Green Pro Clean Ltd
Well-known member
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- 8,103
- Location
- Nottingham & Derbyshire
I have commented on canvassing many times before as a few of you will know from previous posts and have never had an issue canvassing for myself (or others for that matter)
What I have discovered is in the winter you can still achieve 3 - 4 new customers per hour which is not too different from my summer time averages.
My only issue with canvassing is after a day out cleaning the windows I do like to have my cuppa and chill for half hour after which I am not really in canvass mood so to speak.
I have considered hiring other 'canvassing companies' to canvass for me but my issue with this two part.
1: There are so many mixed reports on this that it seems a bit like do I put my money on red or black at the roulette table, seems I have just as much chance of winning or losing either way.
2: We are not in desperate need of customers as I have more than enough to keep busy but now we have gone Ltd and are planning expansion the only way to do this is to take on more staff and vans.
Now there seems to be a lot of thought as soon as a windy is busy full time about taking on another 'helper / mate' to help with the work load but I think this is the premature demise of many budding enterprises (I have traveled this road myself)
I think the only way to truly make it work once you are flat out is to first hire a full time canvasser for your business, that can continually bring in fresh business day after day and expand the customer lists rapidly. Prior to hiring the canvasser I think you need to ensure you are in a position (financially) to put another van on the road as soon as the time comes.
Once the canvasser has you at a point where you can not physically fit any more jobs into the day you split the round in two and take on the new guy at this point, stack a healthy amount of work to fill up 8 hours a day five days a week for him and you keep the left overs which will still be growing on a daily basis as your canvasser will still be in full swing, then once again when your round is above capacity add another van and divide again.
You all probably think 'yeah but hiring a canvasser full time is expensive' but you have to remember full time for a canvasser is only about 4 - 5 hours per day, any more than that and they will knacker out within a week or two.
I have just started to realize I am again in a position to take on another employee but don't want them in my van, I want them out in their own van working hard, whilst i pick up the left overs and new cleans etc. As I am in this position I have just hired a canvasser to work for me on a full time basis, she has not done door to door before but came out with me yesterday, was told the pricing system and pitch sent to the first door on her own (I feel two of us at a door together might be too much so threw her in at the deep end)
Three hours later we stop for a cuppa, she still has not a single customer, working the same street I am up to 9 new customers already. After the cuppa, she cracked her first 'sale' then bagged two more in the next twenty minutes once she had faith and confidence.
I will give her Monday and Tuesday by then end of which I will know whether she can 'cut the mustard' If she does as well as yesterday afternoon she could bring in 10-12 new customers per day.
Now I am paying her hourly at £8 per hour so already that's £1.69 above minimum and 55p above living wage so by comparison to factory work or McDonads not too bad with the added condition that if she get's 12 or more new customers in a day I will pay her a £50 bonus on top.
I have told her she can work as many hours as she wants, starting at 10:30am but I expect a minimum of 4 hours per day, so the bonus is there so if she manages 10 or 11 in 4 hours she will stay out to get that last one or two to make up the numbers.
So by reasonable maths lets say she does 4 days per week that's £128 of basic pay, if she hits 12 per day that's £200 in bonus so £328 for the 4 day week and with my policy of a £10 per job minimum she will have bought in a monthly revenue of £480 of ongoing monthly work.
So in effect she cost me 0.68 of a first clean to keep on the staff full time so I am already in profit by 32% on a first clean.
Even if she only manages 1 customer per hour I am still 20% in profit on a first clean.
From what I can gather many canvassing companies out there would want to charge between £960 and £1440 for £480 of work and you would have to wait for 4 months before you see a penny of return.
So I figure but that logic I can afford to have her canvass for 45 days before I will have paid her a base pay of £1440 and even if only 1 customer per hour over the 45 days she will have produced 180 new customers with a minimum revenue of £1800 so I am still in profit by £360 in month one, £2160 in month two, £3960 by middle of month four and so on.
So obviously not a system for someone that wants to just build a one man round and be happy with that (nothing wrong with that) but for those considering expansion then I think this could be a system worth looking deeper into.
