Pwna Brainstorming

Dan,

Dont get too hung up on the "cruise" thing. The cruise was a special event, and not even a big part of the convention. It was an optional event, to complement the annual meeting, and to celebrate the PWNA's Tenth Anniversary. It's not like we're going to be hosting cruises all the time.

In regards to where the money goes for a show, it costs an immense amount of money to run a show like this. The hotel bill alone is a fortune. The PWNA does not make money from these shows. From what I understand, on a couple of occasions, they have lost money on the deal.
 
Ron,

YES we do, and I cannot thank you enough for showing your passion the way you do. belive it or not there are a lot like you with that same passion but would rather sit back and read these posts than verbalize their feelings. I personally thank you for not being afraid to say what you feel.

Why, I don't know but for some reason the members and the board members have really decided to wake up this year to the fact that we as an organization must give it 100 % and make some drastic changes. The PWNA has too much going for itself to let all this talet go to hell. One of my basic goals in the next 2 years is to make this organization one of the finest around, I want it to offer so many real benifits that anyone in the PW industry who wants to make something of themselves. would be crazy not to belong.
I am talking about real benifits.
Real discounts on machines, chemicals, tools etc.

Regional chapters, sponsored by distributors, manufacturers and the PWNA.
Forming brotherhoods, and friendships, sharing information, keeping the prices for pressure washing up. Intimidating those who wash for free.
Certification programs local advertising and press releases.
Honoring the local guy in local newspapers,
Possibly a real health plan for the new business starter that has a wife and child and can't buy it anywhere else...........

We need to make the customer want to hire a PWNA member simply because he is assured that that guy knows his stuff and takes the time and effort to educate himself and belong to something that will improve his performance and reputation.
The simple fact that he is willing to invest a little money and time sez an awful lot to the potential customer.
I know I'd rather hire a guy who has taken the time to become certified in his profession than somebody who just bought his pressure washer today at Loew's.

Let me get off my soapbox now,

All I can say is give us a little faith, support and time, and y'all will be very amazed at what the PWNA is about to accomplish. But also please remember we can't do it without your support and membership. The more members we can get the more power we can demand in areas like Insurance companies, Manufacturers, Distributors, Advertising agencies, on & on.

I'm not giving up, I love pressure washing people, I am one.

Thank y'all Chris Detter:) :) :)
 
Chris, I can appreciate where you are coming from with some of these comments as President of PWNA, but these are very lofty goals to try and attain in only two years. Care to elaborate how you plan on implementing any of these ideas?
 
Chris,
Great response to Ron and others questions and points that they brought up. I believe in your leadership along with Mike Hughes, Doc and the other representatives of the PWNA. This is why I will re-up next month to support you guys and us fellow powerwashers. There is no other powerwashing group that I can tell nationwide that has the POTENTIAL of the PWNA.

Hopefully some of your Idea's can come to fruition.

I have an Idea that could be of good use to help promote The PWNA and to give the Powerwashers an added benefit to there business. This Idea is at this time pretty much for guys/gals that advertise there business and they have a WEBSITE to go along with there advertising.

On there website they tell potential customers in BIG BOLD LETTERS to click on the PWNA Logo if they are thinking of going with this company.

This PWNA Logo has to be a special set up for website use only for active members. Once the potential customer clicks it on, then it will be a message stating that this company is certified nationwide in Deck restoration, Hood Cleaning etc. and maybe a little info about the PWNA that it is a nationwide orgagnization of powerwashers that represent the best in the field etc. etc .etc.

Just an Idea that also gets the PWNA name out to potential customers who might tell a friend that this powerwashing company is recognized thruout the nation as a top notch company etc etc.

Once a company decides not to stay active with there membership then this option is no longer available to them but if they stay active then this benefit remains with any other future benefit that this organization can provide.
 
