So many people hate Ionics . . and it's all coming out in this topic !!!
I'll be honest, I've been put off totally by their "Better than everyone else" attitude. Also, the bad reports from people that have their system.
The one thing that totally put me off is that they forced Gardiner's poles to take off the info of their poles from their site.
Straight away this got my back up. If their poles are that good then surely they would be happy to have their poles compared to others.
In all honesty, I have borrowed an ergolite and I wasn't that impressed.
Last year I talked to Alex at Gardiners poles and he told me good and bad points about all different makes of poles. The choice was then left up to me. At no point did I sense a "My poles are the best, all the rest are rubbish" attitude.
Still, I'm sure that Ionics will continue to get sales from the "Just starting up but don't really know what it SHOULD cost" group out there.
Meanwhile, others with sense will do their research and find a better deal with the likes of Gardiners poles or pure freedom, etc.
Now thats very interesting Paul,
I seem to remember one of Ionics magazines earlier this year (or was it BWCA?...lol) comparing poles 'like for like' and side by side. Unless Alex artificially jigged the results (which I doubt very much) then I dont see a problem with comparing equipment from other manufacturers...
and neither does Ionics apparently!!What possible grounds could they give for asking their poles not to be compared in a straight 'like for like' test?
I tend to agree with Inoics on their 'R&W' and logo issues. They've spent a lot of money developing and fine tuning their name and logos and it hardly seems fair that somebody can just look at it and say - thats nice, I'm having that.
I'm sure OCS, Mitie, Intial Services would have issues if you "copied" their designs...as would McDonalds, Bosch or any other firm. I'm sure you wouldnt be too happy if you saw a beer money boy walking round town in a uniform which appeared to be a direct copy of yours!!
Does R&W or the
BT pan pipes man actually mean anything to a customer? - My thought is no, it doesnt. It
MEANS something within our industry to other window cleaners and other suppliers but thats about it.
I challenge anybody to show me
customers who actually understand and recognise Ionics logos/words.
If you do have customers who understand the Ionnics logos -
1.
How do they know of Ionics?
2.
Why do they think it is better than Brodex, Gardiners, Pure Freedom etc..?
3.
What BENEFITS do they percieve from their window cleaner using Ionics over other WFP units?
4.
Can they recognise the brand?
5.
What does the brand MEAN to them?
6.
What PREMIUM are they willing to pay to have an Ionics window cleaner as apposed to another system user?
7 etc etc etc...
If you asked these questions about McDonalds or Bosch everyone would know the 'brand names' and would most likely know the products and give you a fairly decent answer to each question.
Seeing as Ionics only advertise to the trade how could customers possibly be aware of their products? So how could it possibly generate you work?
Yep, they've got nice sign-writing and it looks very slick but that has nothing to do with the actual 'brand name' of Ionics - its their designs that appeal, not THEIR NAME.
I say leave Ionics with their logos and trademark words. Anyone who honestly thinks using their branding gets extra work is seriously deluded.
Would a Joiner get more work if he was using a £700 DeWalt drill over a £20 B&Q drill?....or is it more likely he gets work because he does a
good job No matter which drill he uses?
Why would you want to promote somebody elses business on your vehicle anyway?
If you've paid for an Ionics system, then part of that deal also gets you a licence to use the logos, artwork and trademarks which must make life very easy for a lot of guys. Maybe because they dont know how to go about designing their own logos/artwork or maybe its easier (if a little expensive) to have it all done by one company?
You need to create your own uniform, paperwork, website, invoices, letterheads, business cards, leaflets, flyers...etc etc So why should the vehicle livery be any different?