It was an emergency! Friday afternoon a Facilities Manager from a large retail chain called Dave Olmo, Owner of First Choice Commercial Janitorial Services in Sunrise, Florida. The store’s usual floor contractor had badly botched a strip job at the store the night before and a Regional VP was going to inspect his store on Monday morning. He knew of Dave by reputation and wanted First Choice Commercial Janitorial Services to come Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights to fix the floors by stripping all the wax off and recoating them.
Dave told him that the only night that he had open that weekend was Saturday and asked him how big the store was. When the manager told him that it was 80,000 sqft, Dave said, “no problem, I can do that in one night and quoted him a price.” The manager told him that stripping and waxing the entire store in one night was impossible and was about to hang up when Dave stopped him. “I’ll tell you what,” Dave said, “I will guarantee that the store will be stripped and waxed in one night. If it is not, I will get someone to come back on Sunday to finish it and you won’t have to pay me a penny – but if it is done in one night like I promised, I want a 15% bonus on the price that I quoted you.” The Manager happily agreed thinking that he was going to get 2 days worth of work for nothing. After all, the store would only be closed for 8 hours on Saturday night.
When Dave and his five-man crew showed up at closing time Saturday he immediately started two guys dust mopping and two to clearing the floor of obstructions. The last guy he had on an Aztec Liquidator, spreading strip solution at a rate of 30,000 sqft an hour. After giving the Liquidator a 15-minute head start, he started two of the guys on a pair of Aztec Sidewinder Stripping Machines and two on a pair of Aztec Guzzler sludge retrievers.
Four hours later the entire floor was stripped, neutralized and ready to wax. A couple coats of finish later, his crew was on their way home with time to spare. The store manager was so impressed, he happily offered to pay the bonus, but Dave declined. The VP loved the way his store looked and gave the Manager a good review. The Store Manager’s recommendations led to 12 more stores for First Choice Commercial Janitorial Services.
Dave tells it this way: “My first encounter with the Sidewinder was while working with a friend on a job in 1988. I was so blown away by the machine that I owned one within a week. That original Sidewinder that I bought in 1988 is still working! When you can do three nights worth of work in one night with fewer people you can make a lot more profit. One Sidewinder system strips four times faster than a 32” auto-scrubber. Our two goals at First Choice Commercial Janitorial Services are to do a great job and to get in and out as fast as possible. The Sidewinder System is what makes both of those goals achievable
More profit, good recommendations, faster job turnarounds, getting home earlier – these are what ultra-high-speed stripping is all about. After all, why spend three times as long to breakeven on stripping when you can make a profit by doing it quicker, and get new job opportunities in the process? Don’t believe it? Call Dave. Want a really big floor stripped in a single night? Call Dave. Want a piece of the action? Call Aztec: 800-331-1423 or visit www.aztecproducts.com.
