It always amazes me how readily those in the carpet cleaning and restoration industries step up to help. From the work Mikey’s Fest frequently does in many communities, to volunteer services industry members provide during local disasters or to needy sections of their communities, to how those in the industry help each other — despite potentially being competitors. I’ve worked in enough other industries to know, as you probably know, too, that type of support system is rare.

Sure, there are marketing benefits to giving. I’ve written about it for Cleanfax a few times over the years — customers want to know you are engaged and giving back to your community, you make great contacts, you get good press, etc. But helping others in times of need is more than that to this industry. This is a community of givers, of people who care and want to make a difference.

After all, both cleaning and restoration are, at their hearts, about improving people’s lives. You do it every day in your work, so it seems only reasonable that improvement extends beyond the jobsite.

I was recently reminded again of how caring our industry can be. The wife of a kind industry veteran known by many has been in and out of the hospital over the last year. He posts updates and pictures of her recovery on social media, and I follow along, cheering on her progress, as I’m sure many of you also have. But the good people of our industry don’t just follow along; they do something.

Another industry member started an online fundraiser to help offset the hospital costs and loss of work, and in no time, thousands of dollars were raised. The list of donors is filled with industry member after industry member making what contributions they could and leaving messages of hope. This shows how truly special our industry is.

So, this is your reminder that you are not alone in your struggles as hard-working members of the restoration and carpet cleaning industries. If you haven’t built up your own network of industry contacts, industry support, make this year the time to do so.

Visit a tradeshow or two, interact with your peers on the forums, and send friend requests on Facebook. There’s a whole support system right here waiting for you.

Email comments to Cleanfax Managing Editor Amanda Hosey at amandah@issa.com.

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Mike describes this particular job: “We cleaned this travertine tile by first preconditioning with Express Lane from Chemspec with added oxygen into the prespray, and then we gave the tile some TLC. We scrubbed with a buffer and allowed a 20-minute dwell time. The trick is using the HydroForce SX15 with a 3,000-psi washer instead of a truckmount, which usually produces only 1,000 psi. There is no need to use the heat from the truck since the higher pressure doubles the cleaning power.”

For an opportunity to win a chemical prize package from Solutions by Steam Pros (worth $250), send your images and a brief 100-word description on how you obtained your results to managing editor Amanda Hosey at amandah@issa.com, or submit via Facebook Messenger at . Contest rules available by request.

[infobox title=’DID YOU KNOW’][/infobox]

Hard water not only causes issues with cleaning equipment that manufacturers generally won’t cover, but also makes cleaning solutions less effective. The problems hard water causes also are exacerbated by higher levels of heat.

While powdered rinses are known to soften water, doing so is an expensive move that compromises cleaning power. A water softener, which easily can be added, costs on average 1/40 the cost of a powdered rinse.

*See “Water Quality and Cleaning Success” from the April 2017 issue of Cleanfax.

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You have been noticing these boxes of an odd detergent in your supply house for some time. You finally get the nerve to ask about it, and they tell you, to your amazement, it is an absorbent compound. Then your mind starts to ask, “What is this method, and how does it work?”

As a truckmount owner 15 years ago, I was amazed by the absorbent compound cleaning method during a carpet cleaning competition. Present were some of the most powerful truckmounts ever made. One challenger showed up with an absorbent compound cleaning machine — and he won! He came back the following year and won again.

It became evident that my understanding of the absorbent compound cleaning method was missing some information. After all, had I not heard this process was not recommended as a primary cleaning method?

What is it?

According to the current , dry compound extraction (e.g., absorbent or adsorbent compound extraction) is a low/restricted-moisture compound cleaning system, which should include these five steps:

1. Vacuum and pile lift as needed for dry soil removal.
2. Perform a light application of liquid pre-conditioner as needed where there is moderately to heavily soiled carpet.
3. Apply or broadcast the dry compound according to manufacturer recommendations.
4. Perform manual or mechanical agitation, typically using dual-cylindrical brush agitation.
5. Post-vacuum the soiled cleaning compound, either immediately or after an appropriate dry time.

One reason the absorbent compound cleaning method is not widely used is it is not actively being taught properly. For years, the theory of cleaning was based on the “Fundamentals of Soil Suspension,” which was a tweak of the “Basics of Cleaning.”

