The small town dilemma.

[Mikey P]

I'm sort of speculating here so please correct me ..

The guy who runs the second truck is going to dictate if it/he will stay busy when things slow seasonally.

If he is enough of a company man with a real people pleasing personality that generates enough people recommending HIM to others than all is good, that truck should sustain itself and hopefully grow the company to the point where another great employee/truck is need to handle what the first two trucks can't handle.

They key is finding great employees who don't want to be anything other than overworked/underpaid carpet cleaners who love talking to middle aged white women and dealing with animal and grandpa urine on a daily basis. Piece of cake!

FWIW no one in my town keeps two trucks busy cleaning nice homes all year long from what I can see.


I know my son and I could pull it off, keeping two busy most of the year with the occasional two up days but I don't want to suck rugs five days a week. I have a guy now that may be able to pull it off but we've only been training him to be a helper so far...

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU MULTI GUYS TO TRAIN A TECH TO BE COMPLETELY ON HIS OWN?


At Coit we gave a guy a week and out the door he went on his own.


hence the mess they are in...

 

[hogjowl]

Ok, marketing IS a rather broad term that includes all your efforts to promote your business. So I can see Steve is correct on that point.

However, I suspect Mike isn't interested in semantics as much as he is in successful ADVERTISING methods.

 

[Mikey P]

my advertising cost are $300 a month to Yelp, about $1000 a year to Letip, website hosting, $400 each February mail a card to our database and I suppose the Vortex/Billboard Payment.

So nothing really.


I need/want to do this buy word of mouth and web NOT buy offering irresistible specials to new customers.

 

[hogjowl]

I can certainly agree with that. That is my goal as well. My first step in that direction is to improve my crappy web-site.

However, I do want to discuss the point you seem to be making in regards to referrals. Am I understanding you to say you believe the second truck can stay busy off of referrals only, provided the lead technician is tallented enough in customer relations?

 

[Mikey P]

referrals, new repeat and increased awareness in the community would be the logical conclusion that a great employee brings with him, right?

 

[hogjowl]

referrals, new repeat and increased awareness in the community would be the logical conclusion that a great employee brings with him, right?

What the heck is a "new repeat"?

Referrals and repeats will, of course, be the bulk of their substained business, provided they have SM working their data base, as you and I both have them doing. Referrals and repeats are the bulk of MY business, with Google coming in strong in the mix. However, I am the owner, and I have good customer skills.

It would be fairly hard to find an employee that will be able to completely replace either you or me.

So, I am left wondering just how accurate that assumption actually is?

 

[Mikey P]

New repeat- a repeat customer the new guy is responsible for creating

 

[Shane Deubell]

At MF greg talked about budgeting 10-30% of the goal you are trying to reach, in this economy for small contractors like us i would think higher then lower. So if your goal is to add another $100k in business plan on spending $2k a month in cash or your labor.

At some point we tap out a campaign and the results become incremental, 5-10% growth is basically covering for inflation imo, a wash in real dollars.

I know because we are tapped out also, we took seo,targeted direct mail, telemarketing as far as we could in this market. The gains are flat now.
The difference is i know its time to reinvest in the business and start a couple new campaigns {still researching which ones}, every business experiences this, It sucks but if we want to grow you have to take a hit for a year.

 

[Beeks]

Why does everything have to be so black/white, either/or all the time?
Why can't we charge $50 room for premium service and $30 room for basic service and $100 room for super duper really special premium service.

Exactly, we run different specials, targeting different income households. We also have 3 different price packages on our website. I know the mass mailer i do attracts a certain type of customer, so there for i charge a certain rate and word my ad accordingly for that type of person reading it. Don't get me wrong our average customer is middle to upper middle class, but i also know what to expect. Then on the other hand we run higher priced specials in areas of our marketing such as AL. Different type of customer there hence the different approach. Know who you are marketing to. I market to the majority, that's why we stay busy. Not saying higher prices doesn't work, because we all know it does, and i have only been in business for a year this month so my thought process might change in the future, but for now i think im on to something!

 

[Beeks]

I agree Shane, we have found that around 100 for 4 rooms is our sweet spot.

Same here Ken, we run a special up to 6 areas for $100 but the average house we hit only has about 4, even if they do have all 6, we don't move furniture or vacuum at that coupon price, so we are doing 100sqft rooms that only have 50sqft of carpet.

