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Commercial Steam Team – Your Minnesota Carpet Cleaners

We’re a family owned and family operated business here in the Twin Cities, MN

Our team is dedicated to provide you with superior service and high-quality work at an affordable price. We offer carpet cleaning for residential and commercial businesses throughout the Twin Cities Metro area of Minnesota.

We service all of Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, most of Dakota, Anoka, and Washington Counties, and significant portions of Scott and Carver Counties. (We also do larger projects outside these areas.)

Call us today for a free quote on your carpet cleaning 952-224-7222 or learn more about us at https://commercialsteamteam.com/

Profit Sharing in the Carpet Cleaning Industry

Confucius said “The path to wealth is rich in hate.”  This is one of my favorite sayings, partly because it is so very true in most cases.  But also because I love challenges and proving that statement to only be solid wisdom instead of solid fact is a challenge worth taking on.

The carpet cleaning industry in the Twin Cities Area of Minnesota is an industry that employers and employees can make a good living.  In most cases a bonus system is set up for “upselling”.  Raise the bill of your clients far enough above what it was when it was booked and you get a bonus.  This is not bad for the employee’s wallets but not always good for their conscience.  This can indeed breed “hate” from the consumers towards the companies and even employees who use high pressure sales tactics.  It also breeds an environment where sales training and skills outweigh quality control and technical training essential to doing a great job.

The best carpet cleaners are rarely the best salesmen.  I don’t think upselling should be rewarded that way.  Employees should understand the products and be knowledgeable about them enough to inform the client when asked or when it is obviously necessary.  Mentioning and selling are two different things.

There is another method that breeds “hate” even more.  This is the bait and switch method.  Everyone has seen ads for $5.95 a room or something along those lines.  If you check the small print you will see that it says something like “deep cleaning 40 cents a square foot”.   When the cleaner shows up to do the job he turns down his equipment and cleans a room with plain water.  Then he pre-sprays the carpet and turns his machine up to full power and cleans a stripe down the center of the room.  He then asks if the customer wants him to do that method over the whole carpet for 10 times what they were originally quoted.  By the time they leave the customer is left feeling cheated.  The employee makes a good living this way but only in the monetary sense.  That method leaves the customer feeling cheated and foolish.  The employee can’t take pride in how he makes his living.

There is only way that I have found makes sense to compensate employees well while also making the customer truly happy as well.  This method is simple profit sharing.  At the end of the year when the profit numbers are figured out the employees split 10 percent.  Each year at the company the employee is vested one more share in that percentage.  This rewards both loyalty and quality.  The more work the company does as a whole, the more profit there is to go around.  Yes the employer has to give up 10 percent of his/her profits but with the increased quality and attentiveness from the employees, I don’t doubt it adds more profit than it costs.

This way the employees can take pride in how they make their living as do their families.

This way the customer can take pride in knowing they got a great job at a fair price and that their money is going toward a company that treats their employees with respect.

This way the employer, in this case me and my family, can take pride in knowing that they are building a successful company without the expense of anyone involved.  Or rather without the “hate” that usually accompanies that success.

Profit sharing has worked great for my company in both employee retention and quality control.  To be honest the results have been immeasurable.

Why Have Carpet In Minnesota Businesses?

My first apartment was on the border of Bloomington and Richfield Minnesota.  Although it has been overhauled since I lived there, it wasn’t the nicest complex to live in.  I remember looking at the carpet which had more visible dirt and stains than dye pattern and thinking “why don’t they just put in laminate?”

When I asked the office manager she said simply, “We don’t want to get sued.”  In Minnesota, we constantly enter buildings with wet shoes and boots.  Even when the floor is dry, the souls of our footwear are damp.  This is the same as if the floor itself was wet.  Comical as it is in the movies to go feet over forehead, it doesn’t feel very good when you hit the ground.  This goes for any business.  Even those businesses that just can’t have carpet, still put in extensive rugs in the entryways. This can cost nearly the same as carpeting those areas wall to wall depending on their quality.

Employees who get injured slipping as they walk inside the building, or by stepping into the spill in the break room can cost a company a lot of money in workman’s comp insurance and lost work days.

The other part that makes sense to anyone who has worked on hard floors is that it takes its toll on the feet, ankles, and knees.  Even that small amount of carpet makes a big difference on the barking dogs on the end of our legs.