Cleaning theory eventually returned to the “Basics of Cleaning” because the “Fundamentals of Soil Suspension” changed the definitions of chemical reactions, adsorption, and dissolving into forms of suspension. Soil suspension is the primary chemistry of hot water extraction. Essentially, there is no soil suspension in absorbent compound cleaning.

Absorbent, sponge-like particles saturated with water and non-voc green chemistry. Image courtesy of Host.

In the description of methods, the absorbent compound cleaning system has a unique requirement of pre-vacuuming. It mentions “pile lift.” It is not uncommon for the vacuum cleaner, agitator, and post-vacuum unit to be the same machine. In post vacuuming, there are two choices: Either to remove the detergent while still moist or wait until it is dry. To adequately remove the detergent while damp, the post-vacuum cleaner needs to have strong suction.

Dry-extraction machines also vacuum the dry dirt from the carpet. Image courtesy of Host.

However, it is common for some systems to use brushes without suction due to hydrogen bonding, which is the attraction created by water to physically bond particulates to its surface. Thus, brush action alone will not adequately break this bond. Moreover, the removal of dried compound with brushes only generally creates a dusty mess. On the other hand, the hydrogen bonding is what removes close to 100 percent of residue if post vacuuming is done with the addition of suction.

Cleaned with absorbent compound cleaning. Image courtesy of Host.

No method of cleaning is done without a liquid. All absorbent granulars contain water of which its motion is restricted by the granular. However, the water is not there to dissolve or suspend soil; it is there to wet-out the fiber. Wetting is the uniform adsorption onto the surface.
Suspension, dissolving, adsorption, and chemical reactions cannot take place until the fiber is wetted-out. Therefore, a light application of a liquid pre-conditioner is needed when there is moderate to heavy soil.

Deep cleaning?

Absorption is the infusing of substances into a solid. The absorbent compound cleaning method uses only absorption and adsorption. Can these two forms of chemistry really do a deep cleaning? After all, hot water extraction performs dissolving, suspension, and emulsification and may have the benefits of saponification and oxidation.

Absorbent compound separates the soil from fibers and holds it for vacuuming. Image courtesy of Host.

The answer is there is a strong advantage to absorption: It removes absorbed soils. On the other hand, suspension and emulsification chemistries are based upon surfactants. The term “surfactant” is short for “surface active agents,” and they only work on adsorbed soil. The only other cleaning chemistry that can remove oily adsorbed substances from a fiber is dissolving. While dissolving and absorption are both based upon polarity — in other words, they both need to be non-polar to remove absorbed sticky stuff — there are restrictions on the use of dry solvents.

The says dry solvents can only be used as spotters and not for general cleaning. However, most hot water extraction pre-sprays use semi-polar solvents. The problem with using any form of a hydrocarbon solvent is that it creates volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which significantly increase the user’s toxicity risk. Absorbents do not create VOCs. Thus, only absorbents can safely operate on the non-polar side of chemistry.

What are the benefits?

What can we conclude about the absorbent compound cleaning method? Absorbent compound cleaning is a preferred choice when cleaning flat-weave cellulosics. The absorbent compound method also can add many points to LEED certification in areas such as waste deposal, water usage, and energy consumption. After using the method, carpet is ready to go back in service immediately after cleaning, and it is also suitable for cleaning hard surfaces using alternate brushes.

Perhaps most importantly, the absorbent compound cleaning method can perform deep restorative cleaning as well as, if not better than, other methods. It also rarely runs the risk of overwetting, shrinkage, bleeding, crocking, wicking, slip-and-fall accidents, or villainous residues.

James “Jim” B. Smith is an -approved instructor and a senior practicing inspector and part of the voting consensus of the cleaning stan­dard. His educational studies come from Texas A&M University and the University of Houston. He has been in the cleaning industry since 1975. For more information, visit his website at www.carpetinspector.com/jbs, call 972-334-0533 or 800-675-4003, or email jsmith@carpetinspector.com.

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Eventually, all cleaning and restoration contractors must face customer complaints. While you might have been “darn near perfect” as a solo owner-operator with a customer complaint ratio at almost zero, as you (hopefully) grow into a critical mass business, I guarantee your techs will have complaints.

