It’s tough this canvassing lark!

[CleanDeeper]

The rejection is real lol.

From snotty women that just answer the door “YEAH” to the older couple that have just waited till I was walking back past to rip my flyer up in front of me and chucked it in the bin. ?

I thought I had thick skin but this is testing. It’s started off well but it’s getting tougher and tougher.

What’s the worst you lot have dealt with?

 

[Millsy]

I just advertise via Facebook took 26 new customers on since 9th of May . That said I will probably end up doing a bit of canvassing as I have my eldest lad starting with me next month so looking to take on a considerable amount of customers.

 

[CleanDeeper]

I just advertise via Facebook took 26 new customers on since 9th of May . That said I will probably end up doing a bit of canvassing as I have my eldest lad starting with me next month so looking to take on a considerable amount of customers.

I’ve been sharing in the groups etc but not had a single hit yet from Facebook. I haven’t paid for anything though.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

First year is hard and we have all been there. Eventually the work just seems to find you. I picked up 2 new customers next door from the ones I clean. This game is like buses, wait for ages and then 3 come at once. The other thing I have noticed is people I think have little disposable income have plenty and the ones that look like they do, don't.

 

[CleanDeeper]

First year is hard and we have all been there. Eventually the work just seems to find you. I picked up 2 new customers next door from the ones I clean. This game is like buses, wait for ages and then 3 come at once. The other thing I have noticed is people I think have little disposable income have plenty and the ones that look like they do, don't.

Had my first call from my “maybe” list today which was nice. Also picked another one up who leaves a couple doors away from me so that was nice. Nothing on the canvassing front today.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Had my first call from my “maybe” list today which was nice. Also picked another one up who leaves a couple doors away from me so that was nice. Nothing on the canvassing front today.

If you are relying on one thing then it will be very hard. But if you diversify and and want to clear out gutters and clean pvc like SFG then you have more opportunity to make money. Once money comes in then you can look at buying a PW and begin to clean driveways. More equipment one has then the more work can be had but it all comes down to money.

 

[WombatPool]

The worst I have dealt with ?


Taking on a customer which required the use of a ladder to climb an 8ft wall to stand on top of said wall and use WFP from there to reach windows on listed building.
Probably the only job I regret taking on from canvassing.

I fell off the bloody ladder yesterday come off lightly in the grand scheme of things and sprained my ankle !

Ched why didn’t I listen! Ladders….why bother!!!

 

[ched999uk]

The worst I have dealt with ?


Taking on a customer which required the use of a ladder to climb an 8ft wall to stand on top of said wall and use WFP from there to reach windows on listed building.
Probably the only job I regret taking on from canvassing.

I fell off the bloody ladder yesterday come off lightly in the grand scheme of things and sprained my ankle !

Ched why didn’t I listen! Ladders….why bother!!!

Just think of it as a BIG warning! Tell the customer what happened and you are no longer prepared to risk your life for £1. Say you will reduce the price by one window if they would like you to continue.
Obviously it's everyone's choice to use ladders or not and if you are in real need of money then it might be different.

Hope the ankles better soon.

 

[ched999uk]

The rejection is real lol.

From snotty women that just answer the door “YEAH” to the older couple that have just waited till I was walking back past to rip my flyer up in front of me and chucked it in the bin. ?

I thought I had thick skin but this is testing. It’s started off well but it’s getting tougher and tougher.

What’s the worst you lot have dealt with?

If it's tough in one area try a different one. Sometimes it's difficult to gauge an area. Keep it up it will work.

 

[Lukeyprice]

Had my first call from my “maybe” list today which was nice. Also picked another one up who leaves a couple doors away from me so that was nice. Nothing on the canvassing front today.

That's good, the maybe customers hardly ever get back to you.

I actually quite enjoy canvassing, it feels pretty rewarding when you get a new customer.
When you canvass how many customers are you getting per hour would you say?

 

[CleanDeeper]

If it's tough in one area try a different one. Sometimes it's difficult to gauge an area. Keep it up it will work.

Thanks, I’m going to keep it up that’s for sure! I started well getting 3 customers in 1.5 hours on my first ever outing canvassing but then it’s been slower, in the same area which is weird.

 

[CleanDeeper]

That's good, the maybe customers hardly ever get back to you.

I actually quite enjoy canvassing, it feels pretty rewarding when you get a new customer.
When you canvass how many customers are you getting per hour would you say?

I enjoy chatting to people and I would say I’m very easy to get on with so do enjoy most of it, it just does get you down the rejection sometimes. The mrs keeps saying I should put myself in their shoes, it’s someone knocking on without invite etc, still it’s a shame how rude some people can be.

I’m not sure on the amount per hour. What I’ve been doing is skipping ones that look hard work, like flat roofs then dropping a flyer through the really clean looking windows that look like they have a window cleaner for sure (unless I really like the house and garden lol). I’ve also been skipping the really run down looking houses, can’t see them paying my prices! So that then leaves the rest which tbf I’m shocked at how many say they have a window cleaner looking at the windows, maybe they all have traditional cleaners so just doing glass only.

