How Jones Carpet Care Went From About 30 to 129 Five-Star Google Reviews in Huntsville
Quanteaus Jones, Owner ·Jones Carpet Care · Huntsville, AL
Built Local Podcast with Clay Lawrence · · 20 min episode
The short version
Quanteaus Jones, known as Q, started Jones Carpet Care in Huntsville, Alabama in 2006 as a part-time business alongside a 20-year career in commercial facilities, and took it full-time about two years before this interview. He grows it through weekly networking groups, face-to-face visits, flexible scheduling and a habit of answering the phone, even at 10:30 on a Friday night. After putting a review system in place, the company went from around 30 Google reviews to 129, all of them five stars.
What other owners can take from Jones Carpet Care
- 1
Build the customer base part-time before you quit your job. Q cleaned carpets on the side for years, so the business already had clients when he went full-time.
- 2
Get trained before you scale. IICRC courses in carpet, tile and grout, and upholstery cleaning taught him things he did not know existed.
- 3
Join a networking group that meets every week and trades referrals with other trades such as painters and carpenters.
- 4
Show up in person with a brochure and be honest about what you can do and how it saves the customer money.
- 5
Offer scheduling competitors will not: nights and weekends for commercial clients, and no excuses.
- 6
Answer the phone. A 10:30 Friday night call turned into a job that a whole family thanked him for.
- 7
Do not rely on your job software's built-in review request. A dedicated review system got responses from customers who had ignored the first ask.
Who is Q, and how did Jones Carpet Care start?
Quanteaus Jones, who goes by Q, started Jones Carpet Care in Huntsville, Alabama in 2006. He was born and raised in Huntsville and got into the cleaning industry at 19, straight out of high school, with a job at the local school district that was only supposed to pay for trade school. He stayed in commercial facilities for 20 years, learning floor care and then building maintenance and repair.
The carpet business began at his church. Q looked after the building, cleaned some carpet there, and people noticed. He bought a small shampoo machine from a local store and started doing odd jobs for church members, including elderly people who could not do it themselves. They told friends, and the requests kept coming.
A contact at his local cleaning supply company told him he had the patience for the work and pointed him to the IICRC. Q took its courses in carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, and upholstery cleaning. He said he learned things about carpet and fabric care “that I didn’t even think existed.”
When did he take the carpet cleaning business full-time?
About two years before the interview, after running it part-time since 2006. He had moved to the repair side of facilities work and kept cleaning floors on the side. Then he met his wife, they had their first child, and time became the constraint. After a lot of thought and prayer, they opened Jones Carpet Care full-time one July and took on more territory.
It was scary, he said, but the part-time years made it workable: the customer base was already there. His advice to anyone considering the same move is direct. “Learn it first. Get your clientele built up first.”
How does Jones Carpet Care find new customers?
Through people, in person. When the company went full-time, Q joined networking groups that meet weekly and pass referrals among painters, carpenters and other trades. Outside those groups he describes himself as a face-to-face person: he shows up, hands over a Jones Carpet Care brochure, and explains how the company can help a customer save money on costly floor replacements. Just being honest, he said, “goes a long way.”
The market helps. Huntsville is “bursting at the seams,” in his words. Places that were fields and farmland when he started in the cleaning industry are now buildings, and he pointed to Redstone Arsenal, the arrival of Space Command and a new pharmaceutical manufacturer as reasons more people are coming.
Trust carries over, too. New customers hear testimonials from the people he served while he was still part-time.
What does going above and beyond look like for a carpet cleaner?
Flexible scheduling and no excuses. Jones Carpet Care does commercial and residential floor care, and when a commercial facility wants everything done at night and on weekends, the answer is yes. “We don’t make excuses. We get in there, we execute, we get it done and get it done the correct way.”
The story that stays with him started with a phone call at 10:30 on a Friday night. A customer’s mother had fallen at home and was at the emergency room. It was not serious, but she was about to be released, and the family wanted the carpet, which was less than three months old, cleaned before she got back. The customer was surprised Q had even picked up.