Squarely confronting customer complaints is a must since complaints that are ignored are like gangrene in your company. In today’s online world, you must quickly and proactively resolve customer complaints.

Your challenges

Facing an angry and often irrational customer is not an easy task, so let’s begin by looking at why an unhappy customer might scream at you. Consider the following.

First off, reflect on this: Do you find it easy to complain? If you are honest, you’ll admit that it’s not easy to complain. (Think about how many bad restaurant meals you’ve humbly consumed without complaining!) So, for a customer to “get up the gumption” to complain, they must build up a big head of steam — all of which gets discharged on you.

Also, take into account most complaints are emotionally based. Eighty percent of a customer’s decision on whether your company did a good or bad job is based on how they feel about the person actually doing the work. Generally, a complaining customer has felt ignored and/or ripped off, and they respond in kind.

Your biggest challenge is, drumroll — you (or your techs)! You see, when customers complain, it is easy to feel attacked personally. Maybe it is all the four-letter words being screamed at you? However, it is a huge help to depersonalize the complaint.

Steve’s solution

During any complaint resolution situation, emotions (on both sides) are likely to run at a fever pitch, so in my company, our first step was to always use what my employees called “Steve’s Emotional Judo.”

An angry customer is verbally attacking you or your employee. Martial arts work on the principle of leveraging an attacker’s onrushing force to flip them, and with this method, you can flip a screaming, angry customer. When you first encounter an upset customer, start with these steps.

Step 1: “Thank you for letting me know about this.” Aren’t you grateful your customer is talking (screaming?) to you instead of posting a one-star Google review? If so, sincerely tell them so.

Step 2: “I’m so very sorry for this disruption in your life.” Are you sorry they felt like they needed to call you? If so, let them know. (You are not admitting guilt at this time.)

Step 3: “I’m going to do everything I can to resolve this situation.” Here’s your chance to flip the customer. Are you going to work really hard to please this client? Of course, you are! (Especially in this age of online reviews.) So why not reassure them that you’re on top of it?

After emotionally flipping the customer, it is now time to calmly interview them. My employees and I needed a consistent, written procedure that structured this customer interview and would also help the customer feel listened to.

My Customer Concern Follow-up sheet (CCF) is divided into three sections. The first part is filled out by the office during the (often irate) initial phone call. The second, longer section is filled out by the responding technician and includes the very important question: How can we keep this from happening again on all future jobs?

Lastly, the office verifies that the customer is happy with the corrections your tech has made.

Note that we normally did not send back the original, “offending” tech on the return trip. I found even a good tech inevitably developed a chip on his shoulder in returning. Plus, sending back the employee that the customer “ratted out” was a very stressful situation for both the client and the tech. Instead, I sent a neutral, third-party tech who could calmly listen and commiserate with our client.

I know the CCF is more paperwork. And, yes, I could have personally smoothed out each complaint, but I wanted to build a critical mass business that would run smoothly without me, so I needed consistent, written systems and procedures. I suggest you do the same.

The result

Using this CCF sheet to structure and write down an angry customer’s responses had many advantages:

1. It gently forced our customer to be specific by structuring the interview and helped us get all the info.
2. Writing down customer answers created a positive moment of truth.
3. The CCF reassured our clients we were taking their concerns seriously.
4. We got insights from the CCF that allowed us to change our procedures so the complaint wouldn’t happen again. I never minded a complaint… the first time, but when the same complaint occurred over and over again, it drove me into a teeth-gnashing frenzy.

Remember, every successful business (including mine) had to start somewhere to make the owner dispensable. The result? You will achieve the ever-elusive personal freedom, which means becoming truly wealthy.

Steve Toburen started and ran a world-class cleaning and restoration firm for over 20 years. He is now the director of training for Jon-Don’s Strategies for Success program. He also founded , a resource portal with training programs for contractors working in customer’s homes. Reach Toburen at stoburen@homefrontsuccess.com.

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Various sources release odors including new building materials, decomposing organic matter, incomplete combustion, and many others. Source identification and source location are the first steps in odor removal. In some cases, identifying the odor problem is easy because the odor is recognizable and the source is easy to find. In other situations, the odor will be unrecognizable and the source of the odor hidden and unknown.

