My canvassing blog!

[Iron Giant]

Ultimately I just try to be the best I can be no doubt you are doing the same in putting yourself light years ahead of other lads in your area through quality of service and been customer focused , That's what I do anyway round my way I am the most expensive but I give 100% and its not just a job to me I live and breath it and its about raising standards across the board .

 

[Chris33]

@Iron Giant same mate. It's sad to say but it's my life, a massive part of who I am now. It's when you realise you speak to more window cleaner pals than previous pals that there is an issue lol

What part of the country are you in?

 

[Iron Giant]

County Durham , Their is a fair few people who won't accept my prices and will happily pay £2-3 less or more and get a **** job frames not cleaned etc . Some lads made the switch to wfp 3 years after me and their quality of finish is shocking and I am guessing customers accept the bad finish on price and also having no clue that their windows should be 100% gleaming frames and all .

 

[Chris33]

@Iron Giant I'm making that wfp transition right now! I cleaned frames trad but the difference when done with wfp is quite amazing isn't it

Properly deep cleaning

 

[Iron Giant]

Yes 100% I tell all custys that the clean I will provide is a thorough deep clean every time obviously its harder the first clean but all my new first cleans get charged 50% more .

The other lads are only cleaning the face of the frames so just what you can see , I watched the above said cleaner on a house next door to me that was surrounded by trees and had had some building work done and it was a first clean , He cleaned the windows faster than me on my regular clean of around 10 yrs and their was loads of bits of **** that you get off the trees just left sitting on the glass and he walked way assuming they were spotless no doubt .

 

[PJ Bullard]

Shocking story.

I sometimes see cow boys tradding wearing no uniform, showing no style or professionalism climbing up ladders IN TRAINERS

and Im thinking..wait til u slip mate

As for wfp like you say, time and attention to detail is key. Took me a while to nail the techniques and stop runs down the panes, but now I am confident that I am miles better than the trad cowboys.

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[Iron Giant]

It is a time and experience thing but also investing time outside normal working hours off the glass like been on here and keeping up to date with changes in the industry along with interacting with other windys swapping hints and tips etc , Some lads will treat it as a job others are way beyond that .

 

[Bucko Jr]

It is a time and experience thing but also investing time outside normal working hours off the glass like been on here and keeping up to date with changes in the industry along with interacting with other windys swapping hints and tips etc , Some lads will treat it as a job others are way beyond that .

I agree with you iron giant I'm not even a year in yet and it's took over my life I love it and the wife says that she can tell the difference in me as I'm really happy in my work now. Looking forward to this year.

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[Chris33]

@Bucko Jr and myself are same time in. Different paths I guess though eh matey. You more waterfed and me more trad from the beginning ...same result for us tho /emoticons/wink.png

 

[Bucko Jr]

@Bucko Jr and myself are same time in. Different paths I guess though eh matey. You more waterfed and me more trad from the beginning ...same result for us tho /emoticons/wink.png

We are mate. It's been good seeing how we both doing. I'm a bit behind you on how many customers but I will get there. And yes defo same results [emoji6][emoji6]

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[ECS Windows]

I agree with you iron giant I'm not even a year in yet and it's took over my life I love it and the wife says that she can tell the difference in me as I'm really happy in my work now. Looking forward to this year.
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The Mrs said the same to me the other day and I'm in the stressful early days. Its incredible how quickly it takes over your life (in a good way). Had an old girl tell me she had a window cleaner the other day, went in, came back out and called me over. Her daughter was visiting and had watched me clean. Followed us both round the house basically selling me to her mum. She asked if I had ocd and strangely was the best compliment haha

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[dmw]

Shocking story.
I sometimes see cow boys tradding wearing no uniform, showing no style or professionalism climbing up ladders IN TRAINERS

and Im thinking..wait til u slip mate

As for wfp like you say, time and attention to detail is key. Took me a while to nail the techniques and stop runs down the panes, but now I am confident that I am miles better than the trad cowboys.

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

For many years on the ladders I've always wore boots in winter which can be a bit cumbersome and trainers on the better days which are lighter and more comfortable without any issue.

 

[Panorama window cleaning]

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[Panorama window cleaning]

Chris33...watch this video of josh latimers where he is talking about five arounds. Think its 22 mins in.

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[Chris33]

@Panorama window cleaning, i watched it. Good examples of how to group work closely together and sell services.

I remember pro green doing something similar with commercial. Taking a photo of the premises and attaching it to the quote. Nice personal touches count.

 

[adamangler]

The Mrs said the same to me the other day and I'm in the stressful early days. Its incredible how quickly it takes over your life (in a good way). Had an old girl tell me she had a window cleaner the other day, went in, came back out and called me over. Her daughter was visiting and had watched me clean. Followed us both round the house basically selling me to her mum. She asked if I had ocd and strangely was the best compliment haha
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The early days can be a killer but whereas a lot of guys will quit if you hang on in there it feels great when you have enough work to not worry.

