CleanPeers Editorial Page

Sign of the times?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:04:00 +0000

I was at a distributorship this morning picking up my new Viper wet/dry vacuum, after browsing the showroom and looking at all the new toys my salesperson took me into the 'shop' area where they were assembling my new vacuum. Going through the repair shop I noticed that there was an entire room filled with autoscrubbers, wet vac's, carpet extractors, floor machines, kaivac's etc.... All of them used. Being the type of business person who is always looking for a deal, I asked, are these all in for repairs? Tom tells me, no, these are all here from being repossessed. This is one distributor in a geographical area containing probably 30+ other janitorial distributors. Can you imagine if they all look like this in their 'repo' room? This leads me to speculate on how this can happen and from this I can draw several conclusions. 1. People who do not understand how to run a business are over extending themselves 2. New company owners are buying the latest gadgets and gizmo's before they actually need them 3. Equipment salespeople sell better than I do and can sell ice cubes to Eskimos. 4. This is a serious indicator on the need for education in our industry and that not enough 'new business owners' are taking the time to do the proper research and getting the proper training to run a janitorial business. If you find yourself in this position, I strongly urge you to get help. I can reached through here: Lone Mopper Produtions or join a group that can help you like: The Global Cleaning Association or talk to other industry professionals at the CleanPeers LinkedIn group.

Raise your standards or

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:34:00 +0000

Just call me and give me your customers?

I am really in quandary on my feelings on this case.

Early this spring I did a proposal for an office building, 80,000 sq.ft. We didn't win, they went with the lowest bidder who was $650 a month lower than my bid. On Monday the contact called me and asked me to stop by on Tuesday. As we walked around she pointed out carpet spots, spills and streaks running up and down the aisles between the cubicles and restrooms that you could smell before you opened the door. We went down to the janitor's closet at my request and inside were 2 boxes of Home Depot lawn/leaf trash bags, a Home Depot orange bucket with a bowl brush and 2 bottles of Lysol cleaner, a can of Ajax cleanser and 3 very dirty T-shirt rags parked next to an old Hoover upright with a knotted up cord. That's it. No trash barrel, no maids cart and I didn't see a bucket/wringer either. As I explained to the contact, they were probably dragging the bags of garbage around from cubicle to cubicle causing the carpet spots and run marks.

The contact was very upset, said she was throwing the service company out and wanted to know how much I would charge to fix this and if my price from April was still good. She wouldn't tell me who is cleaning now, which is a shame because I am positive if they are this bad here, they are this bad everywhere.

One part of me is excited because I am getting a new customer, the other part of me that has been the advocate for small cleaning service businesses is outraged.

If you don't know what you are doing, please, go get some training. When things like this occur you are not only putting yourself out of business but you are damaging our industry. It's why customers are always saying "All cleaners are alike". Now they aren't blameless either, since they went with a low ball bid but the contractor who put this bid in started it.

By the way, I know some of my local competitors read these and just so you know, they aren't paying last months invoice or this months either since they will be giving me that money to fix your mistakes on Saturday. Brutal world isn't it?

I can't put enough emphasis on the need to be professional, stop advertising cheap rates on Craigslist and do some research on proper cleaning techniques. The advocate part of me is frustrated.

The Customer Mindset

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:54:00 +0000

I find it very interesting how some customer minds work or at least how they perceive the cleaning industry. I just returned from a bid walk at facility that I have bid on 6x since 1999.

I have never won the bid, it's been the same contact each time and they always go lowest bid regardless of previous experience.

The winning bid amount each time has been lower than the previous contract.

This means they are now paying less per month than they were in 1999 but all of us are paying higher costs in insurance, taxes, supplies, labor etc than we were in 1999. Sooner or later they are going to run out of jani-fries or they are going to go back to the very first one and start the lesson all over again.

While talking to the contact she asked me why my prices keep going up unlike some of the others.

The question itself mystifies me, I mean, how can you live in today's world and ask that kind of question?
So I asked her, are you paying now what you paid for groceries last year? She said no, she understands that those prices and others are going up all the time. So my follow up question was, why shouldn't ours? Our costs go up all the time to.
She then says " how can these other companies do it for such a low price?" Instead of getting into the cleaning company versus selling cleaning companies debate I said " have you asked them?"

"Well no, but that's their problem how they run their business"

Not really, I told her, it becomes your problem because once the actual cleaner or contractor gets into your building and realizes they can't make a profit meeting your expectations within the budget set by the bid they start looking for ways to cut corners. This is why your floors aren't stripped and waxed but rather just mopped and waxed over dirt. It's why there are dust outlines around your computer terminals and calculators on every desk and so on.

Here you are, 13 years since the first time we met, you have not been satisfied with your service provider each time we have met and yet you still take the lowest possible price while expecting exceptional service and then you are shocked when you don't get it.

She then says " I assume your price this time will also be higher than 2 years ago?"

I said no, I am not going to submit a bid this time. Nothing has changed in your facility in the last 13 years, it's the same size, same number of employees, same floor coverings, number of restrooms etc.. my price would be about 5% higher than the last bid but I know there is no chance you are going to break with tradition of taking the lowest bid and I have my company reputation to consider when providing a quality service to my customers, we aren't the WalMart of the cleaning world.

Funny thing, she shook my hand and said "Thanks Ken, I appreciate your honesty and integrity, if our corporate purchasing policy changes I will give you a call"

I wished her good luck.

Some people and some companies never learn. No big deal, 4 more bid walks scheduled for next week already, time to move on.

Saving a life--Yours?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Yesterday evening an employee walked into his workplace around 6pm and shot his immediate supervisor dead and then killed himself. Tragic and repeated often in workplaces every year.
Full story here: http://host.madison.com/news/state_and_regional/dead-in-shooting-at-milwaukee-business/article_60d92044-1ce0-5f7c-bfd6-f7d72fa53a43.html?comment_form=true

What do you do to protect yourself and your staff from the crazies?

It's true you can't prevent 100% of the nut jobs from getting to you but you can take some precautions. I am going to list a few here and then open this up for discussions at the links at the end.

If you work out of your home:

Do not do interviews at your house. Do them at fast food restaurants or diners near or close to the work area. This will also show you that if they can get to the local restaurant they will not have an issue getting to job sites.

