CarpetBossPro Blog — Tech App

Add-On Steps That Only Appear When They Were Sold: Pet Odor, Protector and Deodorizer

Add-ons are where a carpet job makes its margin. A three-room cleaning priced at $189 might carry another $25 a room for pet odor treatment and more for stain protector. They are also where money leaks out quietly. A paid add-on gets forgotten on a busy day, and the customer calls. An unpaid one gets applied out of habit, and nobody bills for it. The CarpetBossPro checklist handles both by showing add-on steps only when they were sold.

From Prep to Add-Ons

The prep steps are covered in Pre-Vacuum, Pre-Treat, Spot Treat: The Prep Steps on the Carpet Cleaning Checklist. The add-on steps fit into the same checklist, each in its natural place in the job.

On the checklist, pet odor treatment sits after spot treatment and before the carpet is cleaned. Stain protector and deodorizer sit after the cleaning and any upholstery, rug or tile work, before grooming. That matches the order most companies already work in.

How the Steps Know What Was Sold

The add-ons on a job are checkboxes in the carpet job details: pet odor treatment, stain protector and deodorizer, along with upholstery, area rug, mattress and tile & grout. Those checkboxes come from the estimate when it is approved, from the home's last job when a repeat cleaning is booked, or from the office when the customer calls to add something.

The checklist reads those same boxes. If pet odor treatment is checked on the job, the pet odor step appears on the tech's checklist. If it is not, the step does not appear. There is nothing extra for the office to set up and nothing for the tech to decide.

Pet Odor Treatment

Pet odor treatment is the add-on that most often comes with specific instructions. The customer usually knows which rooms have the problem and wants them treated. When the step shows on the checklist, the tech should:

• Confirm the rooms or spots during the walk-through.
• Treat them following your company's procedure and the product directions.
• Check the step when it is done.
• Note where it was applied, especially on a whole-house job.

Be careful with promises. Pet odor can be stubborn, and results vary by situation. A tech who explains that honestly at the walk-through, and records what was done, is in a much better spot if the customer calls later.

Stain Protector and Deodorizer

Stain protector and deodorizer are the two add-ons most often given away. They are quick to apply, the sprayer is already on the van, and a tech who wants to be nice to a friendly customer might just do it. Multiply that by a season and it is real money.

When the steps only appear on jobs that paid for them, the habit changes. A tech who sees no protector step on the checklist knows it was not sold. If the customer asks for it on site, the tech can offer it, note the request, and let the office add the line item at your price. Upselling on site is a good thing. Giving it away is not.

When a Customer Adds or Drops an Add-On on Site

Plans change at the door. The customer decides they want protector on the living room after all, or decides to skip the deodorizer. The tech handles it like this:

1. Adding: confirm the price from your service list if your company lets techs quote it, or tell the customer the office will confirm. Note the add-on on the job. The office adds it to the job, and it lands on the invoice.
2. Dropping: skip the step and note that the customer declined it. The office removes it before billing, so the customer is not charged for work that was not done.

Either way, the note is on the job for the office to act on before the invoice goes out.

Why This Matters for Callbacks

The most frustrating callback in carpet cleaning is “I paid for the pet treatment and I can still smell it.” Sometimes the treatment was done and the odor is just stubborn. Sometimes it was missed. Without a record, the office cannot tell which.

With the add-on step on the checklist, the office can see whether it was checked, which rooms were noted and what the tech recorded. If it was missed, the office can own it and send the tech back. If it was done, the office can explain and talk through options. Either way, the conversation starts from facts.

Upholstery, area rug and tile steps work the same way and are covered next in Upholstery, Area Rug and Tile Steps on the Carpet Tech's Checklist. For the full tech app, visit the CarpetBossPro carpet cleaning app page.