Reliability, quick response help build company’s reputation

“In a nutshell, I can depend on them in every circumstance, on any day, at any hour,” said Karen Cowan, executive director of Wooten Company. “It’s hard to beat that combination so I have never needed to look anywhere else for service.”

Aero Dry, owned by Guy and Gina Steelman, provides carpet services to business and residential customers. The Steelmans estimate about 70 percent of their clientele is commercial including churches, apartment complexes and restaurants and 30 percent is residential.

The company provides traditional steam cleaning, as well as cleaning, upholstery cleaning, area-rug detailing, and minor repairs, dye-work and water-damage restoration.

In apartment complexes the unexpected is always expected, Cowan said. When we had that heavy rain last year those guys worked almost 24 hours straight to get water vacuumed out and carpets sanitized. They go above and beyond what you would expect out of a contract service.

The Steelmans opened their Ozark-based company in 1996. Guy Steelman has more than 20 years of experience in the carpet cleaning industry and the pair previously owned a similar business for 13 years in Jefferson City.

The Steelmans believe that dealing with customers honestly as well as providing extra customer-service touches have contributed to their success.

We take extra time to be sure we leave their carpets as dry as possible , said Guy Steelman. He also noted that they attend to emergency cases such as sick children or nursing homes as quickly as possible. Customer service goes a long way; most of our business is through word of mouth.

Aero Dry Carpet Cleaning started with one truck in 1996 and has grown to a three-truck company with five full-time employees, including the Steelmans. The company primarily serves the Springfield, Ozark, Nixa and Rogersville areas.

Gina Steelman, who manages the office and coordinates appointments, said Aero Dry cleans about 20 carpets a day and is open five days a week. During summer, Aero Dry often works six days a week, she said.

Honesty regarding pricing also is important to the Steelmans. You always stick with the price you quote, said Gina Steelman.

Guy Steelman added: ‘We charge 18 cents per square foot and a flat fee for apartments. If you dont stick to the price you quoted, it doesn’t matter how good of a job you do, that is what people are going to remember. Their last impression is, ‘My carpets look great but they quoted me $90 but it cost me $200.’”

Aero Dry Carpet Cleaning contends with a great deal of competition in the Springfield area.

“It’s very easy for people to get into this business by buying a portable machine and calling themselves a carpet cleaner. But there’s a lot more that goes into it,” Guy Steelman said.

Since new fibers, chemicals and machinery are steadily introduced to the carpet cleaning market, Guy Steelman believes that education on these issues is a vital component of customer service. He regularly attends seminars to familiarize himself with the technical aspect of his business. The Steelmans recently added dry cleaning to their service repertoire.

Dry cleaning still uses water, but instead of steam cleaning you have a machine called an oscillating pad machine, which has only been around for about three years. It has an absorbent pad that vibrates pollutants out of the carpets. Its more of a low-maintenance program, Guy Steelman said.

Guy Steelman tries to alleviate his customers concerns through his knowledge of carpet-cleaning chemicals.

The belief that the more you have your carpets cleaned the harder it is on them, is a myth, he said. It all depends on who is operating that truck. The truck operators control how much water gets into the carpet and what type of chemicals are used.

Steelman takes care to use chemicals that are pH balanced for the particular fiber he is treating.

Its important to use the right chemical for each fiber and do a thorough job rinsing and vacuuming afterwards. Its all very time consuming and a lot of people just dont want to spend the time, he said.

Chemicals are a lot like paint in that different companies make similar chemicals under different names. We use Jon-Don Chemicals because they have really good chemists and they put on a lot of seminars. If you dont have a lot of experience in carpet cleaning, youll spend a lot of money on chemicals that dont work.

While Aero Dry Carpet Cleaning keeps the Steelmans and their employees extremely busy, they have no plans for expansion.

We agreed that we couldnt provide the level of customer service that we do now if we got any bigger. Right now Guy can go out and check on the work to make sure its right, said Gina Steelman.