Calm down everyone, we offer different packages on our website and do include vacuuming and furniture moving some of them, but this gives the customers options, they love options!

 

[Mikey P]

my main problem is the stonework we do.

My son is getting the hang of it but it will be years before he knows what I do.


and that is 30% of our income.

 

[Mikey P]

do they have this sort of discussions on the rookie board or is all "How do I get 2 more CFMs from my Mytee" crap?

 

[Beeks]

my main problem is the stonework we do.

My son is getting the hang of it but it will be years before he knows what I do.


and that is 30% of our income.

Yea but im sure you didn't have someone holding your hand the whole time when you were learning it. He will have to do it on his own sooner or later, make it a priority that he does every stone job with you for the next month or something, send him to some classes, and get off the truck.

Though i dont know stone, so i could be completely in left field with this opinion, but that's my thought's.

 

[Beeks]

do they have this sort of discussions on the rookie board or is all "How do I get 2 more CFMs from my Mytee" crap?

lol, mostly that yes, but there is some great info on there as well, i learned quite a bit from there, as well as here!

 

[Shane Deubell]

my main problem is the stonework we do.

My son is getting the hang of it but it will be years before he knows what I do.


and that is 30% of our income.

Its a good point mike and can be a problem with diversity in general, super hard to train a tech about area rugs,colorseal, stone, wood, carpet, Apholstery {}, etc.
Too much to learn.

We run into the same problems with floor stripping/waxing or color-sealing, not too sure why its the timing i guess.

 

[Royal Man]

You live in Cali and complain about seasonal adjustments? Try living in the snow belt. You end up with a 6 month season where people have their homes cleaned. Nov - to the end of April can slow to a crawl or less.

 

[Mikey P]

I wouldn't live in a snow belt and be a carpet cleaner Dave.


That would be stupid.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Come on , it's Dave that's stupid , the rest of us don't have a problem with the snow

 

[Royal Man]

Come on , it's Dave that's stupid , the rest of us don't have a problem with the snow

I have no problem with snow. My clients do. They (for some reason) don't like to get their carpet cleaned as much when there is a foot of snow on the ground or school is canceled because of snow, dirty slush all over the roads etc... Most winter cleaning seems to be if their dog craps on the carpet because the dog won't even go out in the snow or it's a move out/in. (And people don't move near as much in the winter.) Regular cleaning. Not so much.

 

[Shane Deubell]

The simple solution would be to follow senor steve's advice and spend 5 hours a week selling commercial jobs, you don't add any fixed costs so it can really add up to your bottom line. Plus it is way easier to hire commercial techs then residential.

Keep it simple, door to door when the weather is nice and use the phone when its crappy outside.

Snow definitely slows down carpet cleaning but not as much for tile/grout. Except this year we still have t/g direct mail campaigns in february, only takes a couple jobs to make it worth it.

 

[rhino1]

We have one truck that runs full-time with 1 or 2 employees, depending on how busy the day is. The second truck I usually run alone and do the small jobs, empties, and use both trucks on large jobs. This way, we are able to get to add-on appointments if we get them- usually at least 1 or 2 add ons everyday. I also ended up with a lot of rental properties that can be done at my discretion, so that fills in the schedule on some days. Fortunately, running like this gives me some flexibility to accomplish other things throughout the day, as well as being able to do surprise inspections. If you only need a seasonal employee to help out during the busy times, those are pretty easy to find. Most people hate this job after 2 weeks, so getting rid of them is sometimes a favor. I wouldn't lower my prices if I were you. You seem to be marketing yourself as being a premium service provider, and are doing quite well with it, so why lower your prices for a few more jobs and end up with customers who may be more trouble than it would be worth?

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

I have no problem with snow. My clients do. They (for some reason) don't like to get their carpet cleaned as much when there is a foot of snow on the ground or school is canceled because of snow, dirty slush all over the roads etc... Most winter cleaning seems to be if their dog craps on the carpet because the dog won't even go out in the snow or it's a move out/in. (And people don't move near as much in the winter.) Regular cleaning. Not so much.

We are in the same boat you are Dave , we need more summer then winter.

 

[The Great Oz]

I imagine I'm not the only one that could/needs to run a second truck five days a weeks, 3 to maybe 4 months out of the year to keep up with demand.
but...
what in the heck do you do with that truck and employee the rest of the year?

