[Doug Holloway]

Shaun,

Do the 50% off merchants leave the carpet clean?, not the ones I've come across.

I do think speed seems to be the big TM advantage , accessability the big dissadvantage.

Both my weekend commercial jobs are porty only due to access.

Cheers,

Doug

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I can see your point of view I've been there as well, but you will always find a way of getting your pipes in ,

Remember when you are selling your services to a new customer what makes you charge your higher price compared to the £10 any sized carpet you find in the free paper?

Well you have to be different ie educated in your trade, offer a better service, better products and a better machine your custy will expect that you will arrive on time and be courteous and not damage her items but when you offer a more deep down clean so it looks better and stays cleaner longer rinses out the chemicals that you have used and/or quicker drying that is where you can be a cut above the rest and you charge a premium for it! a TM for some is an evolutionary step.

Shaun

[Doug Holloway]

Shaun,

Tommorows job is an office tower block and I'm on floors 9 and 7.

I do take your point about having a truckmount being an evolutionary step, and my new van is big enough for one if I decide to go that way.

Cheers,

Doug

[paul@ctcs]

I would like to think I offer a service which is 2nd to none in all aspects but I'm offering Half Price at the moment to domestic customers   

Paul

[stevegunn]

Doug what van did you go for in the end?

[malc]

With referance to mikes post "if you bring a portable in your home is a cowboy"i believe its the operator that gets the result.And believe that truck mounts are great if you have got large commercial jobs which you can get access with your truck.   

[Len Gribble]

Very interesting reading!

I have found my TM to be an asset, yes there a few problem i.e. parking, commercial work etc that’s why I’m a professional and do my homework on each job.

Though who are in a sense putting forwards the negative side of owning a TM need to look closer to home and do a comparisons on the equipment they have against the more powerful ones coming into the country like cfr 500 and the eclipse.

And yes all porty users leave machine out side


Len

[Chris Bailey]

Whilst at the show I was viewing a stand near the service master stand when I couldn't help but overhear someone having a telephone conversation about T/M franchises, neadless to say the leaflet I was looking at at the time took me a long time to read...

Anyways, the guy on the phone was saying that T/M's aren't to get ahead of the game but are becoming the norm!!

I am intersted in a T/M, not yet, but hopefully not to far in the future.  IMO I don't believe that T/M's are becoming the norm or that there is any great advantage over the portable other than productivity.  Yes they may well be able to leave the carpets dryer and this is a marketing angle, but I have never been asked if I have a T/M and I have never lost a potential job because of drying times.

The only reason I want a T/M is to grow my business through greater productivity and to make the job easier.

When I have a T/M then I will, of course, tell my new customers that any one with a porty is a cowboy

Good Thread

Chris

[Ian Rochester]

Hello all, just got back from seeing the Town trounce the scousers,  apologies to any Liverpudlians out there, but what the hell.

TM's, Mark has made an attempt at answering my previous questions , with half of his answers saying "Get the Porty out", not what I wanted to hear!!

Also I do not leave my portable outside, it comes in with me so that I can close the door, dust sheets and all.  There is not always an option for putting hoses through a window, we do a government building (20K+pa) which has no open windows and we work in the basement area.  So would this be another "Get the porty out" answer?

I think we both need each other, there is advantages for both, in an ideal world we would all have a TM, Eclipse (or similar!!) and Dry Fusion (or similar!!) systems sat in our garage or lock up ready for all situations.  Unfortunatly, few of us can afford this luxury so have to live with what we have.  I have porties, but do not class myself as a cowboy by any means.  Cowboys are people who either do not know what they are doing and/or rip people off with prices for poor quality service.

I am seriously looking at TMs and other systems, I am honest with customers about drying times, I earn a VERY GOOD net profit with very low overheads and believe that I offer very good value for a very good service.

Roll on next sunday for the Spurs match
Ian

[paul@ctcs]

There are portables and then there are the Recoil and Eclipse machines
I doubt there is much difference with drying times, I can achieve dry times under an hour in many cases, IMO carpet cleanings optimal solution pressure is around 300 to 400 psi so these machines can cut the mustard here too.
Saying that its Horses for Courses and on some very large very dirty jobs where filling and dumping would drive me crazy I'd give my right arm for a TM.

Paul

[lee_gundry]

you don,t see truckmount owners posting threads on here,asking how to generate more work.




why do you think this is??


Lee G

[paul@ctcs]

They have obviously been trading long enough to generate the client base to justify the outlay of a TM.

Dont forget the King of CC uses a portable machine

Paul

[Len Gribble]

Paul

No need to give up your right arm for a TM sub it out and let them do the hard work and take a bit of the top.

Have to admit in my advertisement I pop at the porty boys using the latest machine, for all I know they could be using a George, but if they say eclipse/recoil I would know I would have competition, then again no competition as nether machines are in my neck of the woods.

Len

[stevegunn]

Paul

No need to give up your right arm for a TM sub it out and let them do the hard work and take a bit of the top.

Have to admit in my advertisement I pop at the porty boys using the latest machine, for all I know they could be using a George, but if they say eclipse/recoil I would know I would have competition, then again no competition as nether machines are in my next of the woods.

Len

YET

[Len Gribble]

Chris

Re franchising if the one I think you are on about granted data is about 18 mouth old Lounge £30 now advertising £100 per hour. TM’s the norm hope not as I’m the only one in my borough.

Steve

Lucky me most have there head in the sand or some where else!

Len

[lee_gundry]

just flicking through the prochem cleaning specialist magazine,i noticed that all the sucess articals are truckmount owners,

swift clean blows 45k on a set up,5 yrs later the guy has a fleet of truckmounts.
valetek cleaning lands pizza hut contract,
simon gerrad cleaning cruise liners


you don,t see bill smith seals cleaning contract to clean all londons comet retail outlets,using his steampro100psi,with built in vac booster & supa doopa water heaterupper


Lee G

[Len Gribble]

Lee

Sorry to be cynical with your statement look at issue 8 summer 2002 forget the front page, go to page cs4 page cs3 is quite intriguing Steempro.

Len

[Mike Roper]

Hi
 Granted Prochem mag features all these truckmount success stories, & all those guys deserve success because nobody hands it to them on a plate, but they want to sell more truckmounts. Not everyones business is or wants to be big contracts . No doubt if they did want to compete in that market they WOULD HAVE TO go truckmount. As has been said its horses for courses  & theres alot of GOOD c/c ,s with good businesses using portys & l/m systems. Every one must evaluate his own circumstances & needs & ambitions? & decide for himself.
Mike. (Whiby)

[lee_gundry]

like i say len just flicking through.


Lee G

[Steve Weatherley]

I'm finding now that these types of questions are ignored by most Truckmount owners, people don't ask them for information, they ask them to reinforce their own negative beliefs.

This is absolute rubbish! The questions are raised because before spending thousands of pounds of hard earned money it would be nice to find out if it's justified.
It's a pity if you can't raise these questions in fear of offending T/M users because that's not the intent.