A reader writes: “You embarrassed me in front of my staff when you were critical of the way my floor tech is maintaining his wax mop heads. The implication was that we were not providing him with the best tools and failed to provide training. Your response?”

I apologize for your being embarrassed by my comments. You asked for my opinion and I gave it to you as kindly as I could. If he is an example of a floor tech you have much more serious concerns to deal with than my observations which I believe pointed out some serious weaknesses.

First of all, when I asked him to show me his “waxing” system he opened a bucket with a microfiber flat mop and a cotton/rayon mix regular mop sitting in a smelly liquid. Both were dirty, full of lint, trash, etc. When I asked him how he maintained them, he stated that he “used a little stripper” to rinse them and keep them soft.

Do you not understand that while you are pinching pennies on finish mops you are actually damaging the new finish you apply resulting in reduced shine and longevity? Do you not understand that this well-meaning “floor tech” has not been trained on pH, best practices, correct processes, maintenance basics and who knows what else? Meanwhile, your project manager is complaining about an unreasonable customer who “cannot be satisfied” when they are simply pointing out the obvious unacceptable results?

You need to bring in your vendor (if you have one) and certify all your floor techs on the points I mentioned above. You and your project manager obviously do not understand floor work and seem to be unwilling to learn. Your ignorance is embarrassing yourself due to poor outcomes.

Someone is going to bid on this contract and get it by default.

Your comments and feedback are always appreciated. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean…

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net.


posted on 4/11/2017