customer asking for other quotes

[johnny bravo]

I think its about time to drop a customer who has asked another windy how much he would charge her . Hes Trad . Her Previous windy was trad who she dropped to ask me to clean them . Around 12 months now everything seems ok.
I was a bit shocked as she showed no reasons to say she wasnt happy with my service.
Maybe looking for a Lower price . They are not short as he works off shore.

You think you know your customers but you never do
She dosent know i know she asked for a quote.
dont think ill let her Cancel, just dump and say im too busy and down sizeing

Residents Fb pages seem to be plastered with new window cleaners now .

 

[ched999uk]

I think its about time to drop a customer who has asked another windy how much he would charge her . Hes Trad . Her Previous windy was trad who she dropped to ask me to clean them . Around 12 months now everything seems ok.
I was a bit shocked as she showed no reasons to say she wasnt happy with my service.
Maybe looking for a Lower price . They are not short as he works off shore.

You think you know your customers but you never do
She dosent know i know she asked for a quote.
dont think ill let her Cancel, just dump and say im too busy and down sizeing

Residents Fb pages seem to be plastered with new window cleaners now .

If it's a decent price job stick with it until something better paid comes along. No point losing money by dumping till you have a better paid job to do in it's place.

 

[spruce]

Some customers just prefer a trad cleaner in the same way we have customers who would only employ a wfp cleaner. In years gone by, some customers hated us leaving the windows wet. They also feel that a trad cleaner should be cheaper.

There is nothing wrong with them asking someone else to quote. If you are doing a good job, then stick with them until they cancel your services. You just mustn't take things personally.

We've lost customers because they don't feel comfortable with us. We have also gained customers through recommendation, as people trust us.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I think its about time to drop a customer who has asked another windy how much he would charge her . Hes Trad . Her Previous windy was trad who she dropped to ask me to clean them . Around 12 months now everything seems ok.
I was a bit shocked as she showed no reasons to say she wasnt happy with my service.
Maybe looking for a Lower price . They are not short as he works off shore.

You think you know your customers but you never do
She dosent know i know she asked for a quote.
dont think ill let her Cancel, just dump and say im too busy and down sizeing

Residents Fb pages seem to be plastered with new window cleaners now .

As I said before no loyalty in window cleaning. I have bent over backwards to help customers and still got dropped. Now I am in complete control and don't get messed around no more.

 

[Yogi1872]

I used to work offshore, contrary to what everyone thinks it doesn't mean your loaded. Most aren't tbh.

Maybe she was asking to see how it reflects your price to compare it with. If 2 shops are beside watch other and ones cheaper than the other then which shop would you shop at?

 

[Pjj]

Some might just be checking to see if what they are paying is a good price I wouldn’t worry about it just keep doing it unless she’s a pita customer , she might not get rid of you the other guy might be higher priced than you ??

 

[RickyG]

I used to work offshore, contrary to what everyone thinks it doesn't mean your loaded. Most aren't tbh.

Maybe she was asking to see how it reflects your price to compare it with. If 2 shops are beside watch other and ones cheaper than the other then which shop would you shop at?

There is 2 off licence’s next door to each other not far from me and one of em has a big sign in the window says CHEAPER THAN NEXT DOOR Nobody ever goes in the dearer shop must be a front for something dodgy ?

 

[johnny bravo]

the average Price here is around £10 / £14 Private estate . i have around 120 on the estate so it does not effect me if i loose any
As usually happens you loose one you pick 1 or 2 new customers up again.
Residents Fb page she must have forgot i have access to it HaHa most areas & new build estates have Fb pages set up now. Just a bit peeved she was asking for a price . Sometimes your best off media

 

[Yogi1872]

the average Price here is around £10 / £14 Private estate . i have around 120 on the estate so it does not effect me if i loose any
As usually happens you loose one you pick 1 or 2 new customers up again.
Residents Fb page she must have forgot i have access to it HaHa most areas & new build estates have Fb pages set up now. Just a bit peeved she was asking for a price . Sometimes your best off media

When I give a price and the customer thinks its to dear il usually offer her the number of the people who have the cheapest prices. It takes away any haggling aswell. I've gave them an option of a cheaper price.

