Education and training have been a big contributor to the growth of the wood floor trade over the last 40 years. The first training class I attended would have been in the late 70’s, and it was conducted by the National Oak Floor Manufacturers Association in Memphis, Tenn. The NWFA started getting traction in the late ’80’s, and before long they saw the value of offering training courses. The training expanded from equipment and materials to include best business practices, as well. A lot of manufacturers invested in mobile training and showcased their products and equipment around the country at distributors warehouses all over the country. I’ve also been able to get valuable information on equipment and products on company produced videos available on YouTube. Simply put, if you wanted to get into this trade, there was no shortage of opportunities to get all the training you need to get good results.
The direct relationship between a more thoroughly educated and trained wood floor tradesman and the rise in interest in our services and products wasn’t an anomaly. It didn’t happen by accident or coincidence—it happened because we were better trained and more knowledgeable about our business. This resulted in a more attractive and consistent product for those with wood floors. When you use your time wisely and learn, you earn. But the education shouldn’t end there.
When you turn the fruits of your labor over to the homeowner, it’s time you reflect on the fact that what you created will become the most used, and likely abused, surface in the house. I often think of it as getting a new car and giving the keys to someone who doesn’t know how to drive. You need to shift gears and go from the trainee to the trainer on how to protect and preserve your hard work. I want my clients coming to me for timely information—not YouTube or the internet. I take no prisoners when it comes to Internet influencers who start pedaling their snake oil solutions, and I routinely call them out in their comment section. I want them to know I will be their floor’s advocate on how to care, maintain and preserve a surface that experiences a lot, and I get aggressive about making sure they understand this. It may sound counterproductive, but it goes a long way towards gaining their trust.
Does your client have a cleaning kit and know how to use it? Do they know where to get supplies when they need them?
This is what goes with every one of our projects. It never ceases to amaze me how excited homeowners are when they see this on their counter.
The maintenance kits also look good on the porch waiting for the client to get home from work.
Do they know the risk of letting their cleaning service use a cheap “home brew” cleaner of vinegar and water? Does all their furniture have floor protection to avoid senseless damage? What about pets—how can they live on your work without wrecking it? Do they know how senseless and potentially damaging steam cleaning a floor can be?
I keep these photos from a Wood Floor Business article handy to show clients the kind of damage repeated steam cleaner use can do.Wood Floor Business
Do they know the hazards of using cosmetic products, as in acrylic waxes or polishes, to give temporary relief and long-term headaches?
Wood floor polishes create a moment where the floor looks good and then long-term headaches.
In the photo on the left, you can see an accumulation of acrylic waxes over a floor that was last refinished about 25 years ago. The acrylics are on the left and just look muddy, which is very common aging for acrylics. They sometimes look like old dijon mustard, too. In either case, they qualify for the butt-ugly award. On the right side of that photo, you see the oil-modified poly that was applied about 25 years ago that was underneath the layers of acrylics. It was intact and probably was showing only typical wear patterns when the owner’s tenants started with the acrylics. In the photo on the right, you see the room after we removed all the acrylics and made two applications of a waterborne finish. The homeowner was just gobsmacked at the change.
How about the trauma of seeing their handsome floors damaged from masking tape or compression damage from rolling pianos or heavy furniture on metal casters? Do they know the gouges from rolling refrigerators or dragging the dishwasher onto their wood floors will live much longer than the satisfaction of getting appliances repaired? This is where your knowledge of what wood floor experience and how to avoid problems can pay huge dividends.
My company, The Rosebud Company, is 53 years old, and I owe a lot of that longevity to making sure my clients are informed and educated about preserving and protecting their floors. When I send them an invoice, it comes with a plethora of simple information on best practices for keeping their floors looking good. I have a good website manager, and she makes sure I share a lot of that information with everyone. I use my website, newsletter and Facebook page to get the word out. This is a low-cost and productive way to get positive attention and build up my client base.
We all like to showcase our finished product, but it doesn’t hurt to show homeowners mistakes others have made and how to avoid them. One of my favorite photos shows how poorly acrylic polishes age compared to the 25-year-old finish they were applied on top of. I also have some shots of the damage from long-term use of steam cleaning on wood floors. And I have dozens of shots of how using vinegar and water accelerates the darkening of the wood. You really want to get out in front on this topic, because there’s no downside. Experience has taught me that as appreciative as our clients are for what we’ve done to their floors, they are extremely generous with compliments when we help them learn how to live with and care for their floors.
I’ve always enjoyed learning stuff and being curious. It has served me well and made life, and work, more enjoyable. Like many, I’ve taken courses, been to Expos for live demos, talked to manufacturers and other contractors and harvested manufacturer training videos and tried to put them to good use. However, if I’m being honest, it is my focus on the long-term care and preservation of my clients’ floors that keeps my name in the loop. By passing on information about preserving and protecting your work, you help complete the learning circle and ennoble a proud and deserving trade.