Odor sources

A variety of tools are utilized to locate or detect odor sources. Air samplers (devices which draw measured amounts of air over tubes that react) can be used to confirm the absence or presence of specific gases. A portable electronic nose has been developed. Luminol is used by crime scene investigators to locate blood. Specialized ultraviolet lights are useful in locating some urine deposits. Many restorers use a moisture sensor to assist in finding odors because moisture and odors often go hand in hand. For practical purposes, your nose is still your best odor-locating tool!

Source removal

Source removal (to the extent possible) is the first step in a successful odor removal procedure. After identifying the source of an odor, the more of that source you can remove, the less of an odor problem you will have to handle. In pet odor situations, for instance, disposal of contaminated carpet padding and pretreatment of affected textiles with an acid rinse will dramatically improve your results. Keep in mind that if the project involves fire or trauma cleanup, make sure you have been given permission to remove items prior to starting the project.

Treat it

The second step in odor removal involves treatment of the residual odors after the sources have been removed. There are several options for treatment available including adsorbents, neutralization, oxidization, biocides, counteraction, masking, and bioenzymatic digestion.

Adsorbents, typically solid materials, such as activated charcoal or baking soda, capture and hold odors on their surfaces. Activated charcoal or carbon has been treated with heat and steam. Activated carbon works the same way as the box of baking soda you put in your refrigerator to adsorb odors: Odor molecules adhere to the surface of the sodium bicarbonate particles that make up baking soda.

Air cleaners equipped with activated carbon filters can be utilized to literally grab odorous gases out of the air. Specialty adsorbents are available with affinity to adsorb specific gases.

Neutralization��implies a chemical balance or a mathematical equation where 1-1=0. Neutralization processes work well against chemical odors such as chlorine and various types of acids. For instance, the application of a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water will effectively neutralize the odor liberated from an acid spill. Sodium thiosulfate (also known as “photographer’s hypo”) neutralizes halogens such as chlorine, bromine, and iodine.

Oxidation, simply put, is a chemical reaction in which oxygen combines with another substance. Adding oxygen to odorous organic matter can be an effective odor control technique. Oxidizing agents like hydrogen peroxide and household chlorine bleach are effective deodorizers due to their oxidizing capabilities. Similarly, an ozone machine (an electrically
powered device used to produce an oxidizing gas) can be very effective in eliminating odor problems such as those caused by organic decomposition and by skunks.

Biocides��are materials that inhibit or kill the growth of microorganisms. Some microorganisms produce odors due to chemical processes in which they participate, such as fermentation and decomposition. Disinfectants and antimicrobials are biocides which are effective in eliminating microbial-related odor problems. Odors caused by the metabolic process of microorganisms are commonly referred to as microbial volatile organic compounds or MVOCs. Serious microbial contamination should be properly remediated. These procedures are beyond the scope of this discussion.

��dzܲԳٱ�������پ��Dz���means to “work against.” Some odors are made up of a mixture of many compounds and as such are called complex odors. Complex odors, such as smoke odor, respond well to a series of odor-counteraction procedures such as suppression spraying, vapor phase re-odorization, and thermal fogging. Most odor-control products contain a combination of masking and pairing agents. Pairing agents combine with and change the perception of malodorous substances into odorless compounds.

Masking��is the disguising of a malodor with a stronger, more pleasant odor. These deodorants are masking agents. Time release deodorants can be granular, oils, or gels that have been saturated with deodorants. These products are designed to release the fragrance slowly over time.

Bioenzymatic digestion��is a process whereby specially engineered bacteria produce enzymes that consume or digest odorous material such as animal excreta, spilled fuel oil, and decaying protein (spoiled milk, rotten fish/eggs). Bioenzymatic digestion is also used in laundry and in other cleaning processes including carpet cleaning.

Some odor problems can be remedied with just one of the techniques discussed above. Others require multiple procedures. Because of the introduction in recent years of improved odor-control products and application equipment, the industry’s capability for successfully solving odor problems is improving daily, and solving odor problems is becoming much easier and more profitable.

Bill Weigand has been in the cleaning and restoration industry since 1980 and helped develop many odor-control products and techniques that have become industry standards. He instructs both RIA and IICRC classes.

Gary Funari has spent 33 years as a construction specialist and holds multiple certifications. He is a restoration and insurance RSA instructor in fire and water damage restoration and microbial damage remediation and odor control.

