Even during the best of times, convincing a facility manager to purchase one of the most expensive items in your inventory is not an easy task. When the economy takes a nosedive, that same chore becomes even more difficult.

“It’s tough to buy an $8,000 autoscrubber when you don’t have enough money to buy toilet paper,” explains Fritz Gast, president of P.B. Gast & Sons in Grand Rapids, Mich. “There’s no question what’s going to win there.”

It is not impossible, however, to sell your pricey floor machines (even during a recession), according to the half dozen distributors SM interviewed for this story. It simply requires knowledge of the product, an understanding of customer needs, and a thorough presentation that addresses all concerns — particularly those related to money.

“Times are always tough,” says Nick Spallone, general manager of Lake Tahoe Supply in Carson City, Nev. “But if you can show them the labor dollars these pieces of equipment eliminate, then it becomes an easy sell.”

A Large Category
“Floor machine” is a general term describing any floor-cleaning equipment. Quite simply, “a floor machine replaces cleaning with a mop and bucket and enables a level of polishing that can’t be produced manually,” says Henry Levenstein, vice president of marketing at Supply King in Neptune City, N.J.

There are three types of floor machines: autosrubbers, burnishers, and strippers, and there are significant differences in design, purpose, and use of each.

• Autoscrubbers: An all-purpose machine used for daily cleaning of hard floor surfaces. The machine’s brushes or pads scrub floors and then its vacuum and squeegee suck the water and detergent up, leaving the floor dry. They can also strip, wax, buff, shampoo carpet, and sand or buff wood floors.

• Burnishers: Used exclusively for buffing hard floor surfaces. The high-speed motor rotates a pad against the floor, and the friction produces a glossy finish. Burnishing is typically done daily, after the hard floor surface has been cleaned by an autoscrubber.

• Stripping machine: Typically used once a year when the floor finish starts to show signs of wear. Typically powered by propane, the machine puts a high pH chemical on the floor to dissolve the finish. After the machine applies high brush pressure to remove the stripping chemical, the floor is re-coated with multiple coats of floor finish; this job is typically done by hand.

“Floor machines have been the same for decades,” says Levenstein. “Our industry prides itself on making distinctions without differences. The best ones are just simple, well-designed machines that run forever.”

Although floor machines have seen few significant changes, there are some improvements about which salespeople should be well versed. Understanding how these machines work and evolve is crucial when making a sales pitch.

Burnishers have not changed much since their creation. Manufacturers have improved upon the wheels featured on original designs and have beefed up the motors to provide more power. One promising development, however, is the gel cell battery. Many say their use will reduce maintenance and safety problems.

“You don’t have to constantly check to see that the battery is in proper working order, it just stays that way,” says Spallone.

Getting To Know You
Knowing the ins and outs of a product line isn’t enough to sell it, particularly when it is a high-end item like floor machines. It is equally — if not more — important to fully understand the customer’s needs.

To get a sense of a facility’s requirements, distributors must do a thorough survey of the customer’s operation to see firsthand the problems they have and how a floor machine can address those needs.

What types of surfaces do they clean? Which equipment do they use for each job? Are their tasks aggressive (sanding or shampooing) or not (cleaning and buffing)? How large are the areas they clean and do the surfaces get heavy use?

Also, distributors should determine the company’s size and whether the potential customer is replacing or upgrading existing equipment. Or, they could be entering the floor machine category for the first time. Larger companies that already have a machine will likely be an easier sale and require less research than a small company still using low-tech cleaning methods.

“With a small business, you may have to do a song and dance to convince him he needs a buffer,” says Ron Starr, president, Hy-Ko Supply in Salt Lake City. Customers with smaller budgets require more effort. If you go into a guy who’s been using a mop and bucket and has never considered a buffer, then he is usually skeptical that it can save him that much money,” Starr notes.

Driving It Home
The survey of needs is the first in a series of customer contacts necessary to make a sale of this size. “If you are trying to sell a piece of equipment into a business, you are talking a minimum of three sales calls,” says Starr.

The first visit is the survey. The next and most persuasive step is the presentation. This is the time for the product to shine through a demonstration and cost justification.

“Demos are the only way to sell equipment,” says Dave Potack, president of Accommodation Mollen in Philadelphia. “We have a large demo fleet. That allows us to allow a ‘trial’ period for select customers. We let them use the product in their facility just to prove our point.”

Showing a customer the machine works well isn’t usually enough, especially in uncertain financial times. The key element to any sale these days is the cost justification. Facility owners and managers want to know why this piece of equipment is worth the hefty price tag. Again, this is typically much more important to the mop-and-bucket guys than big companies already using floor machines.

“When people purchase a piece of equipment for cleaning, they get a tool that offers back-end savings because they will not have to clean as often,” says Spallone. They can also use the machines for multiple applications, which can trim costs.

So how do you put those vague notions of cost savings into concrete, measurable numbers? Armed with research collected during the facility survey, distributors have to prove to the customer that a floor machine is worth the investment. Luckily, there is help for this challenge.

“Many of our manufacturers have factual material and some offer programs to help show benefits,” says Carl Roussel, owner of Carefree Janitorial Supply in Bossier, La.

Ask manufacturers for a cost calculation chart (this can be either paper or an electronic spreadsheet on CD-ROM or online), which helps you figure out the hours saved for that particular piece of equipment. Once you know how many hours the machine saves, it is easy to figure out how that translates into financial savings, using a time calculator, available through the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA).

For example, if it takes two hours to manually clean a hallway and only one hour using a machine, then an employer who usually pays $10 an hour will save $5 each time the floor is cleaned. Add up those savings to show the customer how long it will take for him to make back his investment in labor cost savings (typically it takes just a few years).

“They are shocked,” says Spallone. “They can’t believe it costs that much to employ someone. If you tell someone that labor accounts for 80 to 90 percent of their budget, it just goes over their head. But when you show them, they start looking for ways to save money. Floor machines can cut labor dollars in half.”

And distributors can play up other savings, which are not as immediate or obvious as salary. There will be increased employee retention and morale thanks to a machine that makes the job easier. The ergonomically correct equipment will reduce disability and worker’s compensation costs. The product can also make workforce reductions possible, which lowers insurance, taxes, and other employment costs. Be careful when discussing the latter, warns one distributor.

“Customers are more receptive if we approach productivity in a certain way. They like hearing that their staff will have time freed up to do other work. They don't like hearing that they can cut staff,” says Levenstein.

Concrete evidence of financial benefits is not always enough to convince a customer to spend big bucks. In those cases, a lease might be a better option. Leasing allows the customer to pay monthly so they don’t need to pay in full up front. Because the lease payment is low, customers rarely ask for significant discounts when leasing.

“In tough times, capital budgets may be frozen or cut. One approach is to lease the equipment,” Levenstein explains. “Often the productivity saved will cover the monthly cost of the lease, especially when interest rates are low, as they are now.”

“Leasing is really important and has become more popular,” adds Spallone. “If you can show someone their payment is X and their labor savings is going to be more than that, then it becomes very simple.”

Finally, distributors must be sure they’re talking to the right person.

“A lot of times you have to sell the concept to someone above and beyond the manager of the cleaning department,” says Spallone. “You have to give that person the ammunition they need to convince the general manager or owner that they need the equipment.”

Becky Mollenkamp is a freelance writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. Email questions or comments.




POSTED ON: 7/1/2003