Can’t Live Without ‘Em

Season after season, sales of floor pads and brushes remain consistent for distributors, no matter what the economy throws their way.

Still, one challenge for facility managers facing a floundering U.S. economy is making tight budgets stretch further, so sticking to the basics is always wise. Floor maintenance is one of those basic concerns.
Keeping hard surface floors clean, safe and attractive is big business. It requires knowledge, floor machines and the accessories to complement them — such as floor pads and brushes. Pads and brushes are necessary items for any floor care program, and whatever the hard surface floor type, there are pads and brushes designed to maintain them.

A key to consistent sales of these items is understanding the customer’s needs and matching the right products with the floor type.

Recommendations?
If a distributor doesn’t know which floor pad or brush to recommend, there is pad and brush specification training available through manufacturers. Most distributors have in-house training available as well.

“Customers bring their problems to us, and expect a solution,” says Steve Watson of Tower Industries, Tacoma, Wash. “Most customers need training in brushes and pads and what to use on their floor.”

The downturn in the economy has resulted in fewer big-ticket sales, such as floor machines, Watson continues.

“The economy has been hit hard in this area,” he says. “Everyone from contract cleaners to institutional facilities managers has received the word to tighten budgets and make what they have last.

“Consequently, customers are keeping their floor machines longer and as these machines age, they need more frequent repairs and maintenance. Our repair department has seen a substantial increase in volume as the economy has slowed. We have also noticed a marked increase in demand for used equipment, which we also sell.”

Despite changes on the equipment end, Watson says the sales of floor pads and brushes have remained steady throughout the economy’s ups and downs. The only difference: customers are trying to get more out of their pads by buying those that they find more durable.

“If a customer buys a pad that doesn’t perform well or last as long as he hopes, then he is less likely to buy that product again,” says Watson. “That is why it is important to match the customer with the best pad for his or her particular situation.

“For example, selling a customer an aggressive hog’s hair burnishing pad without asking what type of floor finish it will be used on can lead to disappointing results. If the finish is a soft one, then a softer polishing pad is more suitable, such as a white or beige-colored pad.”

Watson says his store occasionally has sales on pads as a commodity, but adds that, as a general rule, the aim is to sell pads as part of a floor care system.

Brush Up
Sales of rotary brushes for machines such as automatic scrubbers have increased in recent years, Watson says.

“We like to have a good stock of different brushes, and then inform the customers about the benefits of using brushes versus pads in some scrubbing applications.”

Softer brushes are available for such tasks as light scrubbing, like that done on a daily basis with an auto-scrubber, and for use on uneven floors. More aggressive brushes with silicon carbide impregnated bristles can be used for stripping procedures.

Many customers find advantages in using brushes over pads, since the pad driver doesn’t have to be removed as often as when pads are used, Watson says. Using brushes allows the customer to stock and clean fewer pads since brushes typically outlast a pad many times over. This helps the end user recoup the higher cost of a brush.

“Brushes are more expensive, so we don’t sell as many brushes as we do pads,” says Watson. “But we do make more profit on brushes.”

As yet, there has not been any notable success in developing brushes that can be used in high-speed applications, such as on ultra-high speed burnishers. Most brushes in use today are used for scrubbing procedures.

There are still some customers who prefer pads for scrubbing procedures, says Watson, since the surface area of the pad has better total contact with the floor and can scour off soil and finish buildup.

Using a quality floor pad to maintain hard floors can greatly increase productivity. According to a leading pad manufacturer, a facility can realize 30 to 60 percent savings in labor and product costs when stripping an area of 60,000 square feet, using a premium quality pad rather than a standard one.

It has been estimated that floor pads represent less than 1 percent of the total cost of hard floor care. So using premium floor pads is an effective way to reduce floor maintenance costs.

“People do seem to stay with the same pads if they work for them — especially burnishing pads,” says Julie Kurkendall, president of Verax Chemical Supply, Bothell, Wash.

“Our floor pad sales have been fairly steady, although we do sell more pads than brushes. We also sell accessories, such as pad drivers and clutch plates.”

Kurkendall said that sales of floor machines have slowed during the past several months, but floor machine accessories continue to do well.

Don’t Give Up
Being a problem solver is the key to continued growth in good years or lean, according to Chris Pophar and Scott Schrend, sales representatives for Burke Supply Systems, Brooklyn, N.Y.