You could hire and train someone to do the most straightforward work. You probably know which jobs don't require handholding, so let the new/temp tech take the pressure off of the other crews during the busiest season. If the busy season is summer, this is college kid work.

Lowering prices is about the only option I can think of to break into the "other" demographic that may keep the two trucks busy all year round.

Forget the other demographic. Rich people want deals as much as the cheapskates, so acknowledge the slow period and offer your best customers a "once a year" discount. You'll slowly train them that cleaning in SoCal is a year-round thing. I'd also hold off sending reminder cards during your busy months. People that respond to a reminder are just as likely to call at 8 months as at 6 months, or at 11 months rather than 12. You stretch the "shoulder" seasons farther apart and your 8 month season becomes 10 months, then...

 

[AbsolutelyChemDry]

Keep it up guys, this is a great thread! Lol.

I hope you listened to the piggy wiggy comment on the first page and hit on the basketman!

 

[Tony Neville]

By holding on to tight, and not letting the guys go out and do the work, you handicap them and make them dependant on you! They cannot learn if they never get a chance.
If you trust in them they will surprise you! And impress your custys!

Tony

 

[Mikey P]

You'll slowly train them that cleaning in SoCal is a year-round thing

SoCal?

I'm in MidCal..

 

[SMRBAP]

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU MULTI GUYS TO TRAIN A TECH TO BE COMPLETELY ON HIS OWN?


At Coit we gave a guy a week and out the door he went on his own.


hence the mess they are in...

4 vans, looking to add 1-2 more in the next 2-3 months.

I typically have 3-5 days in house with them. Explaining paperwork, protocols, equipment use & troubleshooting, then cleaning 101 and sales 101. I know at the end of that in house training, what kind of tech we are going to have (usually).

They then get out in the field with a fully trained tech, first week goals are to end the week knowing how to complete our walkthrough, sell the services needed, handle the paperwork, setup/teardown, and provide standard to restorative hwe services. The are well pre-prepped so they almost always meet that goal.

Next week, they stay with a trained tech, and they learn our 3-4 most common stain correction protocols.

They are on their own the following week (however we selectively book their jobs so they don't get tossed in a fire). However they then train with me before or after the work day to learn all the stains we offer. This can take another 4-6 weeks. I also incorporate upholstery and tile as well. I have upholstery and tile in house to train them on. Same with area rugs, I have a dozen we use as walk mats, they get that training in house as time allows.

The best of them learn color correction, and that can be anywhere from 2/3 months to 6/8 months before I let them start selling those services in house.

All the while, when we have stretches, patch repairs, threshold replacement, a house with loads of stain work, we will send them to team up with a trained guy on site who had it on their schedule.

All in all - a green guy typically takes 4-5 months. But that's due to all that we offer on the stain side of things. If all we did was the basics, I'd easily cut that in half at worst, possibly even a month.

 

[The Great Oz]

You'll slowly train them that cleaning in SoCal is a year-round thing
SoCal?

I'm in MidCal..

SoSac? You're on the Cali coast, so seasonality isn't really the same as other places.

An example is/was a guy operating in a New England coastal resort area. When his father-in-law died unexpectedly he was pressured by family to take over the business, which had a May to September season. The business basically closed down outside those months, the employees found other jobs and rarely came back for the next season.

He decided he had to retrain his customers about the length of the "cleaning season." He raised prices in the busy season and lowered them in the slow. This was explained clearly to his customers, so if they wanted to wait for a deal they could. He marketed this to vacation home owners and their property managers as well.

-He sent out May reminder cards at the end of March and September reminder cards in October. As his cleaning season became 7 months he sent cards out in February and November. He instituted a free, one-time spot removal program within six months of any cleaning, and in the slow months would make calls to remind people, even if they were well past the six-month mark. He came across as a good guy and most of the spot jobs added on enough to be profitable.

The last time I talked with him was ten years ago, but at that time he had a 9 to 10 month season for cleaning and closed the shop completely for six weeks in the coldest part of winter. Employees made enough money during the year that six weeks off during get-out-of-town weather wasn't a problem, and he'd had the same crew for a couple of years.

 

[Shane Deubell]

SoCal?

I'm in MidCal..

Mike are their any other towns close enough by you could build websites/yelp for?
Even just for big ticket jobs like stone/tile.

Oz idea is not bad either, trying to extend the season somehow.

 

[Answerphone]

Rack 'em and Stack 'em. Schedule the second truck for 2 days a week, and have someone work for you part time.