Your Editor’s Variable Role… And the Importance of Follow Through

July 9th, 2009

Hi, Everybody-
I wanted to alert you that I’m checking into whether there’s any type of opportunity to buy a new sweeper under the U.S. government’s recently announced ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program. Jim Barnes, regional representative for GMC, has the ball on this one and is looking into it.

I’m also setting up an interview with the manufacturers of an interesting vacuum sweeper based in Sweden. There’s a language barrier, but my guess is we’ll find a way around it.

These are just two examples of what I do behind the scenes to bring you sweeping-related information that you’ll A) be able to use and, B) find interesting.

I want to finish this blog by relating a recent experience. On a Monday I contacted my local Toyota dealership, asking a question of their sales manager that he couldn’t answer. He said he’d have to discuss it with the owner, who wouldn’t be in until Wednesday.

So, he said he would call me sometime on Wednesday with the “yes” or “no” answer to my question. I gave him my card to make it easy for the follow-through to take place. That’s been three weeks ago yesterday and still no call-back.

I’ve found myself relating this story to several of my friends, and have used it during a couple of calls with contractors who sought my advice about combating the recession’s effects in their area.

Today, since I’m also using it in my blog, I called and left a message on the Toyota dealership owners voicemail. I politely alerted her that this is probably not the economic climate in which to have employees not following through on commitments.

When there are more people scrambling for fewer dollars, you need to make sure your personnel follow through with each and every aspect of your business. I suggest you make this subject the topic of one of your employee meetings.

Otherwise, it might not just affect who does business with you. You might find yourself being used as a negative example of how to run a business in someone’s national/international blog.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in APWA 2005 | No Comments »

The Shifting Sands of Business Reality

June 2nd, 2009

Hi, Everybody-
I’m having enough difficulty with keeping this blog up that I’m thinking of dropping it. Let me know if you have an opinion one way or the other. I thought the day after GM filed for bankruptcy was an appropriate time to have something to say, though.

You may not know where the term ‘bankruptcy’ comes from. It’s from Roman times, when there were many artisans making goldwork, silver, copper, etc. In those days if someone couldn’t pay their debt, all members of a debtor family and their servants were forced into servitude to pay off the debt. As a crowning embarrassment, the artisan’s workbench was broken in half–or ‘bankrupted,–to signify he could no longer work his trade.

Today, in America, it’s a way for a business to get a new start. As GM filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection yesterday, it served to remind that no matter how big (or how small) we are, if we forget that the real purpose of a business is to stay competitive and keep providing a product or service valued by the marketplace of customers. Unless it continues to get and keep customers, a business begins to slide down that slippery slope to disaster.

Among the myriad of issues leading to GM’s demise, one standout situation they ran into was lack of customer trust. Their valued customers no longer believed in GM’s ability to produce a quality product for the price. And, once lost, trust is ever-so-difficult (if not possible) to regain.

I encourage all of you reading this to make an extra effort in these trying business times to become even closer to your customers and treat them like the job security they actually are. In closing, here’s a quote from Sam Geist, NPE TYMCO-Featured Speaker year before last:

LESSON LEARNED:
“Stay close to your customers–know who they are, what they want and why they want it–and then give it to them.”
-Sam Geist

It’s good advice in any time period.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information, Street Sweeping, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Sportsmans Warehouse Files Chapter 11… And More

April 13th, 2009

Hi, Everybody-
A fist bump to Richard Minns, of Complete Sweep Inc., for letting us know that the Sportsmans Warehouse has stopped paying contractors and have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. We’ve added this to our listing of bankruptcies around the country. If you have ones to add, be sure to let us know.

Although the sweeping industry doesn’t appear to be as hard hit as most industries, there are still repercussions in the new sweeper sales area. I think most manufacturers would confirm their sales are down from last year at this time. Still, because sweepers are such heavy wear items, the spigot hasn’t turned off entirely.

Mark Boyer, editor of SweeperMarket, reports that he’s getting lots of calls to be added to the magazine’s mailing list. SweeperMarket offers the largest listing of used sweepers in the industry, and Boyer says there is more interest than ever before in what sweeping equipment is available in the used marketplace.

If you are foraying into the used sweeper market for the first time, be sure you know how to evaluate the machine prior to purchase. If you are considering the purchase of a used sweeper, I suggest you check out our great article on the topic of how to evaluate a used sweeper.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information, Parking Area Sweeping, Street Sweeping | No Comments »

NPE on the Near Horizon

February 9th, 2009

Hi, Everybody-
I’m writing from Los Barriles, on Mexico’s Baja, where I’ve been visiting my sister for the past week. It’s been great to get out of the snowy Pacific NW for a bit of sunshine before the upcoming Charlotte NPE show.