“We ask questions and go on-site to look at the machines and products being used,” says Popher. “This helps us find a solution to reduce labor and chemicals. Many times facilities managers give up on trying to improve their floor care program. We try to give them new ideas and find a solution.”

Schrend tells of a facilities manager with a large building in New York City who had reached his wits’ end in trying to keep up the appearance of a large terrazzo floor.

“Due to the high volume of foot traffic, they were having to frequently strip and recoat the floor,” he says. “All this stripping was time consuming and costly in terms of chemical and labor costs.”

“We suggested he dry scrub the floor,” says Popher.
This procedure involves scrubbing the floor by applying a small amount of scrubbing solution on a section of the floor. The floor is then scrubbed with a 1,500-rpm burnishing machine, with a unique scrubbing pad designed for this purpose. After the scrubbing procedure is complete, the floor is then recoated with finish.

“The customer was very pleased with the results, and has realized big savings in his floor maintenance budget,” says Popher. “New customers don’t tell us what they want as far a supplies are concerned. They tell us what they need. We try to provide innovative solutions to solve their problems.”

“This is how we often gain a new account. We find the weakness and come up with a solution,” Popher says.

Mix It Up
Schrend doesn’t always recommend staying within the same product line for floor maintenance products and accessories.

“We mix and match floor finish and pads, and find we can get better results,” he explains. Matching the right product to the floor type is essential, Schrend stresses. For instance, for floors with an uneven surface, such as slip-resistant flooring in grocery store aisles, ceramic tile, and aggregate concrete, a brush with nylo-grit fibers works best, according to Popher.

“We learn to match the right product with the problem and floor through training and experience,” says Popher. “We also go on site to the manufacturers’ headquarters to learn about their products, and which floor pads or brushes to recommend.

Perhaps nowhere else are floor care supplies more in demand than in Las Vegas. With hundreds of casinos, schools and warehouses, Las Vegas represents a large floor care market for sanitary supply distributors.

“A large percentage of our sales have to do with floor maintenance, both hard surface and carpet,” says Paul Patterson, service center manager for Waxie Sanitary Supply, Las Vegas.

But even in Las Vegas, the strain has been felt from the slow economy. According to Patterson, casinos and other businesses, which were suffering from the effects of the dramatic drop in tourists after the September 11 attack, froze floor maintenance budgets.

Still, Patterson says sales have remained steady for pads and brushes, but overall sales have been picking up since last spring.

“We sell a lot of pad drivers and clutch plates for swing-type floor machines. We have also been seeing an increase in use of brushes on automatic scrubbers,” he says.

“VCT, marble and terrazzo are the most common floor types we deal with in floor care supplies,” says Patterson. “And we also sell a lot of brushes and coatings for concrete floors, such as in warehouses, and service bays of car dealerships. We still sell a good volume of black stripping pads for VCT.”

Patterson says education promotes long-term relationships.

“After we sell a machine, we teach the customer on site about which pads and brushes to use,” says Patterson. “We have a training room at our store for floor care seminars and other cleaning-related classes.”

“You have to create value for what you do, and seminars for the end user and in-house training helps us accomplish that goal,” Barton adds.
Advertising through direct mail is another tool that can be used successfully, according to Bryan Barton, general manager at Massco Maintenance and Supply Inc., Wichita, Kansas.

“We do send out fliers to highlight sales on generic pads and brushes,” says Barton. “We want to direct them toward what lines we carry. At the same time, we realize that price drives the market. You have to let the customer know what you have, and go out and sell it.”

Barton said the slower economy has affected his area too. “We don’t seem to be losing accounts, but we are seeing less sold to each one,” he says.

Contrary to other areas of the country, Barton says that sales of bigger ticket items such as floor machines have actually held steady or increased in recent months.

“The effort to save on labor costs have continued to drive our floor machine sales, especially with larger labor saving equipment.”

Barton also sees the value in education for their sales reps when it comes to sanitary supply products, including pads and brushes.

“We have weekly sales meetings, and have role-playing scenarios in which sales personnel have the opportunity to put themselves in the customer’s place, so to speak,” says Barton.

“This gives us a larger perspective of the needs of the customer, and has helped us keep a stable sales force,” he says.