Any big customer loses?

[Chris34]

Back on topic, so far in the last 3-4 months, I've lost 4 jobs and three stated the cost of living crisis the other one never stated anything but the following week they were having solar panels installed on both sides of the house so got me stumped as they'd always been good customers for over 10 years

Sounds like they have gone to war with everything and are looking to reduce all costs. The solar panels although are an expense, they're probably looking at the future savings. Might even have got them on the drip and your cleaning money is part of the money being saved to pay for them.

Shocking that they've done that after 10 years of service though.

 

[carp boy]

Sounds like they have gone to war with everything and are looking to reduce all costs. The solar panels although are an expense, they're probably looking at the future savings. Might even have got them on the drip and your cleaning money is part of the money being saved to pay for them.

Shocking that they've done that after 10 years of service though.

Just goes to show.... No loyalty or concern for anyone.

 

[Iron Giant]

Sounds like they have gone to war with everything and are looking to reduce all costs. The solar panels although are an expense, they're probably looking at the future savings. Might even have got them on the drip and your cleaning money is part of the money being saved to pay for them.

Shocking that they've done that after 10 years of service though.

A lad yesterday was very honest and said he simply couldn't afford my service right now I wasn't surprised about this as when I did the first clean on his new house they hadn't been cleaned for months, but the solar panel one was very final thanked me for my service over the years and I thought maybe her husband had trouble with his job but two weeks later and I saw the solar panels that was a bit of a shock,

Swings and roundabouts as a lad used to say to me years ago, they've all been replaced with other jobs now, I just count myself lucky I ain't having to cut back.

 

[Iron Giant]

Just goes to show.... No loyalty or concern for anyone.

The only loyalty and concern is to themselves and their families they are the ones that come first which is understandable it's water off a ducks back to me,

 

[Iron Giant]

Probably call you back to clean the panels. My older rich customers are getting solar panels fitted so i will be asking them if they want them cleaned every March.

Time will tell, couldn't give a too be honest

 

[Part Timer]

A lad yesterday was very honest and said he simply couldn't afford my service right now I wasn't surprised about this as when I did the first clean on his new house they hadn't been cleaned for months, but the solar panel one was very final thanked me for my service over the years and I thought maybe her husband had trouble with his job but two weeks later and I saw the solar panels that was a bit of a shock,

Swings and roundabouts as a lad used to say to me years ago, they've all been replaced with other jobs now, I just count myself lucky I ain't having to cut back.

The solar panels would have been ordered months ago

 

[Iron Giant]

The solar panels would have been ordered months ago

No doubt about that mate, just baffled as to why they dropped me and made it quite final, I had a good rapport with them so just a bit stumped but people's circumstances do change and not everyone wants to disclose if they need to cutback but in the grand scheme of things saving £14 every weeks ain't going to turnaround their fortunes plus they are going to be getting free electric

 

[Part Timer]

Free after 6 years of paying for them. As you say saving £3.50 a week by cancelling you won't resolve any financial problems they might have.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

What i have quickly learnt is this. There is no loyalty in window cleaning, i have bent over backwards for customers and still got bumped. A guy was pestering me to clean his windows and i done them months ago. Now he owes me two cleans and phone turned off. I can usually tell if i going to get bumped but i give them the benefit of the doubt. All i do is don't go back nor take them back on, its part and parcel of our job. Standing order is definitely the way forward which will miss out the messers in the future.

 

[Chris34]

No doubt about that mate, just baffled as to why they dropped me and made it quite final, I had a good rapport with them so just a bit stumped but people's circumstances do change and not everyone wants to disclose if they need to cutback but in the grand scheme of things saving £14 every weeks ain't going to turnaround their fortunes plus they are going to be getting free electric

Maybe they're having self cleaning glass windows installed as well ?

I'm sure you've heard it before being in the game a lot longer than me... but I had a customer have a new conservatory built and I said I can give a quote for cleaning the glass roof on it on a regular basis, she said 'oh no there's no need, it's self cleaning' ? I did try to explain that it won't clean itself but she wasn't having any of it, was sold it as being self cleaning so it cleans everything itself ? Was an ex customer not long after due to covid lockdown and everyone needs to stay inside and I shouldn't be working ?

 

[Part Timer]

The only loyalty and concern is to themselves and their families they are the ones that come first which is understandable it's water off a ducks back to me,

I don't understand all of this "loyalty" guff, we are constantly looking for better customers and dumping those that now don't fit our business model yet somehow expect customers to be totally loyal to us????

 

[Yogi1872]

There will be a good few who want to cancel, but having had them cleaned for years they somehow think it will be awkward canceling so they just continue, it is daft and sounds daft but have you ever tried canceling a service where you have spoke to them for years every few months when they did work for you ?. Although we wouldn't have a problem with it, in there heads there's a fear for them to approach the subject with you. They just don't want the confrontation of doing it.

