Education

New people in the cleaning business only need a primary industry education. It's not rocket science. They do not need to take continuous courses and make endless payments for education and certification in a money-mill environment. Practicing their trade, an occasional refresher class, periodic technical updates from their suppliers and a good advertising program will help ensure survival in the free market system.

Most important to their success are good manners, ethics and business practices that will have more effect on consumer satisfaction with carpet than any equipment or chemicals that may be used to do the job. The market flushes out (pardon the pun) cleaning companies using faulty equipment or chemical products. They just don't stay in business very long.

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CRI and carpet cleaning

Faulty testing procedures using junk science to rate cleaning equipment is not the best way to ensure that the consumer is satisfied with carpet cleaning. CRI should trust established industry schools that have experience, history and public records of consumer satisfaction for their guideposts rather than something as hokey as testing cleaning equipment with fake dirt.

Our industry is not about tools as much as it is about talent. A hammer or saw is only as good as the carpenter. A wrench is no better than the mechanic who turns it. A power stretcher or knee kicker is only as good as the carpet installer. Carpet cleaning is no different and it's not rocket science as CRI has implied.

Anyone with reasonable physical faculties and brains enough to mow a lawn can be taught in a few hours how to clean a carpet. What takes a little longer is training in business management, customer relations and good manners. These are the things that are important to success, especially in the residential carpet cleaning business.

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Memory lane 6/25/10

Sixty five years ago today I celebrated my most memorable birthday. It was my eighteenth and I was on a little island about ten miles long and five miles wide in the Pacific. The guys in my platoon helped make it memorable with a gift of a mud pie in my face to help me celebrate.

The experience made me grateful to get back to this great land we live in and instilled an attitude of thanksgiving in me that remains to this day. And to any of you old Jarheads who may still be alive.... Semper Fi!

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“Experts” On Golf And Business

A convert to the game of golf said nearly everyone he played with offered advice on how to improve his game. For years, his game got steadily worse. Then he took lessons from a PGA professional and his golf game improved immediately.

In business nearly every "expert" salesperson will tell you how to improve your business by using their products. But in business, just as in golf, a mixture of advice, suggestions, products and ideas can be dangerous and cause more confusion even though some of the products and ideas may be good ones.

Before you accept advice from anyone, check their credentials and apply common sense first. If a suggestion doesn't appeal to your own better judgment, don’t do it! Instruction from a reputable source, dedication, perseverance, desire and a lot of practice will improve your business or your golf game.

Earl Nightingale, speaking at a Bane-Clene convention said, "The weekend golfer goes out and practices to be bad. Go to a golf professional and take lessons from someone who knows the game if you want your game to improve. The same thing is true for you people in the cleaning business. Take lessons from the Pros at Bane-Clene. They know this business!"

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CRI testing and commercial carpet cleaning

Commercial carpet cleaning has always had substantially more cleaning related complaints than the residential market. The reason is that most building managers won't pay a professional cleaning service for a good maintenance program. Their own poorly trained in house staff is nearly always the source of the problem.

The result is the replacement of hundreds of thousands of yards of carpet simply because it was dirty and the so called "mill experts" knew nothing about cleaning.* This situation won't change with the CRI's "Platinum" rated equipment because building managers typically buy the cheapest equipment and chemical products available and do not train their staff.**

CRI should ally with established cleaning industry schools that would be selected on reputation, past performance and simplified guidelines. Building managers should be encouraged to send personnel to these schools. Bane-Clene Institute would hold special classes for in-house and janitorial personnel and I'm sure many others would join in such an effort.

Trying to make cleaning seem like rocket science or establishing phony progressive and costly quality ratings for equipment will only worsen the problem in the commercial market. It has already begun to alienate professional cleaners with solid reputations for customer satisfaction.

* Bane-Clene® Institute has offered tuition free classes as a professional courtesy to the carpet industry for more than 35 years. Many technical people have attended, but very few mill representatives have taken advantage of the offer.

* * Of the notable exceptions, the Pasco County schools in Florida stands out.

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Free Is Good

Bane-Clene® products and services are listed in our catalog and our prices are competitive in a very competitive market. But there is something else that isn't advertised by most suppliers and that is the things they offer free.

Here are some of the things we don't charge for:

Long distance "Hot Lines" - Consultation with a chemist - Advertising advice from Media Associates - Help from our staff of experts - Tuition at Bane-Clene Institute for owners and their employees - Referrals from consumers & carpet mills - Warranty work for carpet mills - Research & development - Guaranteed satisfaction - Clene-Times® newsletter - Cleaning Digest® on line - Access to a web site with the most information in the industry - Shipping on orders of $425 or more - 5-year warranty on Bane-Clene equipment - PCA membership for referral network members - Parking - Coffee - Conversation.

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Good sign for carpet industry

Mohawk Industries is reportedly planning a $60 million expansion that will add 87,500 square feet of manufacturing space to their South Carolina carpet mill. Mohawk employs more than 400 people there and may be hiring more. This is a positive sign of recovery in the carpet business.

Even though the carpet industry in general has been curtailed by the homebuilding recession, they are still cranking out over a billion yards of the fuzzy stuff every year. Annual production for ten years has consistently been at 2 billion yards each year. That's a lot of carpet to clean.

