Cleaning Starts Before You Arrive: Insights and Add-On Opportunities from an Industry Expert
With over 30 years of professional cleaning experience, Roby Harris, owner and operator of Twice as Nice Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning in Shasta Lake, California, believes in education. He recently shared at The Experience Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas how IICRC certification, proper equipment and informed chemistry choices support both cleaning for health and maintaining a clean, professional appearance.
As an IICRC Master Technician with multiple certifications in carpet cleaning, rug cleaning, upholstery cleaning, water damage restoration, color repair and residential floor care and maintenance, Harris’ expertise spans advanced cleaning techniques and complex restoration work. He asked attendees in the room, “Who here is an inspector?” When few hands went up, Harris said, “As cleaners, we are all inspectors.”
He next asked, “Where does cleaning begin?”
“Cleaning starts with the initial phone call,” he said. Harris encouraged listeners to have a phone script for the designated person or AI that answers the phone, which is amicable, trained to take important information and understands the local demographics.
Numerous environmental factors, especially wildfires, also can directly impact service effectiveness and business success. Harris said after a fire, a restoration team may have come in, restored the walls and claimed to take care of the the carpet through low-moisture cleaning. “When you deal with the low-moisture cleaning, you’re not really cleaning the carpet, and you are leaving a lot behind,” Harris said.
Harris said cleaners must know before entering a home whether they are dealing with the aftermath of a fire, pet dander, kids, sand, etc., and to look for signs such as scratches and pet toys, in case a homeowner forgets to mention it or leaves out information.
“These are good things to be looking for to help you assess how you want to go about your cleaning,” Harris said. He also told cleaners to test the carpet before beginning.
Additionally, Harris encouraged cleaners to expand beyond their core services through supplementary offerings, such as tile and grout cleaning, stone and granite care, upholstery and area rugs, rug repair and pads, carpet protection and vacuum maintenance. He recalled the first leather chair and sofa he cleaned. He didn’t take on leather cleaning until after taking a training class on how to clean it properly, which gave him the confidence to do it.
He said the highest revenue-generating add-on service for his business is area rugs. He started cleaning area rugs in his garage and moved the business into its own shop once the volume increased.
