What sets us apart regarding our carpet cleaning service

Article from Atlas Online Newsletter Sept 2010

PART ONE
When there are so many carpet cleaning companies to choose from, why choose us? What sets us apart from the competition? 'What Sets Us Apart' will be an ongoing article published in the next few newsletters, to let you know why it makes sense to choose us as your carpet & upholstery cleaners.

The subject I want to address in Part One is why we believe in the superiority of the tools we use. This includes the wand we use on the carpets (photo on right), the stair tool, and the upholstery tool (photo below). I've touted them for years as some of the most potent tools in the carpet cleaning industry. They have the ability to remove more soil than other tools used by the majority of carpet cleaners. In fact, we might be the only carpet cleaning company in Marin County that uses these particular tools.

Many people in the carpet and upholstery cleaning industry, who understand the technology behind my upholstery cleaning tool, believe it to be superior. It really can slice through heavy duty soil. With most tools one part releases pressured solution while another part vacuums up the solution. In our tool the releasing of pressured solution and the vacuuming function simultaneously.The solution comes out and hits and agitates the carpet fibers at the same time the solution & the soil are being vacuumed.
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Because of this technology, the stair tool can't be beat at cleaning stair edges (generally, the most soiled parts on a staircase) and can perform very well on the sides of stairs when they start to turn black (soil filtration). Most carpet cleaners will not deal with soil filtration. It's a lot of work and you need the right tool for this particular challenge.

Recently, a carpet cleaning equipment inventor, who I respect a lot and who really put a lot of thought into creating his newly invented wand, wanted me to try it out for a month. He expressed that it would be superior to what I currently use. I told him that I really didn't think so, but I would give it a try. You see, his wand is still based on the same technology that most carpet cleaners use, although I believe his wand is better than most.

Right from the start, before I took it home, I did a side by side test on a soiled rug without using any cleaning agents. My side was brighter. My assistant and I continued to test and compare the performance of these two wands for the next two weeks. We tested on very soiled sections of many different types of carpet using the same cleaning agents. We really did scrutinize the results. After all, if there is something superior to what I use, I want to know about it.
Sometimes the results would look the same, yet it took his wand 7-10 passes to accomplish this while it took my wand 2 passes.

So far, which wand appears superior? 
 
The truth be known, most carpet cleaners will not do 7-10 passes. They may do 2-3 at the most and that would produce an inferior result.

After many trials the results showed that my wand created a brighter looking carpet which of course means more soil was removed. With just two slow passes, my side would be brighter than his side with 10 or more passes.

Again, which wand appears superior?

The cool thing is that after returning the wand and expressing my results to him, the inventor was very open and understood why my wand achieved better results than his. It was because of the particular technology.

I've always said that I would hate it if I had to use what most carpet cleaners use. I've been spoiled and many of you have been spoiled with the superior results.
I LOVE THESE TOOLS!

PART TWO 
​Part 2 is about the technician, the person performing the work and directing the activity. As I've said in the past, you could have superior carpet cleaning equipment being used by an inferior technician and the result usually could be some piss poor work OR you could have inferior carpet cleaning equipment (like a rental) operated by a highly trained technician, who cares and is proud of his work, do some great work in your home. No matter what kind of equipment he or she uses, the performance of a qualified technician, proves to be the most important part of a successful carpet cleaning equation. There are a lot of carpet cleaning companies in Marin. Most have low to medium quality carpet cleaning techs. Watch out for the slick ads that promise low prices. There is no skill involved in a quick in and out visit. In order to profit they need to clean many homes and limit the time of each visit.

When you hire a large company, you never know who is going to clean your carpets. It's possible that you could have someone trained for only two to three weeks. This person may be getting low pay and not give a hoot whether they see you again. It's very different with an owner-operator like myself because I'm invested in seeing you again, therefore our performance has to be memorable.

Here's a cool little story:
If you've only had your carpets cleaned by a low quality carpet cleaner at a great price, you may think that you have received the best job possible. That makes sense. You never had a high quality cleaning to compare the results to. Well, when I first worked with my assistant over a year ago, he ate at Burger King all the time. He loved it and it's a great price. Then I introduced him to some of the good quality hamburger restaurants (Phyllis's, Pearls, Barney's, Best Burger, and The Counter). They all cost a lot more than Burger King.  I believe he stopped eating at Burger King. I'm sure you get my point.

SIX SIGNIFICANT POINTS
The following six significant points are what separates us as technicians (the people who direct the process of the equipment, tools, cleaning agents, etc. and make all the decisions in cleaning your carpet) from those of the other carpet cleaning companies and gives us an edge in producing superior results.

1. Our tools are simply superior. We wrote about them in the last email newsletter (THE TOOLS) and on our website (TOOLS). We, also, know that many technicians out there do not know how to use their tools properly in order to get the best results.

2. We give ALL your carpeted areas a respectful cleaning--even the clean looking areas. Think about it! Do you really like to pay someone to clean your carpets if they short cut you. Believe me if your carpets look pretty good, there's a very good chance that some carpet cleaners will be in and out of those areas pretty fast. The carpet cleaning industry can be full of many illussions.

3. As you may have already experienced (and I know most carpet cleaners do not do this), we try to create the best lighting in each area so that we can detect the most spots and stains, including soil. You see, if carpet cleaners don't do that, they can easily miss many spots. It's amazing how many more spots appear in the correct lighting. The truth is that it takes extra time to do this, yet that's what you have to do to produce a higher quality cleaning.

4. We do what it takes to produce good results even if that means sticking our noses to the carpet to detect odors such as urine, which is not always the most pleasant experience.