 

[ched999uk]

I enjoy chatting to people and I would say I’m very easy to get on with so do enjoy most of it, it just does get you down the rejection sometimes. The mrs keeps saying I should put myself in their shoes, it’s someone knocking on without invite etc, still it’s a shame how rude some people can be.

I’m not sure on the amount per hour. What I’ve been doing is skipping ones that look hard work, like flat roofs then dropping a flyer through the really clean looking windows that look like they have a window cleaner for sure (unless I really like the house and garden lol). I’ve also been skipping the really run down looking houses, can’t see them paying my prices! So that then leaves the rest which tbf I’m shocked at how many say they have a window cleaner looking at the windows, maybe they all have traditional cleaners so just doing glass only.

Skip the ones you don't want to do or couldn't reach by all means but I would knock on the ones that have clean looking windows as they may be doing the downstairs ones themselves! As long as there isn't rubbish piled high in the gardens give them a go.

I was cleaning one house about 4 months ago and a couple walked over to me and asked about how I clean etc, they then said can you come and give us a quote. When they gave me their house number and I saw the house I was concerned ?! The front garden was about 5ft high in brambles and weeds, then the back was so overgrown I could only see 3 of the 4 windows for the brambles and weeds! They then explained they had had health issues and where turning their lives around. I gave them a quote with a few additional ££ for the poor access, they accepted. I cleaned it and they paid me cash which again was a bit of a concern, I texted next time and they replied gate had been opened. Clean went well and they paid by bank transfer. Next time they replied to the text that they where away but gate unlocked and they had had the garden cleared! Sure enough the garden had been cleared of all brambles and weeds and I could now see an above ground pool that is about 20ft long 10ft wide and 5 ft high in the garden that I didn't know was there!!!! Cleaned and all paid within 10 mins!

Anyway all I am saying is don't always judge people by their garden! That said I had leafletted that road and didn't drop one to them . Sometimes the next street can be so much better even though it looks the same. Keep at it, all my work is within 3 miles of me, but different days different directions, that way if I get a call a few weeks after a leaflet drop I will be close by within a few days to do the actual clean when it fits in. I have had calls from leaflets after 6 months or more.

 

[CleanDeeper]

Skip the ones you don't want to do or couldn't reach by all means but I would knock on the ones that have clean looking windows as they may be doing the downstairs ones themselves! As long as there isn't rubbish piled high in the gardens give them a go.

I was cleaning one house about 4 months ago and a couple walked over to me and asked about how I clean etc, they then said can you come and give us a quote. When they gave me their house number and I saw the house I was concerned ?! The front garden was about 5ft high in brambles and weeds, then the back was so overgrown I could only see 3 of the 4 windows for the brambles and weeds! They then explained they had had health issues and where turning their lives around. I gave them a quote with a few additional ££ for the poor access, they accepted. I cleaned it and they paid me cash which again was a bit of a concern, I texted next time and they replied gate had been opened. Clean went well and they paid by bank transfer. Next time they replied to the text that they where away but gate unlocked and they had had the garden cleared! Sure enough the garden had been cleared of all brambles and weeds and I could now see an above ground pool that is about 20ft long 10ft wide and 5 ft high in the garden that I didn't know was there!!!! Cleaned and all paid within 10 mins!

Anyway all I am saying is don't always judge people by their garden! That said I had leafletted that road and didn't drop one to them . Sometimes the next street can be so much better even though it looks the same. Keep at it, all my work is within 3 miles of me, but different days different directions, that way if I get a call a few weeks after a leaflet drop I will be close by within a few days to do the actual clean when it fits in. I have had calls from leaflets after 6 months or more.

Thanks for the reply, it really helps boost confidence etc. you are right to be fair because some of the ones I have got have been the ones I wasn’t expecting. I made a mistake of knocking on one with a for sale sign in the garden. I seen it just before the lady came to the door. As she opened the door I just laughed and said so sorry I see you have just sold your house but she actually said would you do a one off clean they do need doing. I took the job in the hope that the new home owners would be happy to keep me on, anyways the house was a nice easy clean, windows was clean already. Lovely house and a quick £20 paid by transfer as she agreed. Fingers crossed the new home owners like how clean I have kept the windows for all these years hahahaha

 

[CleanDeeper]

to anyone that’s currently canvassing or has done canvassing. Do you find many of the “maybe” knocks actually contact you back. I’ve had one so far, the thing is I’ve been out all day today and not picked any new jobs up but I’ve got 8 maybes and I’m feeling confident but I don’t know. Maybe I’m pricing them too high for this area, although I’ve picked some up last week and they seemed happy with the price and I’ve done the first cleans already. Starting to doubt everything lol.

 

[Pjj]

to anyone that’s currently canvassing or has done canvassing. Do you find many of the “maybe” knocks actually contact you back. I’ve had one so far, the thing is I’ve been out all day today and not picked any new jobs up but I’ve got 8 maybes and I’m feeling confident but I don’t know. Maybe I’m pricing them too high for this area, although I’ve picked some up last week and they seemed happy with the price and I’ve done the first cleans already. Starting to doubt everything lol.

