Friday, November 5, 2010

Triexta Update

I received a call today from a well informed and customer service oriented carpet cleaner I know, and the story he related spoke to both technical and marketing issues we must all be aware of.

This gentleman sends a newsletter to all of his customers, including the carpet retailers who refer him. In it, he made a point of warning his customers that the new Triexta fiber that is being so heavily promoted today may not live up to the expectations the retailers are creating.

It seems that at least one of the retailers he sent this newsletter to became very upset at his sharing this information, and confronted him about it when he met with her. While his initial reaction was irritation at her support for what he (and likely you) consider to be an inferior fiber, his “business head” thought about it a bit longer.

In our discussion, we both had to agree that Triexta does solve two problems that nylon (the cleaner’s favorite fiber) does not:

  1. The Triexta fiber is inherently resistant to red dyes. Unlike Stain Resistant Nylon, which loses its stain resistance over time from abrasive soil and most cleaning processes, Triexta does not.

  2. Triexta fibers also resist color loss from urine stains. Since most homes in the US today have more than one cat and/or dog, this issue is powerful, and should not be overlooked.
There remains little doubt that Triexta will continue to have the “oil loving” characteristics of its better known cousin, Polyester, but that’s why professional cleaning is needed, isnt’ it?

The cleaner is going to visit his referring stores and discuss his more balanced view of Triexta, which he should. He mentioned how annoyed he gets when retailers make comments about carpet cleaning that don’t really address the “whole story”, and he recognized that perhaps he did the same.

The lesson for you (and for me)? There are several:
  1. Triexta is here to stay. Go to most carpet stores, and its “everywhere”. Its surely better than Olefin, and likely better than Polyester. The fact that we don’t like it as much as Nylon is more our issue than it is our customers, after all.

  2. We might not like “oil loving fibers”, but our customers aren’t as worried about Oily soils as they are bleach and dye stains.

  3. Let’s keep our dialog with those stores that gladly refer us, and make sure that while we need to serve our customer’s needs, we also need to make sure we understand the whole story.

    Having an open minded attitude that listens to the views and needs of all parties will keep your business not just the one your customers wish to use, but that retailers will gladly recommend!
For more information on Triexta, see my article at
http://tinyurl.com/cleantip6

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