My day at the TACCA carpet cleaning training event.

We have been members of TACCA for a couple of years. They are an important association in the UK, run by Derek West (who also owns Arcadia Cleaners) that educates the public about carpet cleaning and provide a trusted resource that enables people to choose a suitably qualified, local professional carpet cleaner. This enables the customer to choose a local carpet cleaner with confidence, knowing that companies who are members of TACCA have met the minimum entry requirements. Indeed, all TACCA members must have undertaken 2 forms of recognised industry training. And it was in the hope of learning new skills and picking up some tips from industry experts that made me determined to make it to their annual carpet cleaning training day! I arrived at the venue early and met Sian -Derek’s wife – who was extremely welcoming and made me feel very comfortable settling in. The day started at 10am and my first port of call was to John Kelly of Restormate, my main supplier. I have been a customer of John and Lynn’s for many years and it was great to finally meet John, after annoying him with questions on the phone most weeks for the last couple of years. One of the things I was most looking forward to was the marketing seminar by Allan Simmons who owns a carpet cleaning software package called Get Booked Up. The seminar was packed out and I sat at the front with my writing pad and pencil, eagerly jotting down notes. Allan’s talk was really informative and I picked up a few things that I have already started to implement in my business. Although I’ve been carpet cleaning for a few years, there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t learn something new or another way of approaching a problem… And that was the case when I watched Paul Pearce remove yellowing from bed head boards. He cleaned it in a way that I had never seen before and achieved amazing results. I also watched Dave Althomstone re-tuft carpet and tried to pick his brains as much as I could and managed to (sneakily?!) record his demo with my phone. His work was absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to put some of the tips I learned into action! Along with meeting loads of lovely and friendly people on the day (some names I’ve forgot!), it was great to meet another fellow female carpet cleaner, Karen from Bonne Fresh Clean, who runs her own carpet and upholstery cleaning company in Bristol. This job can be bloody hard work and it is great to see more women getting involved in the industry! I had a fantastic day in Cheshire and it was more than worth the long drive down. I learnt so much that has added to my knowledge and experience and that will improve my business and benefit my customers. If you’re a carpet cleaner who has already completed the regular training courses and would like to learn some new cleaning and restoration techniques and also pick up some actionable and effective business strategies, there really is no excuse not to get yourself on next year’s event. And if you’re a customer looking for a local carpet cleaner that is fully trained, insured and operates equipment of a professional standard, then a great starting point is to search out TACCA members in your area.