The World According to Randy

[Cleanworks]

Using compound is your customers home is not only very messy but on some rugs, you're just not going to get it all out. We see the trend towards cheaper rugs. We still clean them in the shop but not at $4.50 per foot. Most people don't want to pay replacement cost for cleaning. Rather than compound, a lot of these rugs can be hwe'd on site, taking precautions to protect the floors.

 

[Nomad74]

Using compound is your customers home is not only very messy but on some rugs, you're just not going to get it all out. We see the trend towards cheaper rugs. We still clean them in the shop but not at $4.50 per foot. Most people don't want to pay replacement cost for cleaning. Rather than compound, a lot of these rugs can be hwe'd on site, taking precautions to protect the floors.

I’m still undecided on the sponge compound stuff. I need more training and time before it soaked in.

I’ve cleaned carpets that prior cleaners had dry sponged. The customers were not happy.

 

[Mikey P]

Using compound is your customers home is not only very messy but on some rugs, you're just not going to get it all out. We see the trend towards cheaper rugs. We still clean them in the shop but not at $4.50 per foot. Most people don't want to pay replacement cost for cleaning. Rather than compound, a lot of these rugs can be hwe'd on site, taking precautions to protect the floors.

Dont use round compound...

 

[Cleanworks]

Dont use round compound...

Or wet water

 

[Mikey P]

Not relevant

 

[hogjowl]

So?
Neither is Jimmy or Bob, but they’re still here!

 

[Bob Pruitt]

Wet water is the only kind I clean with.

 

[hogjowl]

Or excrete

 

[Desk Jockey]

Don't be a dik!

 

[hogjowl]

Look up Joe on FB

 

[Jimmy L]

Only idiots use facebook with all those apps running in the background collecting personal info on you.
On the national news some reporter printed off what was on her face book and she stopped the printer when the stack got 10 inches high. Can you say facebook is corrupt?

 

[hogjowl]

I love FB
You and Taco aren’t there

 

[Desk Jockey]

Awww you miss us..........how pathetic.

 

[Nomad74]

Would you guys believe that Marty even makes FB videos! He’s amazing.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Would you guys believe that Marty even makes FB videos! He’s amazing.

The actor Christopher Guest studied Marty's videos extensively to get into character for the movie "Best in Show"

 

[hogjowl]

I’ve been insulted by Gandhi

 

[Ron K]

Rob, do you think they would be open to me stopping in for a visit?

Rob says "Gary is a really nice guy and does quality work give him a call."

 

[Nomad74]

Rob says "Gary is a really nice guy and does quality work give him a call."

Ron, sorry.

 

[randy]

I agree with listening to what our clients want and doing our best to accommodate them. Simple, good business practice.

Claiming to know what the Millenials, who as of 2018 are 27 to 37 years of age, is presumptuous. Randy, like others, have no idea what their purchasing habits and trends will be as they mature.

I agree about accommodating the clients, not being stuck with preconceived ideas and I like the passion. The zeal and overconfidence of "knowing" exactly what's going to happen, however, reminds me of a new convert.

I totally agree that it's impossible to be 100% certain as to what Millenials will do as they age, but will their core buying philosophies change ? Futurecasting is a huge industry unto itself and the average cleaner would be very wise to read up on what the pros are predicting. For example we know:

Millennials aren't buying houses. They are renting. Are they really going to " invest " in high end floorcoverings? We know that they are overall much more interested in ridesharing, car services and buying used cars than any other demographic group. Statistically they don't lease cars at all. Over 35% are overly focused on only buying the necessities of life and that doesn't move but a few basis points when household income tops $110,000 They are saving for retirement at a much higher rate than the baby boomers, baby busters, or any previous generation for that matter (that one shocked me) . They hate tipping and thus avoid restaurants with servers. That has created great havoc in the food & drink industry as they flock to casual dining joints like Panera Bread, Chipotle, Moe's Southwest, zpizza, Mod (all growing ) and avoid traditional big chain restaurants. Ruby Tuesday, TGI Fridays, Applebees, Red Lobster, Chili's are all closing tons of stores while the casual dining segment is growing at unprecedented rates. Two major coast to coast chains are rumored to be considering liquidation as they can't find a buyer. They may very well go the way of Toys r us after multiple bankruptcies in the last 10 years.