It will be interesting to see what the attendance is at this year’s show, given the state of the economy. It seems that the swings of business have become more intense than ever before. Take, for example, the seminar topic I’m presenting on, Ways to Save on Your Fuel Usage. When first proposed for me to do, this was a topic of huge interest. However, in the intervening 6 months the price of fuel has dropped considerably.

Still, the seminar will provide an abundant amount of info for saving fuel, much of which also provides ways to achieve more efficiency and make you think about what type of sweeper(s) to use for a given task and customer. Better yet, for those of you who are NAPSA members there is no charge to attend the seminar.

Although I am on vacation, I did check in on the Departmente de Municipale in La Paz the other day when we journeyed up that way. Unfortunately, there was no one that knew enough English for me to get an interview with them. Using my high school Spanish, I couldn’t even get to a high enough manager to get authorization to come into the yard and take pictures of the couple of sweepers they had there.


Johnston sweeper in La Paz

So, all you get is one shot over the wall at their Johnston machine in the yard; however, you didn’t miss much by not seeing the other one, a broken-down Mobil that made up the rest of the parked fleet.

On another day we headed south toward Cabo and, while passing the town of Santa Ana, I noticed a cloud of dust down a side road that could only mean a broom sweeper being run without good dust suppression. I jumped out and took a quick video of that Pelican hard at work, which you will see below.



Well, it’s the first day of the rest of my vacation, so I’m going to go find some mango juice or a fresh coconut or some such. Later in the day, the plan is to go snorkeling in some rocks at the nearby beach. Since I can count the number of total ‘fun in the sun’ vacations I’ve had on the fingers of my two hands, it’s easy to feel justified in taking a little time off so I can come back to ‘reality’ in a few days rested and rarin’ to go.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information, NPE, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Elgin Sweeper Test; NPE is on the Horizon

January 25th, 2009

Hi, Everybody-
For the first time ever that I’m aware of, we have an independent, NOT government-mandated, sweeper pickup efficiency test in our industry. Kudos to the Elgin organization for financing that effort.

There can be no doubt the other street sweeper manufacturers will need to see this as a gauntlet thrown down by Elgin. With the publicity Elgin is bound to give this test — especially since their sweepers attained pickup efficiencies in the 90% range — how can the other manufacturers not proceed with testing on their own? Hopefully, this will be the beginning of A) sweepers being marketed with data, rather than just glossy brochures, and B) the beginning of the era of sweeping taking a more center-stage position in the fight against storm water runoff pollution.

At the upcoming NPE show in Charlotte, North Carolina, I will be giving a seminar on ways to save fuel expense when sweeping. Don’t think of this as just a “single-engine vs. dual-engine” analysis. I’m excited about bringing a wide range of information to the topic.

The seminar is free to NAPSA members who, by the way, are now under the auspices of a brand new management organization, Association Headquarters, Inc. I know I’m not the only person watching how this change will play out in winning the hearts and minds of America’s sweeping contractor community. We wish them the best.

Our quarterly newsletter is, as they say, “in the can,” and is queued to go out to our 4,000+ subscribers on Tuesday. If you want to read it ahead of the curve, as a bonus for keeping up with my blog, here is where you can already read it online.

I am headed off for a much-needed couple of weeks in Mexico, where I’ll be visiting my sister and brother-in-law at their home on the Baja. Although I’ll be checking my email, I’m hoping to give my eyes a break from the computer. My trusty assistant, Regina, will be at the controls here in the States.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information, NPE, Street Sweeping | 7 Comments »

Are You or Your Employees in ‘Depression Mode?’

November 18th, 2008

Hi, Everybody-
I believe this allegorical message is one to take heed of in these times. If you read through the brief story and cannot find how it fits into your own life and business, then good for you! If the opposite is true, give some hard thought to the lesson it provides. Although anonymous in origin, I got it courtesy of Sam Geist, former TYMCO-sponsored speaker at NPE and all-around sensible guy.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger
************************************************
A MARKETPLACE LESSON

There was this elderly man who had a profitable little business selling hot dogs on a busy street corner in a major city. He wasn’t particularly well educated, but he sold great hot dogs and his customers loved him.