Gary Loiben is a 30-year veteran of the cleaning and restoration industry. He has trained thousands in the industry in fire, odor, and water damage restoration. He holds industry certifications and is a training instructor for RSA.

Weigand, Funari, and Loiben can be reached at techquestion@RSA-HQ.com.

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The email I received was short and to the point, just like all the other emails I had received from him over the years: “Wanted to let you know that, effective today, we are shutting down the business and will be liquidating the assets.” This news hit me like a ton of bricks. What a tragedy. This was a sixteen-year-old family business that was shutting its doors. At one time, it employed over 30 people. Six of them were family members.

Most of the employees got along just fine and worked well together. The family members didn’t. It was a constant struggle to get a couple of them to sit in the same room together, much less communicate with each other. Slammed doors, elevated voices, or ice-cold silence was more the norm. With the business closing, that would no longer be an issue.

The patriarch of the family had invested heavily in the business — both financially and emotionally — in an effort to provide for his children and their families. It was also supposed to be a way to bring them closer together, which is frequently the case with family businesses. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that was ever understood or appreciated by the other members of the family.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 90 percent of all U.S. businesses are family owned or are controlled by a family, so the tragedy of this family business closing is not unique. In fact, according to JSA Advising, 85 percent of business transitions fail due to a lack of communication, next-generation, or trust competency.

That was the great tragedy of this company’s closing. It didn’t fail because of a lack of business. Having been in business and performing good work for several years, they had a loyal and profitable customer base. They had a healthy backlog of work to be done. The challenges that led to the company’s decline weren’t external; they were internal, just as they are with almost all businesses, large or small. As mentioned above, the culprits in this situation were a lack of communication and a breakdown in trust.

Perhaps the difference is that, in non-family businesses or in healthy family businesses, the company leaders are better prepared to address sensitive internal issues head on, just as they should be. Frequently, this is because people in these organizations have well-defined job descriptions. They know what their job responsibilities are, what their authority is, and have learned to separate their title and their job performance from their last name.

It’s always tragic when a business fails. For me, the tragedy is amplified when it’s a family-owned business. It’s magnified even more when it fails for reasons that are within the control of the family members, especially since they’re not the only ones affected. The full extent of the victims includes other employees, suppliers, customers, and family members not in the business.

There never seems to be a shortage of blame and finger pointing that goes around when a company’s assets are being liquidated. But these aren’t just assets. There are also memories being liquidated.

I’m convinced a lot of unnecessary suffering could be avoided if there were a little less ego and a lot more responsibility being taken ahead of it.

Chuck Violand is the founder and principal of Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Through VMA, he works with business owners and companies to develop their people and their profits. Violand is the past president of the RIA. To reach him, visit����or call 800-360-3513.

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As we head into the busy spring-cleaning season, company owners must strategize how to capture the attention of a larger portion of consumers. One of the most effective ways to stand out from the crowd of competitors is to have a customized and branded company video on the homepage of your website.

Even with a well-developed website, consumers are taking a gamble when they schedule a job with a company. They don’t have any idea who actually will be coming to their home or what to expect when they arrive. A branded video on your website wields persuasive power by allowing the consumer to see an example ahead of time, showing what your technicians and vehicle look like. The way you will perform and interact at their home comes to life.

This reassuring knowledge places you at a huge advantage over your competitors who don’t have such a video. The peace of mind this type of video can provide is difficult to establish any other way.

Having a good video on your homepage also causes search engines, such as Google, to prioritize your website. This works because videos cause shoppers to spend more time interacting on your site. Google interprets this as a sign that your website is more valuable to consumers and, in turn, improves your page ranking score. Thus, your site moves closer to the top of consumer search results.

You can make your own video

You have the ability to create an outstanding video with just a smartphone, tripod, and simple video editing app. In this, the first of two articles, I will walk you through the preparation and filming stages of your video story. In my next article, I will take you through the process of producing and uploading the final product.

Finding a house location and model

The first step is to decide which of your primary services you want to highlight. For example, let’s say you choose wall-to-wall carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and area rug cleaning. To demonstrate these services you will need access to a home with each of these items. It is best to select a house that looks slightly nicer than those in the target market you are actually trying to reach. It might work well to ask a customer if they would allow you to record video at their home in exchange for�� a free cleaning.