This might be petty and it is, it's probably not best for buisnes either but I wouldn't take them back on if they did cancel to go elsewhere. Or they would get given a price that was more than it was before.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Today an old customer blanked me as we walked by. I am now blocking folk from my mobile that I don't want to work for. This is the easiest way to stop them contacting me. If they call on another phone and ask why I will tell them the truth and say i blocked them because I'm too busy now with loyal customers. fwiw

 

[Iron Giant]

I think its about time to drop a customer who has asked another windy how much he would charge her . Hes Trad . Her Previous windy was trad who she dropped to ask me to clean them . Around 12 months now everything seems ok.
I was a bit shocked as she showed no reasons to say she wasnt happy with my service.
Maybe looking for a Lower price . They are not short as he works off shore.

You think you know your customers but you never do
She dosent know i know she asked for a quote.
dont think ill let her Cancel, just dump and say im too busy and down sizeing

Residents Fb pages seem to be plastered with new window cleaners now .

You assume they aren't short of money but you don't know the ins and out's of their personal life they might have to cut back like a lot of other people, surprisingly it's the ones with plenty of money or the ones we assume have plenty of money that sometimes need to make cutbacks

 

[spruce]

the average Price here is around £10 / £14 Private estate . i have around 120 on the estate so it does not effect me if i loose any
As usually happens you loose one you pick 1 or 2 new customers up again.
Residents Fb page she must have forgot i have access to it HaHa most areas & new build estates have Fb pages set up now. Just a bit peeved she was asking for a price . Sometimes your best off media

Don't be. Neighbours will talk about all sorts of things, including their window cleaner. Sometimes I tell them they must really be scrapping the conversation barrel if they are talking about me.

Today an old customer blanked me as we walked by. I am now blocking folk from my mobile that I don't want to work for. This is the easiest way to stop them contacting me. If they call on another phone and ask why I will tell them the truth and say i blocked them because I'm too busy now with loyal customers. fwiw

As you get older your powers of recognition can deteriorate. And one's mind can be on something else. Their powers of concentration are most probably on not tripping up or they are in pain. They might have been having a bad day or for some bad news.. If someone is out of their environment I will recognise them but can have trouble placing where I know them from.

So they might not have blanked you knowingly on purpose.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Don't be. Neighbours will talk about all sorts of things, including their window cleaner. Sometimes I tell them they must really be scrapping the conversation barrel if they are talking about me.

As you get older your powers of recognition can deteriorate. And one's mind can be on something else. Their powers of concentration are most probably on not tripping up or they are in pain. They might have been having a bad day or for some bad news.. If someone is out of their environment I will recognise them but can have trouble placing where I know them from.

So they might not have blanked you knowingly on purpose.

No they are just back from a long holiday around the world. Always saying they have no money and want things done on cheap. Better to not get involved and let them find someone else. Problem in this world, great workmen and cheap prices are very hard to find. I was that guy but not anymore as I need a new van.

 

[THL4KEL]

I would just carrying on servicing them until they get in touch and cancel and then I wouldn't go back or if I did it would be at a higher rate. At the end of the day they are not your friend and they always have the choice to cancel as so do we...

 

[johnny bravo]

Ive put a lot of prices up latelly . only a £1 or £2 Still priced competitively in the area. Not one cancelled yet. Like everyone we need decent loyal customers who appreciate our service we provide to them on a regular basis for a steady income.
Like most of us if we loose one you usually replace that one with a better customer
Just makes you wonder if anyone is not happy with any part of our service then simply let us know . Easier to put right

 

[Mart1001]

Be professional, she can do what the hell she likes. You're a businessman and there's no room in business for hurty feelings. If she does drop you for another cleaner, be of the mindset that it's her loss, she's not going to get the same level of service from another windy, if you're worried that she might, then that's something you need to work on.

If you're not happy with a customer for whatever reason, late payments, constant cancelling, then you have every right to drop them, but you should never drop a customer just to beat them to the punch, that's just bad business.