5. We will work on what is known as soil filtration stains. Those are the dark areas on each side of stairways. They can be difficult and most (and I do mean most) carpet cleaners will not deal with that.
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6. We can work on real super difficult stains that ordinary and good stain reducers cannot budge. That process involves aggressive stain reducers and a steamer. This is usually the last step to take before calling a stain permanent. We know for a fact that not all carpet cleaners do this.

HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE
AND HERE'S TO  GREAT RESULTS!

PART 3
​In Part 1 we covered why the tools we use sets us apart from the competition. In Part 2 we covered why the person cleaning your carpet (meaning us) sets us a part from other carpet cleaning companies. In Part 3 we'd like to cover a gift that we give to our carpet cleaning clients that truly sets us apart from the rest of the competition. That gift is the Carpet Confidence Stain Removal System. This system is way more comprehensive than what you would receive from other carpet cleaners. Many cleaners may leave you a spotting bottle. Many may leave you nothing.

This is an extra added value when you use our services. It's FREE and every time we reservice your home, we top off whatever you need. It takes quite a bit of time, energy, and money to provide this extra service. We really like to provide this kind of value. It's to use between cleanings. As a matter of fact, because of this system, we have lost some business. Many of our clients are getting really good at removing their own spots and stains. Now  they can delay their regular cleanings.

Not only does this system include instructions, it includes the same spot and stain removers that we use professionally. In other words, for home use, these are fantastic products! If you actually take the time to learn about and use these stain products, there's no reason that you can't be stain free between cleanings.

We give you more than other carpet cleaning outfits (regarding spotting kits) and you get superior carpet stain removal products which are better than anything you could purchase (Resolve, Folex, Oxyclean, etc.)

Again, this is another reason that sets us a part from the competition.

The following is a little blurb from the beginning of a page on our Carpet Confidence website. 

The Ultimate Home Spot and Stain Removal System
 Our product, Carpet Confidence, puts all other carpet stain removers to shame. This is the Ultimate Home Spot and Stain Removal System and once you try it you'll understand why it's so superior for taking those stains out of your expensive carpeting. This system will keep your carpets stain-free between professional carpet cleanings. This will save you some serious money and will give you the confidence of a professional right in your own home.

Continue reading this page at the Carpet Confidence website.

The Carpet Confidence Stain Removal System for home owners use has been 
field tested with my clients for over four and a half years.

PART FOUR
​ABOUT OUR CARPET CLEANING COMPETITORS
THE HIGH QUALITY CLEANING COMPANIES:

There are a handful of carpet cleaning companies in Marin that fall into the high quality category. All of these companies use truck-mounted steam cleaning systems. They may be owner-operated (like us) or have a small manageable number of vans with trained operators. Their pricing is around the same as ours (sometimes higher, sometimes a little lower). The one exception is the company with the word "Master" in their name. Their rates are much higher, although the quality of their work is comparable.

There are a few companies that I would highly recommend, if for some reason I was unavailable. 

WHAT SEPARATES US FROM THESE FEW TOP COMPANIES:

We are not going to pretend that we know everything about these companies. Some of what we know is from feedback from their prior customers. We just want you to know what makes us a little different and what gives us an edge.

The number one difference is our tools--our floor tool, our stair tool, and our upholstery tool. We know which tools they use. We've done side by side tests. The difference may not be noticeable when a carpet is in good condition, however, it is noticeable on a very soiled and filthy carpet. This is also true for upholstery. These tools help remove more soil, spots, and stains and are simply superior.

Of course, the other factor in removing soil, spots, and stains, are the cleaning agents. Our basic and safe pre-conditioner is a better performer than what most other companies use. When we add a booster to it (needed for highly soiled, spotted, and stained carpets), the performance level just goes up.

Another difference is that when we enter a room, we try to change the lighting in the room, if possible. We do this in order to see soil, spots, and stains more easily, so we don't miss cleaning them. We demonstrate this all the time. It's amazing what happens. What at first appears to be a couple of spots in a room changes under different lighting and 10 more noticeable spots might be revealed!

BOTTOM LINE:

Through this four part article, 'About Our Carpet Cleaning Competitors', we've shared with you our viewpoint on many of the carpet cleaning companies of Marin. These are companies that you could use in the future or might have used in the past. We just wanted to give you a quick education on what's out there. I have tried to keep it neutral. I do have strong opinions because I have researched and thought this all out extensively, while developing my own cleaning service.

We have shared what makes us a little or a lot different (in some cases).

We are not saying we are perfect. There are certainly many glitches that can happen when cleaning carpets and we have had our share. We do our best to deal with these glitches. It's part of being in business.

We have tried to consider certain factors that need to be assessed when choosing a carpet cleaning company. We addressed wet cleanings versus dry and dropping off carpets versus cleaning them at home. We looked at the quality of work and the cost of cleaning. As I stressed, "Most any kind of cleaning method will improve the look of your carpet, but will it be the best cleaning?" We believe in certain circumstances you might need to go with a type of service that we do not offer. If you have a short limited drying time, or need a lot of cleaning for a small amount of money, you might choose another company.

The only type of cleaner we want you to avoid at all cost is the "bait and switch" cleaner. We also want you to watch out for attractive advertising promising special deals and products that are not that special.

If you think these articles were just a sales pitch and that we are trying to convince you to share our view points, please remember this, I sincerely believe in what I say. I believe that our cleaning system, the tools we use, the solutions we clean with are the best that I have encountered up to this point. If I find something better, I will switch what I do or what I use. My objective is to provide the best possible service to the residents of Marin.

Thanks for taking the time to read these articles.