P
Pickingpaul
ive never employed anyone to get me customers but i think its a good idea for those who are just that little bit too nervous anxious or i experienced, if u have tried and failed to knock on enough doors to get any customers, a mental block and u just cant do it then yes im sure an experienced trust worthy company could be employed to get your balls rolling
But for those who have/do/want to try canvassing i think we should help each other out here as we will all have different ideas of what works and a combined knowledge of our experiences will hopefully help us all out to hone these skills.
Please add anything, tiny details, big issues, over coming problems and hurdles, u can often just get stuck and its as thoug your efforts are on pause and u need to snap out of it and carry on.
These are some tips i would say based onLy on my own experiences, feel free to disagree with me and present your logic as i want to also improve, i do not know it all
1. Appearence, look the part, wear your belt and tools as if u have just been cleaning a house. This is so immediately where they see you they can see you are a window cleaner which will actually set them at ease as these days u get a lot of people knocking for various rwasons. I wear an actual uniform. I have a little squeegee my name and phone number printed on the front of my t shirts and tops and in bold "window cleaner" on the back, this actually makes u look pro to a degree. I wear work style trousers and boots.
All this appearence helps when u get timid people look at you through the window, nets or porch door, u dont actually have to speak before they know what you want, you can gesture to your applicator and mime a cleaning motion and people understand, so they either shake their head or look exsisted and come rushing to the door. :thumbsdown:
Always smile /emoticons/smile.png
2. Finding the customers.
look on google maps at your local area and or drive around, find houses you like the look of, within your comfort zone and think, yeah i would like to clean that for £10 etc.
In the mid morning time, 10:30 onwards, walk up to every house and look at the windows, are they very clean? Are they dirty? Are they filthy? If they are very clean jog on, dont waste yours and their time asking if they want a window cleaner as the odds are they have one or they do it themselves. This saves u loads of time.
If they are dirty or filthy then ring the bell and smile, they dont have a window cleaner my friend, so you have a chance at being their new window cleaner.
When they answer the door smile and simple say "hello, would you like a window cleaner?" And smile. Now i know you can think of many better things to say more complex etc ut you may find you get confused and stumble over your rehursed pitch like they do on dragons den. You are coming straight to the point "hello/hi, do you want a window cleaner?" No bullsh)t, no confussion, you look like a window cleaner because you are one and they have one of two answers for your question, either "yes" or "no" or something similar.
If they say no, jog on, its good practice still and not a waste of time.
If they say yes then great, you then need to go through several details
A. Can you reach all said windows, make it absolutely clear if u cant reach any for whatever reason there is.
B. How often they want a clean, monthly which is generally 4 weekly is this price £10 example, or 8 weekly £12/14 example.
C. Payment, i almost always get cash and the odd cheque but bank transfer is good also and the way of the future no doubt. Ask if they are normally in? If its the day time the odds are they are and these make for great customers, always being in and paying, retired people or some people on benefits or house wifes or people that work from home etc etc etc. the other type is people who are al ost always going to be at work. Now the best thing to do is take their number and suggest that you textor ring the day before and that they leave the money in a spot you both agree on, ie, under a plant pot, in the shed, seletaped to the kitchen window. Some people will click with this and they will leave it every single time without fail, others will take a few months to remember, these are the sort of people who forget to put the rubbish out
but u wont know u til u trial the. For a few months, ocassionally forgetting or being away is fine in my book. Alternately you have to call back for money, collecting, can be annoying can but lovely going out for an hour at 6pm and getting £100+
D get their name whether or not u are planning to text them or not, when u turn up and say "hello Sandra, how are you" it developes a personal friendship or aquantence which people like, people like to have their names remembered, but when you say, my name is paul, they dont always reply with " im sandra" so u should just ask and write it down as u will forget.
So when u get this new customer betweek 10:30/4:00 you of course clean them there and then and see you in four weeks.
