floor cleaning customers expectations

[Spud]

This is a question for the floor restorers, do you often find that once you have cleaned and restored a floor to a good standard and sealed it for future usage there is an expectation from the customer that there will be zero to little maintainance on their behalf once you have finished ? I have found that some customers feel once you have cleaned their floor they seem to have some sort of on going maintenance contract where by every time it gets dirty you need to pop by and spruce it up free of charge, how do you guys make it clear ,that once professionally cleaned the floor should be treated as any other finished floor and needs regular care from the customer to keep it looking its best ?

 

[peckers]

when I have finished tiling with stone tiles i leave them with a sheet telling them what it has been sealed with and what products to use for cleaning and after care, and letting them know where they can get the products from. I also tell them that it will need re sealing again and advise on a rough time scale depending on what stone it is and what i sealed it with and it depends on the usage it gets.
I also put on the bottom that they can always give me a call to give it a clean and re-seal for a nominal charge of course.

 

[Ken Bruty]

when I have finished tiling with stone tiles i leave them with a sheet telling them what it has been sealed with and what products to use for cleaning and after care, and letting them know where they can get the products from. I also tell them that it will need re sealing again and advise on a rough time scale depending on what stone it is and what i sealed it with and it depends on the usage it gets.
I also put on the bottom that they can always give me a call to give it a clean and re-seal for a nominal charge of course.

I also do the very same, seems that if you let them understand there is further money involved, there is incentive to keep it cleaned properly, i.e not with washing up liquid!

Cleaned 27m2 of filled/honed travertine yesterday in a kitchen, and it looks like it's never been used, even though I fitted it 2.5 years ago , well happy!

Ken

 

[Terry Cottar]

This is a question for the floor restorers, do you often find that once you have cleaned and restored a floor to a good standard and sealed it for future usage there is an expectation from the customer that there will be zero to little maintainance on their behalf once you have finished ? I have found that some customers feel once you have cleaned their floor they seem to have some sort of on going maintenance contract where by every time it gets dirty you need to pop by and spruce it up free of charge, how do you guys make it clear ,that once professionally cleaned the floor should be treated as any other finished floor and needs regular care from the customer to keep it looking its best ?

Gary

We always leave the customer with a floor care plan and all the products necessary if they wish to purchase them. I always explain to the customer that the floor will deteriorate again without proper maintenance. They are under no illusions from us that we offer a free maintenance service although we do have a regular clientele that we do go back to on a fairly regular basis.

tel

 

[Tenchman]

Hi there, i agree with the others you need to leave a sheet of info detailing what the customer needs to do to maintain the floor.
However this info should include that any mistakes they (the client/customer) make then fixing it will incur a fee from your Co, I had a client after restoring a floor and left it looking excellent on a friday , got a call Sat night to say it was ruined = the customer had washed the brand new seal with hot water & bleach !!!! because that's what she did every saturday ? there are lots of idiots out there, we should have a program on Tv = Customers from hell instread of all these programs knocking contractors :incazzato:cheers Steve

 

[Time's Ran Out]

there are lots of idiots out there, we should have a program on Tv = Customers from hell instread of all these programs knocking contractors :incazzato:cheers Steve

I would certainly agree that there are enough customers to make a series of 'The Customer From Hell' - however those contractors who appear on those exposure type programmes deserve everything they get!

Gary - Its a bit like getting your car serviced at regular intervals - regular maintenance keeps it going/looking nice longer.

 

[testarossa]

Hi there, i agree with the others you need to leave a sheet of info detailing what the customer needs to do to maintain the floor.
However this info should include that any mistakes they (the client/customer) make then fixing it will incur a fee from your Co, I had a client after restoring a floor and left it looking excellent on a friday , got a call Sat night to say it was ruined = the customer had washed the brand new seal with hot water & bleach !!!! because that's what she did every saturday ? there are lots of idiots out there, we should have a program on Tv = Customers from hell instread of all these programs knocking contractors :incazzato:cheers Steve

Yeah right, me too, I agree with the others...

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[Floor_Restorer]

I totally agree with all the points above. We always leave cleaning products, give guidance and even sometimes show the customers exactly how to clean the floor.

Yes, I have customers who expect us to clean it every week for them, and that the work we do is everylasting. We alsways say that a treatment or sealant is a 'surface dressing' and not an impenetrable barrier. The more it is used, the more it will wear. Using the correct cleaning products will sustain this for a longer period, but it will need further care and attention in the future.

Thanks, Tom