So are people who rent, use Huber & lyft as a main source of transportation, rarely tip, and furnish their rental off craigslist or Ikea going to invest in expensive rugs that require in plant cleaning at $3-5 a sq ? I wager NOT. The demographic & psychographic data that we can be certain of shows no sign of long term growth in rug cleaning or our industry as a whole. That may bother some cleaners that want to dance their way down the yellow brick road until Jesus comes back but it's a FACT. The bright side of this for the Owner operator in my mind is : now it's all about amazing service, quality work and employees that don't look creepy & scary to the customer more than ever. We have to keep existing customers trilled at all costs and crack a non-fiction book occasionally to stay competitive. The readily available information creates a pretty decent map into the future and has historically. No one needs to rely on data from a salesman pitching riches in rugs when that runs antithetical to the data we have from professional forecasters. What I'm seeing on the ground in the top three counties /cities in the Nation ( Fairfax County, Loudoun County and City of Falls Church) makes me a believer.

 

[hogjowl]

 

[Mikey P]

Ill translate it for you Marty.



APPLY TO BE A WAFFLE HOUSE LINE COOK.

 

[ruff]

Randy, do you rent?
Once their delayed maturity kicks in, Millennials will want to own.
Why?- Human nature. Renting sucks. You want a pet? Good luck, cause landlord says no. Eventually even kids like to make their own decisions and get tired of needing others authorization. Just remember how you felt when you lived at home. And those, for crying out loud, were your long suffering and understanding parents

Once they save all these no doubt heavy bundles of money, they will want nice things too.
Why?- Human nature. We and they too like nice things, after all you can't spend it all on frappuchinos or iPhones (no offense meant Boyle.)

And once they have kids (does the research say that they're not having kids? ) their nesting instincts will also kick in.
Why?- Human nature. They still carry the same gene set after all. They, like you and your parents and theirs before, will want a nice, safe home environment for their cute, little fledglings.

So we'll wait and see what really happens.

In the meantime I will, as I've always done, offer both in plant and on location rug cleaning.
And yes, you guessed it: Why?- Because the clients want both and I'm in business to make a living.

 

[Cleanworks]

Jesus is coming back?

 

[The Great Oz]

Thank goodness the coupon clipper that wants a $20 "freshening" of their $70 Target rug just isn't our customer. Traditional hand-knotted area rugs sales may be down, but rugs sales are up, including all kinds of non-traditional but very expensive rugs. Our rug cleaning business has never been better.

We're not seeing 25-30 year old millenials coming in with a rug under their arm very often, but we've never had many 25-30 year old customers. People said the same things about Gen-Xers, and they're the people driving up the price of housing and sending us their $6,000 "silk" rugs to clean.

As a traditional large-plant rug cleaner, we will clean certain large rugs on-location, given the right circumstances. #1 - We can clean them effectively on-site; #2 - We can protect the floors. We'll never try to con someone into paying for Host "cleaning" though, and heaven help the rug cleaner that tries to honestly clean a rug after it's been crammed full of Host corn cob. Or maybe that should be, heaven help the Host cleaner after the rug owner finds out what they've done to their rugs.

They have the Micro-seal territory locked up.

Well, that's worth a Canadian dollar.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Thank goodness the coupon clipper that wants a $20 "freshening" of their $70 Target rug just isn't our customer. Traditional hand-knotted area rugs sales may be down, but rugs sales are up, including all kinds of non-traditional but very expensive rugs. Our rug cleaning business has never been better.

We're not seeing 25-30 year old millenials coming in with a rug under their arm very often, but we've never had many 25-30 year old customers. People said the same things about Gen-Xers, and they're the people driving up the price of housing and sending us their $6,000 "silk" rugs to clean.

As a traditional large-plant rug cleaner, we will clean certain large rugs on-location, given the right circumstances. #1 - We can clean them effectively on-site; #2 - We can protect the floors. We'll never try to con someone into paying for Host "cleaning" though, and heaven help the rug cleaner that tries to honestly clean a rug after it's been crammed full of Host corn cob. Or maybe that should be, heaven help the Host cleaner after the rug owner finds out what they've done to their rugs.



Well, that's worth a Canadian dollar.

So delusional, the sky is falling! Time to sell those serger machines to Hanna!

 

[ruff]

Ill translate it for you Marty.



APPLY TO BE A WAFFLE HOUSE LINE COOK.

Will he be accepted?

 

[hogjowl]

I have all my natural teeth

 

[ruff]

Hired

 

[Cleanworks]

I have all my natural teeth

Saved in a jar.

 

[Willy P]

Saved in a jar.

Nope. He puts them under his pillow every night before he goes to sleep. No money yet, but you have to admire the little guy's determination.