Employee or staff meetings, again schedule these anywhere but your home. Do you really want a disgruntled, ex-employee banging on your front door at 3am on a Saturday, drunk and looking to discuss their employment situation?

When disciplining an employee, do it in an open area but away from earshot of other employees, don't raise your voice and if the person is of the opposite sex then make sure you have visible witnesses nearby who can observe but not hear the procedure. Get that person to sign off on a statement afterwards declaring that they did not see you touch or threaten the employee you were meeting with.

If you work out of an office:

Do you have an emergency exit strategy?

Is your desk near a window?

Do you do your interviews in a lobby, conference room or other space besides your private office?

Keep your office door open at all times when meeting with candidates, employees etc....

At the job sites:

Use the break room or lobby for meetings not a private office

Keep other employees in the area but out of hearing range

Do you have emergency evacuation plans for each site? Are they reviewed with your staff?

Just some thoughts on keeping everyone safer at work, looking forward to other views, tips and pointers.

Join me here:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CleanPeers-Support-cleaning-businesses-starting-1798308?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

or here:

http://www.globalcleaningassociation.com/forums/

Workers Compensation, Catfish & Sharks

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:52:00 +0000

It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, perfect time for me to work in the yard, weed the garden and so forth, basically staying out of my wife's line of sight. I turned on the radio to a local AM station searching for a baseball game to have on in the background. They have a number of 1 hours shows on when not covering sports, everything from Mr Fixit, travel, investing, vet/pet care and a law firm specializing in workers rights and workers compensation.

I try to catch the law show every week just to keep an eye/ear on what the bottom feeders and the sharks are up to. I don't begrudge anyone trying to earn a living but as a business owner who pays ever increasing rates in all forms of insurance I do like to hear what the other side has going on.

Normally the sharks (lawyers) are pretty good, they give sound advice to employees who may have been terminated unjustly, workers who due to age/sex/race may have been overlooked in the promotion process etc.... I rarely find fault with their advice in these areas but I also keep in mind that this is radio and it's very one-sided.

Then comes the calls from the bottom feeders, these are the professional workers compensation recipients who look to extend those great payment plans into infinity and beyond, taking a quote from Buzz Lightyear.

When these calls come in the sharks go into a frenzy, why not? it's easy money for them and they don't have to get in front of a judge or jury in most of these cases. They have their own team of doctors and specialists who always seem to be able to find the right cause to extend that paid leave for awhile longer.

What caught my attention this week and made me go grab a Pepsi instead of a nasty dandelion was this guy who called in stating that he worked for a cleaning company and injured both his elbow and shoulder lifting a vacuum cleaner up onto a table to fix it. His complaint was that after 9 weeks of being off and 6 weeks of therapy he was still experiencing a slight discomfort in his elbow but that the workers comp doctor had released him to return to work.

Well, the shark taking this call went into 'chum in the water' mode, he fired off a rapid list of questions:
* Is repairing vacuums part of your written job description?
* Were you instructed to repair this vacuum by your boss?
* Are you willing to see our Doctor for an no risk, no cost examination?

The caller gets all excited, he says he never got a written job description, they were instructed to always replace broken belts on vacuums, he would be happy to see their doctor and he also feels that he has been breathing strangely since one of the vacuum bags leaked dust into the air while he was changing it.

The shark really took a chunk out of that little tidbit, asking about Personal Protective Gear, was it available, was he trained in it's use, was he using it?

They ended the call by directing this guy to call their office on Monday to schedule an appointment and the callers says " great, I will do that, will I be able to see someone right away? I have a trip planned for the first 2 weeks of July"

This is why I call them bottom feeders, the guy has been off for 9 weeks already and he has already planned, in his hurt condition, to be on a trip for 2 weeks more.

I write this today, not because I'm the poor contractor this schmuck works for but because I am in the industry just like most of you reading this and this guy is making YOUR rates go up.

The insurance industry sets standards and rates and premiums based not only on your record of claims but also on the national record of claims for your industry. Each one of these bottom feeders is costing all of us.

Lesson:
Train your employees
Provide them with proper safety gear
MAKE THEM SIGN SOMETHING THAT THEY HAVE BEEN TRAINED.

Do this every year, have mini-training sessions, review job descriptions, get signatures.

So, I can use your laptop tonight?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:56:00 +0000

I was going to call this, "Why Property Managers Drive Me Nuts" but I have already pissed off enough people this month.

Let me set the background for this rant and rave.

4 weeks ago, one of the very few PM's that I do work for sent me an email explaining that they finally found a tenant for the 6th floor and that renovation work was going to begin on Monday and be completed in 2 weeks. She also included the general contractors contact info and instructions to contact him about construction clean up since they " the PM company" were not going to pay for it.

I contacted the project manager for the remodeling company, did the walk through, looked at the blueprints and gave him a fixed price for rough and final cleaning.

Last week, 3 weeks into the 2 week project they still weren't done.

Monday evening my team captain calls to tell me most of the cleaning equipment was missing from the janitor's closets. I arrived at the bldg and found all the brute barrels and both trash hoppers filled with construction debris and left on the loading dock. 4 of the 7 vacuums were ruined, impellers jammed up with drywall screws, bags bursting, all of the microfiber towels were loaded with paint and paint remover, spray bottles and chemicals gone, you get the picture.

We pieced together enough stuff from other buildings and got everything cleaned for the night and on Tuesday morning I went to see the PM.

She says that since the job went over budget and time that the general contractor decided he needed to do the clean up with his crew to save money. I asked how he got access to our locked up equipment and she said," I gave them a key. it's just sitting there all day not being used so I figured they could use it."

I looked her straight in the face and said based on that line of logic, I can use your laptop tonight right?

And in the spirit of good customer relations, I am supposed to just eat the loss,?

PM's there just isn't enough aspirin to fix it.

Holiday weekends & extra $$ without working

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:23:00 +0000

I always look forward to the 3 day holiday weekends, for the grilling, the picnic's, family gatherings, outdoor activities and no work. But what I really love is the extra money I make for no effort.

Back when I worked for some of the so called big dogs it was the only way to boost your salary. Most of us in management but not at the CEO level were paid diddly squat in salaries but we had very healthy bonuses tied into sales and labor performance. This taught me some valuable lessons and I'll share some of it here with you.

