Use the following idea to keep your cleaning customer’s expectations realistic. We hear it all the time, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Now you can create a great “picture” in the home owner’s mind that explains exactly WHY their high traffic areas don’t look as clean and shiny as the carpet under their sofa!
All Technicians and Inspectors should carry a 3” x 3/4” clear acrylic rod. Half (1 1/2″) of the rod should be scuffed and abraded with medium grit sandpaper. When you’re facing a seriously worn traffic lane and want to cover yourself with the client show them the rod and explain that it represents an individual fiber. The clear, unsanded half is what the carpet fibers are like in the non-worn areas. That’s why the carpet still looks clean and shiny there due to reflecting lots of light. But all the foot traffic has “sanded” and abraded the worn area fibers so that even after the carpet is clean the traffic lane will not look the same.
This one is an “oldy but goody” and thanks for reminding us about it. I’ve known about this trick for many years and yet I must admit I never got around to buying the acrylic rod, much less actually sanding it! (Maybe this is an opportunity for a budding entrepreneur!) A picture is indeed worth a thousand words and also when the client sees that you have a “prop” already prepared, it tells them that this is evidently a common problem. Mission accomplished.
Steve
NOTE: We include a smaller and simpler version of this rod in Jon-Don’s Scotchgard Success Kit. So if you have the Success Kit (and why wouldn’t you given the incredible profit potential found in Scotchgard?) you already have your acrylic rod!
Related posts:
