“Home Improvement” was a popular show in the 1990s. Now in reruns, it stars Tim Allen as a repairman — a comic Bob Vila of sorts — who hosted his own talk show, “Tool Time,” on how to repair items. Invariably when solving problems around the house or during his show, he would state that he needed more power, and he would usually apply that power with disastrous results. More power, when applied in an incorrect manner, can have a catastrophic impact on the task at hand. However, when applied correctly, power can really contribute greatly to the effort, making tasks easier or more efficient, and can result in dramatically increased productivity. Powered equipment can play an important and critical role in the effective and efficient cleaning of facilities. Powered auto scrubbers and riding auto scrubbers can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line, sales, and the bottom line of end users if applied in an appropriate manner.

Right now the end-user market is eager to purchase any form of equipment that will increase productivity and keep costs down. “With enrollment at an all-time high and building repair needs escalating, education-construction spending rocketed to new heights in 2000,” according to the 27th Annual “Official Education Construction Report” in American School & University (AS&U). A record $21.5 billion dollars was spent on construction of facilities for grades kindergarten through 12. In higher education, “Colleges and universities also capitalized on an environment that was conducive to construction. They spent more than $14.7 billion on new facilities, additions and modernization of existing buildings.” Thus more and more new buildings are springing up that require equipment and supplies to maintain.

Even though there is growth in construction budgets and more and bigger facilities, the maintenance budgets of facilities operations are not keeping pace with the construction budgets. Thus managers of cleaning facilities are being asked to do more (clean more buildings) with diminishing maintenance dollars (which includes salaries and supplies). The most expensive element of a manager’s cleaning budget is personnel (upwards of 80 to 90 percent), thus any piece of equipment that can enhance productivity will mean that the manager will be able to clean more with less.

The distributor that understands the need for increased productivity in a facility’s operation will reap rich rewards through increased sales, and increasingly those sales will be for powered equipment such as auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers. An industry study published in 2000 indicated that 30.8 percent of the respondents planned to purchase automatic floor scrubbers, and on average, are willing to spend $13,600 on powered cleaning equipment. The same survey showed that more than 57 percent of the respondents planned on purchasing automatic floor scrubbers, up more than 27 percent from the previous year. The end users have a need for powered equipment and are willing to spend significant amounts of money to purchase such equipment because they realize that their success or failure depends on their ability to control costs by increasing productivity.

In Demand
According to Mike Jacobs, a sales consultant for Kalamazoo Sanitary Supply (KSS), Kalamazoo, Mich., the demand for powered equipment such as auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers is increasing. Jacobs, an experienced sales consultant of many years noted that end users are not looking for minor items such as better spray bottles or a better squeegee. Today they are looking for equipment that will make their operation more effective and cost efficient. He has seen a rise in the sales of powered equipment, especially powered auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers. Indeed, Jacobs went on to state that end users today expect salespeople that visit their facilities to be consultants and problem solvers. If the distributor provides those services (consulting and problem solving), the services become a natural segue for increased sales. There is a need for increased power because the result of the application of that power is increased productivity and decreased operational costs.

The economy in 2001 may not be as resilient as it was in 2000 and that directly impacts end users’ needs and goals. The first budgets to be squeezed in facilities operations when times are tight are custodial and maintenance expenses. When that occurs, cleaning managers may have to defer increasing staff or hiring replacement staff, a practice better known as a “hiring freeze.” When that happens, the remaining pool of employees must do more and become more productive. And with the current fragile economy, it is highly probable that end users will buy more powered equipment to assist the limited remaining people to expand their work effort. With more buildings being built, and fewer maintenance dollars to maintain the facilities, more powered equipment is essential. AS&U (April 2001) states in its maintenance and operating cost study that, “Not only is this the fourth consecutive year that schools have allocated a smaller percentage of expenditures to M&O of their facilities, but also the figure is the lowest in three decades.” The role of powered equipment is essential — even in a tight economic environment — in providing custodial workers the power to get the job done in the most efficient way. One survey conducted in 2001 indicates that there is a strong desire to purchase powered cleaning equipment by schools, universities, medical facilities, office buildings, government facilities and other facilities.

End users believe in the power of auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers and the efficiencies that these bring to cleaning operations. George Weise, writing in Maintenance Solutions magazine (May 2001), says: “The main use of scrubbers — the workhorses of the housekeeping profession — is cleaning and stripping of floors, but the machines are so versatile that they also clean carpet, wood and marble floors. Most facilities have at least one scrubber, which tends to last for years, since it is one of the best-built pieces of machinery in the cleaning industry. Most models can stand years of abuse with little maintenance.” In the 20-plus years that the author of this article has been in the facilities field, power and automation have continued to play an increasing role in floor maintenance, with electrical units, battery-powered units and propane-powered units. Robot technology has been applied to many of these machines and it is not uncommon to see an auto scrubber cleaning floors all by itself and unattended! Thus there will continue to be an increasing demand for powered equipment and for replacement units and parts on a routine basis. The proactive distributor that develops a plan to address the sale of initial units, spare parts, service and replacement units will reap rich dividends.