Anything worth doing is going to be painful but the rewards are here for those strong enough to keep going.

I look at how many of lads i know are stuck in dead end jobs moaning about life but foo scared to do anything about it. I was one of them. With 3 kids and bills to pay I think it takes great courage to start a business where everything depends on you, there can be no excuses if you fail but the sense of pride you get when you start to succeed it worth every sleepless night.

I think if you can start a business it gives you that feeling you can do anything you put your mind to.

For me personally it's been a mental journey, my confidence and self belief now is such a contrast to being skint and depressed for years.

 

[Chris33]

Just a little update on business! This here is my new van..nv200 and signed up ready to go to work lads. I had got a big transit but it's loud, slow and uses loads of fuel  (23mpg) and is ugly as sin! Miss my pug partner if truth be told.

Most recently I been refining and refining, basically compressing the best of a 5 weekly round into a monthly one...which was fine until the phone started ringing again!

Think there is 75 houses on gocardless mostly direct from website new custy sign ups but payment reminders also mention it as do vista print clean tickets.

Add ons. This has played a big part this spring into summer compared to when I started last year. After many a chat with @K in Kent I decided with his guidance to start some pressure washing. Quite a big step mentally compared to jumping up a gutter, I don't know why.

He has worked on my website www.fifewindowcleaningservices.co.uk a great deal lately, and added amazing content (especially on pressure washing pages...his background and let's be honest..one of our better add on pays) and the site is now ranking in Edinburgh under driveway cleaning Edinburgh and patio cleaning Edinburgh  on page 1 google. Considering the competition in the capital that's impressive! Had 2 pressure wash calls from Edinburgh just yesterday infact, and that ain't even my home area/main target zone.

All other pages are also ranking higher and with pages specific to my main towns he's enabled me to gain more localised work. Check him out in the sponsors section on this forum for a service that I from experience can guarantee has got me a lot of add on/window work.

I got these fliers also made up,card quality and with info on other side ie list of services and a bit about me. From what i read about flier psychology the keys were ask a question, offer a solution and have a clear call to action 

I may well punt these out targeted to nice areas with shan (bad) drives and chap a few days later with portfolio of works on me...i do like a wee door chap! 

 

[Iron Giant]

Nice one Chris really really well done !!

 

[ECSEssex]

Just a little update on business! This here is my new van..nv200 and signed up ready to go to work lads. I had got a big transit but it's loud, slow and uses loads of fuel  (23mpg) and is ugly as sin! Miss my pug partner if truth be told.
 
Most recently I been refining and refining, basically compressing the best of a 5 weekly round into a monthly one...which was fine until the phone started ringing again!
 
Think there is 75 houses on gocardless mostly direct from website new custy sign ups but payment reminders also mention it as do vista print clean tickets.
 
Add ons. This has played a big part this spring into summer compared to when I started last year. After many a chat with [mention=1941]K in Kent[/mention] I decided with his guidance to start some pressure washing. Quite a big step mentally compared to jumping up a gutter, I don't know why.
 
He has worked on my website www.fifewindowcleaningservices.co.uk a great deal lately, and added amazing content (especially on pressure washing pages...his background and let's be honest..one of our better add on pays) and the site is now ranking in Edinburgh under driveway cleaning Edinburgh and patio cleaning Edinburgh  on page 1 google. Considering the competition in the capital that's impressive! Had 2 pressure wash calls from Edinburgh just yesterday infact, and that ain't even my home area/main target zone.
 
All other pages are also ranking higher and with pages specific to my main towns he's enabled me to gain more localised work. Check him out in the sponsors section on this forum for a service that I from experience can guarantee has got me a lot of add on/window work.
 
I got these fliers also made up,card quality and with info on other side ie list of services and a bit about me. From what i read about flier psychology the keys were ask a question, offer a solution and have a clear call to action 
 
I may well punt these out targeted to nice areas with shan (bad) drives and chap a few days later with portfolio of works on me...i do like a wee door chap! 
View attachment 10459
View attachment 10460
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Yazooooooo [emoji480]

I like the flyer a lot [emoji1360]


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[Gazz]

Out of all the options you did Chris. Which ways would you recommend for gaining alot of customers?

 

[Chris33]

@Gazz probably was regular buy and sell sites use (twice a day everyday over 20 plus pages) with nicely written text and link to business page on advert.

I had to do the above to get the reviews and build the skills to then partake in the below 

That didnt get me the best quality work though, that has came from the website and boosting fb status'. By quality I mean more ££ basically  

Also it's like any transition, as local rep grew your damn right i upped prices for all work and just generally became more visible or known locally 

@ECSEssex i must go through at least two of them a day haha