One of our incentives was to find ways to reduce labor costs in the buildings we managed, the savings would be split with us at the end of the month. So if you had a total budget of $50 k in payroll and you only spent $47K then the company would split the $3k 75/25 with you. That's $750 extra per month just for being an effective and efficient manager.

Months with holidays were even better. Example, this past Friday I had my supervisors sending everyone home 1 hour early. Why? Offices aren't in bad shape the day before the holiday weekend, many people take that Friday off to get a 4 day weekend therefore the work load is very light.

Seems like a small amount? Let's say you have 25 people at $9 per hour who all go home 60 minutes early. That is $225.00 in labor savings for each group of 25 that go home early. Now there are 6 standard holidays which means that's $1,350.00 per year in savings.

Note: This is only good to do if it is in accounts that are cleaned 3x a week or more. Sorry but if you have 1x a week accounts they will still need their full clean.

Labor is your biggest cost factor in our business. Keeping tight controls and always looking for efficient ways to get people in, the job done and people back out is the key to financial success.

For a review of your operations and additional time saving, labor saving, money making tips see here:
Save Me $$

www.lonemopperproductions.biz

Open My Mouth and Insert My

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:17:00 +0000

I was at a business lunch meeting today, a great networking opportunity and chance to catch up with some old acquaintances.

I was introduced to a gentleman, we will call him Jim, he is the general manager for a Toyota car dealership. Nice guy, very pleasant with a sense of humor, that being said, I had no interest in marketing, selling or even mentioning my business to him. Over the years I have learned to market to the types of customers I want and car dealers especially since the market crash of 08 just don't ring the cash register the way they used to. Low pay, excessively high expectations define most of them.

Anyway, once introduced and Jim with my card in his hand started lamenting on the bad cleaning decisions made by his predecessor and himself over the years, going with chain cleaners as he called them and big mega-cleaners as well. To get him off track and change things around I asked him
"Is it true that Toyota's don't come with gas pedals?"
He got a funny look on his face and said are you talking about the recalls?
"I said no, I mean every time somebody is in front of me, in a Toyota, they drive like they can't find it"
He said, I have heard Toyota drivers are extra cautious and less likely to take chances and I said they would make great professional drivers for funeral processions.

He loved it and we sat next to each other for the lunch and guest speakers. I tossed out a few more Toyota comments about their accelerator governors that won't let them go within 10 mph of any posted speed limit and how police officers never bother following a Toyota because they are called Toyota Quota Busters at City Hall.
Cleaning did not come up again much to my relief and we talked Brewers, Packers, Bucks and then about the business climate in general. All in all a great lunch and a new friend.

This evening I logged on to check my email:

Dear Ken,
What a great time at the networking event today, thanks! The Toyota jokes were a big hit here. I would like to set up a meeting with you for next week to see all of our dealerships (3), I promise I won't drive you around in a Toyota to do it!
Jim

Rampaging or Controlled Growth?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:17:00 +0000

This is one of the top issues I see facing small and start-up cleaning companies and since the bulk of my clients are within that category I find myself reviewing their sales/marketing campaigns frequently as to the cause of other problems.

As an example:

I have done 9 bid walks and proposal presentations in the last 4 weeks, I have 2 more this week and 2 more already scheduled for next week. Sound like a lot? It might to some and it certainly would have to me years ago too. We have already started 3 of these new customers and I have a good feeling about 3 more, the remaining 3? I priced to lose. ( Yes, you read that right, read on)

If you are a new or relatively new start up cleaning service you have to determine, what if I bid on 9 jobs and they all said 'yes'? and wanted to start May 1? Could I handle it? Do I have the equipment? Can I afford that much payroll up front while waiting to get paid from a customer 30 maybe 60 days down the road? Can I staff them? How will I be able to kick-off the cleaning in 3-5-9 buildings on the same night in different parts of town?

Most of the clients I work with are eager, ambitious and over-achievers, meaning they would go out and bid all 13 jobs to win without determining if the customer is a right fit for their business model. What if 2 of the 9 want day time or very early am cleaning? Can I fill that? What if I am out all night cleaning or managing the other 6 new accounts? Will I be able to get up and start early am cleaning jobs? For how long? If I take a day time or early am account and somebody calls off, do I have replacements lined up or will it be me out there? Finally, is taking odd jobs that conflict with my business plan really going to be profitable for me? Is it worth the risk?

Cleaning isn't the only thing you do, in fact it should be dead last on your list and number 1 on your employees list. To be successful you need to have a plan for growth and a plan for continuity.

Your growth plan outlines what kind of customers you want, how many you want to take on per month/quarter and how you intend to get them.

Your continuity plan outlines how you are going to keep them, via effective communications, quality control and employee training.

The question for you is: Am I going to run my business or is my business going to run me?

http://www.lonemopperproductions.biz

Some of the Best Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:03:00 +0000

Come from the staff.

Problem is very few managers/owners take the time to listen and most just dismiss anything coming out of the staff as whining.

It's nothing personal against the staff, it's more a reflection on how we manage. We are busy, very busy, we are working on and worried about, sales, marketing, staffing, scheduling, customer relations, employee HR issues, operational issues, escalating costs and falling prices, competition eroding the marketplace etc.

When an employee or staff member comes up to talk we have a tendency to half listen and then promptly forget the discussion.

We here have the employee suggestion forms sent out with their paychecks every 2 months along with the newsletter, we rarely get any back. We have an online communication portal on our website, one for customers and one for employees. The customers love it and the employees use it to let us know when they are low on toilet paper. Not very effective methods for the staff.

What has worked? A can of Pepsi/Diet Coke and five minutes in the break room of the building they are cleaning. I take a notebook and a pocket full of quarters every 6-8 weeks and make the rounds.

Some of the best ideas on improving time, equipment purchases and streamlining operations have come from these little 5/10 minute breaks. I usually start the conversation with " How can I help you in your job?" or "What can the company do to make this better?"

I steer away from gripe/groan/moan sessions and keep the conversation on an operational track.
I keep them upbeat, positive and always thank them for their input. When an idea pays off, so do I, usually in gift cards and it gets covered in the newsletter to inspire the other staff to keep their thinking caps on and focused.

http://www.lonemopperproductions.biz

The Death of Micro Fiber Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:39:00 +0000

On my desk is the packaged death of Micro Fiber cleaning.