End users are looking for equipment to make their operations more productive and effective while controlling or decreasing operational costs. More power, and the application of the right piece of equipment to the tasks at hand is essential to the survival of most cleaning operations. However, facilities managers and cleaning managers may have limited time to analyze the cleaning problems and needs. Hence, the distributor that acts in the role of a sales consultant is essential. The cleaning manager has a need for increased productivity, the distributor that shows how that improvement can be achieved will sell products. However, the end user wants and needs the distributor to demonstrate to him or her how the piece of equipment will help the manager increase productivity while controlling costs, and to show him or her the return on investment (ROI) for the piece of equipment to be purchased. Mike Jacobs listens to end users to determine their needs and puts a lot of effort into finding powered equipment solutions to cleaning problems. Jacobs often uses a laptop computer with a special software program that reveals the benefits of one piece of equipment over another, and that demonstrates the cost savings to be realized by purchasing a specific auto scrubber or riding scrubber. Jacobs identifies the need of the end users and then matches solutions to fill those needs. The solution becomes the resolution of the problem for the cleaning manager and when that occurs, sales are the result.

Product Perks
What are end users looking for in an auto scrubber or riding scrubber? As George Weise stated, these machines are workhorses and most facilities have one. So what are some common characteristics for this category of machinery, whether it is electric powered, battery powered or gas powered?

Ease of operation: Many aspects of our daily life have become so “high tech” that they are no longer simple. The cleaning manager needs a machine that works, that does what it claims to do, and that is simple to operate. Fewer knobs and controls are preferred over a complicated operations panel.

Ease of maintenance: Auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers are quite large and complex. That being said, it should be easy for the operator to empty the machine and to provide routine service such as cleaning filters, changing brushes or pads, or charging batteries. For repair personnel, motors and pumps should be easily accessible.

Follow-up support and service: On-going maintenance may be required that cannot be provided by in-house personnel. Thus the distributor must have an effective maintenance and service division with readily available parts. Most end users want these machines repaired fast since they probably have no backup; on-site repair at the user’s facility will facilitate turnaround of the equipment. End users don’t like having their equipment go offsite for repair. The salesperson that periodically follows up on sales of equipment to determine how it is working and what needs to be done to provide appropriate service will endear himself or herself to the end user. The end user will know by these actions that the distributor is around after the sale, and subsequently will be more likely to purchase items from that distributor in the future.

Matching the right piece of equipment to the task at hand: Not all auto scrubbers are the same, they have different widths of cleaning paths, various sizes of solution/recovery tanks, and various power systems. The end user needs the right piece of equipment that is easy to operate and that will maximize performance. The distributor can meet those needs by conducting an equipment needs assessment that takes into consideration the size of the facility, the nature of the flooring, the density of the facility (i.e. are areas to be cleaned obstructed by furnishings or wide open spaces?), how often the machine will have to run, etc. The more closely that the distributor matches the equipment to the needs of the end user, the greater the probability of a sale and satisfaction after the sale.

However, end users are not only looking for solutions to problems and pieces of equipment with certain features, they are also looking for a long-term relationship that includes an effective preventive maintenance program, availability of parts, follow-up service after the sale and supportive training. Powered equipment is highly effective, when applied in the right manner and maintained in the right manner. Thus the sales consultant that sold the piece of equipment now needs to become a training consultant, and demonstrate how to use and maintain the equipment. Safety is a paramount concern and salespeople making presentations on how to use this type of equipment must ensure that safety factors are highlighted such as lock-out, tag-out procedures (so machine will not operate while being repaired), battery charging and cleaning techniques, and the appropriate use and storage of propane. All operators of the machine should be trained in all aspects of the machine and such training should be clearly documented. Remember: if the training is not documented, it never happened.

The auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers of today are more effective and efficient than ever before. They work well and produce results that can enhance the bottom line of end users (by saving dollars on labor) and distributors (through increased sales). However, it is essential that the distributor go the extra mile in marketing these pieces of equipment, by providing sales consulting that matches end-user needs with the product lines that the distributor represents. The distributor that matches the end user’s needs by providing the right piece of equipment with quality service and training will realize increased sales of auto scrubbers and riding scrubbers by bringing more power to the end user’s bottom line as well as to his or her bottom line.

Alan S. Bigger is the director of Building Services for the University of Notre Dame, and Linda B. Bigger is a freelance editor.




POSTED ON: 7/1/2001