PressurePros

Nice work guys. Rick, I cannot even imagine what you went through on that maze of wood.

Jeff, you make my dream of the Myrtle Beach office of PressurePros more and more appealing every day ;-)

Welcome to the board. Applciation methods we use: • Downstreaming of a contractor grade wood stripper. I like HD-80 boosted to be very potent. This is adequate on 80% of decks. • When the situation calls for a direct strip, a 12 V pump (Deckster) applies quickest. Don't forget your brightening stage which we always apply via downstream.

I am going to do a series of articles here on TGS based upon what I have learned from various marketing gurus, my personal experience in the corporate and business world and what I have read from various contractors. This first article wil be an overview and the next few articles will dive more into details. The only thing you need to bring is an open, coachable mind. Every business owner faces the same dilemmas. • How do I keep that phone ringing? • How can I hire help when I am not even sure I can keep myself busy? • Where can I spend the least amount of money and get the best return? SELLING ON PRICE If anyone is from the same school of thought as I, then they understand that price is only one variable in the selling of service. It is a slippery slope to start undercutting and seling on price. Here are some things I have read on here and various BBS's. "If you tried to get those prices down here, you'd get laughed at." "All people are interested in around here is the price" "Those HOA's.. it's always just about price" "I'm competing against guys that advertise $99 house washes, what am I supposed to do?" "The Yellow Pages suck, it's just a bunch of cheap people calling for the best price" These are alll valid concerns but to a large degree, they are all false. Sure, people consider price when making a decision but not merely in the way you may think. The largest budget consideration for a consumer is not whether or not you are the most expensive, it's whether or not they think they can afford the service. Their answer is always "no". You're answer should be "you can't afford not to". More on selling the value of a service later. If you are skimming this article, read this next line and paragraph a couple of times. _____________________________________________ People shop on price because they do not know what else to base their decision upon. It is your responsibility through marketing and sales to educate the public. People want to be sold. They don't want to be pressured, but people get high from buying goods or a service. I can tell you from the experience of being the highest guy in my marketplace that if you take the time to educate a person as to what they should be looking for, you will get the sale. Increased sales at higher profit margins means more advertising money to hinder your competition. ______________________________________________ I have heard this statement made and it's very accurate. "If you want to see what, where and why Joe Smith buys, see the world through Joe Smith's eyes" Joe Smith knows not to trust contractors. Joe Smith knows that the job he gets will probably be mediocre. Joe Smith knows that regardless of the price he is going to be ripped off. Why the hell would Joe Smith want to pay me top dollar when he knows all of these things? Is it because I am a better washer? No. What I am better at is making my customer feel at ease with his purchase and delivering on everything I promise. Mr. John Smith, do you want: • Your initial call returned within 12 hours? • A clean cut person in company logo'd gear to come to your home for the estimate? • A company representative that will listen and make suggestions based upon a detailed exterior evaluation of your property? • The presentation of professionally designed literature that outlines services along with a full portfolio of before and after exterior restoration pictures? • Toll Free numbers with automated extensions, direct cell numbers, logo'd trucks, the right equipment to start and complete the job, polite employees that speak clear English and wear ID badges? • A company with a customer database that allows monthly follow up with newsletters letting you know what's going on with that company, local laws governing washing your car and a discount coupon for being a loyal customer? These things cost Mr Homeowner and he knows it. If you are targeting a higher income demographic like I have seen many people suggest, these are the things he is looking for and is willing to pay a reasonable premium for. He sleeps well at night knowing the few extra dollars he is spending on my service means far less aggravation in the future. Some old timers or newbies that insist it's still about price and will continue to sell based upon fear of learning and implementing new ideas may eventually stagnate, shrink then disappear. Think of any large company with which you have done business.. How many of those companies /stores /contractors (that sold unique products) did you give repeat business to? Were your decisions based solely on price? Do you drink the soda that comes in three liter bottles for 49 cents? Do you buy the least expensive paint knowing it could (and probably will) look like crap? Would you hire a homeless guy that stands at the mini mart near your home to cut your lawn or paint your fence? Why not? He is cheapest. How about that doctor that went to Upstairs University as opposed to the guy from Johns Hopkin's? Will you let him operate on your kid if he offers a better rate? A home is a person's largest expense in the course of their entire lifetime. New roofs cost $12,000. New Flagstone patios cost $8,000. New decks go for maybe $10,000. An exterior painting can set you back $3,000+. Everyone reading this that owns a home pays these prices. Why on earth would you sell yourself short and offer $150 whole house washes with gutter scrubbing? What makes you think that someone wants to hire a hack (which, until you educate them, is the way you are perceived) to possibly damage what they have worked so hard for? Educate..remove their fear and apprehensions..make yourself different! Your goal is to make the customer believe that he would be CRAZY to hire anyone else. That he he will have absolutely no issue with work performed, your honesty or your business integrity. My hope is that this message has reached one person. If you still doubt the validity of what I wrote I will list for you single crew service businesses doing $500k per year in Florida, Texas, and Arizona.