Right now it's small but I can sense it's potential in killing off micro fiber cleaning. Yes it will be slow, methodical process but I predict just as micro fiber burst onto the scene as the latest, greatest in cleaning technology since the web foot mop this too will become the product du jour.

What is it?

First let me lay out the coming ad campaign:

1. It's 100% organic-- decomposes completely, the ultimate in green cleaning

2. It's very inexpensive to grow, grows and replaces itself very fast

3. It's naturally antibacterial

4. It's more aborbent than cotton and dries faster

Say hello to Bamboo Cleaning Cloths, sponges, scrubbers and other related items for our industry.

Think I am wrong? Explain why a big, mega giant company like 3M , through their Scotch Brite division is spending millions of dollars in developing and marketing this product already.

Think your green? If you're not into Bamboo cleaning, your not green enough. Hey 3M, you use any of this in your marketing, I want a free case of something.

Say " When"

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:12:00 +0000

There was a time when customer service and satisfaction was the only acceptable program for a service based company to operate on. We have been taught, lectured and told by various experts for eons that we must bend over backwards while jumping naked through flaming hoops to keep and retain our customers.

The question today is: Just how far and how high should we jump?

To make my point here is a short story that is playing out right now in my service firm.

Back in 2006 we had a mfg customer that we were servicing 5 days a week, sometimes 6 days during peak production times for a monthly sum of $5,000 a month average. When the economy collapsed we were asked to reduce service to 3x a week, then when it failed to improve we were asked to drop to 1x a week, reducing the monthly revenue to $975.00.

Over that same period of time, they have refused to perform any of the regularly scheduled project work such as stripping and finishing the floors, cleaning carpets and windows. Reducing our annual revenue even further, but we stayed loyal to our customer. We continued to work with them, providing high quality cleaning, open communications etc.

During that same period of time, ( 2008 to today) their account payables dept has taken the turn around on invoices from 30 days to 60 to 90 and now 120 days. At the end of April of this year, facing no payments of any kind for the months of Jan, Feb, Mar or April of this year we issued a letter with the monthly statement indicating that service will be suspended until payment is received. We have tried the "work with them" program but to no avail, accounting dept won't return calls, my contact ( the owner) ignores calls from me and demand notices have little effect. April 29th was their last scheduled service and the following week we made no effort to contact them since our suspension letter was delivered April 26th via certified mail.

At 8:02 am this morning my phone and email was jammed with dept heads from this company with complaints about missed trash, restrooms smelling, cafeteria garbage overflowing, etc.

My repsonse? Please contact your boss.

I realize I am not going to keep this customer, that they are probably scrambling right now to get a jani-fries company in to clean but I don't care.

I checked my business plan, went over the website and even looked at my biz cards again and nowhere on any of it can I find the words "non-profit" or "Easy Loan & Financing"

I have put out the flaming hoops, put my clothes back on and I am walking straighter from this point forward, yes, providing quality service is our primary goal but not at the risk of losing the small percentage of profit we are forced to accept as the new norm.

Let them go screw somebody else, it's a shame we don't have an 'Angies List' for deadbeat customers to warn other vendors.

http://wwwcleanpeers.blogspot.com/

2011, Time for a new strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:04:00 +0000

Educating the customer has always been our number 1 offense against the franchise companies and the illegal operations and I am throwing it out with the customers trash.

Realistically I can't really do anything about the franchise companies except educate the consumer on the facts:
1. They are not in the cleaning business, they are in the franchise selling business, hence I am now calling them jani-fries. You heard it hear first.
2. Master franchises count on a predicted failure rate for their franchisees because it gives them the opportunity to resell the business several times before the customer wakes up and quits.
3. A Master franchise will sell a unit franchise to anyone with money regardless of background or skill set. Again, see number #2

Now the illegal operations, that's a different story because we have weapons we can use against them, most of us don't, but I aim to change that. An illegal operation or if you prefer, Trunk Slammers, are companies that operate under the wire, they may use undocumented workers or have a cash payroll system and avoid paying taxes, workers compensation premiums, federal unemployment, state unemployment etc. They have no regard for OSHA regulations, no MSDS books on site, buy their products from the dollar store and sometimes even bring kids into the buildings.

These operations are undermining and destroying a noble industry. Customers now expect 2001 pricing in 2011, expect us to deliver 'Cadillac' service for Escort pricing and turn a blind eye to any activity beyond submitting the lowest possible bid price.

I say it's time to shut these operations down or make them legal and I have taken the first steps already in my area. Just recently I had a small customer send me note about making a change due to substantial savings from another service firm. I know who this firm is, seen them in the buildings and one time cleaning with a couple of 12 year old boys.

Now I didn't take this seriously in the past but this situation just hit the wrong button with me on the wrong day. I have bid on the building with other competitors and none of us won, so I made some phone calls and we talked about how all of our bids came within 3 to 7% of each other. Remarkable that 4 legitimate companies can all produce a fair market price and then the magical 5th bidder comes in drastically lower. How can that be? How can they possibly be paying all the necessary and legally required taxes and insurances and still be that low? Are they paying below minimum wage? Paying cash? Using illegal aliens? Children?

That is not something for me to decide or find out, that belongs to the various state and federal agencies that I turned them over to. I am not doing this to get a customer back either, frankly do you really want customers that will drop you to save $20? Not me, as I see it now customer loyalty is dead, price is king and quality is a low 2 on the list.

Like I said, education is the only weapon against the jani-fries but these other 'trunk slammers'? Well I pay my taxes and premiums and now I expect my government agencies to make sure they do to. I figure this guy will be out of business in a few months or he is going to be cleaning each building in 15 minutes and taking on a lot more business to recover his losses.

Anyone who wants a list of agencies and contact info, please email me, happy to help start a 'good' war. I will be doing this from now on, every time I run up against these types of 'cleaning companies'. We need to level the playing field and this step 1.

www.globalcleaningassociation.com
www.cleanpeers.com
www.lk-clean.com
www.lonemopperproductions.biz

BuyerZone, biggest scam going for BSC's?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:59:00 +0000

Over the years I have heard both good and bad about some of the online, lead generating systems that are available to commercial cleaners. Last April, 2009, I decide to risk some capital and see for myself.

