Humans must change – it’s in our very nature. Those who don’t get left behind. Those who do can become leaders and changemakers, people who shape the world. Of course, this isn’t just true of people. Businesses must change, or they too will fade away.
They must constantly push themselves to innovate and deliver products and services that enrich their customers’ lives. Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning is a prime example of a brand with an adaptable, customer-driven focus. With phenomenal reviews, growth and a strong business core, they are taking their industry by storm.
In an interview with Insights Success, the Founder and President of Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, Jonathan Barnett shares his thoughts on the carpet cleaning industry and what it takes for a brand to succeed in today’s market.
Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Jonathan and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of the company and its vision.
When Oxi Fresh was founded in 2006, we wanted to change the way people thought about carpet cleaning. For decades, steam cleaning and harsh chemicals were the norm. People just expected their carpets to take 12-24 hours to dry. Oxi Fresh has changed all that with our modern, eco-friendly carpet cleanings that dry in just about one hour. Customers love this efficient, effective service – so much so that we have over 150,000 reviews online.
It’s not just customers, though. Entrepreneurs of all stripes have seen what Oxi Fresh is doing and have joined our brand en masse. In twelve years, we’ve expanded to over 360 locations across the United States and Canada. Oxi Fresh prides itself on empowering our franchisees with support systems and technology that lets them focus on growing their businesses instead of just managing them.
What are the cutting-edge products/services offered by Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning?
Oxi Fresh’s core cleaning process is a dramatic departure from the longtime industry standard of steam cleaning. Unlike them, we don’t saturate carpets with hot water and chemicals and then try to suck it all back up. Oxi Fresh uses a low-moisture method that combines an oxygenated booster, a green encapsulator, and a revolutionary cleaning machine. Together, they rapidly break up dirt and debris in the carpet to make it easy to remove – and they do all this without saturating the floor. Oxi Fresh carpets dry in just about one hour versus the 12-24 hours of steam cleaning.
This eco-friendly process also reduces energy consumption and conserves 95% of the water that other cleaners would waste. It’s why we’re the World’s Greenest Carpet Cleaner®. Oxi Fresh is also proud to offer upholstery cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, and sandless wood floor cleaning. On top of that, we offer Total Odor Control – a system that removes even the worst pet urine and cigarette smoke odors from properties.
Give a detailed description of the Founder/CEO/Management’s contribution over the company and the industry.
Jonathan Barnett is the founder and President of Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, one of the nation’s fastest growing carpet cleaning franchises. Mr. Barnett founded Oxi Fresh in 2006 with just one location. Since then, he’s made it an international brand with hundreds of location by intentionally building Oxi Fresh with franchisees in mind. Everything is designed to maximize efficiency and ease of use for owners. Online training, a centralized Scheduling Center, a unified CRM, online scheduling – all of these turnkey programs allow franchisees to focus on growth and development instead of day-to-day operations.
This commitment to his franchisees and to customer satisfaction had led Oxi Fresh to received numerous awards and accolades from Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Franchise Times, Franchise Update Magazine, Fox Business News, and many more industry watchers. Mr. Barnett himself has been named in the Franchise Times “Twenty to Watch, was one of the Denver Business Journal’s “40 under 40,” and was one of Global Franchise Magazine’s Top 20 Keynote Speakers in 2017.
What are the distinctive features/foundations that make Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning unique from its competitors?
From a consumer standpoint, there are three big features that make us stand out:
Fast Dry Times: Oxi Fresh uses a low-moisture cleaning system that cuts dry times down from 12-24 hours to just about one hour. Not only is this way more convenient, it also reduces the chances for stains reappearing due to a process called ‘wickback.’
Eco-Friendly Processes: Oxi Fresh prides itself on its green carpet cleaning system. Our carpet products were carefully designed to both maximize cleaning power and to be safe for kids, pets, and the planet. We conserve 95% of the water other cleaners waste, we use energy efficient practices, and one of our products has the EPA’s Safer Choice label.
Easy Appointments: Oxi Fresh has both a central Scheduling Center and an Online Scheduler to make booking appointments quick and easy. We also book for specific times – there are none of those annoying “window” appointments with Oxi Fresh.
There are many reasons Oxi Fresh stands out for our franchisees, so here are just three of them:
Protected Territories:
Oxi Fresh franchisees don’t have to worry about internal competition thanks to our protected territories. Each franchisee is assigned a group of zip codes that only they are allowed to market to. This means they can focus on taking on competitors instead of having to worry about other franchisees.
Powerful Technology:
Oxi Fresh believes in speed through systems, so we’ve implemented numerous programs and business tools to enable just that. From online scheduling to a live CRM to automated marketing programs, we do everything we can to enable growth.
