ACE said:
Scott,
I can tell you’re a sharp guy at the top of the industry. It’s sad to see you align yourself with people who could care less about the success of their customers. Interlink has a long history of enticing cleaners to move into new seemingly lucrative markets arming them with a false since of knowledge.
First off, thanks for the kind words.
I have to disagree strongly with the perception that the people I work for don't care about the success of our customers. The growth and even survival of Bridgepoint or Interlink Supply depends upon the success of our thousands of cleaner customers. We depend upon repeat and referral clients walking back into our stores every day. I suspect it is similar for your business, so you know what I am talking about. We don't want to harm that relationship.
I work with these folks every day and I know they care.
It is important to keep on top of industry trends.
The trend has been for less carpet to be manufactured every year for the last 3 years. Even prior to that carpet was losing market share. Understanding and being able to serve all your customers needs, not just carpet cleaning.
We try to keep our customers informed about trends and new possibilities, so they can take advantage of them if the opportunity is right for them.
I do agree that not every service is right for every business. I expect very few cleaners will actually land large commercial concrete cleaning accounts like Costco, Lowes, Wal Mart, Sam's Club and so forth. They may clean a residential customers garage once in a while as an add-on sale. Still, I want them to know the opportunity is there if they feel it is right for them and if they choose to go after it.
If I did not care about the success of our customers, I would keep quiet and not share any information. But that is not me.