During the early morning rush hour, he’d wheel his mobile hot dog stand to position it near the exit of the central railway station in town. A year ago he’d added a bacon and egg roll to his range and sold scores of them to this breakfast crowd every day. At lunchtime, he’d move his stand to a popular park where he had lines of regulars.

In the afternoon he’d be back at the station entrance and then later most nights he knew a great spot near a nightclub where young patrons rushed him off his feet. He had even installed special lighting and a flashing neon sign. Even people driving by would stop.

He’d worked hard for years and done well enough to put his only son through university who later became an accountant with a large accounting firm.

One day his son warned him that a recession was on the way. The old man asked his son what this meant. Being an educated man his son gave a very detailed explanation of how the recession would severely impact everyone in the community, particularly small business people like his father. There would be enormous unemployment; people would not be able to afford to spend money as they did now. He painted a gloomy picture of the future and warned his father that it would be wise to cut back on his expenses and “tighten his belt” financially and prepare for the worst. The old man didn’t know much about the economy or interest rates, but he trusted his son. After all, he was an educated man. Recession mentality kicked in…

The old man began to cut back on the quantity of sausages and bread rolls he bought. He didn’t want to get caught with stale rolls as business began to drop off. But it was hard to judge and some days he actually ran out of sausages and rolls earlier than he normally would. So he went home early and spent more time worrying about this recession that was coming.
Soon he knew that what his son had said was right.

He noticed that his takings were indeed falling. This depressed him more and so he tended to get out of bed later each day. After all, why get to the station so early when obviously more people would be eating at home rather than spending money on breakfast in the city. He decided that his bacon and egg rolls were too expensive for most people now. After all, they were twice the price of a hot dog, so he cut them from his menu and his sales continued to plummet.

Wow, his son was right, this recession was hitting hard!

He decided to save more money and not replace the batteries that powered his neon sign and lights at night. Now because he was in the dark, fewer people bought from him and soon he decided that it wasn’t even worth his time setting up at night. Eventually he decided to sell off his equipment and his trolley. He was in luck though because the young woman who bought his trolley didn’t seem to know how bad business was, or how severe the recession was going to be. He managed to unload the trolley for more than he thought he would get. Now day after day he stayed at home, depressed, and occasionally his son would visit him and they would discuss how bad the recession was, and how lucky the old man had been to have an educated son who had warned him in advance about this terrible recession.

Lesson Learned:

Recession mentality starts in one’s own head. If you believe that a recession is coming and that times will soon be tough, then they will be for you. Like the old man in the story, you’ll start to change your successful behavior patterns and replace them with less resourceful habits. You’ll sleep in later. You’ll take longer lunch breaks, make less phone calls and go home earlier.

P.S. Aren’t you glad you don’t have a successful accountant son?
–Sam Geist

From “Quick Bites,” by Sam Geist. (800) 567-1861 http://www.samgeist.com

Posted in General Information, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

We Get Inquiries…

November 11th, 2008

Hi, Everybody-
Today I thought I’d share with you — and perhaps begin a habit of sharing with you — some of the questions I get as editor of WorldSweeper.com. Most of these come from those in sweeping in the U.S., but a significant number are from people outside the world of power sweeping, or from other countries.

Today, I’ll offer you the comment/inquiry I received from a gentleman named David Borr, who wrote:
“I am a huge powersweeper fan. Have I ever drove one? No I wish. Has anyone ever made a leaf pushing basket to mount on the front of a sweeper?”

Here’s what I wrote him back:
“David-
“Most people don’t even realize sweepers are out there doing their job. They just think debris magically disappears, especially from the malls where sweepers operate most every night of the week.

“A leaf-pushing basket wouldn’t really be helpful, since you have to actually remove the leaves, as well. The problem is getting a sweeper that will pick up the normal, bigger/heavier items and then, when leaf season comes, be able to effectively pick the leaves up.

“A few years ago I did an article about leaf pickup. For it, I interviewed a number of city sweeping reps about what they did for sweeping up leaves. Half said it was their biggest headache, but they did the best they could. Surprising to me, the other half said leaf season marked the end of their sweeping year, and that they did not sweep them.

“Since leaves are so prone to clogging storm drains, and create slippery conditions for pedestrians and cars alike, I can’t fathom or condone why a city wouldn’t emphasize their removal. It may be that today, with more emphasis on stormwater runoff and mandates by the EPA, those same cities may now be involved in leaf removal. Thanks for your interest in power sweeping!”
***************************

Where I am in Washington State, we’ve recently had lots of rain (no big surprise…) somewhat early in the season since it hasn’t frosted yet. The result has been clogged storm drains throughout the region. City officials all over the area have put out urgent requests to their citizens to keep the drains by their houses free of leaves.

