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Charges more to clean traditional

davewindowcleaner

Active member
Messages
686
Location
London
Just cleaned a new customer windows yesterday.

It a one bedroom house with 5 small windows and a french doors

Now I don't like being told how to do my job but this guy made it clear when he asked me for a quote he wanted his windows cleaned the traditional way.

Before I spoken to him I was planning on charging £15 for the first clean and then £10 to do it monthly by using the wfp but seeing how he wanted me to get my ladder out so I decided to charge high and quoted £30 for the first clean and £20 to clean monthly thinking it will put the bloke off but it didn't.

He agreed to the first clean price so I made sure I deliberately took my time (least 30 min on his property) and by the time I was done he's came out ready getting to pay me and i was kinda expecting him to say ''I shall get back to you next time I want them cleaned again mate''

But as he came out surprised and impressed how white I got his sills and frames looking after using the magic sponge, He said'' I had a window cleaners before but they never got it looking so white and brand new''.

So he want me to come back monthly and is happy to pay £20 for a one bedroom house which will only take me 5 min to clean next time but he won't know that because I will clean in the week when hes working.

 
If hes not in pole it if he is trad it. If he come home apolgise and say you rubber got damaged so you cant trad it. If hes in just trad it. Win win

 
I take em trad or wfp

Can't understand all this

"I don't wanna trad buisness"

Work is work & getting the ladders out every now & then does no harm at all

 
I take em trad or wfpCan't understand all this

"I don't wanna trad buisness"

Work is work & getting the ladders out every now & then does no harm at all
Does no harm but but does consume time.

If you have agreed to trad it and try to sneak out the pole when he aint about whats that say about your character?

I see no issue and agree that trad should cost more, afterall you do greatly increase the risk every time you nip up the ladder.

 
Best just tradding it,he's paying for that service and from what I've read on here it'd be a right pain rinsing soap from frames (when wfp) just to reapply soap when you trad it!

 
Haha I would wfp it as well if he's not in. Oops sorry mate got mixed up /emoticons/biggrin.png

Actually I would just have to tell him I cant do it.

I went to do a gutter cleaning job last week. Like an idiot I turned up and had forgotten part of my gutter vac....

I looked at the ladders on my roof rack and decided to take them off...

Put them up to the house, got halfway up and lol no chance the whole thing was shaking like a leaf. Shitting myself and i wasnt even at top window height. Ladders back on van and had to go home to get vac bits.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Adam,do ya think if you'd been forced to start trad and do third level work that gutter job would have been easier to bang out?

Gutter vac must make the job pretty quick though yeah?

 
Adam,do ya think if you'd been forced to start trad and do third level work that gutter job would have been easier to bang out?
Gutter vac must make the job pretty quick though yeah?
Gutter vac made it well quick. If we discount the time wasted running back and forth for forgotten parts. /emoticons/tongue.png

 
Adam,do ya think if you'd been forced to start trad and do third level work that gutter job would have been easier to bang out?
Gutter vac must make the job pretty quick though yeah?

Yes I think ladders are probably quicker for gutter work in most situations. The vac is great but does get clogged sometimes. I suppose each has their place.

I would have never considered doing window cleaning traditional. To be honest I'm always surprised im a window cleaner it would have been the last job I would imagine to be doing. I don't like heights and I'm not good in social situations with strangers, door knocking was my worst nightmare etc. Wfp and the Internet has changed the game and put it more into my comfort zone. I started out car valeting and pressure washing window cleaning was never a thought until I realised it could be done from the ground with fancy equipment.

The extent of me using a ladder is bungalows and conny roofs

 
I didn't even know if were scared of heights when started out,couldn't recall being very high up! I know a windy here who's trad and scared of heights,done some work with him and I was footing that ladder far too much lol

 
Each to their own, but if I turned up to quote a job and they INSISTED I do it trad, I'd only have two words, "see ya".

I haven't spent thousands on equipment for someone to tell me how to do my job

 
Each to their own, but if I turned up to quote a job and they INSISTED I do it trad, I'd only have two words, "see ya".I haven't spent thousands on equipment for someone to tell me how to do my job
They aren't telling you how to do your job they are asking for a quote to clean it how they want

If you don't want to don't do it but they have the right to ask..like people who prefer to go through an automated car wash or get it pressure washed or get it done by hand

What i dislike is when someone says "do you use one of those poles or do it the PROPER way"

That is just rude as you spend all that money to do the job PROPERLY

I have no time for those numptys but anyone is free to ask me to quote to clean trad..

 
They aren't telling you how to do your job they are asking for a quote to clean it how they wantIf you don't want to don't do it but they have the right to ask..like people who prefer to go through an automated car wash or get it pressure washed or get it done by hand

What i dislike is when someone says "do you use one of those poles or do it the PROPER way"

That is just rude as you spend all that money to do the job PROPERLY

I have no time for those numptys but anyone is free to ask me to quote to clean trad..
If they ASK, no problem (still wouldn't do it). But if they INSISTED (that's why I typed it in capitals) I wouldn't entertain them.

Any customer that feels they are my boss are instantly removed as I'm rammo with work

 
Well, let me just say that I've picked up lots of customers who used to have WFP windys but didn't like the method. You always hear the same thing 'It left marks' or 'he didn't do the sills'.

I think overall most people prefer a trad window cleaner because they feel its a job better done. Having said that, I now have a WFP system as well as my trad stuff and overall both methods are effective (if done properly).

Its just the way customers percieve things - it doesn't mean one is better than the other. Having said that, now when I quote I always tell them which method Im going to be using so there are no surprises. At the end of the day, if the window are dangerous by ladder then I'll WFP it. If the house is easy and the ground is level, I'll always trad it. Why? Becasue you can clean the sills better, remove bird poo with your scraper and properly wipe all the frames - with a WFP its harder and you can't see the sills becasue your on the ground.

Also my setup is a Big Boy backpack bungee tied to a trolley and I dont have a massive intergrated vann system like some of you G's on here /emoticons/wink.png

 
Just to say, I'm not knocking trad in any way, I did it for 14 years.

But I've sold of my trad stuff as I want my day to be as easy as possible (I'm 50 now!! Lol) so don't take on trad as I'm packed solid with wfp. Just making my day simple /emoticons/smile.png

 
Depends on the quality of wfp cleaners locally, dictates local peoples perception of how good it is. Ive seen some horrendous ones here who basically just spray the glass with water and thats it.

Where as most people know trad can be done good or bad (from years of previous experience with windys) not everyone will give wfp an easy second chance imo. They may well think after one bad experience thats all its upto. However the results seem really good with both methods if done right.

 
I have said it many times before that the method is irrelevant..it is the numpty doing a bad job that gives us all a slapdash reputation

Whether trad or wfp i will always do a perfect job as that is what i am paid to do

 
What i dislike is when someone says "do you use one of those poles or do it the PROPER way"That is just rude as you spend all that money to do the job PROPERLY
They're not rude, just poorly educated. That's where a smidge of patronising patience comes in as you explain the benefits of a 'pole thingy'

 
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