I joined BuyerZone as a contractor under my cleaning company, L & K Office Cleaning.
They were nice about setting me up, waived the first years 'listing/advertising' fee of $40 and told me my lead rates would be $17 per lead generated. Your only control over these leads is in your ability to specify your geographical service area. You can NOT specify what types of businesses they send you and you will pay for the lead even if you decide that the lead is not something you wish to pursue.

I was told that I would receive between 3 to 5 leads per month from my area.

In the past 16 months we averaged 2 leads per month.

Out of the 30 leads we received between April 2009 and August 2010

12 were legitimate leads, meaning accounts we would normally like to have as customers

11 were bad leads, our opinion, meaning they were for restaurants, hair salons or other types of business we do not service.

7 were Fake, they turned out to be false leads with no real need for a service provider, competition trying to get pricing info over the phone without allowing a walk-through or somebody just goofing around on the Internet.
We received 2 credits for these 7 False leads. On 1 we were told to keep trying to contact them, on another we were told that Buyerzone determined them to be a good lead.
1 of these FAKE leads later on turned out to be a company that is now IN the cleaning business, even though they never clarified this when they filled out the Service Request for Price Quote.

Out of the 30 leads? 1 customer--more on that below.
2 credits and we paid out $510 for leads and another $40 for the next years advertising fee

Over the years I have learned to study trends, statistics and to ask questions, such as "Why didn't you choose us?" when sales are down. Looking at 30 leads and trying to determine why only 1 new customer set me down the path I am on now. Dismissing the 7 fake leads brings us to 23 leads, removing the 11 worthless leads that we wouldn't want as customers leaves us with the 12 valid leads. 1 is a customer, so I called the other 11 to see who they went with and why.

All 11 went with franchise companies, Cover-up or Jan no Pro specifically.

The only customer we did get, I bid at $13 per hour only because the contact showed me the other bids and said he was offended by the attitude of the salespeople from the franchise companies. He said they treated him like signing with them was a sure thing and that he really wasn't going to get any other competitive pricing from local companies. I underbid them just to upset them. Not making any money on the account and it is worth every penny.

The fact that the franchise companies can have this attitude and that they were also paying for BuyerZone leads sent me to the BuyerZone website where I found something that really upset me.
If you go to the BuyerZone page on Commercial Cleaning Services they have several articles about pricing and actually give rates for our services. But the most alarming item?
Right at the top of the page, in the upper right corner is a large display advertisement of their featured suppliers and every single one of those featured suppliers? IS A FRANCHISE COMPANY. How come I was never offered to be a Featured Supplier with my company name on the front page? hmmm

I am cancelling my membership today, this is a system designed to assist the franchises while stealing from hard working, independent contractors in a no-win situation.

The BBB, Angie's List and how about DNS List?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:58:00 +0000

Isn't it funny that there are so many organizations to 'protect' the consumer from bad businesses but absolutely no protection for us?

Angies List, which lists companies that have good and bad ratings based on input from paid members of Angies List is designed to allow consumers the ability to select a service provider based on others recommendations and ratings.

The Better Business Bureau is another group that takes money from business members so that they can get BBB ratings and supposedly have a step up on their competition by being a BBB member. But the BBB almost always will side with a complainant and seek to have the business settle quietly any disputes, to avoid a negative mark.

What I want to see is a DNS List, or Do Not Service List for businesses.

A punch-list of homeowners that have bounced checks, never paid or otherwise screwed over a contractor. Same for businesses as well. Why not a list of late payers? Of companies that change contract spec's after they are signed and sealed? Companies that bounce checks? Take unauthorized deductions because they can and there is nobody to stop them.

Now I would pay to be a member of that kind of group.

What Makes you happy?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Or at least let's you achieve some inner tranquility?

For the first time in almost 2 years I went out today and did some heavy cleaning work by myself. I haven't been 'allowed' or 'left alone' to do this since my little medical incident in the fall of 08. Over protective family members don't want the 'old fool' to keel over until the company is bigger, I guess. But I digress.

I have forgotten how great it is!

My MP3 player, my equipment, empty buildings and me. Absolutely fantastic! Probably the best therapy for me, I was able to organize the fluff floating around in my head since January and actually feel more mentally organized than I have in a long time.

I have been in a severe mental fog for the last 6 months. I know what I want to do but just can't seem to concentrate long enough to finish anything. My desk is a giant pile of half finished projects and semi-worked out ideas. But after today and my down/alone time I find myself eager to tackle them again.

Strange what makes you happy, isn't it? Who would have figured work?

RESPECT

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:29:00 +0000

Aretha Franklin sang about the lack of it, Rodney Dangerfield never got any and I propose to you that neither do we as cleaning business owners.

Where does today's rant percolate from?

Last week I went to visit a long time customer to discuss quoting on stripping and waxing their floors and cleaning their carpeting. We have been servicing this building nightly for over 4 years, I have been in and out of this building countless times during the day and at night during that time, I am no stranger to the staff.

I arrived for my appointment and got in line behind a number of other people queuing up at the reception desk to announce who I am, who I am here to see, sign in and get my visitors badge.
While I was standing in line I was listening to the receptionist as she handled the incoming visitors.
Hi Sally, this is the front desk, Lorraine from ABC Mfg is here to see you
Hi Tyrone, this is the front desk, William from DFG Supply is here to see you
Hi Katy, this is the front desk, Kelly is here from HIJ Staffing to see you
and then it was my turn
Hi Ted, this is the front desk, the cleaning guy is here

Now I am in a suit and tie, dressed business pro, I have some really nice biz cards and I do not look like a janitor/custodian/cleaning guy, so why the slight? Why not Ken from L & K Cleaning is here to see you? She had my business card in her hand while she was making out my visitor badge, so no excuse for not knowing my name.

My Theory?
It's because of the perception of our industry in peoples minds, we are an evil necessity that they would really prefer to not deal with but our forced to. The mental image most people have of us is that of the old school custodian who wore the all dark blue work pants and shirt and had to clean up the vomit from little Billy who was always sick in the back of the classroom. We are those strange people they sometimes see when they are leaving work, coming to empty the trash and clean up the hair spray off the bathroom mirrors and we don't deserve any additional respect.