This just underscores the importance for each entity in charge of sweeping streets in an area having a plan for how to deal with this type of situation. A little preventive sweeping — or creative changing of sweeping routes — can make a big difference in traffic safety this time of year.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

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Posted in General Information, Street Sweeping | 6 Comments »

There’s So Much To Learn!

October 9th, 2008

Hi, Everybody-
About this time of each quarter I invest an inordinate amount of time in getting new articles and info for you. The timing is so the new material can also go into the upcoming newsletter mailout. (To receive it, be sure you’ve signed our Guestbook!)

I just finished working on adapting two articles by George Hedley, so they dovetail into the sweeping industry instead of to the more general general contractor audience he initially wrote them for. You may recall that George is president of HARDHAT Presentations, and was widely praised for the seminar he put on at NPE a year or so ago.

I’ve also been in touch with a number of other industry and industry-related pros, doing both audio and transcribed interviews in preparation for producing articles on their particular specialties. Each time I do this I find myself astounded by the amount of great information there is on building better structured, more professional organizations.

From overall cost accounting to dealing with the employees lowest in the food chain, there are myriad ways to be, simply put, better. I know that many of you must pick and choose between the material we publish, choosing those that best speak to your needs. What I was struck with today is my good fortune in getting to learn it all!

Take it from me: There’s enormous value in using the story resources provided at WorldSweeper.com in order to better each and every aspect of your business or municipal organization. Any time you’re having trouble in a particular area of your operation, I encourage you to look for an expert answer here at the WorldSweeper.com website. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, then just let us know and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.

In the event it’s information we haven’t yet covered, chances are we’ll be able to go find someone who can answer your questions. Our goal is to be THE definitive source for all things sweeping. As always, we appreciate your questions and comments in this regard.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information, Parking Area Sweeping, Street Sweeping | 7 Comments »

Don’t Just ‘Fall’ Into the Change of Seasons

September 23rd, 2008

Hi, Everybody-
For many, the rush of summer business is now over. Let’s hope the profits and productivity were as high as the busy-ness of it all!

Now is a good time to reflect on how your business (or public organization) is changing, as well as the way you want it to change for the better. This includes how the economy is factoring into your business, how your employees are faring in the downturn and as your ‘face’ to the public.

A good, approximately 3-minute video entitled ‘From Managing to Leading‘ is available on this topic from BNet.com.

If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to explore your current strategies for business operation. Project what you feel will occur within your organization during the next 3 – 6 months at the current rate of change. Decide if you should be purchasing capital equipment, sweepers or other, prior to year’s end in order to get the current accelerated tax write-off on it. Here is our article on that topic.

Keeping up with the changing times is increasingly difficult. That makes it more important than ever to plan, Plan, PLAN in order to achieve the business future you want and deserve.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information | 9 Comments »

Get Ready for the Change of Seasons

September 8th, 2008

Hi, Everybody-
Sorry to have been so ’spotty’ with my blog, but I’m still recovering from my motorcycle wreck. Writing the blog isn’t something I can reassign to someone else.

In this edition I want to encourage everyone to look to the near future, when the season will change. With the many climate changes that seem to be hitting us in the past few years, for some it may be a time to re-think how their operation should be run during winter months.

For example, you may want to examine the change in snowfall in your area over the past 5-10 years. If you’re a contractor, does the change mean you should consider getting into (out of…) snow removal during winter months? For municipalities, should you modify your sweeping program to account for the changes?

If you’re a contractor that’s been doing snow removal and the workload has dropped off in the last few years, is there another sideline you might want to get into? Sealcoating, striping, seasonal banner placement/removal?

If you’re in one of the Eastern seaboard states that seems to be getting more vicious storms, necessitating heavier cleanup duties, should you evaluate different types/makes/models of sweepers than you’ve been using so as to better handle the changing debris load?

For that matter, a number of changes have been made in the manufacturing side of sweepers. For example, although Schwarze machines have historically been the sweeper of choice for parking area cleanup, that appears to be shifting to the Victory Sweepers line. Perhaps that’s because Mark Schwarze, son of Schwarze’s founder and the person with oversight on Schwarze’s previous line is now heading up Victory.

As we head toward the year’s end you contractors also want to take a hard look at your revenue differences this year from the last. There’s still time to make course corrections designed to get you on target by year’s end!

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Posted in General Information | 12 Comments »

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