Dont waste your time pre vacuuming

[juve20]

right, i am probably going to get lots of negative comments here but here it goes anyways!

Tip:
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME PRE-VACUUMING!!
get the customer to do it!

phew!... there i said it!

When a customer calls, i ask them two things. First, if they can remove small, breakable items out of the room for me and second, if they can give the carpet a through vacuuming!

Its that simple!

For such an easy job that the customer can do (and most likely they own a vacuum cleaner), why charge the customer more cash for something they can do!!??

It saves you a) valuable time b) the cost of a vacuum cleaner c) the maintenance of the vacuum d) space in you van (or truck as you guys call them)

The majority of people here (UK) vacuum their carpets once or twice a week anyways....

Tony

 

[Brian L]

Unfortunately I have seen the way most customers vacuum and they are not using the Werner Method. I usually end up having to vacuum anyway.

 

[Ron Lippold]

thats one of the reason im able to get a little more, im glad there are alot of those guys out here

 

[juve20]

mmmmm.... maybe its because i do alot of high end customers and 9 times out of 10 their carpets anit massively dirty!

I say to the client "a slow through vacuum" and thats what i get"

 

[Blue Monarch]

Ron, my guess is you could still get the same amount without the pre-vac.

 

[juve20]

^^ exactly

I say save your money and buy yourself some better pre-spray and with the time you have saved, spend it on more passes of the wand!

 

[B&BGaryC]

On in home bids, if I'm thinking of it at the time, I tell them that I am going to vacuum, but go ahead and keep up on the vacuuming. The more it's vacuumed, the better it will look. If they vacuum the night before, and then I vacuum day of, even better.

 

[Tile Nerd]

That was a Nerd Rule some time ago. I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[Jim Martin]

I do a lot of high end homes and what I run into is central vacuum units......they are the most inadequate out there......most don't have anything that represents a beater bar......can always still fill mine even if they said they already did it,,, ..............so what do you do when they vacuumed for you and there is crap under the sofa you hand to move............or the wall edges are loaded with crap.........this is very poor advice ...keep wondering why the public views us lower then a taxi driver........become a better cleaner and raise the bar.....As Mike put it......Step it up ....or step to the side....


and BTW nerd boy...where are the pictures you promised me of the unit you are selling ???????

 

[Tile Nerd]

Sherri said she sent them on Monday. There's a bunch of them. I'll find out what happened to them or resend them.

 

[Jim Martin]

cool Thanks.....

 

[Mikey P]

If one of your clients ever hear one of their friends talking about a CCer who vacuumed even though the friend did and pulled out all kinds of crap that she could see in his dirt cup, you are toast.



Ask me how I know this.

 

[XTREME1]

who doesn't have a vacuum on their truck. Save money by not buying a vacuum, that is one of the dumbest things I saw someone write. Buy better prespray HUH you should be buying what you perceive to be the best anyhow. YOU HACK

 

[Derek]

Re: Biggest and Best tip of 2008

Biggest and Best tip of 2008

uhhh it's only May...if that's the best this forum has to offer i want my supporting memb's fee back.

please....

--- Derek.

 

[Dolly Llama]

biggest and best tip of '08 came yesterday.

we did an empty house for a lady that wanted to move in today.

the invoice totaled $312.
as she wrote the check, she said she made it for a little extra as appreciation for working her in so fast.

she wrote the check for $370 :wink:

THAT'S the kind of tip I like...


..l.T.A.

 

[juve20]

who doesn't have a vacuum on their truck. Save money by not buying a vacuum, that is one of the dumbest things I saw someone write. Buy better prespray HUH you should be buying what you perceive to be the best anyhow. YOU HACK

a hack cos i didn't vac an already vacuumed carpet!?? ha ha I'm a carpet cleaner! not molly maid! lol

I move all furniture, pre-spray and Deodorize every job FREE of charge! Yip what a hack i am! and proud of it Mrs Greatest Carpet Cleaner on the planet

Go ahead, you guys carry on wasting time and money I'll have collected the cash and moved on to my next job by the time you've started up your TM! lol

 

[B&BGaryC]

A local cleaner with the best reputation in this town had a spree of complaints, we picked up a bunch of clients. They said the guys were in and out in less time than it took her to vacuum her house. I don't know who turned the switch from adequate to turbo, but they made a lot of problems for him.

I don't think this guys work is all it's cracked up to be, but he is quite a shmoozer and his guys do adequate work... most of the time.

 

[John Watson]

Helen and I also like to clean clean carpets, But, we are expected to vacuum because I had told them to pre vac also. even with all this pre vacing of these clean carpets our knee high still catches lots before it goes into the waste tank.

 

[XTREME1]

Didn't say you were a hack for not prevacuuming. I said you were a hack for not having one on the truck

 

[Rex Tyus]

Didn't say you were a hack for not prevacuuming. I said you were a hack for not having one on the truck

That's right whether you ever use it or not is irrelevant. You HAVE to have one on the truck. I think it is a law or sumpin' :?

 

[Spurling]

We average $100-150 an hour .. so if were doing a large job and it takes 1 hour to pre-vac, that's $100-150 with out using any gas or detergents for that hr .. the client feels like their getting their moneys worth with the amount of time spent thoroughly cleaning their carpet.

Clients may not do a good job vacuuming .. or have a shiddy vac cleaner.. My kids suck up the lint and small pieces of whatever and say yeah I vacuumed. And if you don't pre-vac uph, you're making it harder to clean .. I think the dirt you pushed into the foam or cushion may wick up as it dries. You may not see it .. but you may feel it .. I've vacuumed upholstery and have seen a big difference before cleaning it.

You should be charging enough to include that anyway.. its also an IICRC standard to do it.

 

[Tom Servo]

[quote="Spurling"its also an IICRC standard to do it.[/quote]

IICRC :roll:

 

[B&BGaryC]

Quit knocking the IICRC.
Granted, a moron can pass an IICRC exam. I'm sure ODIN will quickly point out that an 11 year old can pass an IICRC exam. However, I have seen more misconceptions and mistakes from morons who have never heard of the IICRC than I have from morons that passed the test.

I know at a company where they don't want things done to the standard, the owners will do whatever they can to keep their techs away from those classes. Easiest thing to do is not let them know it exists or to tell them they can go but they have to pay for the certification.