DIRTY LIST
This is the important part of my methodology.
When u have spotted dirty windows and nobody is in you then write down this house number. This is your dirty list, and you build up a large list of dirty houses thoughout the day time, minimizing annoying anyone who already has a window cleaner. You dont want to be told 200 times sorry i already have one, trust me. So pin pointing dirty houses u get people who either want a window cleaner or they just dont want one, simple, you have removed all the "ive already got one" brigade.
So by 4pm or when u are knackered u have a lovely dirty list of houses dont you? Now some of those poeple will have been out getting pension shopping bowling etc but majority will have been at work, most people get back from work around 6 if they finish around 5.
So you have a golden time here, 5-6:30 you retrace your route and reknock on all the dirty houses using the same line "hello, would you like a window cleaner?" Smile. A quick yes or no tell you the answer. If yes, be quick but not rushed, no time for a cup of tea or ideal chit chat now, cut to the chase! What windows they want (some just have fronts) price, 4/8weekly. I never say 8 weekly by the way, they have to suggest it or i will get the distinct impression that they think 4 weeks is too often after several cleans and then i suggest it.
You can get 10 customers at this prime time with a nice dirty list. All these houses you will clean tomorrow, i suggest a max of 6 houses as they are dirty and will take longer and u want a very good first impression. If u start getting 7+ say you will be round the day after tomorrow weather permitting but will be earlier in the week in the future.
So this plan should see you well /emoticons/smile.png
Now a good customer or bad customer is hard to know at the early stage, give them chanses, but beaware that if u get 10 customers that may well dwindlw down to 6 over a few months, but also know that you will at some point pick up new ones either based on their recomendation or people seeing you working and asking you.
Never knocking on what i called clean windows isnot an absolute truth of course, sometimes u will see perfectly clean windows on a house and they actually want a window cleaner but these are far and few between and they are the sort that will ask u when they see u in the road.
Bad payers, weed them out, once u get paid, use ur own judgment, give them a chance or two if u like but u dont want a round full of people messing u about for money all the time, ocassionally is acceptable for me once i know they dont mind paying double here and there the next time i come.
But for those who have/do/want to try canvassing i think we should help each other out here as we will all have different ideas of what works and a combined knowledge of our experiences will hopefully help us all out to hone these skills.
Please add anything, tiny details, big issues, over coming problems and hurdles, u can often just get stuck and its as thoug your efforts are on pause and u need to snap out of it and carry on.
These are some tips i would say based onLy on my own experiences, feel free to disagree with me and present your logic as i want to also improve, i do not know it all
1. Appearence, look the part, wear your belt and tools as if u have just been cleaning a house. This is so immediately where they see you they can see you are a window cleaner which will actually set them at ease as these days u get a lot of people knocking for various rwasons. I wear an actual uniform. I have a little squeegee my name and phone number printed on the front of my t shirts and tops and in bold "window cleaner" on the back, this actually makes u look pro to a degree. I wear work style trousers and boots.
All this appearence helps when u get timid people look at you through the window, nets or porch door, u dont actually have to speak before they know what you want, you can gesture to your applicator and mime a cleaning motion and people understand, so they either shake their head or look exsisted and come rushing to the door. :thumbsdown:
Always smile /emoticons/smile.png
2. Finding the customers.
look on google maps at your local area and or drive around, find houses you like the look of, within your comfort zone and think, yeah i would like to clean that for £10 etc.
In the mid morning time, 10:30 onwards, walk up to every house and look at the windows, are they very clean? Are they dirty? Are they filthy? If they are very clean jog on, dont waste yours and their time asking if they want a window cleaner as the odds are they have one or they do it themselves. This saves u loads of time.
If they are dirty or filthy then ring the bell and smile, they dont have a window cleaner my friend, so you have a chance at being their new window cleaner.
