still vacuuming his first job this morning.

He rescheduled todays job to finish yesterdays vacuuming.


I have actually done that! after an hour of vacuuming a room at 6pm, I had to come back the next day. Had already been a long day and I was only about 1/3 done! Next day I vacuumed for another hour, 2 rms, both less than 100sf. Lots of HOST in the carpet!!

I'll try and get all the questions anwered tomorrow. Been busy with work and that big ad I was writing. Big thanks to Wayne for reminding me its an ad not a newsletter.
 

Mikey P

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Ron

Would you be willing to do a vacuuming seminar at MF5?

Maybe you could show us your technique on the hotel carpet on Friday. I dont expect you to bring your beloved Amway so what brand/model would you be willing to use?
 

CleanEvo

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[/quote] I'll try and get all the questions anwered tomorrow. [/quote]

Can't wait... well I can... but I don't want to. C'mon Ron, it's only 9pm in Sooke!
 

Ron Werner

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Sure Mike. I can share what I've learned about vacuuming. Might be a short seminar :wink:

I was thinking of trying a vacuum when doing the cleaning demos. Didn't think anyone would have a Cleartrak down there, but a Bissel Powerhouse or anything really with a clear cannister would do. Be interesting to see whats in the carpet before cleaning it.
 

Jimmy L

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Ron has taken my book "Four corner vacuum techniques" to the extreme.

And he's somehow taken my other book, "Masturbation for old men" and combined the two.

:shock:
 
G

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Man!!! What is taking so long for the response? I want to hear about the Judson Reactor review.
 

Ron Werner

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Finally.
Sorry guys, I write slow.
P u l l i n G it back with Ron Werner

Sorry for the delay, I type slow.

-How and when did you get into the rug sucking trade.
I was doing night janitorial work after I was released from the Navy and got very tired of night work. Got a job with The Bay Home Cleaning June 92, a dept store company in Canada. 2 Weeks of training and here’s a Ninja; Go for it!

After a year and a half I had had enough of trying to make barely enough money to live on by only getting 20%/35% of the job. Also I was being told that 2 1/2hrs cleaning 5 rms, 12 steps and a hall, was too slow with a Ninja. I was being shown “how not to clean” a carpet properly and I was a terrible upsalesman.

My dad gave me $6000; I bought new rubber for my car and a Cheyenne portable and away I went. Handed out 4000 busn cards the first year, most door to door, wasted a LOT of money on useless ads, knew nothing about marketing or busn, but I made $20,000 (almost twice that from the Bay) on 1/5th the work.

Bought my first Cleartrak in 95, took me a while before I started using it consistently. I’ve gotten lots of rolled eyes in my direction since I started talking about vacuuming. If it weren’t for me seeing all that crap come out I would have quit vacuuming long ago.
CLearTracFullCannister.jpg


Bought the Big Red in Aug 96. It was either this used one or a new Powermatic. It came down to financing. I learned a lot about truckmounts since! Spent a lot on the truck mount too!! Many times I praised that old tm, many times I cursed it too! Changed my busn name from RW Carpet Care to Happy Carpet Cleaners and started charging by sf, thanks to my first marketing lesson from Mike West.

In summer of 97 I entered the world of Piranha Marketing, another milestone that transformed my busn. In 2000 went to my first bootcamp, raised my price after a year of being told to, and never looked back. Took Steve Marsh’s coaching program in 05 which molded my busn even more, changed the way I positioned myself.


-Describe your best cheerleader and what it took to make him or her so.
I’ve never thought about it much, but I’ve got several that will tell people that I’m the best. One is an elderly lady that I cleaned for with my portable. I broke a Norman Rockwell plate. What sold her on me was that I phoned her up within a couple hours telling her I had a replacement in the mail. Most others are just normal people.

All I did was what I’ve been saying; I vacuumed and showed them what came out, then really steam cleaned it, just like in my videos. Nothing special, just cleaned the carpet.
That’s one thing that always sort of troubled me. Its not that I’m so great a cleaner or that I do anything special, it’s just that they had never seen a cleaner put the time and effort into cleaning the way I did.




Who do you emulate in this industry and why?
There’s no one particular company that I emulate. I respect a lot of you on the board here and often I feel like I have so much to learn.
There’s a cleaner here in Victoria, Doug Campbell, campbellscarpetcare.com . He has such an attention to detail that he keeps me on my toes. He started vacuuming 2 yrs ago and is actually slower than I am.
Bob Foster has an incredible knowledge of this industry in such a short period of time in being in it. Makes me wonder where I’ve been!