I think we bring this upon ourselves.
Case in point, I was on 2 bid walks this week, at walk #1 it was a group bid walk of 5 contractors, in attendance was me in a suit and tie, another guy in a shirt and tie, one nicely dressed lady and 2 clowns. Clown 1 in a polo shirt-no company name on it and Clown 2 in blue jeans T-shirt and sneakers. Bid walk 2 consisted of 4 companies, me in my business attire, 2 women who looked dressed for a night out on Friday at bar and a painting guy who also owns a cleaning company in his painting clothes complete with a rag in his back pocket.

How are we ever going to alter people's perception of us if we don't make an effort to even try and look professional. I am a business owner that happens to be a cleaning business, but if I sold O-rings for the toilets that we clean I would have gotten more respect.

I am tempted to say something to my fellow cleaning biz owners about their lack of business protocol but they are my, heh, heh, competition after-all and I refrained. Maybe I shouldn't?

Should I make this a one-man cause? Start embarrassing these under dressed neophytes?
It's tempting, very tempting. Then again I also enjoy the edge I now have because I can tell you in the bid walks, I get the proper attention and usually most of it while the contact ignores the custodian.

My Theory on the Crazy Season for Cleaning Companies

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:02:00 +0000

Now let me start off by clarifying that this is a THEORY of mine, not fact and is based on 31+ years of observation, pain and humiliation from being in this industry and no, I still love it and won't quit.

Theory:

From Ground Hog Day to the first Sunday in April is either the very worst time to be in the office cleaning business or the very best. If you have customers in small to medium sized accounts where they have 35 or less employees in the office you are at risk.

The holiday's are over, the Superbowl is over and there is really nothing going on until spring starts. This puts people in a depressed, cranky, out to get someone mood. Monday's are the worst, they come in, still fighting the depression of cabin fever and they are looking for someone to blame. Picking on co-workers is never advisable since they have access to your bag lunch in the company fridge, so who do you find fault with?
The cleaning company! I can't get my reports done because they never:

vacuum
dust
new can liner
clean the (sink/counter/toilet/steps/elevator)
I think you get my point here.

With smaller sized customers, enough cranky office people, who will continually infect each other with this can cause you to lose the job. The boss/owner/manager will put it out for bid if it does nothing other than making these whiners shutup for a few weeks.

Remember I am working off of theory based on experience here.

Now if you're a smart business person and I know you are because you are reading my drivel, then this is prime time for marketing. Your competitors do not know what you now know. Get those flyer's, emails, sales letters and phone calls going and going right now! Your emphasis should be on quality at this time you can always talk about your fair prices after you are in the door, but quality is what will get you in the door.

By the way, bigger offices aren't immune from this, it's just with more people the whiners are more diffused and less of an annoyance. But they are still whining and someone is still hearing it, they just won't go through the hassle of switching cleaning companies to quiet down 2-4 crankzilla's.

I will give you an example of this. I am in the snow-belt states and still have 14" on the ground, last year we were still getting snow in April and the moods around here are, well think along the terms of having a bad sunburn and then being made to wear sandpaper underwear. Anyway, last week a plant manager calls me and says that receptionist doesn't feel we are cleaning anything and can I come take care of it. Of course, I am out that night meeting my manager at the site, we inspect the entire office from one end to the other after the cleaners are finished. They are in fine shape and I can find nothing wrong. I send my contact an email, letting him know I was there and checked it all. 2 days later he is on the phone again and again it's the receptionist and he says to me, " Ken, get her to shut up" So I ask, is there anything specific she is mentioning or seeing? he says no, just says we aren't cleaning good. So, I drive out to the building at 4pm so I can catch this receptionist before she leaves. I come in, introduce myself and ask her point blank what we can do better or differently to make some improvements in the cleaning. Her response? I just don't think they are taking enough time and I don't think they are doing everything, every night. and then she leaves.

So, I sat at her desk and watched people leave the office to go home, watched them go across the lobby, out the doors and then swiveling I watched them through her window get in their cars.

Then I went out to my truck, got a spray bottle of lemon malodor treatment, a bottle of window cleaner and a squeegee. I spritzed the lemon into her trashcan and I cleaned the outside of the window by her desk and I left without saying a word to the cleaners.

At 9am the next morning I called the receptionist and asked her how things were this morning. Her reply? " Well you being here sure made a difference! You can tell they put in some extra time last night."

On that, I rest my case for my Theory of the Crazy Season.

coming up next, the much anticipated, franchise argument or why a sleazeball can change it's name but still be a sleazeball.

RFQ's, Demand for Info & The Jealousy Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:05:00 +0000

I am in the men's department at a Kohl's store the other day, I have picked out a shirt, pair of pants and a really neat tie when a young man approaches me and asks if he can be of assistance. I noticed his name Matt on the tag and the title, 'department manager', so I tell him, "Matt, I love these clothes I've picked out, they match exactly what I am looking for, they are a perfect fit and the price is within my range" "The only thing stopping me from checking out and buying these right now Matt, is that I don't know what Kohl's true profit margin is on these clothes, I don't know the manufacturers costs in producing these clothes or package or transportation costs either and in order for me to feel comfortable about doing business with Kohl's today I am afraid you are going to have to break it all down for me so that I know Kohl's isn't making a dime more than I think they should be making on this sale."

Matt started asking me if I would like to meet someone in security now or will I just leave quietly.

Since around the middle of November of 2009 and now the end of January 2010 I have 17 RFQ's sitting on my desk. 11 of these I am in the running, my prices are fair, my references are outstanding and I meet their criteria perfectly. In my mind I have a chance of landing at least 30% of them. Now the other 6? Well those are sitting in a 'special' pile, soon to be recycled. I did the bid walks, calculated my costs and put together my standard proposal for each of them and submitted them. But, I don't stand a chance of winning any of them.

Why?
Well like my little tirade with Matt, these demi-gods of management seem to feel that they need to control every facet of my business. From how much I pay per hour for each classification of employee, how many hours and minutes each person will work, what my insurance, labor, unemployment, worker's compensation costs are per employee. How much my chemicals cost, what my equipment amortization is and on and on and on.