When they answer the door smile and simple say "hello, would you like a window cleaner?" And smile. Now i know you can think of many better things to say more complex etc ut you may find you get confused and stumble over your rehursed pitch like they do on dragons den. You are coming straight to the point "hello/hi, do you want a window cleaner?" No bullsh)t, no confussion, you look like a window cleaner because you are one and they have one of two answers for your question, either "yes" or "no" or something similar.
If they say no, jog on, its good practice still and not a waste of time.
If they say yes then great, you then need to go through several details
A. Can you reach all said windows, make it absolutely clear if u cant reach any for whatever reason there is.
B. How often they want a clean, monthly which is generally 4 weekly is this price £10 example, or 8 weekly £12/14 example.
C. Payment, i almost always get cash and the odd cheque but bank transfer is good also and the way of the future no doubt. Ask if they are normally in? If its the day time the odds are they are and these make for great customers, always being in and paying, retired people or some people on benefits or house wifes or people that work from home etc etc etc. the other type is people who are al ost always going to be at work. Now the best thing to do is take their number and suggest that you textor ring the day before and that they leave the money in a spot you both agree on, ie, under a plant pot, in the shed, seletaped to the kitchen window. Some people will click with this and they will leave it every single time without fail, others will take a few months to remember, these are the sort of people who forget to put the rubbish out
but u wont know u til u trial the. For a few months, ocassionally forgetting or being away is fine in my book. Alternately you have to call back for money, collecting, can be annoying can but lovely going out for an hour at 6pm and getting £100+D get their name whether or not u are planning to text them or not, when u turn up and say "hello Sandra, how are you" it developes a personal friendship or aquantence which people like, people like to have their names remembered, but when you say, my name is paul, they dont always reply with " im sandra" so u should just ask and write it down as u will forget.
So when u get this new customer betweek 10:30/4:00 you of course clean them there and then and see you in four weeks.
DIRTY LIST
This is the important part of my methodology.
When u have spotted dirty windows and nobody is in you then write down this house number. This is your dirty list, and you build up a large list of dirty houses thoughout the day time, minimizing annoying anyone who already has a window cleaner. You dont want to be told 200 times sorry i already have one, trust me. So pin pointing dirty houses u get people who either want a window cleaner or they just dont want one, simple, you have removed all the "ive already got one" brigade.
So by 4pm or when u are knackered u have a lovely dirty list of houses dont you? Now some of those poeple will have been out getting pension shopping bowling etc but majority will have been at work, most people get back from work around 6 if they finish around 5.
So you have a golden time here, 5-6:30 you retrace your route and reknock on all the dirty houses using the same line "hello, would you like a window cleaner?" Smile. A quick yes or no tell you the answer. If yes, be quick but not rushed, no time for a cup of tea or ideal chit chat now, cut to the chase! What windows they want (some just have fronts) price, 4/8weekly. I never say 8 weekly by the way, they have to suggest it or i will get the distinct impression that they think 4 weeks is too often after several cleans and then i suggest it.
You can get 10 customers at this prime time with a nice dirty list. All these houses you will clean tomorrow, i suggest a max of 6 houses as they are dirty and will take longer and u want a very good first impression. If u start getting 7+ say you will be round the day after tomorrow weather permitting but will be earlier in the week in the future.
So this plan should see you well /emoticons/smile.png
Now a good customer or bad customer is hard to know at the early stage, give them chanses, but beaware that if u get 10 customers that may well dwindlw down to 6 over a few months, but also know that you will at some point pick up new ones either based on their recomendation or people seeing you working and asking you.
Never knocking on what i called clean windows isnot an absolute truth of course, sometimes u will see perfectly clean windows on a house and they actually want a window cleaner but these are far and few between and they are the sort that will ask u when they see u in the road.
Bad payers, weed them out, once u get paid, use ur own judgment, give them a chance or two if u like but u dont want a round full of people messing u about for money all the time, ocassionally is acceptable for me once i know they dont mind paying double here and there the next time i come.