Honestly, as long as a company cleans and protects the carpet on a schedule that makes sense for the level of foot traffic they get,  Minnesota businesses will be glad to have commercial grade carpet in their businesses.

Calling The Customer

How many times have you been waiting for a service provider to show up and they are late?  Frustrating isn’t it?  In fact it has been getting so bad these days that we almost expect it.  We worry from the moment we book the job, until the minute they show up at our door.  Worrying takes years off of our lives.  At least I’m convinced it does.  The sad truth is that this worrying can be prevented.  One simple invention by Alexander Graham Bell called the telephone makes this possible.  One simple call to say they are on the way and an approximate time of arrival takes all that worry away.  Peace of mind is a wonderful thing that is underappreciated by the service industry and vendors everywhere.  This is not because they will be late.  This is because they could be late.  My work or social plans are important to me.  I don’t want to have to cancel plans, but if I have to, I want to know as soon as possible.  Martin Cooper invented the cell phone in 1973.  This wonderful device makes it even easier to put people’s minds at ease.  After the phone call to say you are on your way, you might still hit traffic or get into an accident.  Not good, but not as big of a problem when you can call the client before you are supposed to arrive.  I made both of these phone calls part of my carpet cleaning company the day I started it.  This gives me a chance to apologize if I am late but also places their minds at ease when I am not.  I think it is important to respect my clients and I don’t understand how we have allowed so many vendors to disrespect us for so long.  My time is important and so is yours.  I at least want an apology and an approximate time of arrival so I can go about my life instead of waiting around like a teenager waiting for that dreamy classmate to call lol.  We are all adults now.  I think we should start acting like it.  One call to the customer is all it takes.

Rewarding Customer Loyalty

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Loyalty is the most important quality in a client.  So why does it seem to be the most underappreciated quality?  Case in point, I saw a commercial for a new H.D. DVR system for the satellite company that I use.  It was free, which made it even better. I was moving, so I knew they would also install it for free.  I called up the satellite tv company (who will remain nameless).  They told me it would be more than $450. I asked “Why?”.  The lady on the phone said that it was for new customers only.  I had been a customer for years, so I didn’t qualify.  Also the installation won’t be free because that only applies to my old equipment being transferred, not the upgraded equipment.

I was shocked.  I was actually being punished for being a loyal customer.  Meanwhile, someone on the other end was being rewarded for being new.  Now I understand the dynamics of enticing new clients to come your way.  But there should be rewards for loyalty as well. If not for the moral argument, than at least for the purpose of building customer loyalty.

That experience is why I came up with the referral/rebate coupon at the Commercial Steam Team.  Returning clients also receive 10% off automatically to reward their loyalty.  To further reward them a step above they receive coupons to extend their loyalty discount to anyone they refer.  On top of that they receive a $10 rebate as a thank you for referring the new client.  This way the new customers are enticed, but the loyal customers are rewarded even a little more.  Seems like a no brainer to me.  Take care of what you got first, then worry about bringing in new clients.

When to Steam Clean Carpets

  • At least twice a year for light traffic, once in the spring to remove all the buildup of chemicals and molds and once in the fall to remove all the things tracked in all summer long.
  • Monthly for medium to heavy traffic and for light traffic in cases where a positive impression is important.
  • Weekly for extremely heavy traffic, for lighter traffic areas when a positive impression is critical, in circumstances where health and cleanliness are particularly important, and in cases where outside contamination is heavier due to construction or other adverse outside surface deposits.
  • Before open houses steam cleaning can remove odors from cooking or pets and make your carpet look new again.
  • Special events held at your business require making the right impression on your guests. Don’t forget to steam clean your carpet when you are sprucing the place up.
  • After any high traffic event it is a good time to steam clean your carpet to remove all the dirt brought in. Cleaning your carpet when it is really dirty helps prevent the dirt from being imbedded into the carpet.
  • If you have an area in your building that has heavier dirt or grease you may want to clean those areas more frequently than you would an office with less foot traffic.

Welcome to Carpet News!

At Commercial Steam Team we feel it’s important that people know about carpet, how carpet can impact quality of life, and learn strategies to get the most out of your carpet. Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to having you visit again!