You also will need someone to act as the customer in the video. This will only be for video and not audio. They only need to act out the scenes and not worry about saying any specific lines. Usually a woman in her 40s to 50s works great.

Shooting the scenes

I highly recommend using a tripod to hold the camera during the video recording. A shaky video looks unprofessional. Before you shoot, take the time to make sure the area is tidy and neat with no distracting items. Check yourself, too: This video is supposed to make you look professional, not show the nitty gritty of actual cleaning, so make sure there are no rags hanging from your pocket. Limit how much is viewed in the video to keep the attention on what you are trying to demonstrate. In other words, zoom in on what is the focus of the scene.

Perform multiple takes to allow you to choose the one you think is best. Be sure to review your results before moving on to the next scene to ensure you are happy with what was recorded. Double check to make sure there are no distractions in the background of the videos.

The objective is to create a 60-90 second visual story of what it is like to use your company to perform cleaning services. Capturing about 10 seconds of footage for each of the following scenes should provide the makings of a good video.

1 | Vehicle arrival

Film your vehicle pulling up to the front of a house along with the tech quickly proceeding to the front door with a smile. If you do not have a branded vehicle in sparkling and good condition, skip this scene.

2 | Greeting

Capture the customer opening the door with a big smile to greet the cleaner. Consider shaking hands and handing the customer a business card. The customer should then signal the cleaner to come in.

3 | Inspection/ Measurement

This scene can either show how you measure the rooms to determine the pricing or show the tech consulting with the customer about the area rug or upholstery to be cleaned.

4 | Cleaning

Demonstrate application of the preconditioner and use of your primary carpet cleaning equipment. Limit cleaning equipment to the basics and avoid showing extra hoses, spotting bottles, and other tools.

5 | Spot cleaning

As part of your wall-to-wall demonstration, add this scene in which you act out the process of using your spot cleaning kit to remove a spot.

6 | Grooming

Perform the final carpet-grooming process.

7 | Upholstery cleaning

Demonstrate going through the process of spraying and agitating the upholstery preconditioner on a seat or back cushion of a sofa or chair. Follow this by using the cleaning tool to clean and extract the same piece. This scene will be made up of three clips quickly showing each of the actions.

8 | Area rug cleaning

For this scene you can either show the cleaning of the rug or rolling it up to be taken to the shop for cleaning.

9 | Closing bill with customer

This scene, along with the greeting, are the most important. It is critical to make eye contact with the customer during interactions. You can include reviewing the invoice and handing it to the customer. This can be followed by the tech smiling and shaking the customer’s hand or the customer, with a big smile, handing a check to the technician. This scene needs to convey the idea that the customer was thrilled to use the company.

Visit to see an actual video shoot of these scenes along with additional information and tips.

Invest an hour

This entire video shoot should only take about an hour. With this small investment of time you can obtain video clips that can be turned into a great customized video. It is also possible to capture individual frames from the video clips that can be used as photos for your website and social media.

In my next article, I will walk you through the process of producing the final video and uploading it to your website. Following this plan will help you create a tool to give you a huge advantage over the competition.

Steve Marsh is a 40-year veteran of the carpet cleaning industry, an instructor, and a Senior Carpet Inspector. He helps home-service companies quickly establish profitable clienteles and then progress to serving higher-quality customers. To help companies achieve these goals, Marsh created the step-by-step programs Single Truck Success and Be Competition Free. For more information, visit��.

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I consider myself an avid student of sales techniques. I have been selling for a living for over 35 years and still learn something new every day. With the evolution of communication and technology, I believe that today’s buyer has become much more discerning and their expectations are higher than ever before. To remain competitive sales and marketing must adopt new methodologies to exceed the high expectations of the buyer. Beware of the one-size-fits-all sales strategy as there is no perfect pitch, nor is there a magic wand that can be waved over anyone to make them the perfect salesperson.

It’s my belief that a company needs to constantly be training and coaching their people on the art of sales for their service or product. The salesperson is but one part of an effective sales strategy. There are many external factors that also affect the selling process as Michael Porter discusses in his book, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, but we will save those for another article. For now, I want to focus on the best practices of a salesperson.