The Scheduling Center: Most franchise systems rely on the franchisee to answer all their own calls and book their own customers, which of course takes a lot of time, effort, and money. Oxi Fresh takes care of all of this with our central Scheduling Center. We answer the phones and book the jobs so the franchisees can focus on their businesses.
Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learnt that has shaped the journey of the company.
There are a lot of lessons we’ve learned over the years:
A Focus on Technology Enables Growth: One lesson we learned early on as a company was the importance of being technology focused. Every day, there are new innovations that can shake up markets. At Oxi Fresh, we try to stay on top of these changes and implement them in our system for the franchisees. This focus enables us to grow more quickly, reach more customers, and get better insights into how we’re performing as a company.
Remarkable Growth Requires Flexibility & Systems: The growth that has come from our technology focus has also reinforced lessons in both flexibility and systems. Oxi Fresh doesn’t have an enormous corporate team, but that’s not because we’re a small company. Rather, it’s because we believe in implementing a variety of systems that eliminate day-to-day work so that our team can focus on developing new programs and providing support. That said, we also don’t tie ourselves down to certain methodologies. Our team has a lot of freedom to change things up, and try new strategies, which is possible, thanks to the systems backing us up.
Recognition is Just One Measurable: Oxi Fresh is proud of the numerous awards and attentions we’ve received from Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., Fox Business News, etc., but they are just one way by which we measure ourselves. Oxi Fresh looks to both our franchisees and their individual customer’s satisfaction as far more important measurable. Why? Because, at the end of the day, their success and happiness is why we do this. If we can make them happy, if we can help them grow, then we know we’ve been doing our job.
What strategies are used by Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning to ensure the consumer satisfaction and optimal efficiency?
Our defining idea here is Speed through Systems. By creating and implementing a variety of systems, we can maximize both customer satisfaction and efficiency. We apply this philosophy throughout all levels of the company, and it has been key to our growth.
Here are some examples:
Integrated CRM: Oxi Fresh has a unified, live CRM that integrates with numerous other programs. For customers, it allows for online booking, automatically sends out reminder emails, and synchs with our customer feedback tool that lets us know how we’re doing. For franchisees, it notifies them of changes, creates automatic marketing reports, and does a dozen other things that help them run a streamlined and efficient business.
Online Training: To get good results, you’ve got to have well trained people. Oxi Fresh makes sure that happens across the nation using an online university. These video-driven courses – in conjunction with detailed manuals – explain everything technicians need to know about cleaning and customer service.
NPS and Online Surveys: To make sure customers are getting a positive experience, Oxi Fresh sends email and text surveys out after appointments. This feedback goes into a Net Promoter Score that lets us know how the brand, franchisees, and even individual employees are performing. This is a great tool for ensuring continuing cleaning quality.
Where does Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning see itself in the long run and what are its future goals?
Our goal is to become the number one carpet cleaner not just in America, but in the world. We want our name to become synonymous with the service, so that when people think carpet cleaning, they think Oxi Fresh. Of course, those are big, lofty goals. In our more immediate plans, we’re looking to continue our expansion across the United States and Canada, to further break into the commercial cleaning market, and to open master franchises around the world.
Give us a few testimonials of your clients that accurately highlight Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning’s position in the market.
“Jim was great! Very easy to communicate with, professional, and friendly. He did nearly our entire house for a great rate. I was shocked. Our house looks like a million bucks, and the carpets were all the way dry when I got home. Thanks so much!” – C. I.
“Lowell is the bomb, I’ve used him twice now and both times he did a superior job on our 38 year old carpets! I told him this time I didn’t expect any miracles, just get us through till next Spring when we get new flooring. Well, he did perform a miracle and some parts look absolutely brand new. Oxi Clean feels healthy with no toxic chemicals and minimal drying time. I wouldn’t use anything or anyone else!” – D.P.
“I did not have much hope for the carpets in my new office – they were disgusting and it smelled like something died in it! The carpets came out fantastic – they are actually beige! My office smells clean and I will definitely be using your service again and will be recommending you to anyone asking about carpet cleaning! Thank you!” – K.N.
“We recently had Oxi Fresh clean all of the carpets in our three-bedroom home. We were amazed at the great results Rafael accomplished! Even though the carpets were old and very dirty, with many stains, they turned out looking so very clean! This was the best results I have ever had in cleaning my carpets. My wife and I were so pleased with the job that the Oxi Fresh products and system does. We were also very impressed with the professionalism of Rafael’ service! He was friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful in everything. We will definitely be having Oxi Fresh do our future carpet cleaning jobs!” -L.B.
URL:carpetcleaninglondon.co.uk