You don’t want to pressurise people but try and close the deal when you are there “, i do several in the area would you like me to add you to this section of work “ or ime in this area next xx would you like me to do them then . There are many ways of trying to seal the deal without being pushey , if one’s hesitate you dont want to try and force the issue but if they are genuinely interested they should normally be able to give a yes on the day it’s not like they are spending hundreds of pounds per clean.
I haven’t needed to canvass for over 15 years but when I did the ones that said they would let me know very rarely did .

 

[Lukeyprice]

to anyone that’s currently canvassing or has done canvassing. Do you find many of the “maybe” knocks actually contact you back. I’ve had one so far, the thing is I’ve been out all day today and not picked any new jobs up but I’ve got 8 maybes and I’m feeling confident but I don’t know. Maybe I’m pricing them too high for this area, although I’ve picked some up last week and they seemed happy with the price and I’ve done the first cleans already. Starting to doubt everything lol.

You don’t want to pressurise people but try and close the deal when you are there “, i do several in the area would you like me to add you to this section of work “ or ime in this area next xx would you like me to do them then . There are many ways of trying to seal the deal without being pushey , if one’s hesitate you dont want to try and force the issue but if they are genuinely interested they should normally be able to give a yes on the day it’s not like they are spending hundreds of pounds per clean.
I haven’t needed to canvass for over 15 years but when I did the ones that said they would let me know very rarely did .

Some really good suggestions here. Just to add from my own recent experience too.

You can sometimes end the conversation yourself accidentally, one way I kept doing this was quoting the customer and then giving a leaflet. As soon as you give a leaflet you effectively end the conversation as the customer will say "thanks, I've got your details I'll get back to you" then they will forget and you'll never hear back.

When quoting, I always give the leaflet first, then give a price. You then don't end the conversation, after giving the price you can say something like "I can pencil you in for next week when I'm back in the area"

That's changed my canvassing a lot, I'm turning around 50% of my maybe customers into a yes just by changing when I give the leaflet.

 

[CleanDeeper]

You don’t want to pressurise people but try and close the deal when you are there “, i do several in the area would you like me to add you to this section of work “ or ime in this area next xx would you like me to do them then . There are many ways of trying to seal the deal without being pushey , if one’s hesitate you dont want to try and force the issue but if they are genuinely interested they should normally be able to give a yes on the day it’s not like they are spending hundreds of pounds per clean.
I haven’t needed to canvass for over 15 years but when I did the ones that said they would let me know very rarely did .

I’ve been in sales for years and I’m very good at reading customers etc, when to push? When to hold back etc however that’s when the customer has come to me to spend money, it’s a little different when selling something to someone who actually isn’t all that bothered or gone out of there way to find you.

I have been having a good chat with these “maybe” customers and they seem really happy with me etc but it’s getting that “yes” at the time I’m struggling with. It’s been I’ll let you know or I’ll have a word with my husband. Maybe the time of day isn’t great but last week I was going evening and I found one or two was interested then would suddenly say oh I’m cooking I’ll look over the flyer and let you know. I think I’m just at the point I’m trying to fine tune things, like time, location etc. I have a couple of cleans to do tomorrow then next week I’m moving to a new location to try work on a new week in that area.

 

[CleanDeeper]

Some really good suggestions here. Just to add from my own recent experience too.

You can sometimes end the conversation yourself accidentally, one way I kept doing this was quoting the customer and then giving a leaflet. As soon as you give a leaflet you effectively end the conversation as the customer will say "thanks, I've got your details I'll get back to you" then they will forget and you'll never hear back.

When quoting, I always give the leaflet first, then give a price. You then don't end the conversation, after giving the price you can say something like "I can pencil you in for next week when I'm back in the area"

That's changed my canvassing a lot, I'm turning around 50% of my maybe customers into a yes just by changing when I give the leaflet.

Thanks for the reply, I have actually found it better to give the flyer first then talk as well, somehow it seems to break the barrier a little. I’ve had one or two been absolutely not interested to then having me round the back looking at the house and pricing up etc, having a good chat but then it’s a “let me speak with my partner and ring you later”. I do believe many couples don’t agree things without speaking to the other half so I’m hoping I get one or two calls. Fingers crossed! It’s all a learning curve that’s for sure.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I was going to post a new topic regarding 5 years in business. They say the first 5 years is the hardest and when most fail. I have now been window cleaning for 5 years, 2 years Trad and 3 years wfp. This week has been my best week money wise with half a dozen first cleans. Only advertise in local booklet which costs £60 a month and looks like that may come to an end because of the customers I now have. Received 3 other jobs this week which I will have to fit in and a good customer wants me to varnish his cedar or larch cladding. The work is still out there but don't see much landscaping happening like I used too.

 

[CleanDeeper]

Well, well, well….

One of my maybes has just messaged and signed up yay!!!