SS is living proof of how branding your company works....

They have spent thousands on marketing and burned there name into every household in America...Between there adds ..commercials..and that neurotic song...all anyone has to to is mention carpet cleaning and SS is always the first thing that comes to mind......

No one will ever beat that....

just looked at the website i calculated 5 rooms at 138.00 according to them, how can they do that when i did not even put in a sq footage.... is this the perverbial bait and switch..... and how can stanley be the biggest and still have customers when they do a bait and switch?????

i hear ya Scott, I agree, don't need to be the biggest......

If you want a good meal, you go to Ruth's Chris, not McDonalds. Stanley Steemer is the McDonalds of carpet cleaning. Is McDonalds edible? Yes. Can Stanley Steemer clean carpet? Yes. But that doesn't mean they are the best, just because they are the biggest.

Fact: average employee tenure at Stanley Steemer, 6 months

Branding and marketing. Plus, I think they got their foot in the door a long time ago. Just like Pepsi will never outsell Coke and Wendy's will never outsell McDonalds, I don't think anyone will ever knock the Steemer off.

Marketing and branding. I agree that they are the McDonalds of carpet cleaning. I don't think anyone will ever knock the Steemer off, either, but I knocked them out of cleaning Motor Coaches at Michigan International Speedway! They weren't prespraying and were just hacking the carpets out, and our quality work nosed them right out of the gate. I've been cleaning out there for 2 years now and haven't seen them out there since my first trip. We were out there today and cleaned carpets in Motorcoaches for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Dale Jarrett, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers, Scott Riggs, Jeff Burton, Michael Waltrip, and even a few owned by nascar. Pretty impressive coaches, to say the least. Haven't met any drivers, just the guys that drive the coaches, but they are all good ol' boys. Couldn't ask for a nicer bunch of guys, and even came away with a few freebies.

Hey guys,

I have a copy of stanley steamer's bill (year 2007)for a residential job for over $2200, and I also have a copy of the bill from other guy (same job) it was a little bit over $1000 (this bill was from last month), SS were charging for cleaning, deodorize, protecting, area rug, landings, I do not even remember what else, but they were trying to get money from everything, and that is why I think If they can take advantage of you, they will do it.

Sometimes I am tempted to show the clients the SS's bill to show them that I can do same job but for a lot less.

BTW, Sears is almost same thing. One room 14x16, the bill was $170, they pre sprayed, extracted with a portable, 20 minutes (total time) and bye. The person who told me this also told me they did a terrible job.

Locko-Fabara

they make us small business owners look great in carpet cleaning. What kinda pisses me off about them now is that they're cleaning tile and even worse, color sealing grout. What's next? Probably airduct cleaning. Bill Busy Bee Carpet, Tile/Grout & Natural Stone Restoration :: Sacramento Area Natural Stone Care Specialists

My brother-in-law worked for Sears carpet cleaning. He asked how in the world I can get red stains out. I said "Red Relief".

He's like "Yeah, we use it all the time and it NEVER works, it's crap." I asked if they read the instructions and apply heat. He says "Yeah, we put heat on it. I mix the Red Relief, spray it on, then pick up the wand and spray hot water on it. Never works. It's crap."

Sheesh. How do they stay in business when they don't even know the basics, and won't follow instructions on the freaking bottle?!

I would say its about repitition in advertising. Though they dont clean with steam and useing steam on carpets isnt good. They might seem to be the carpet cleaning king but i would rather do water restoration all day like service master with much higher job average amounts.

I clean the carpet for a large church in my town. They tried using another co. a while back, to save money he was $200 cheaper than me.Then they called me back cause they weren't happy with the other guys' work. The guy who hired me came in and was watching me work and when I was prespraying he asked what I was doing I explained what it was and it's purpose he said the other guy didn't do that. The other guy is a former SS tech who went into business for himself.

Bobby Hales

Yes, we can get bigger and we are better.Can we kill the king?, "He might be strong, but he is not stronger than all of us".
So Let's kill the King.......
Locko-Fabara

ok I have worker for SS plus Coit. I think for a national compitition Coit is the closest and do a few more things.
Both companies are francises so everyone is run difernt. Coit gave me my start and I think trains better but steamer has made a basic cleaning set up that anyone can do . They have to since the turn over rate is fast.

Americans are drawn to television commercials, That is why when someone wants a drink they automaticly say gimme a coke just like potatoe chips by frito lay everyone wants doritos or fritos.

SS is in that spot. but I will say this I have not come across one customer that uses them more than once. I'm not saying none do but all of my customers said never again. And that is sad.

For one I dont know anyone that has called them on their $99 special and actually wrote out a check for $99. Its been more like $299 or more.

I dont like coupons and have never offered them and also never use them myself. Most of the time there is a catch and I hate that.

Originally Posted by Steve Toburen

Stanley Steemer is a marketing company that just happens to clean (more or less) carpet." Love 'em or hate 'em you can still learn from Stanley Steemer. Or not.

Sounds a lot like McDonald's. They're a marketing company that just happens to be in real estate and sell hamburgers.