Portable questions for the newbies

Any portable running 100' I would add a booster.. You are losing so much when you run these long hoses on portables without booster.. I've been there done that on every carpet install variety..

    Depends if your PSi and CFM will make the distance strong enough I had a King Cobra 1200 and it would only run 25' my recoil can run 100+ foot so yes many recoil owners leave in van and have generators

As Michael said, it's all about making a good impression. Show the customer you're a professional and you know what you're doing, and no one will say "boo" to you.

As for customers who specifically ask; that's a tricky bit of salesmanship: Customers equate TM with "power" and you need to sell them on
1. "My system is very effective and efficient."
2. "We are thorough and professional."
3. "We guarantee the quality of our work."

If a customer on the phone asks if I have a truckmount, I emphasize those three points, and also tell them about our use of an RX-20, and how we're not relying on mere pressure and suction to effectively clean the carpet- we're THOROUGH, as the RX-20 allows us to be.

Remember you're also selling YOURSELF, not just a process.

Oh, we've had three people smirk and comment on the "Ninja" sticker on the side of our portable. I swear I'm going to take that thing off...

safety1910 wrote: Hello All, I am specifically interested in speaking with the newbies who have just gotten into the business and bought a portable. What is your experience so far? Also, what has it been like pulling a porty into a customer's house? What are their reactions? How do you fill it up, empty it, etc? How about heat? Getting good heat with your porty? Thanks, Dan

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    Well I have been running my business for about 6 months now with a portable, and I have to say it is a little bit of a pain at first moving in and out of customers homes but it get easier every time. I have cleaned lots of carpets since I started and I have not had one complaint yet. I always focus on taking my time to assure the carpet dries fast. I have even had some customers tell me that I have done a better job then the last guy who had a truck mount. I am not saying that a portable does a better job because I have never had the chance to try one, but I really believe that if you rush your job then the results will show.

   I know all about the sucess that you have had using portables in the residential sector John. All I am saying is that if I was in the residential carpet cleaning business, I would want a truckmount machine. Like I said before, I have done lots of houses, even know I dont advertise to do so. I personaly dont like bringing my machine up and down stairs or looking for plugs and carring buckets of water across the house and dumping it in there tolit or bushes. Not only that if I had five houses to do in a day I would not want to be loading and unloading a machine in and out of my van. Then there is the physiological factor, you and I both know that a portable machine will do just as good as a job as a truckmount, but if carpet cleaning company "a" is advertising that they use the big fancy butler system and carpet cleaning company "b" is advertising that they are using the deluxe Ninja 500 with heat. We both know who will get the job first.

Checkmate.. You haven't got enough "In the field" experience.! Ed sure nailed it right.. I did well with 4 different portables for many years.. With nice results..

Portable machines are not ideal for doing residential carpet cleaning. I have two carpet ninjas and they work great for commercial cleaning. I do not advertise to residential consumers. But, every so often a commercial customer will ask that I come out to there house and clean there carpet. I have done this many times and never had a problem, but they know right up front that I will be bringing my portable.
    

Edited by checkmate - 13/September/2007 at 8:28am