Q checked with his wife, got there around 11:00, and cleaned everything to standard. As he was loading the van, the customer’s wife pulled in with his mother. Seeing her smile when she walked in, and the thanks from the whole family, “really did something for me.”
How did reviews change things for Jones Carpet Care?
They made the company’s reputation visible. Q told his wife they had to get their reviews up to stand out among local carpet cleaners, and the count went from around 30 to 129, all five stars.
He now gets calls from people who are new to Huntsville, and from longtime residents who have tried other cleaners, saying Jones Carpet Care is nearly the only five-star carpet and floor care company in the area. After the job, he said, they ask, “Where have you all been all this time?”
He and his wife use Google the same way. Before a vacation or a new restaurant, they check what customers have to say first.
What would he tell an owner who is struggling to grow?
Keep looking for ways to improve, and keep going. Q said never be afraid to seek out the tools and platforms that can take a business to the next level, and to have faith through the hard stretches.
“Everybody goes through a rough season, and then you stick with it, give it long enough, things will start getting better for you.”
In Quanteaus's words
“Learn it first. Get your clientele built up first.”
“We don't make excuses. We get in there, we execute, we get it done and get it done the correct way.”
“He called me at 10:30 at night on a Friday and he was like, 'Q, I'm surprised you even answered the phone.'”
“Everybody goes through a rough season, and then you stick with it, give it long enough, things will start getting better for you.”
Review Harvest Client
What Jones Carpet Care says about Review Harvest
Q says Jones Carpet Care had around 30 Google reviews when it started with Review Harvest and has 129 now, all five stars. He found Review Harvest on YouTube while searching for ways to increase local reviews, and was cautious because he had heard of businesses losing their Google Business page after using other companies. It integrated with the customer software he already ran the business on, and customers who had ignored that software's own review request left a review after Review Harvest's. New customers now call and tell him the company is nearly the only five-star carpet and floor care company in the area.
“When I signed up with y'all and y'all sent a request, I was shocked. I was like, they actually left us a review and we had already previously requested it.”
Quanteaus Jones on working with Review Harvest: “How This Carpet Cleaner Used Google Reviews to Stand Out Locally”
Questions this episode answers
How did Jones Carpet Care get 129 five-star Google reviews?
Jones Carpet Care in Huntsville, Alabama had around 30 Google reviews when owner Q Jones decided the company needed more to stand out from other local carpet cleaners. He set up Review Harvest, which connected to the customer software he already used, and the count rose to 129, all five stars. He says customers who had ignored an earlier review request from that software left a review once Review Harvest asked.
How do you start a carpet cleaning business while working full-time?
Q Jones started Jones Carpet Care part-time in 2006 while keeping his job in commercial facilities, beginning with a small shampoo machine and jobs for people at his church. He took IICRC courses, let referrals build the client list, and only went full-time after about 20 years in facilities work. His advice is to learn the trade first and build your clientele before making the jump.
How does Jones Carpet Care get customers?
Mostly through relationships. Q Jones says the company belongs to networking groups that meet weekly and share referrals among trades such as painters and carpenters, and he visits prospects in person with a brochure. Testimonials from customers he served while part-time built trust, and Huntsville itself is growing quickly, which keeps adding new homes and offices to serve.
What sets Jones Carpet Care apart from other carpet cleaners in Huntsville?
Q Jones points to flexible scheduling and follow-through. Jones Carpet Care does commercial and residential floor care and will work nights and weekends when a facility needs it. He also answers the phone after hours: he once took a call at 10:30 on a Friday night and had a customer's carpet cleaned and dry before the customer's mother came home from the emergency room.
Can using a review service put your Google Business Profile at risk?
Q Jones of Jones Carpet Care says he had heard stories of businesses that hired other companies to raise their review count and ended up losing their Google Business page, which made him cautious. He chose Review Harvest after watching its YouTube videos because the process was explained clearly and it requests reviews from his own customers through the software he already used.
Need carpet cleaning in Huntsville? Visit Jones Carpet Care at jonescarpet.com.