Probably not all of it.. and as much as they can dissolve into water. Re-do your bid, bro or you are gonna hate life.

bump.. its that time of year again.

I agree with BNR. Let the wood dry at the surface. You can then evaluate the wood. Though you can work with soaking wet wood, I don't like the results either.

Nate, I am taking a look at it tommorow. I may ednd up bidding it. It sounds easy (don't they all) I'd like to kep 4 guys on over the winter so I am exploring commercial work options. I would offer this to Ron first as he was the first to reply but I appreciate you throwing your hat into the ring and will keep you in mind.

oops double post

PS: I hope those aren't wand marks, Mr Petry. ::wink::

Maybe an oxymoron but it certanly qualifies as redundant.

I like pretty colors.

You are the man.

That's gold. Last years Tux was yellow. Looks great Ron, you did a nice job.

PS: Volunteer work and donations are two different things.

The problem I think is in the valuation. Rob has an awesome piece of equipment and having that piece of equipment on a jobsite costs X amount of dollars. The problem arises when Rob says.. "with my superior equipment I charge this much for this type of job." The IRS takes issue because the same job may have been able to be performed by Joe Hack whom has a HD special and charges much less for the same job. Same goes for an attorney or doctor. One lawyer may charge $600/hr while another fledgling recent law school grad may be lucky to get $75/hr. In one fell swoop the IRS disallowed all donations of service. I'm sure there are some loopholes but for that one must contact their accountant.

You cannot claim a deduction for a charitable donation of service.

It's open bid. Shoot me a pm for my cell number.

Citralic mixed by the bucket. One pail lasts about 6000 s/f (guesstimate). Warm water and 5 lbs per pail.

return receipt.. it may be a defunct term. I'm old.

You did so many things wrong from start to finsih I don't know where to begin. But, thats the nature of starting off in wood restoration. More importantly you need to stop your bleeding. Send him a certified letter with your invoice enclosed. If you don't received you payment in ten days, send another certified letter this time alerting the customer of your intentions to : 1) begin accruing interest at 2% per month 2) your formal notice of intention to file lien against his property and force sale and 3) Your intention to file claim in court at which point if he loses (he will) he will also be liable for your legal expense. Your other choice, and this one is hard to swallow.. is to send him your invoice via registered mail and hope for the best. I'd say you have about 25% chance of getting your money this way.

Wood Tux and Ready Seal are not in the same ball park. Two completely different products with different criteria for usage. Ready Seal would be put up against Wood Rich Timber Oil (also made by ESI). From the guys I have spoken to about it, it is supposed to be awesome.

:banghead: Again the broad stroke misunderstanding of chemistry causes generalizaton. I agree the goal is to not cause more damage to wood than is neccessary. I also don't buy into the shotgun approach. Don't confuse efficiency with git-r-done. Here is the MSDS for Dawn dish washing liquid. Chemical CAS No / Unique ID Percent Fragrance(s)/perfume(s) 000000-00-1 Sodium hydroxide 001310-73-2 <1.0 2-amino-1-propanol 006168-72-5 Water 007732-18-5 Isopropylamine dodecylbenzenesulfonate 026264-05-1 Colorant/Pigment/Dye(s) 999999-49-3 Thickening agent(s) (unspecified) 999999-50-7 As you can see, sodium hydroxide is present. Why does it not eat up for plastic utensils, destroy your fine china? Because it is buffered and controlled.

Kevin, its more a question of efficency. While you are pulling out and setting up a pump, I would have dipped a hose into a premixed tank of stripper and have that whole deck coated in under three minutes. It would be drenched with plenty of moisture and a diluted mix so furring would not be an issue. While you are stirring up your percarb mix, we are already washing which might take another 25 minutes including the trellis. While you are cleaning out your pump to start applying acid I am already applying it via downstream at the same rate of 2-3 minutes for a total coat. When you are once again cleaning the acid from your pump and start rolling it towards your rig, we are already on the road headed to the next job. That whole thing should be cleaned and balanced in less than an hour from roll up to drive away.

Its not about strength its about dilution. The same chemical (sodium hydroxide) in F-18 is in your toothpaste and dish liquid. Downstreaming dilutes at least 5:1 so what is coming out of the nozzle is marekdly reduced though, as with any chemical, you need to follow the precautions shane mentioned and keep everything wet down.