Quite frankly, I've had enough of these petulant little micro managers who feel they need to make sure that no janitor ever makes any more money than their poor, cubicle dwelling, under-achieving asses think they should make.

Where do they get off asking for this stuff? Are their life savings on the line everyday? Are they out working, taking emergency calls, risking their future, their family security everyday? No, but because we are risk takers, willing to take the giant steps these weak little folks run away from they are jealous and to the extent that they are going to make sure we are kept in our place by controlling our income.

Well this is one contractor who is not going to take it anymore, I will never fill out that information on any RFQ ever again. Will I lose some opportunities? Yes I will, but as one of the business owners I admire greatly always says " I don't want all the customers, I just want the best ones"
Thanks Rhonda.

I don't blog often unless it's something new, important or sets me off.
Coming up this week--The scariest and worst day of the year for commercial cleaning companies that service small and medium sized accounts. And it's not to far away either!

Do we defeat ourselves?

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I am sitting with my morning cup of coffee reviewing payroll reports for various buildings looking for anomaly's. There will always be spikes and drops in these reports mainly because of the nature of our business and the indifference of attitude of our employees regarding their '2nd income' jobs. For the most part I overlook small variances and instead focus on a longer view spanning 3 to 6 weeks or longer for larger labor issues.

Having started several large accounts late this summer, I am keenly interested in seeing if we now have them under control and operating within budget parameters, it's been 3 months so they should be in-line with the budgets I set when I sold the jobs. They are running like a Swiss clock. What I find disturbing is an increase in labor costs at an account we have been servicing for over 3 years now, so I start back tracking through previous quarters and I see a gradual increase in labor hours starting in April of this year and no correlating increase in revenue.

Now it's not a lot hours to start with, in fact in April and May it's no more than 1 to 1.5 hours per week but by mid-September it has jumped to almost 5 hours per week. To put this in a $$ perspective, if an hour of labor at my payroll rates costs me $12 than I am losing $60 per week more than I was in March of this year or $3,120.00 annually is being spent on labor without any form of compensation to make up for it. Now multiply an error like this times say 20-30-40 buildings!

I have no one to blame but me but I didn't know this at breakfast.

I grabbed my operations manager, which is easy since he is usually at my house with his head in my refrigerator most days, (he's my son after-all) and I asked him if he could explain this phenomenon to me.

The kid actually listens to me! He went out to his car and pulled out his building book and looked up operational notes dating back to last April and pulls out an email from me telling him to have our cleaner on the 3rd floor load and turn on the dishwasher in the executive dining/conference room every-night.

So, that explains the 1 hour more per week given a 15 minute daily routine window, it doesn't explain the current jump to 5 hours per week. So I set him to finding out why the jump and I go back to my logs to find out what I did in April to let this all get started.

Jr. comes back with:

The cleaner is now also roaming the floor every-night collecting cups off desks, clearing the 2 conference rooms of dishes and cups that are left sitting on the tables and she is also loading the main cafeteria dishwashers (2 here) on the 1st floor used by the rest of the building.

How did it progress to this point?

A couple of reasons:

With the new business starting this past summer and fall we weren't paying too much attention to the details of the nightly operations and focusing on a " please, no complaints-while we start the new stuff program, policy" This means we worried mainly about getting the job done right first and how to make money 2nd. This is our first step in defeating ourselves.

Next, I found that back in April the customer contacted me and asked if I could have the cleaner on the executive floor load and run the dishwasher 'whenever' they had a meeting or luncheon.

In my over-eagerness to please, retain and butt kiss a customer I agreed forgetting how these things progress and I should know better after all these years, it never ends with just one favor. This is the second step in defeating ourselves. We are so worried about pleasing the customer, so focused on customer service, so fearful of the low bidding competition that we will agree to these 'little' things without thinking about the consequences.

Finally, we now find ourselves in a bad spot, the contact realizing that they now have an open checkbook on extras has stopped our cleaner several times over the ensuing months to 'ask for one more favor' by including the other cafeteria dishwashers, checking all the executive suites for coffee cups etc... Can't really blame the contact, if we had been paying attention, which is our third defeat, we would have caught this the first or second week and I could have taken up the issue with the contact explaining the need for 'maid service' charge or perhaps suggesting adding a part time day porter to handle these duties. Now I am stuck trying to correct this situation after it's already been doing damage to me since July. I realize I have no hope of recovering lost revenue but I need to stop the bleed before it continues and the profit margins fall to 3%.

And this brings me to the fourth defeat, my own reluctance in today's economy to try and raise prices over something so trivial as loading a dishwasher, which is exactly how the customer sees it.

The way I see it, we are so enamored with customer service that we forget we are also in business to make money, otherwise why are you doing this? Extreme customer service can result in quick bankruptcy.

No Vacation, I made money this summer

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:50:00 +0000

In my competitors buildings!

That's right, you are reading this correctly. I made money, every single week since April of this year in buildings I have no business in, no contracts with and are being cleaned by my competitors.

What was my secret?

Nothing, a little hard work, some time doing research and investigation and then following it all up ruthlessly.

Back when the economy took a nose dive late last fall, we saw the government, right or wrong, begin to bail out certain industries but not all of them. I started compiling a list from the news, newspapers and business journals of all the companies warning or actually cutting back, laying off and reducing staff and even locations.

In February of this year I started calling, I called property managers of multi tenant sites, I called the branch managers of all the sites being down sized or closed and then I called their corporate offices all over the country.

Somebody will have to clean up after they move out, right?

I know from previous experience that the larger cleaning contractors in the big buildings have flat rate agreements and that they are usually high for doing extra work like this, be it hourly or by the sq.ft.

I told every single person I talked to that I would beat their price.

We averaged 2 empty suite/building clean outs a week since April and I am booked until the end of October.

Easy jobs too, nothing tough, no stripping or waxing, no carpet cleaning. Just clear out debris, throw out anything left in closets, vacuum, dust ledges, window sills and clean the restrooms and break rooms. Quick cleans, done during the day, a ton of good exposure to other tenants which picked me up several carpet and floor jobs and the best part is, the property managers had to sign off accepting the work. Which means I now have new contacts I can work on building a relationship with to help move my competitors out of those jobs.