-Where was your business five years ago and where will it be five years from now?
To be honest, I’ve been coasting for the last 11 yrs (divorce), with a little push from Steve Marsh 4 yrs ago. The only thing I can attribute my survival is a very gracious God on high. I’ve haven’t done consistent marketing or follow ups. The only thing consistent has been my work. Just plugging away, sucking up the dirt and blowing client’s minds. Lots of repeat and referral. It helps that I’m in a niche market. Sooke, where I live, is a suburb of Victoria. I’m have the only tm out here, am the only certified cleaner out here as well and most cleaners in Victoria don’t want to make the 40 minute drive out here.

In 5yrs? If I stay here, I’d like to be working mostly here in Sooke. There are almost 1000 new homes going up, everyone is worth at least $300+. Then there are still 4500 homes that were already here, though some have no carpet now.
I’d like to doing hard sfc cleaning, possibly even laminators plus. Who knows, maybe even an employee or second truck.


-

-How often do you vacuum your own home?
-How long does it take to vacuum your own home, Ron?
about once every 3 months ? or when it starts to look like it really needs it. Takes me about 20-30 min to vacuum my own place.

I steam clean it and protect it once a year. This last time I steam cleaned it, I had the CanAm. So I pulled ALL the vac hose off, about 280ft, cleaned it, applied protectant, intentionally kept airflow to a minimum, and no extra heat, just to see how fast it would dry with worst case conditions. Finished at 4pm, by 11pm almost dry, still cool on the feet. By 7am, dry. Feels great on the feet.



-Please compare the Big Red to the Can Am and post some pictures of both units.
Give us the scoop on that new Judson you are using!
The new CanAm is obviously much easier to work with.

BigRed
Originally bought in 1980. Built into this truck in 1988. I bought it in 96, been modifying it ever since. Rigged it with 3" plumbing in 2004.
Heat Exchanger system for heat.
Roots 59 Blower
4 cyl Perkins 4108 diesel engine
General TS1011

06-10-21HappyTruck031.jpg

06-10-21HappyTruck054.jpg

06-10-21HappyTruck051.jpg

06-11-07001-2-1.jpg

06-08-01HeatexchangerSmithBros00-2.jpg

06-10-21HappyTruck047.jpg

06-10-21HappyTruck048.jpg


The last modification I did on the Big Red, 10 inch sheaves
08-02-01new10insheaves.jpg

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CanAm
4HT
Roots 4.7 dual splash
2 cyl Kohler propane engine
Cat3

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th_08-09CanAmtour.jpg
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1. Its much simpler. There isn’t as much to go wrong with the CanAm. My biggest challenge with the BR was overheating. With the air cooled Kohler and a 4HT it runs all day long; just give it fuel. The BR was more finicky. If I had it nose down she would run all day, but nose up she would over heat all day!
2. Much “cleaner” since I’m running propane fuel rather than diesel. I switched to black uniforms with the BR because I was always getting diesel soot on the equipment. With the CanAm I can wear a white shirt.
3. Cost of running. I was burning on average less than a gallon/hour of diesel. Now I’m burning about 1.5 gal of propane /hr.
4. Heat. The BR would give a consistent 200F, or there about. The gauge would show about 190 but it felt hotter. I think the temp sender on the CanAm is faulty. All this time its been showing about 160, but its definitely a lot hotter. I turned up the HT just last week, and the gauge hit 240. I was happy with the heat I was getting when it read 160.
5. Maintenance. CanAm is easier. No greasing the blower. Much easier to get around the CanAm, more room to move. Changing the oil is much easier too.
6. More space in the new truck and with the sink its easier to mix solutions.
7. Vacuum. Haven’t noticed a difference really. With the tweaks on the CanAm, 3” hose plumbed inside the truck, 2.5” hose and 2” Greenhorn wand, I’m getting faster dry times.
8. Water pressure. No real difference






-How will you celebrate on the inevitable day that you crack the Waldo top 5?
TBD


-Have you ever asked a female client to go ballroom dancing with you?
Not yet. Only started to learn how to dance ;-) I have asked a client out. Nothing much came of it.
Who knows, if I met a client that I liked and she showed an interest, I would ask her out.




-Do you ever go back later in the evening to check on some client's 'drying?'
Nope. I think there has been the odd time when I had to return for some reason or another, so then I checked. But not intentionally.
 

B&BGaryC

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B&BGaryC
He has bridgepoint products on his truck! Burn him at the stake!
 

Jimmy L

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Jimmy L
Okay Ron you buy a new TM and put it in an old 85 ford cube van?
 

CleanEvo

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Oct 8, 2007
Messages
748
It must be nice to have some room to move around in. Big Red looked a little cramped.

Nice set up!
 

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