I’m considered a “Sales Road Warrior” by the fact that I have spent over 75 percent of my working career traveling in a car or airplane and living out of a hotel to sell clients my service or product. With that much time on the road, I’ve had plenty of experience interacting with customer care representatives .

A customer care representative is the company’s salesperson. If the customer care representative gives me service above my expectation, then the company has a customer for life. But if the customer care representative gives me less than expected, I most likely will give them a poor review on social media, which can be the beginning of the end for a business. In today’s world, social media reviews can make or break a company.

The first expectation I have when encountering a customer care representative is for them to be friendly, smiling, and acting glad to see me. Then I expect them to ask several basic questions to find out who I am, why I’m in their place of business, and how they can help me. First lesson in sales: Never underestimate the first impression; it’s a lasting one. Have you ever had a waiter come to your table and not smile or act like you are bothering them? I find it especially annoying when I go to a service counter and the person, never looking up from the computer, says they’ll be with me in a few minutes. Really?!

When I’m in a restaurant I want my server to know everything about the menu, and I want them to tell me about their personal favorites, but never bad mouth any item. I want them to ask me questions about my taste for food that evening and listen intently to my response before giving limited suggestions. Have you ever had a server say, “Everything is good,” or “I don’t know, I’ve never tried any of the meals.” Second lesson in sales: Make the buyer feel like their experience with you is special, and have them looking forward to the next experience with you or your company.

An example of great customer service is when I walk up to a car rental desk and the clerk says, “We’ve been expecting you, Mr. Monroe. We see you are here on business for 3 days. Would you like to upgrade to one of our luxury cars with more leg room?” This is how to make an offer—by setting an expectation for my needs. Lesson three in sales: Offer appropriate add-ons or alternatives. Present a full package that offers something more but fits the customer’s needs. Use the assumptive selling approach.

My favorite hotels are ones where I enter the room and, uncannily, the telephone rings; it’s the front desk asking if everything is okay with the room and if there is anything else they can do for me such as set a wake-up call or order up room service. Lesson four in sales: Don’t wait for the buyer to ask for the next step. Be prepared and know your customer’s needs, or at least anticipate the next step in the sale based on what you have heard from the customer.

When you are about two-thirds finished with your meal, the server asks if you are interested in dessert or an after-dinner drink. The timing is not an accident. A good server never waits until you are full to ask for the rest of the order. Instead, they ask at the point where you are still enjoying the meal and wondering what you might want to finish off that great meal. Lesson five in sales: Value your customer’s time and let them know you are there for them even after they’ve given you an order. You want them to keep coming back.

Sales is an art that requires repetition, but it also requires learning new techniques. Good managers will have regular meetings with their sales team to review best practices and even role play. On the job, learning is crucial so travel with your salesperson and listen to their presentation, then give constructive feedback once you are together in the car. Effective sales training requires feedback from the manager and interaction with the customer. As Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, told his people, “There aren’t many customers at headquarters.”

John Monroe is a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Monroe is a leading expert in marketing, sales and sales management for the restoration and cleaning industries with over 30 years of experience in those fields.��Through Violand, Monroe works with companies to develop their people and their profits.��To reach him, visit����or call 800-360-3513.

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Not long ago the biggest business challenge was attracting customers. That’s changed dramatically in the last decade. Today’s biggest business challenge is attracting new employees and retaining them once they’ve been trained because unemployment is somewhere around 4 percent, and “help wanted” signs are everywhere — flashing on electronic billboards, plastered on the backs of trucks, emblazoned on banners strung outside stores. I even saw a guy in a fuzzy bear costume holding a “signing bonus” sign at a stoplight on a busy commercial street. Many desperate employers are trying hard to poach staff from competitors, so it’s sort of a hiring frenzy out there.

I’ve even talked to executives who had to turn down work because they don’t have the staff they need. As an employer, you must realize that these days you are in a very competitive hiring environment.

Since I coach and consult for companies in a broad spectrum of businesses from one-person owner operators to some companies with more than 1,000 employees, I’ve created the following checklist to help my clients attract, keep, and elevate staff members. Please realize that, if you were starting from scratch, this might seem to be a daunting list.