It's sad that the economy is in such a condition but just like the folks making money cleaning up all those foreclosed homes and abandoned homes we should look for opportunities within the commercial sector too.

I put a few before and after pictures up so you can see what I am talking about.

Back to School & the Workbench

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:21:00 +0000

I always use this time of year as a reminder to check my tools. As parents rejoice the return of the school year and children mourn the loss of summer it is the best time for you to check your cleaning equipment to avoid any mourning of your own.

Check your vacuum bags, brushes, tubes, etc...
Check your power equipment:

water level in the batteries
electrical cords
plugs
switches
recovery tanks
solution tanks
filters
screens
drive motors
brushes
squeegee blades

Check your non-powered equipment too!

Wheels on barrels, maid carts, check your brooms, dustpans, caddy's, trays, look for damages and replace broken parts to save yourself aggravation later on. Don't forget those buckets and wringers! A little preventive maintenance goes a long way to saving you big replacement costs!

Target Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Maybe I am old school or maybe it's my chosen market of the industry but does anybody do target marketing anymore?

I am sure we all have done mass marketing via telephone solicitation, emails, flyer's or direct mail but what about target marketing?

Target marketing involves time, yours and plenty of it.

You select companies that you want to be a janitorial service provider for and start researching. What do they do? How long have they been doing it? Who are the principals? What organizations, charities and events does this company support and how?

Then you begin to align yourself with them, attend the public events. If their executives are involved in the organizations, write some letters or emails expressing an interest in donating some time or money to the events. Ask them for advice on getting involved.

This opens a door for you that by passes all other normal channels. You are not making a sales pitch, in fact you are not evening mentioning what you do other than the company name after your signature.

An example:
This year I am a golf pro.
I haven't been to a single golf course all year yet I have sponsored prizes at par 3 holes at 17 courses this year. My company name listed on every flyer, announcement, brochure, at the course and the awards/prize dinner afterwards. Sure it cost me some money but I can now pick up the phone and reach over 65 high level executives without having to go through voicemail or the administrative assistant. By fall each of these people will be getting thank cards from me for participating in charity events that I helped sponsor and of course my business card.

I have an 'in'. What happens when I contact their purchasing department or management and put that executive down as a reference? Think I am greasing the wheels? They are dripping grease right now!

We are working on another one this fall/winter involving children and live performances at theaters that are sponsored by yet another group of business executives.

That is one type of targeting your market.

More coming up in future installments.

This type of marketing does not result in immediate sales. It does create a lasting impression that will benefit me for years.

How many of my competitors have I run across this past summer doing anything?

0

Seems the belt tightening has gotten a little severe around here. To bad for them, I'll sacrifice a vacation week to pick up these kinds of relationships.

Sales, Selling and getting the deal

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:24:00 +0000

This is going to be both a rant and tip post.

If you are selling, know your customer! Don't be ignorant of who they are, what they do and most importantly how your service can benefit them.

It seems at least 7x a week I get a call from some clueless moron trying to sell me something and I can tell immediately that they didn't do their research and that means they just lost a sale.

The calls that come in are incredibly stupid in my opinion and show a complete lack of desire to succeed.

I get calls to increase my residential cleaning business
I get calls to increase my landscaping business
I get calls to increase my online store sales
I get calls to help me be #1 in google for my window cleaning website and my house cleaning website.
I get calls to be #1 in yahoo for my carpet installation business

Do you know what the major issue is with all of those calls?

I don't do any of that work.

This shows that the salesperson doesn't really want to make a sale or impress me enough to keep me on the phone long enough to make a pitch.

Want to sell to me? Call me and talk about my office cleaning business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and I am all ears. It's how I approach my potential customers. A little research goes a long way in opening a closed door.

Slick and Sleaze Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Galo) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:14:00 +0000

This must be the week to get on my bad side.

Yesterday morning I answer the phone and some woman says to me, I have 7 carpet jobs for you. Of course I am overjoyed to hear such good news and go into my information gathering phase.

She says, I have these homes that need their carpeting cleaned and they are looking for a price.

Now my guard is up, we don't clean homes and we don't advertise that we clean homes, so I start asking more probing questions and out comes, well Mr. Galo, I am from everycontractor.co and we have customers looking for your service. I inform her that we only do commercial and industrial facilities and she immediately, with no hesitation at all, says we have customers for that too. Now I am amazed that she just happens to know for a fact that she has commercial consumers lined up and ready for me, so I pull up their website while she is yakking away.

They require a $900 sign up fee to get these 'leads'. When I tell her that this is very expensive for jobs that I will have to quote on and only have a chance getting her next, ultra fast reply is, " I can work with you on that fee and get it down to $600 if we do it right now, over the phone"

Now my inner alarm bells have gone to foghorn, klaxon scale.

You want me to give you my credit card info over the phone? and for $600 per year, I can get job leads? How many leads per year will you guarantee me? How many other companies in my area will also be getting these special leads?

She hung up.

This morning I get a call from Matt.

Matt is a business consultant working with janitorial companies in my area. Matt is offering free consultations, Matt will come to my office and work with me on a plan to create more business, increase my sales, reach more customers and improve my bottom line.

All for FREE ? I ask Matt

Yes sir he replies, I have a proven method that will boost your sales.

What do you get out of this Matt? Doesn't seem to me that you are eating well or paying the light bill giving this kind of help away for free, how are you making a living doing this Matt?

"Mr. Galo, your advertising of your services will be the vehicle that increases your sales and with my help we will create an ad that does that for you."

So, Matt, you run these ads then and that's how you make your money as a consultant? Where are these ads going to run? Business newspapers? Radio? What is the field?

That's why I want to make an appointment with you Mr. Galo, so I can take just 45 to 60 minutes of your time to demonstrate how a creative ad we design for you will work in growing your business.

Matt, you haven't answered my questions.

I'm with the Yellow pages, Mr. Galo

Matt, do you know what I do for a living?

Cleaning, right?

We clean commercial and industrial buildings Matt and do you know where all those yellow pages books are? They are in the recycling center Matt and I don't mean last years, I mean this years. Your folks deliver those shrink wrapped packages of books to the lobbies of these buildings every year and we get the calls to toss them in the recycling bins.

Matt, if no one is using your books, why should I spend money advertising in them?

Hello? Hello? Matt are you still there? Hello? Hello?