Tell me about Rainbow

[kirbysthebest]

My Niece has just taken a job selling Rainbow Vacuums. I will dispense with the advice of selling in this economy, a young girl out alone in strangers houses etc.

She knew that many years ago I sold Kirbys and is wanting sales advice as well as difficult customer experience. She is, of course, going up against my Kirby(s) in her demo Saturday.

What I need here is: I own a Rainbow, but it is 35 years old. I know they have changed over the years, I am sure they still have the same dog and pony show with the bright light and "Have you ever see a man spit on the sidewalk?" not to mention the "wet dust can't fly".

What is new about this machine? She will have a trainer with her, but she wants me to be a difficult customer to demo to. I know the rule that the one who goes first loses in all vacuum demo's. Since my experiene. however limited, is with Kirby I would like some input from you guys.

I know we were always told not to run down the machine the customer has but to point out the positives your machine has. Such as "Look at all this dirt I just pulled out." "Smell how fresh."

The main thing I told her is I have no intentions of buying another Vacuum, and even if I did I need a new washing machine before I would drop $2,800 on a vacuum.

 

[animasinsulin]

Rainbow

Hi Harley. I used to sell Rainbows in the 90's and sold ALOT of them. Not everybody bought them, but what would REALLY sell them I would take a clear plexiglass box that came from a Mervyn's shoe department and I would take a paper towel on a plate and set it on fire and them put the Rainbow in there without the hose and then turn it on and ALL the smoke was gone in 3 seconds. But now with Ebay, I don't know how anyone that sells them can make any money. I wish I could find the Stainless steel basins the made in 3 or 5 gallons. I emailed Rainbow and they stopped making them because of too few of sales. They even had the wheels welded to the basin like my Silver king vacuum has. Keep us informed about the demo!!!!.......Bill in Az......

 

[kirbysthebest]

I really want this girl to suceed, but it is so hard to be encouraging when there are 17,000 aircraft workers out of a job. Car dealers are sending brand new cars to the auction to move them off the lots and she is going to try to sell a niche vacuum.

I applaud her, but worry for her as well. She is a good talker, and I swear has a personality that could talk Satain right out of hell, but $2,800 HOLY-WATER VAC Bat Man.

 

[electroluxxxx]

Hello Harley

I had a kirby sales man at my door during the summer. IU showed them my collection and they really seemed to enjoy it. however when it canme time for the demo I made a suggestion to the guy. he poured baking soda all over my carpet. I told them that before it was cleaned up I wanted to show them that in my honest opinion Kirby was not the best at deep cleaning. well the manager refused to hear that. so what I did to prove it was I took my neighbors Riccar 1500s canister that was less than 3 mos old and I competed against it. the manager and the trainee were surprised how the riccar could out clean the kirby. he passed over his spot 10 times before the black pad was totally clean. he ran the kirby over my spot and after one pass the pad was as clean as a whistle. I think it was the brushroll that he was using if felt kind of soft for a new kirby. but that is my story and opinion

I wish you and your niece the best of luck in both her career and your competition.

Mike

 

[kirbysthebest]

Electroluxxx

The theme of the story is the guy (vacuum) that goes first lost the game. But--Back in the day I sold the Tradition, that was the summer of 1981. I have done the sand test with the Kirby and any other machine out there. The Kirby always won.

I think the brush roll Kirby is using now is actually too stiff. I liked the brush roll from the Omega, Classic III, Tradition days. It had a wide brush staggard bristles and dug deep into the carpet.

They tried a double helix brush once, but it didn't do as well as they wanted, and returned to the brush then have now but the bristles are almost like steel. I actually think they could be damaging. You will see in the new owner's manuals they warn not to use the upright, or portable hand vacuum on furniture. This is because the bristles are too stiff and will damage the fabric.

 

[electroluxxxx]

thanks Harley
I think the brush that they used had been worn though from alot of Demo use. I really love kirby I really do and the power that they have. well still I wish the best of luck to your niece and her new job.
talk to you later
Mike

 

[kirbysthebest]

Well my niece came over this weekend to show off the Rainbow.
Besides being 26 hours late for the appointment she did a good job for only her fifth demo.

As for the machine itself, I hope I don't offend anyone; I was a little underwhelmed for a $2,596 machine.
It was plastic, the body was plastic, the tools are plastic, and even the seperator which I consider the heart of the machine was plastic.

They focused the training on getting her into the home, and the sales manager was the one to turn up the heat. I don't warm very easily.
I think they have a scam going on the sales people, and I don't expect her to stay with them. They pay her $30 per demo for the first two weeks with the company, after that she goes strictly commission. On commission she will get $200 for each sale which they promise her a one out of six. I told her to expect more like a one out of 40 but in any case her gas money and door prizes were going to eat up her $200 which is a rip because we all know they are making about 600% mark up on that machine.

BTW--They didn't find any dirt, I told them they were coming into a Kirby house.

 

[animasinsulin]

$200 commission STILL!!

I can't believe Rainbow still only pays $200 in commission. That's what I made in the 90's. I'm surprised the company hasen't gone out of business, but you can find new Rainbows on Ebay from $350 to $500 bucks. The one main reason I stopped selling them was because I got sick of going into stranger's homes. Im only 5'4 and weigh 130 lbs so some bad vacuum lover could steel it from me easily, but that never happened.....Bill in Az......

 

[electroluxxxx]

There is a rainbow company here in my area. the prices for each demo and sale were a little higher here. I think it was $60 a demo and $400 every time it was sold. you are right harley it is kind of a rip off because once the machine is dropped it will break. anyway I am glad that she presented you with the new rainbow. I wish her the best of luck with her new job.
happy hoovering
Mike

 

[danemodsandy]

Does...

...The Rainbow spiel include the part about cleaning it meticulously after every use, to avoid a bad case of the stinkies?

That's what I couldn't deal with on Rainbows. There are times that would be okay, but there are other times when you just want to grab a vacuum, so a little touch-up, and put the thing away without further ado.

 

[kirbyman89]

I hate 'em and personally think that they ain't worth armadillo crap!! No offense to anyone that has one or loves them, that's just my opinion.

 

[turbo500]

There was a vacuum here called the Neptune that was made by Rainbow and used the same water filtration design that retailed for about £300. It was a wet and dry vac that was very similar in shape to the Vax Luna. I think you can still get them and they crop up on ebay every so often. My Dad had one for a while but he got so sick of emptying it and washing it out that, in a blind rage against the poor thing, he chucked it out and marched off to Co-Op and bought a £30 Hoover Studio. The Neptune's occaisionally crop up on eBay. They are fantastic vacuums and very well made with a good, sturdy construction, metal tools and a whole host of attachments that come with it. It's a shame my Dad got rid of it. I'm thinking it's deffo a future collectable as I haven't seen many around.

http://www.ct2.co.uk/su/neptune/