John,
How would you use such a certification? Do you think it would benefit you in new business development? The only reason I ask is that we've never ran into this as something we've had to compete against in our sales/marketing. It's never come up as an issue in competing for a job or anything. Customers are generally suspicious of things they don't understand fully. If they don't know why it's important to be certified, they don't care if you say you are certified. We tried something a few years ago as a sort of marketing survey where we took a group of customers and told them that we were certified by the made up organization "United States Deck and Fence Restoration Association or the USDFRA". We did this with 25 customers total. When we were done with the job, one of the questions we asked on the satisfaction survey was "Do you recall what the particular certification was for your technician?" And "How important was our company being "certified" in your decision to use us?" Nobody could answer what the certification name was and everyone of the responses checked "Was not a factor in my decision" for the second question.

So we have never bothered with the idea of certification after that since it's never come up.
 
Lance,
I'm just banging Idea's around in my head(Brainstorming).
THe thought I had about the above post was to give more recognition to the PWNA and also have potential customers know that your company belongs to the Top Powerwashing organization in America which represents the elite in Professional Powerwashing.

That way this would work as a double edge sword where the PWNA Org. and the PWNA Contractor both benefit.

In some cases this would not help at all. I'm sure certain potential customers could care less. It all comes down to how good of a sales man you are anyway and the work that you do. But for some this added advantage might help them to get an extra job among there estimates.

If this works a couple of times for a few contractors then the word would travel among these bb's etc. and then the membership could grow some more.

The PWNA has a nice Logo and If contractors could somehow spread the word about the PWNA via there websites, customers may decide to go with these companies because they are recognized as a sound company and not a fly by nite contractor that people are afraid of.

A big selling point here is Lic./Ins which means license and insured. When people see this they know that you are somewhat reputable. (By law here you have to have both of these).
If people can also read that you are certified or at least a member of a Respectable Group (PWNA) then maybe that would put them more at ease in picking your company.

But once again some people can sell anything so they don't need this. On the other hand some can use a little more help in getting more jobs and this might do just that.
 
We have a consumer warning brochure that highlights things to watch for in hiring a pressure washing contractor. Essentially, it is very specific in informing them about the following:
1. Business Liability Insurance
2. Workers Compensation Insurance or a Waiver from the State Workers Comp Bureau
3. Business Telephone Listing and Yellow Page Ads
4. The truth about "Contractor Certification" programs in the pressure washing industry

The thing that is pertinent to this thread subject is the contractor certification section of our brochure. It's the the last thing we discuss in the brochure and the idea is that just because somebody says they are "certified" doesn't mean they have any experience or expertise in the field. We point out that there is no centralized authority controlling the actions of pressure washing contractors in the US. When I get asked about this I use the Wolman Certified Contractor program as an example. No offense to Wolman intended since they have good products, it's just their certification process that's a joke. You call them, they send you a book on their products, you take a two page test in the back and you can use the book for answers and then you fax it to them and they send you a "certified contractor" letter. So now I'm somehow special and can say I'm certified? That's BS. When customers are told this they are very surprised that contractors would misinform them like that. I've actually watched a customer right in front of me go get his info from different contractors and toss the ones that had "certified" on any of their marketing materials into the garbage.

If PWNA wants to put together a killer certification program then they need to make it something that is tough to pass. I'll use another industry certification as an example here. When a company wants to prove to other big companies that it's factories are top of the line, they go through the excruciatingly difficult process of becoming ISO certified. This process is painstaking and unbelievably hard to pass. But when they do, they advertise it everywhere to tell people they have the best systems in the world because ISO is the worldwide standard. If PWNA wanted to put together good certification programs, they should make them hinge on more than just taking a test. They should add minimum years of experience, so many jobs completed, reference letters from customers, and making sure a business had the right insurances and licenses, etc., this would make the PWNA Certification programs worth it to try and pass and then contractors would advertise it everywhere just because it would be considered the industry standard. A good certification program would dramatically increase membership simply because contractors would be interested in that prized certification logo that PWNA only gives to the best contractors. Each year PWNA could renew the certification based on continuing education credits, proof that the business had no suits or claims against it and is still properly insured and licensed. Plus, the additional revenue generated from annual certifications would more than make up for the cost of maintaining such a program.

