HAMMERING INTO 2010: What’s in store for us?

Welcome to our First Edition of what promises to be a year of significant change particularly for ACCI members as we introduce a whole bunch of forward thinking concepts designed to keep you ahead of the times.

Follow our recommendations and put them into your business and you will be representative of the best businesses in the industry and above all, increase your bottom line!

SUSTAINABILITY, Environment, Green Clean, Eco Balance, etc……….

In 2008 I started using the ’s’ word……….. sustainability and you may also recall that this time last year I announced that our focus for 2009 would be about sustainability and how that could be integrated into our businesses.

Make no mistake the “GREEN” push is definitely on and is gathering momentum in leaps and bounds due to the government’s commitment to address the issue of environmental sustainability. The global warming issue won’t be going away anytime soon and our industry will be affected in many ways. The bottom line is just that. If you don’t stay pace with the changes in community concern towards environmental protection it will affect your bottom line particularly when dealing with government and semi government contracting. Historically this will flow on to the domestic market.

Green Policy document

We have already seen one of our members lose out on a very lucrative ($100K+) long term government contract simply because they couldn’t produce a ‘Green Policy’. A Green Policy document is now part of the criteria for that contract and is now a normal requirement for government departments and large corporations. The natural progression is that this is a document that will become increasingly in demand if not mandatory in all sectors of our industry . The shame of it all is that the company that lost the contract had a Green Policy all along but just didn’t realise it. The HECS document is in fact a Green Policy in it’s own right and could have simply been upgraded to suit.

But this is just one example of the changes we will have to stay pace with in order to run our businesses.

Carbon foot printing

You can already watch TV shows where a family’s carbon footprint is being measured in tons of carbon per person per annum according to how they use resources in their daily lives and conversely how they can reduce that carbon footprint by making simple changes. We will also see government demanding a benchmarking system of our individual carbon footprint when cleaning carpets. As an example you would be required to nominate how much water you use, how much waste water you create, how is it disposed, how much fuel you consume, how much exhaust gases are created by your T/M etc, etc …….got the picture? This will mean you will be required to calculate what overall impact your activities are having on the environment and if you can’t there will be people available to do it for you ….no doubt for a fee. The smaller environmental impact or footprint the more favored you will be in contract negotiations and quoting.

I can assure you that this concept is already in place with many facility and building managers nationally and will only increase as pressure on the environment increases.

Green Carpet Cleaning

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that our industry has to get its act together on the issue of the environmental impact of carpet cleaning. No matter how you look at it, relying solely on HWE is an environmental disaster.

So take a moment to consider this. The entire planet is talking about the environment and how to protect it and if you think that running a truck mount or portable alone is a smart move for the long term, then get ready for disappointment. There is absolutely no way you can make HWE carpet cleaning fit into a green model. It just doesn’t even come close to the environmental advantages of encapping. All that will happen is that your market share will gradually shrink because you have limited appeal to an ever increasing green conscious market .

The simple answer is that rather than resist change you should be looking for what the greenies are advocating…..eco balance. In carpet cleaning terms we need to be flexible enough to offer options to fit the circumstance and that means a Sustainable Carpet Cleaning system is a mandatory option in our tool chest. Sustainable carpet cleaning is simply a method of opening doors to contracts that will allude you unless you can tick the environmental boxes and the better encapper you become the more doors will open.

Yes folks the green scene is a gold mine for the bureaucrats and like it or not we will be the ones who will have to deal with it. But do it in a positive way because to ignore it will only cost us dearly. Sustainable carpet cleaning is a golden opportunity to be ahead of the opposition and increase your profits.

Our 2010 Program 

My entire workload in 2009 reflected the commitment to sustainable carpet cleaning  (do I have to say encapping?) by getting out on the road and demonstrating to as many members as possible how to get the best results from this system. Those efforts have had a dramatic effect and so far most of those techs ( yes there are some who just don’t get it ) are now producing results they previously never thought possible. In fact if you are a T/M owner and encap doubter here’s my challenge. I guarantee that I can go head to head with your T/M on any carpet and produce results that will blow you away and all at a fraction of the cost. I’ve done it more times than I can count in the last 5 years.

Why else would first class ACCI techs such as Craig Sweeny in Victoria with over twenty years in the industry make such dramatic changes to their businesses by selling their T/M’s. After my visit in December, 2009 Craig sold his 3 month old $56,000 power take off unit to focus on encapping. Why? Because 1) I proved to him and his clients the superior qualities of a sustainable carpet cleaning system and 2) His accountant saw the value in the cost effective value that encap offers. This is just one of many examples of what is really happening out there, consequently I will continue in field visits into 2010 so if you haven’t had a visit yet I hope to see you soon. All I ask is for you to put your “bigger is better” T/M brain on hold and switch your business brain on and watch. I’ll do the rest.

Courses

We will be offering our usual courses for 2010. Just check out our website for dates or call the office. However I can see that Sustainable Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning holds the key to future success for ACCI members. With that in mind I will be focusing on certifying ACCI members in Sustainable Carpet Cleaning in 2010. A certified tech will have a unique environmental qualification to promote which will among other things include a company specific Green Policy document as well as guidelines on how to bring your business into line with current environmental best practice as outlined in AS/NZS ISO14001.

Awards

In line with the shift in community awareness of being environmentally responsible, ”Green” companies are reporting extraordinary marketing  benefits. In fact a recent marketing report stated that 78% of those surveyed would prefer to do business with a “Green” company even if it meant paying more for the service. Well I can confidently predict (my predictions have been reliably accurate…..remember I said two years ago “what recession!”) that if you don’t go green you won’t be seen.

Consequently we’ll be creating a GREEN CLEAN Award for Excellence for ACCI members that will be an awesome additional marketing tool in the current climate….pardon the pun.

Convention 

Due to the amazing response to the 2009 ACCI Convention we have relented to the pressure from those who attended to run a 2010 Convention. Details will announced shortly but expect to start booking your airfares to Sydney for the last week in August if you want to be part of this years action.

Internet Marketing/ ACCI Website

In response to our 2009 Convention and the presentation given by Jason West from Websalad we have a new website. http://www.accii.com.au Don’t worry you will receive your Username and Password to access the Members Section next week.

The new website is not just designed to be a marketing tool for ACCI but will also be an example of what you can do to drive more traffic to your own website. All the talk about websites is that if you don’t have one that is SEO’d (optimised) then you are missing out on most of your potential. We want to put that to the test. Our website will be an example of what you can do to keep pace with the claims made by the IT experts and we will report the benefits that we may or may not experience by taking that advice.

I’m a shocker when it comes to computers, so let’s see if I can navigate my way through the website thing and bring some clarity to the value of having an up to date whiz bang website with all the bells and whistles. Currently ACCI website is not much different in content but now that it has been rewritten with the background language that the search engines prefer you will see it change radically each month as we add more and more content. Expect to see video and voiceover and social networking links and a whole heap of info. including webinars!! Should be very exciting….I think.

That’s it in a nutshell so where to from here?  Technology seems to be changing the world so fast that it’s difficult to keep up. Note to self …………JUST DO IT ! 

Leo Powell|ACCI

just do it….