Looking for Air Duct Cleaning In Las Vegas?
Quick overview of our odor control products
by Gina Lewis, Customer Service
In November’s newsletter I talked about chemicals that are fogged into the air system. This month I am going to give you information on a variety of odor control products available for you and your customers that are not fogged into the air system.
I have listed some of the basics you need to know about each one. I hope this information will be useful to you.
David Montanaro was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and attended Kean University. He moved to Las Vegas in June of 2005 and joined the Air-Care team early last month.
David is the Sales and Service Manager, responsible for running our local service department, selling duct cleaning services to residents of the Las Vegas valley.
His favorite thing about working at Air-Care is the people. “Everyone at Air-Care really cares. The smallest details mean as much as huge projects” he said.
When he’s not working at Air-Care, David enjoys riding motorcycles, cooking and watching movies. He is also a die-hard Yankees fan (but we don’t hold that against him!).
Basic Power Tool Use and Care
by Wayne Tracy, Operations Manager
Famous Last Words: “It’s only 110v, it can’t hurt me.” Record books are full of people who have been severely injured or killed by 110v tools and appliances.
Working with electricity in wet conditions is dangerous and sometimes deadly. Power tools should never be used in wet conditions or environments.
Basic Power Tool Use and Care:
Tools should not be lifted or carried by their cord.
Manufacturer installed guards should be left in place and not removed for convenience.
Damaged tools should be removed from service immediately. The same applies for cords and extension cords.
Extension cords of the right amperage to match the tools amperage must be used.
Grounding prongs on cords should never be removed.
When working in difficult positions or areas, power tools should be supported by a cord or rope.
Loose clothing, jewelry, ties, etc. should not be worn when working with power tools.
Safety glasses or goggles should be worn when working with power tools. Check OSHA guidelines or tools owners manual to see which is appropriate for the type of tool you are working with.
When working with air powered tools, care needs to be taken when disconnecting or connecting these tools.
Air hoses cannot be disconnected from the compressor end until the air pressure has been bled off the lines.
Never work on power tools when they are plugged in.
Unplug a drill or saw before attempting to replace a blade or a bit.
Manufacturers of power tools have invested a lot of time & money designing tools to be convenient and safe to use. Don’t reinvent the wheel by altering a tool from its original design.
Like power tools, hand tools have been designed and engineered to perform specific functions. Use the right tool for the job.
Inspect tools frequently for damage or weakness in crucial areas.
Turn in or destroy damaged tools immediately.
A hammer and screwdriver is not a drill. It’s unprofessional and most importantly extremely dangerous.
A wrench is not a hammer. Take a minute and go to your toolbox and get the right tool. The few minutes it may take is a lot cheaper than a visit to the emergency room.
How many times have you used a screwdriver as a punch, chisel or prybar? Once is too often. Accidents are always just around the corner waiting to happen.
If you’re an employee and unsure of proper techniques and safety issues involving tools, ask for help.
In summary, if you’re an owner or manager, teach and preach safety in tool use constantly. It is important that tool boxes and trucks be inspected frequently for damaged tools. As a business owner, your employee’s safety is your responsibility.
These guidelines also apply to your duct cleaning equipment, after all, this equipment is tools of your trade. Inspect all duct cleaning equipment on a regular basis for safety, performance, and appearance.
Properly cared for tools creates a positive image for your company in your customers eye as well.
Meeting a potential customer can go a long way!
by David Montanaro, Service Manager
The trend of offering estimates over the telephone for residential customers seems to be growing. We always want to meet our potential commercial customer and conduct a system inspection, but when Mr. or Ms. Residential Customer calls we all want to book over the telephone. This is certainly a more cost and time affective way to schedule service for this market, have you asked yourself what you might be losing?
Most residential customers have an emotional attachment to their houses; after all it’s a house to us but a home to them. Taking the time to explain the benefits of a professional duct cleaning service, which includes sanitizing and deodorizing their system, can be the difference between booking the service and losing it to someone that is going to show up with a back-pack vacuum.
There are a few things we can all do to build in the added value of our services and portray a professional appearance:
Now you are ready to sit down and discuss the estimate. This is a good time to have a brief print out of your company’s history, copies of your certificate of training and business license available to show the customer. Verbally offer a brief history of your company and mention any high profile commercial jobs you may have done, this will build instant creditability.