Another thought on this and a very wise marketing move for PWNA would be to try and strike some deals with the larger insurers of power washers and tailor their certification program so that it is stringent enough to fully satisfy the insurers to such a degree that they would offer a discount in annual insurance rates for PWNA Certified businesses. Membership would skyrocket if contractors thought they could save money in addition to getting marketing benefits by being certified.

Just my .02 cents.
 
Lance & John T.

Thank you both for your time and brainstorming ideas, I know you have more to do than respond to these threads, I do appreciate it.
First regarding having loafty goals and only two years to get them done, I admitt I want to accomplish a lot, but man you would be amazed at the talet we already have in place in both membership and board of directors. I'm talking about guy's and girls who are positioned in areas of expertise, advertising, computer technology, writing, etc. I'm certanily not going to do these things myself, heck I'v got a PW business to run. I am just the catylst to jump start those that can make it happen and guide them through. I promise that after my position is gone there are others on the board right now chomping at the bite to continue growing our organization.

John T.
Your idea of having a link on contractors web site to prove to the potential customer that this guy is either a member or is certified in his profession is a great one, it actually falls under the catogory of what we are developing now on the PWNA.org web site. I am told that our site with all it's cool new stuff will take about 4-5 months before it actually happens.
Lance, I know what your talking about, about the people that don't care if you belong to an org. or not, I agree, I also think there are as many out there that find acertain bit of satisfaction a security in know someone does belong, Ya can't win over everyone but heck if you get one job because you belong and the non-member didn't get that job, what the heck you won.

Thank again guy's.....keep brainstorming

Chris Detter
 
Lololollol

i want everyone to know i’m a pwna member. I want to thanks robert hidialiter for founding and organization. I know that when the organization was founded higher expectations where dreamed about. We cannot ever blame one man for its failure to be what everyone expects. The pwna has done some positive things. Think about this???? If robert had not founded the org. We wouldn’t have anything? Thanks again robert & the rest of my brothers of the pwna.


In this post i want no one to attack any individual personally, rather gather your thoughts and give positive impute of how these hard working people could better the organization. Be positive and constructive about the criticism. Please be as professional about your ideas.

I will start with some questions i have for whom ever is president. It will be chris or michael?

1. Will you reduce the membership fee for veterans members so they will stay on as members?(100.00) instead of 250.00
2. Can we get some regional support?
3. Could we work on having board members in every region?
4. Can we appoint volunteer board members to assist in the overwhelming tasks for all things that need to be accomplished?
5. Could we try another west coast national meeting somewhere other than las vegas?
6. Organize a buying group with real benefits for members?
7. Get a great health insurance plan for contractors.
8. Could we make the certifications mean something? (market them to customers)
9. Could we organize a national contractors day. ( have round table meetings locally)
10. Could make belonging to the org. Something more than a symbol.


My biggest response why pwna board members don’t post on bulletin boards is in the past they have been ridiculed for their participation. Let’s not give them that excuse, please remain pros.

Please ad to my list, i will send this copy of the letter to every new & old board member of the pwna. Don’t take my post wrong or in a negative way. I’m just trying to make some progression with this organization. We as members need to realize that its not what the pwna gives you but what you can do for them. If you expect to gain something you need to put something in, i’m not talking about the 250.00 dollars.

I invite members as well as non-members in this participation.
 
In 2002 I made this Post, Its Truly amazing reflecting Back on this Post. Really COOL
I want everyone to know I’m a PWNA member. I want to thanks Robert Hidialiter for founding and organization. I know that when the organization was founded higher expectations where dreamed about. We cannot ever blame one man for its failure to be what everyone expects. The PWNA has done some positive things. Think about this???? If Robert had not founded the org. we wouldn’t have anything? Thanks Again Robert & the rest of my Brothers of the PWNA.