Now I feel as if I have started rambling a bit
What I have discovered is in the winter you can still achieve 3 - 4 new customers per hour which is not too different from my summer time averages.
My only issue with canvassing is after a day out cleaning the windows I do like to have my cuppa and chill for half hour after which I am not really in canvass mood so to speak.
I have considered hiring other 'canvassing companies' to canvass for me but my issue with this two part.
1: There are so many mixed reports on this that it seems a bit like do I put my money on red or black at the roulette table, seems I have just as much chance of winning or losing either way.
2: We are not in desperate need of customers as I have more than enough to keep busy but now we have gone Ltd and are planning expansion the only way to do this is to take on more staff and vans.
Now there seems to be a lot of thought as soon as a windy is busy full time about taking on another 'helper / mate' to help with the work load but I think this is the premature demise of many budding enterprises (I have traveled this road myself)
I think the only way to truly make it work once you are flat out is to first hire a full time canvasser for your business, that can continually bring in fresh business day after day and expand the customer lists rapidly. Prior to hiring the canvasser I think you need to ensure you are in a position (financially) to put another van on the road as soon as the time comes.
Once the canvasser has you at a point where you can not physically fit any more jobs into the day you split the round in two and take on the new guy at this point, stack a healthy amount of work to fill up 8 hours a day five days a week for him and you keep the left overs which will still be growing on a daily basis as your canvasser will still be in full swing, then once again when your round is above capacity add another van and divide again.
You all probably think 'yeah but hiring a canvasser full time is expensive' but you have to remember full time for a canvasser is only about 4 - 5 hours per day, any more than that and they will knacker out within a week or two.
I have just started to realize I am again in a position to take on another employee but don't want them in my van, I want them out in their own van working hard, whilst i pick up the left overs and new cleans etc. As I am in this position I have just hired a canvasser to work for me on a full time basis, she has not done door to door before but came out with me yesterday, was told the pricing system and pitch sent to the first door on her own (I feel two of us at a door together might be too much so threw her in at the deep end)
Three hours later we stop for a cuppa, she still has not a single customer, working the same street I am up to 9 new customers already. After the cuppa, she cracked her first 'sale' then bagged two more in the next twenty minutes once she had faith and confidence.
I will give her Monday and Tuesday by then end of which I will know whether she can 'cut the mustard' If she does as well as yesterday afternoon she could bring in 10-12 new customers per day.
Now I am paying her hourly at £8 per hour so already that's £1.69 above minimum and 55p above living wage so by comparison to factory work or McDonads not too bad with the added condition that if she get's 12 or more new customers in a day I will pay her a £50 bonus on top.
I have told her she can work as many hours as she wants, starting at 10:30am but I expect a minimum of 4 hours per day, so the bonus is there so if she manages 10 or 11 in 4 hours she will stay out to get that last one or two to make up the numbers.
So by reasonable maths lets say she does 4 days per week that's £128 of basic pay, if she hits 12 per day that's £200 in bonus so £328 for the 4 day week and with my policy of a £10 per job minimum she will have bought in a monthly revenue of £480 of ongoing monthly work.
So in effect she cost me 0.68 of a first clean to keep on the staff full time so I am already in profit by 32% on a first clean.
Even if she only manages 1 customer per hour I am still 20% in profit on a first clean.
From what I can gather many canvassing companies out there would want to charge between £960 and £1440 for £480 of work and you would have to wait for 4 months before you see a penny of return.
So I figure but that logic I can afford to have her canvass for 45 days before I will have paid her a base pay of £1440 and even if only 1 customer per hour over the 45 days she will have produced 180 new customers with a minimum revenue of £1800 so I am still in profit by £360 in month one, £2160 in month two, £3960 by middle of month four and so on.
So obviously not a system for someone that wants to just build a one man round and be happy with that (nothing wrong with that) but for those considering expansion then I think this could be a system worth looking deeper into.
Now I feel as if I have started rambling a bit