Discuss what you will be doing while cleaning their system. An example would be, “Well Tom first we will clean you air handler inside and out to make sure once the ducts are clean we are not pulling anything back through your system. Many companies skip this step and it is essential.”
Then review that you will clean all of their supplies and returns with professional, commercial grade equipment which includes cleaning all of the registers. Make sure to give the customer time to ask any questions that they may have at this point.
You have reached the moment where you can truly begin to build the value of your service with add-ons. This is the time to discuss the benefits of fogging a sanitizer, deodorizer and Soot Set into the system. I always try to use a statement that the customer can relate to such as, “Not doing this is kind of like brushing your teeth with out toothpaste.” I tend to get a lot of smiles and head nods with that statement. Also, talk about electrostatic filters and do so with authority. Here are some key points to mention:
Time for a strong question, “Wouldn’t you say that is a big difference?” By now the customer should be nodding in agreement. Also mention the long term saving of reusable filters, yes they have a higher initial cost but when you add up how expensive pleated filter can be over two or three years it becomes a no brainer.
With all your costs written down on a professional looking quote sheet you are ready to book your appointment and you may have just added a few hundred dollars to your total while providing a tremendous amount of added value to the customer. Not everyone will want everything, but once you are face-to-face and explaining all the benefits, your chances have gone up quite a bit.
Remember, there is always someone that will perform this service for less, but there is no one that will do it better!
by Mary Dziak, Marketing Manager
With the New Year here (where did 2011 go?), it is time to assess your advertising budget and what was successful and what was not. After the analysis, you need to adjust your funds to put them where they are working the best. This doesn’t mean adding more money to your budget, just moving it around.
Here at Air-Care we have two different campaigns that we have to run. The one that you would be most concerned with is with our Service Department. What we have found is that the website brings in the most leads. Because of our efforts in this area, we spend most of our advertising dollars on the internet. Buddy (our Internet Marketing Manager), looks at our campaigns on the Internet every week.
He can see what keywords are working the best and which ones aren’t working. We really do adjust these campaigns monthly. If we were to just set up a campaign and let it go, we could be losing leads. We have been in the 1st or 2nd spot on both the “organic” and the “pay per click” results on Google.
Buddy will always say that it takes time to get to those positions, especially if you have a lot of competition in your area. As soon as Buddy sees that we are slipping, he makes adjustments, so that we get back up there.
Because of the demographics of duct cleaning customers, we do need to keep an ad in our yellow pages. There are people out there, believe it or not, that still use the yellow pages to look up services or goods. We have adjusted this ad over time to reduce the cost though. Air duct cleaning is not as saturated as other categories, so we feel you don’t have to put a big ad in, just one that attracts attention.
You may want to just do a bolded line ad instead of a display ad. This would mostly depend on what your competitors are doing. Keeping in the yellow pages may also give you an ad on-line that is associated with the yellow pages. These are things that you need to ask when they approach you for your new ad.
This is just a couple of suggestions of things that you want to look at when evaluating your advertising for the new year. If you have questions on the marketing of your air duct cleaning business, please give me a call.
Let’s make 2012 the most successful year for all of us.
by Richard Papaleo, President
It’s hard to believe that I started this business over 33 years ago but time flies when you’re having fun. Each year we have improved our products and business model to be one of the industries most successful companies.
None of this would be possible without the contribution of many long term employees who give their very best every day and new and old customers that have trusted us and became partners in our continued growth.
We all know how challenging the past few years have been but in spite of the slow economy, the strong survive. Being creative and thinking out of the box, many of you have done well and keep a positive attitude and work hard at making your business stay healthy.
Keep up the great job you are all doing and let’s make 2012 a banner year.
As promised earlier in the year, we are ready to release our new and improved (DLT) duct leakage tester. This redesigned product will set the standard for operator ease of use with technical excellence and will be a must-have product. Not to mention the profits it will bring to your bottom line.
There will be complete training with videos and manuals to guide you through the use and presentation to your customers and marketing guidelines.
There are a few more products almost ready to release and you will be told about them this month.
Thanks for your confidence.