In this post I want no one to attack any individual personally, rather gather your thoughts and give positive impute of how these hard working people could better the organization. Be positive and constructive about the criticism. Please be as professional about your ideas.

I will start with some questions I have for whom ever is president. It will be Chris or Michael?

1. Will you reduce the membership fee for veterans members so they will stay on as members?(100.00) Instead of 250.00
2. Can we get some regional Support?
3. Could we work on having Board members in every region?
4. Can we appoint volunteer board members to assist in the overwhelming tasks for all things that need to be accomplished?
5. Could we try another West Coast national meeting somewhere other than Las Vegas?
6. Organize a buying group with real benefits for members?
7. Get a great health insurance plan for contractors.
8. Could we make the certifications mean something? (market them to customers)
9. Could we organize a national contractors day. ( have round table meetings Locally)
10. Could make belonging to the org. something more than a symbol.


My biggest response why PWNA board members don’t post on Bulletin boards is in the past they have been ridiculed for their participation. Let’s not give them that excuse, please remain pros.

Please ad to my list, I will send this copy of the letter to every new & old board member of the PWNA. Don’t take my Post wrong or in a negative way. I’m just trying to make some progression with this organization. We as members need to realize that its not what the PWNA gives you but what you can do for them. If you expect to gain something you need to put something in, I’m not talking about the 250.00 dollars.

I invite members as well as non-members in this participation.
 
Another Great Idea Lance
We have a consumer warning brochure that highlights things to watch for in hiring a pressure washing contractor. Essentially, it is very specific in informing them about the following:
1. Business Liability Insurance
2. Workers Compensation Insurance or a Waiver from the State Workers Comp Bureau
3. Business Telephone Listing and Yellow Page Ads
4. The truth about "Contractor Certification" programs in the pressure washing industry

The thing that is pertinent to this thread subject is the contractor certification section of our brochure. It's the the last thing we discuss in the brochure and the idea is that just because somebody says they are "certified" doesn't mean they have any experience or expertise in the field. We point out that there is no centralized authority controlling the actions of pressure washing contractors in the US. When I get asked about this I use the Wolman Certified Contractor program as an example. No offense to Wolman intended since they have good products, it's just their certification process that's a joke. You call them, they send you a book on their products, you take a two page test in the back and you can use the book for answers and then you fax it to them and they send you a "certified contractor" letter. So now I'm somehow special and can say I'm certified? That's BS. When customers are told this they are very surprised that contractors would misinform them like that. I've actually watched a customer right in front of me go get his info from different contractors and toss the ones that had "certified" on any of their marketing materials into the garbage.

If PWNA wants to put together a killer certification program then they need to make it something that is tough to pass. I'll use another industry certification as an example here. When a company wants to prove to other big companies that it's factories are top of the line, they go through the excruciatingly difficult process of becoming ISO certified. This process is painstaking and unbelievably hard to pass. But when they do, they advertise it everywhere to tell people they have the best systems in the world because ISO is the worldwide standard. If PWNA wanted to put together good certification programs, they should make them hinge on more than just taking a test. They should add minimum years of experience, so many jobs completed, reference letters from customers, and making sure a business had the right insurances and licenses, etc., this would make the PWNA Certification programs worth it to try and pass and then contractors would advertise it everywhere just because it would be considered the industry standard. A good certification program would dramatically increase membership simply because contractors would be interested in that prized certification logo that PWNA only gives to the best contractors. Each year PWNA could renew the certification based on continuing education credits, proof that the business had no suits or claims against it and is still properly insured and licensed. Plus, the additional revenue generated from annual certifications would more than make up for the cost of maintaining such a program.

Another thought on this and a very wise marketing move for PWNA would be to try and strike some deals with the larger insurers of power washers and tailor their certification program so that it is stringent enough to fully satisfy the insurers to such a degree that they would offer a discount in annual insurance rates for PWNA Certified businesses. Membership would skyrocket if contractors thought they could save money in addition to getting marketing benefits by being certified.

Just my .02 cents.
 
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