 

[THL4KEL]

No doubt about that mate, just baffled as to why they dropped me and made it quite final, I had a good rapport with them so just a bit stumped but people's circumstances do change and not everyone wants to disclose if they need to cutback but in the grand scheme of things saving £14 every weeks ain't going to turnaround their fortunes plus they are going to be getting free electric

Probably see a green van there....

 

[Iron Giant]

I don't understand all of this "loyalty" guff, we are constantly looking for better customers and dumping those that now don't fit our business model yet somehow expect customers to be totally loyal to us????

Neither do I, yes for me it's great that custys value my service and stick with me for years some have been with me for 20 years but they are older people who I see on a regular basis and we get on well so those, but 100's I don't see and they are more likely to look elsewhere if they chose to do so.

 

[Iron Giant]

Probably see a green van there....

He'll be quoting £5 for a 4 bed detached

 

[AllGleam]

Neither do I, yes for me it's great that custys value my service and stick with me for years some have been with me for 20 years but they are older people who I see on a regular basis and we get on well so those, but 100's I don't see and they are more likely to look elsewhere if they chose to do so.

Easy come easy go as they say

 

[Yogi1872]

Have had 3 so far, surprised its only 3 tbh, maybe people aren't at that stage yet where they are looking what outgoings can be cut to pay for other things. If people end up having to do that then it makes no sense to have a window cleaner, if we didn't clean windows it would probably be on our list to go aswell.

I prefer bank paymeants as it saves alot of time as previously some days you could end up spending a good amount of time talking to customers if you got caught with them, I'm not friends with them or that but in a way we know more about whats going on in there life's than some of there family members and vice versa through seeing them once a month. That attachmeant there will be the only reason alot of them will keep it going, if the wife or husband says the windows could really go then the other will say no we can't do that to x y or z. For those of us lucky enough to have a customerbase that's been there for years will keep that core base of it I'd imagine. If I start getting phone calls from people I've done for years then it would be time to start worrying I think

 

[Robt100]

Strangely I've had the opposite and picked up more work in the last few weeks and had no cancellations. But I have a feeling it'll come eventually, between myself and the previous cleaner a lot of these people have been customers for 15-20years, so probably in that "know them too well to cancel" category. But I have noticed the time from cleaning to being paid has slowly got longer and longer for the majority of customers. Which says to me I'm on the chopping board ?

 

[Cleanco]

Interesting topic this and it’s got me thinking as there are probably others in a similar situation. I’m currently sitting just under the vat reg and don’t really want to go over it as I could end up doin more work for less profit for god knows how long unless I took on a lot more work in a very short space of time and expanded rapidly. The problem is if they don’t up the vat reg threshold along with inflation I will end up basically earning less year on year. My prices are due to go up next year which will push the value of my round over the vat reg threshold. What would you do? 1. Get rid of the surplus work with each rise, work less hours but earn less money year on year or bite the bullrt and go down the vat route?

 

[Yogi1872]

Interesting topic this and it’s got me thinking as there are probably others in a similar situation. I’m currently sitting just under the vat reg and don’t really want to go over it as I could end up doin more work for less profit for god knows how long unless I took on a lot more work in a very short space of time and expanded rapidly. The problem is if they don’t up the vat reg threshold along with inflation I will end up basically earning less year on year. My prices are due to go up next year which will push the value of my round over the vat reg threshold. What would you do? 1. Get rid of the surplus work with each rise, work less hours but earn less money year on year or bite the bullrt and go down the vat route?

If you think you will continue to grow and take on more staff then in the end you would make more, if you have no intention of doing that and your work is domestic then I'd stay under it. Obviously if your work is mostly commercial then adding on vat isn't going to be an issue. I don't think the window cleaning buisness has enough outgoings every year to benifit from being able to claim vat back.

 

[ched999uk]

If your work is mainly domestic then I would say stay under the Vat threshold as otherwise you will either lose 20% of your income or put your prices up by 20% just to stay even! It also depends on how much you need to live on. Gaining 25% more work and then doing that work isn't going to be easy.

I assume you are aware that the threshold is a rolling 12 months not a tax year thing?

My bet is that the thresholds wont change. The Gov have to work out how to spend less and get more income without 'raising tax' if they can help it. I can't see how they can increase income much without some big increases in indirect taxation but then again increasing vat would increase inflation as would higher fuel and alcohol duty!
It's a tricky one for them to manage, as we have just witnessed doing things without any 'official' figures to back you up didn't go down well with the financial markets.

Maybe it's a good time to reduce your hours and have more home time?