Stanley Steemer Talkin' Chit.....

[Connor]

that how I found out about Mikeys childhood barbie fetish. :shock:

Punk rock, vegetarian, barbie fetish. Oh, well, now it makes total sense.

 

[rhino1]

just interviewed a guy who worked at SS. They have morning sales meetings to motivate their guys to sell. sell. sell! They do a spotter, sell a pre-treatment, and push protector like crazy. He said they force them to work OT and don't pay them for it, for which they just lost a lawsuit. I get alot of their customers, their "coupon" price now is $36 per area.

Oh, yeah... the guy got fired for using a custy restroom and flooding the floor. NO, he didn't get the job.

 

[Connor]

Oh, yeah... the guy got fired for using a custy restroom and flooding the floor. NO, he didn't get the job.

You shoulda hired him, what's the chances of that happening again?

 

[renegade_cowboy]

just interviewed a guy who worked at SS. They have morning sales meetings to motivate their guys to sell. sell. sell! They do a spotter, sell a pre-treatment, and push protector like crazy. He said they force them to work OT and don't pay them for it, for which they just lost a lawsuit. I get alot of their customers, their "coupon" price now is $36 per area.

Oh, yeah... the guy got fired for using a custy restroom and flooding the floor. NO, he didn't get the job.

Whats wrong with motivating their guys to sell? All major business do it, they are in the business to make money. I sell protector, extra areas.. thats what you do in business. They don't sell pretreatment, must be a greedy tech. I worked for the corporate SS and we always got paid our overtime, could be a franchise thing.. same with him being fired. There was an assistant that flooded and ruined the laundry room floor which SS paid for and he remained working there.

I'm not saying SS is perfect but they are good at what they do as far as business operations... always consider the source..

 

[Ron Werner]

there is a national company here, they are busy all the time, telemarketers and valpack ads, etc tons of marketing.
I've heard from some clients the tech has done a great job.
The next time I talk with them they say they would never have them back. the techs turn over way too much. One tech has a good work ethic and does a great job, the next is just concerned with what he's going to make so he works fast to get to the next one. No consistency.

I was told a new tech gets 2 weeks training. They can either teach them to clean or they can teach them to sell. They get taught to sell.

So their BUSN model works, for those who own and run the busn, but from the consumer and a professional pov, no thanks. Every time I see one of their trucks I think to myself "Don't screw up the carpet boys!"
have to admit, they have given me enough busn over the years :roll:

 

[Connor]

I think across all industries that upselling mandates are the franchise way, with no regard to just doing the job right.

The plumbing/drain cleaning companies are the same way, they don't want to unstop the drain, they want to replace it.

 

[Royal Man]

just interviewed a guy who worked at SS. They have morning sales meetings to motivate their guys to sell. sell. sell! They do a spotter, sell a pre-treatment, and push protector like crazy.

What's wrong with this. You should all be having morning meetings with your techs.

This is a sales and service business. But, some of you guys prefer to be janitors.

Sales make things happen and keep the doors open.

There is no reason why a cleaning crew can't be great at selling and also incredible at cleaning.

Regular meetings help to make this happen.

Cleaning is just a small part of the service experience.

Client relations can be an even bigger factor.

It's like when you go to a restaurant.

In one you get reasonably good food. But the waitress is inattentive and the place is dingy. No one really pays much attention to you or answers any questions. So you eat and leave.

In an other restaurant. The food is about the same. But, the waitress Is very attentive to your every need and even goes out of the way to make you feel special.The place a sparkling clean. They explain the food items in a very appetizing way. They bring over samples of the deserts and get you several types of to go containers for when you are done eating. They greet you at the door leaving and going with a pleasant smile.

Which one are you going back to?

They both had the same food. One restaurant is a ghost town and the other has a wait to get in.

It's training that makes the difference.

This is why if you have techs you should have regular morning meeting.

Do roleplays and work through client senarios.

This stuff doesn't happed by accident.


You don't want to just clean, get the bill and leave without taking the time make the client feel special with conversation and doing the litlte extras.


Your client and your bottom line will both thank you.

 

[rhino1]

Well i didn't necessarily say that selling was a bad thing so it must be your defense mechanism Dave. Aside from that Dave, exactly how many employees do you have to have a sales meeting with? If you are role playing solo, is that a form of masturbation?

 

[Ken Snow]

Well i didn't necessarily say that selling was a bad thing so it must be your defense mechanism Dave. Aside from that Dave, exactly how many employees do you have to have a sales meeting with? If you are role playing solo, is that a form of masturbation?

The way you wrote it sure seemed to imply it Rhino.

I agree with Dave 100%~ regardless of whether he has employees or not, this was good stuff in my opinion.

 

[hillsccrr]

I have an old SS truck and it has 7300 hrs on it very nice machine. I would buy another one. I have a buddy that owns a couple franchises and sells them cheap lol. I can post pics if anyone wants to see it.

 

[Royal Man]

Well i didn't necessarily say that selling was a bad thing so it must be your defense mechanism Dave. Aside from that Dave, exactly how many employees do you have to have a sales meeting with? If you are role playing solo, is that a form of masturbation?

The way you wrote it sure seemed to imply it Rhino.

I agree with Dave 100%~ regardless of whether he has employees or not, this was good stuff in my opinion.