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Carpet cleaners caught dumping chemicals

A Chattanooga newspaper, right in the CRI's back yard, ran this embarrassing story recently. A Sheriff's deputy saw foaming liquid flowing toward a creek and traced it back to a carpet cleaner's truck where workers were draining a 55 gallon tank. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Specialists were notified and responded to the scene.

A Servpro® official said there is a sewer at their office for waste water disposal, but workers sometimes dump in car wash drains and toilets. He said he wasn't sure how often workers pull off the road to dump liquid waste. The paper quoted him as saying, "If you're 30 miles away, it can be kind of hard to drive back to the shop and do it. I can't be out with my guys all the time."

If CRI must crusade, they should go after this type of behavior rather than telling professional cleaners what products to use in our work. If we don't use good equipment and cleaning agents and do a good job, the free market will quickly eliminate us. We don't need the SOA, CSP designation or a costly platinum rating from the CRI.

What we do need is a little respect for the job most professional cleaners are doing. The CRI might try to educate cheap building managers, DIYers and bait and switch advertisers. Those are the ones responsible for virtually all complaints about cleaning.

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Wet rip off?

Opportunists are taking advantage of the hyperbole about mold and mildew to charge exorbitant prices. A consumer in New Jersey said a local flood contractor had quoted $7,000.00 to treat 2,000 square feet of wet carpet with Micro-Ban®.

The consumer found Bane-Clene on the internet when looking for the Micro-Ban product that was specified. They ordered 5 gallons of the product for under $150.00 including shipping. Needless to say they were very happy.

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Is training important?

New people in the carpet cleaning business only need a primary industry education. They do not need to take continuous courses and make endless payments for so-called education in a money-mill environment. Education has become a cottage industry within an industry and has taken on all of the characteristics of a government bureaucracy.

Practicing the trade, an occasional refresher course in management, periodic technical updates that should be available from suppliers and a good advertising program is what we need to survive and thrive in the free market system. Manners, ethics and good business practices have more effect on consumer satisfaction than any equipment or chemical product we may use.

The CRI and some others with devious agenda have tried to make the simple act of cleaning a carpet akin to rocket science. I believe the good intentions in the original SOA program have turned into nothing more than a money-making scheme coupled with a bid for control of the cleaning industry. Carpet warranties may play a role in the SOA, but that's another story.

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Service anyone?

For years I've watched the Indianapolis transit company (IndyGo) deal with the loss of passengers. Government got involved in a quasi-ownership/management arrangement and it got worse. When ridership drops, they cut the number of routes and raise the fare. Every time they raise the fare and give less service they lose more riders. They can't figure out why that happens.

There really isn't much service anymore. We pump our own gas and pay more for the privilege. There was a time when a trip to a "service" station meant we sat in the car while it was fueled, the oil, radiator and battery were checked, and the windshield was washed. Just think of the millions of entry level jobs that have been eliminated, too. Youngsters could learn about work, business, customer relations and especially how to take pride in earning a living.

Grocery and hardware stores are offering less service, too. Now we find products and carry them to a self service check out. They don't even say thank you anymore, it's printed on the receipt. I'm not even going to talk about department stores which once were the epitome of good service. And when is the last time you called a company or a government agency and a real, live person answered the phone?

This dominant departure from "service" is the greatest opportunity those of us in the real "service" industry have ever had. Answer the phone, be polite, do a good job and do a little something extra for every customer we work for. If we do, we will stand out in the minds and hearts of consumers who are starved for good service.

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The Sheriff may run for Governor

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County in Arizona took cable TV away from his prisoners but found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails. The Sheriff hooked up the cable to Disney and the weather channel. When asked why the weather channel, he replied, "so they will know how hot it gets here." I'd vote for him.

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"That giant sucking sound"

Ross Perot brought it to our attention back in 1992. But he was concerned with Mexico which today may be the least of our problems. That sound we hear now is the value of our currency declining in a cloud of national debt. Taxpayers are on the hook for European bail outs with Greece near default because their debt to GDP ratio is 124%. Japan is 106%, France 79% and the UK, 75%. The US was 34% at the end of the Carter administration in 1980. Today it is nearing 92% and heading up.

In 1988, I read a book titled The Shadows of Power, by James Perloff. I skimmed through it, didn't give it too much credibility and thought the author was a radical. In 2006, I came across the book again and read it thoroughly this time. This book is about corruption, war, banking, political influence, traitorous activities, sedition and one world government via the UN.

Perloff took a hard look at the history of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). He connected them and was careful to print references for every sordid allegation he made such as his claim that the CFR doesn't care which political party is in power because their members have strong influence in both.

Observing the world situation today, the economy, politics, banking, stock market and especially the antics of the Federal Reserve Board, I'm convinced Perloff was right. The behavior of the last four administrations in Washington demonstrates that he was right on the money. "Shadows" is not an easy read and is not popular because most people don't like the truth.

But, if you want to understand why our politics, economy and society are heading south, reading this book will help give you a good sense of direction in planning for the future. If you don't think the national debt of the United States is serious, click on this link:

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

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