As you read, you should see that, for most small firms, it is a multi-year process, so please remember the ancient proverb: “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is today!” If you plant this tree today, you will see your business grow because you’ve hired candidates well suited to your company, trained them to do their jobs with skill and excellent attitudes, and they will stay with you longer so you can spend your time doing something more productive than constantly hiring and training new employees only to see them leave for greener pastures or because they were not well suited to the job in the first place.

1 | Know who you are looking for

Create a job description so you can advertise the position accurately. If you need someone who can lift 80 pounds or someone familiar with specialized business software/equipment or other specific capabilities, you don’t want to waste your time interviewing unqualified people. An accurate job description will help you describe the position, the responsibilities, and the personal qualities you are seeking.

2 | Have a competitive compensation package

In a tight job market, highly qualified applicants know they are in a good position to expect good compensation (pay and benefits) with opportunities to earn more as they gain experience. You get bonus points if you can offer the possibility of promotions or other future advancement in your company.

3 | Develop a process

Have an interview process that will quickly identify good candidates and, perhaps more importantly, quickly eliminate poor candidates from consideration so you don’t waste time and energy on those who, for one reason or another, don’t meet your needs (see #1 above). The ideal process would use standardized questions, so you can compare candidates and determine:

• How candidates will respond to problems and challenges,
• How they will respond to the pace of the environment,
• How they will be able to influence others to their point of view,
• How they’ll respond to rules set by others,
• How they’ll respond to clients,
• How they’ll fit in with coworkers,
• How they will present the company to others,
• Whether they are comfortable in a sales environment (if selling is part of this job),
• Whether they are attentive to detail,
• Whether they have the skills required by the position (e.g., math, writing, computer skills).

There are many aptitude tests available to determine whether they have these skills.

4 | Present an appealing package

Create a job offer that illustrates the entire package — compensation, benefits, training, and your expectations — so the candidate can see how well organized your business is and how they will fit into your environment. Remember, you are competing for good employees and candidates are comparing your business to others just as you are comparing them to others.

This is a marketing action and, if you want to hire good people, you’ve got to market your company and show them how good you are so they will accept your job offer. Good pay is only part of the package.

5 | Onboard

Once a new employee has accepted your job offer, it’s important to have an efficient onboarding process to quickly introduce your new employees to the company. You’ll also quickly get required paperwork taken care of, teach them your policies, introduce them to other staff members, and teach them their responsibilities, culture, and job requirements.

6 | Have a training process

Help employees learn their new jobs. Even if they are already familiar with the skills associated with the job, your processes and requirements will probably be different from companies they have worked for in the past. You want them to do their job right, and the only way that will happen is if you set standards and have a method of helping them reach those standards quickly.

7 | Help them grow incrementally

Create a stair-step approach to helping them grow in their roles. It might be a “trainee to normal position to expert” series of skill levels with different compensation levels.

8 | Perform reviews

Help your employees understand how they are performing in their jobs by establishing a series of performance reviews. Certainly, a new hire needs to be evaluated early in employment so they learn where they fall short and where they are meeting your expectations. After they settle into their positions, it is important to discuss their performance and ways they can up their productivity on a regular basis — at least annually, but many companies find that quarterly performance conversations help people do their jobs better more quickly.

If you are in a very small business, the owner or manager(s) typically work side-by-side with employees, and a formal performance review might not be comfortable or even necessary, but brief, informal “coffee huddles” can give employees feedback on their performance without the intimidating stress typically associated with the formal annual performance review meeting that is commonplace in larger corporations.

9 | Realize that staff retention is a never-ending task

Unfortunately, retaining employees is ongoing and something that needs to be constantly reinvented to keep work always fresh, light, and enjoyable yet serious. In order to constantly delight your customers, you need to inspire and engage the entire company to perform at ever-increasing levels. If you get this part right, it will make it so much easier to manage and grow the business rather than spend an inordinate amount of time and energy replacing staff.

I hate to hear employers moan, “I can’t find decent employees these days!” My observation is that people who make that statement don’t work at hiring, training, and retaining their staff at a high level of enthusiasm and productivity.

You can do better, but you must work at it.

Larry Galler has been creating marketing and management breakthroughs for owners of small and mid-sized businesses for more than 20 years.��For a free telephone strategy session, email��larry@larrygaller.com. Subscribe to his weekly newspaper column and newsletter at��.

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