Thanks ken.

I have trained many guys this way.

I does improve business relations and the bottom line.

It also lets you see which guys have a lot of potential and which ones are better suited to just be helpers.

Some of this client relation/personality stuff can be trained. Although some guys are just blessed with it and primarily need basic sales training techniques.

This stuff seems simple to me. I'm amazed how some trainees will never get it.

 

[Ken Snow]

I hear ya Dave- the key is getting the ones that aren't gonna get it out quick. Usually you can tell within the first few minutes of an interview, but sometimes the need for a person overcomes the interviewers common sense :-)

 

[Connor]

I have an old SS truck and it has 7300 hrs on it very nice machine. I would buy another one. I have a buddy that owns a couple franchises and sells them cheap lol. I can post pics if anyone wants to see it.

Yes, please, post pics.

 

[rwcarpet]

I think across all industries that upselling mandates are the franchise way, with no regard to just doing the job right.

The plumbing/drain cleaning companies are the same way, they don't want to unstop the drain, they want to replace it.

Right here. My Son just finished a 15 month HVAC course, and a good amount of time was spent on "customer relations, and upselling". They were even given homework assignments to go out and meet different people, other than their friends. My Son doesn't want the "custy, upsell" type of job. He wants just to diagnose and repair heating and ac equipment, without reacting to the custy.

A job with an HVAC remodel or commercial instalation company is is choice.

Of course, all the heating-a/c companies around here do a huge amount of upselling.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I was told a new tech gets 2 weeks training. They can either teach them to clean or they can teach them to sell. They get taught to sell.

CC'ing ain't rocket science , Ron
if a lad or lass can't clean "normal" everyday routine carpets (even filthy ones) within a FEW DAYS of working with a "good" instructor , they'll never "get it"

sales and/or great "people skills" are actually a much more valuable asset to have and teach .

cause the truth is, an "average" CC'er with great people skills will get more repeats, referrals, and have a larger custy base than the "greatest CC'er ever" ....that lacks those skills


..l.T.A.

 

[Vivers]

I was told a new tech gets 2 weeks training. They can either teach them to clean or they can teach them to sell. They get taught to sell.

CC'ing ain't rocket science , Ron
if a lad or lass can't clean "normal" everyday routine carpets (even filthy ones) within a FEW DAYS of working with a "good" instructor , they'll never "get it"

sales and/or great "people skills" are actually a much more valuable asset to have and teach .

cause the truth is, an "average" CC'er with great people skills will get more repeats, referrals, and have a larger custy base than the "greatest CC'er ever" ....that lacks those skills


..l.T.A.

This is so true. This is exactly the type of employees I look for only now. Personable and friendly. I can train just about anybody I have found to do a good to great cleaning job. The techs that are great with people build your company and just make working with them so much nicer.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I was told a new tech gets 2 weeks training. They can either teach them to clean or they can teach them to sell. They get taught to sell.

CC'ing ain't rocket science , Ron
if a lad or lass can't clean "normal" everyday routine carpets (even filthy ones) within a FEW DAYS of working with a "good" instructor , they'll never "get it"

sales and/or great "people skills" are actually a much more valuable asset to have and teach .

cause the truth is, an "average" CC'er with great people skills will get more repeats, referrals, and have a larger custy base than the "greatest CC'er ever" ....that lacks those skills


..l.T.A.

Very true.. I would say SS does an average job.. they are in and out quick, in some cases doing 4-8 jobs a day. Their problem is all anyone really knows about them here is "what they were told or heard" and previous issues with their customers... which both can be like a scorned woman filled with inflated issues.

You really gotta appreciate what SS has done and basically done without industry influence. To clarify.. you start there as an assistant that rides with various techs learning the job.. you stay in that learning position for months upon months. Their training class is just like the IICRC classes, you do get a certificate and even a little pocket card.

 

[Connor]

Right here. My Son just finished a 15 month HVAC course, and a good amount of time was spent on "customer relations, and upselling". They were even given homework assignments to go out and meet different people, other than their friends. My Son doesn't want the "custy, upsell" type of job. He wants just to diagnose and repair heating and ac equipment, without reacting to the custy.

A job with an HVAC remodel or commercial instalation company is is choice.

Of course, all the heating-a/c companies around here do a huge amount of upselling.

Yep, the horrible, life threatening "cracked heat exchanger", "the compressor is bad" and "you need a new circuit board" are all day occurrences in HVAC.

I did some plumbing work for a warranty company in the summer of 09 and it was hotter than Hades inside the customers house, she told me her A/C went out and the compressor was on order....

Well, I turned the unit on and went outside reached inside the outside fan with a stick and got the fan moving and it started running. All it was was the capacitor to the fan motor. (I had just had the thing go bad at my own house that weekend)

So, the house started cooling for a while and I told her it was not the compressor. I called the warranty company and told them that what I found, they were quite perplexed at first about the situation, but they soon understood.

Turns out that a guy who used to be a friend of mine was the HVAC guy. He was selling them a high dollar special order compressor, which it didn't need, while the homeowner was sweating it out for a week. I had to apologize to the warranty company because I recommended him as a service provider a couple of years before.

They got a second company to come out and replace the capacitor and were most thankful.

 

[Larry B]

Dont be smack talkin SS they are ICRC or Clean trust certified.