 

[Iron Giant]

Good that this has come back up, as I have been scratching my head about what to do with some custys that I found out about via a mate of mine screen shotting the witch hunt, one asked about prices but wasn't slating me so I'll let that pass as I don't think any custys have a realisation how expensive it is to run a business,

The second one openly jumped in a slated me a bit after an issue which happened ages ago now either her memory is as bad as mine or she chose to elaborate/lie about it and she slated my pricing and didn't believe even the care home near to the estate would be more than £40 it would take two men half a day I reckon

For years this customer and her husband were good custys and I had a decent rapport with them, but I would have been totally oblivious to her thoughts on me without finding out from my mate, If I drop them I'll have to give a reason if they get in touch as I was just not going to bother going back and cancel their direct debit,

interested on others views on this.

 

[PC]

I stopped trying to take things personally years ago. Business is business and all that. But it does still get to me sometimes.
If I’m in the same situation (and it’s happened many times) and the customer is a good price and conveniently located near to other work I just carry on as normal. But in the back of my mind I’m preparing myself for them to cancel at some point. So when they do I’m expecting it. You know you will replace them fairly quickly. And usually with better priced work.
If it’s easier and better for you to just let them go then get rid and think no more of it. If they are smack bang in the middle of other work it can be a bit trickier as you run the risk of losing some other work to their new window cleaner. I’ve been doing this for 40 years now and absolutely nothing surprises me any more.
There is absolutely no loyalty and never has been. If you do a good job, are reliable and the customer feels comfortable with you then they will retain you for many years purely because it’s convenient for them.
And remember theres nowt as queer as folk as they saying goes!

 

[spruce]

As we get older we can also become senile. Pensioners often lose the ability to realise that running a business is getting more and more expensive because their own economic world shrinks.

Many could be on the edges of dementia but are at the point they can still seem normal. They begin to have a skewed perception of the reality. They usually also start to become more aggressive. It's a disease that changes their personality. It's not their fault.

They could well start to see the whole world as their enemy because of the prices being charged for more and more of the services they need to pay for.

And unfortunately, there are some tradesmen who do over charge.

Kwikfit wanted £330 for replacing the centre and rear exhaust sections on the wife's car this week. The parts cost £116 from our local motor factors as a retail customer. How do they justify that difference for a 30 minute job?
I could go onto social media and tell everyone what a ripoff Kwikfit is, but I won't. They just won't get my business this time. But there will be some who would feel they owe it to society to inform everyone.

Years back we lost a customer because she believed we were ripping her off for the price we charged to clean 3 windows. We cleaned them for about 6 months before this criticism arose. She told everyone locally that we were a couple of ripoff merchants. We never lost any of our surrounding customers because they were happy with the job we did and the price we charged. I even greeted her on occasion when cleaning the next door neighbour's windows. It all came to nothing.

Then my son in law took over that section of the round and she asked him to clean her 3 windows. He thought she was a new customer. The same thing happened to him. He was also accused of ripping her off.

As has been said, we must just become teflon coated on not take these things personally.

 

[dazmond]

Some people are strange and perceive things differently when it comes to the passing of time(eg inflation),money and services.ive lost customers in the past for a quid price rise after years of keeping their price the same.ive had others who just think I'm ripping them off charging them £40 for their new,large house that requires a 40ft pole to clean some of their windows...

Most haven't a clue about overheads,costs and running a business(and/or don't care)....

I think there is more people with pressure on their finances these days from higher interest rates,inflation and the constant doom and gloom talked about in the media and TV.i forget because I'm very comfortable financially and ive not had any money problems for many years now....

It doesn't help when you tell your customers your off on holiday again.even though I only go abroad 2 or 3 times a year my customers think I'm 'always off on holiday!'

 

[Marko067]

Some people are strange and perceive things differently when it comes to the passing of time...

Many years back after working on my own for a number of years I took on a young lad for a short time while he found his feet in the trade.
I had a customer in her mid forties who thought that because we did the job in half the time together, compared with when I cleaned them on my own, she should only pay us half as much.
For months I had the 2x5mins equals the same as 1x10mins conversation with her but she just never seemed to get it. I cleaned her windows for years but she always had that look in her eye that said she thought we were doing her over.