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It begins! December Cancellation

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Never had this at Christmas, phone is usually alive with chancers who never have their windows cleaned, suddenly desperate for a Christmas clean, bo**&$s to them.
Tell them you only do regular work then charge them double for the first clean ,then if they cancel at least you  have still made good money . 

 
Tell them you only do regular work then charge them double for the first clean ,then if they cancel at least you  have still made good money . 
Not in a short month when you're already struggling to do your regulars. We tell anyone that rings around now that we will do them in January as we're full till Christmas.

Nothing worse then being a busy fool for one off chancers.

 
Never had this at Christmas, phone is usually alive with chancers who never have their windows cleaned, suddenly desperate for a Christmas clean, bo**&$s to them.
I had one today, I was just setting up at a house and he gets out of a car over the road they have been in the house about 18 months and he asks me any chance you can clean mine today, I told him next year and he was like really you're that busy, yes I'm that busy ?

 
Not in a short month when you're already struggling to do your regulars. We tell anyone that rings around now that we will do them in January as we're full till Christmas.

Nothing worse then being a busy fool for one off chancers.
We don’t have any free time either but £40 for a 3 fed semi Evan if it’s a one off for 20 muinits work is good if you have the time and still building a round 

 
Each to there own but if ones are short on work it’s a nice little extra earner , I used to do it when I had time in the early days and did well  out of it 
I would agree for any other month then December, experience has taught me the likelihood of them becoming a regular customer are slim to nil. The only way we can build a successful business is by getting repeat customers.

 
Each to there own but if ones are short on work it’s a nice little extra earner , I used to do it when I had time in the early days and did well  out of it 
I don't have any qualms about taking on new work in December either. As long as : I remain fit enough to do it, I have time to do it, it's work that suits me, it meets my price rate per minute and is close enough to other work. I'll take my chances as to whether it leads to continuous trade. Nothing lost if it doesn't, I'll have been paid a decent rate for it.

I've had times I hardly had a penny left after a long hard week's work by the time I paid my mortgage and ate properly at home. And a few times I had no work. I'll never forget that. I can now achieve a professional wage in part time, light/moderate exercise, modest skill level work, without having to answer to some power hungry, disrespectful p...k.

I'll happily take work any time of year. ?

 
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I don't have any qualms about taking on new work in December either. As long as : I remain fit enough to do it, I have time to do it, it's work that suits me, it meets my price rate per minute and is close enough to other work. I'll take my chances as to whether it leads to continuous trade. Nothing lost if it doesn't, I'll have been paid a decent rate for it.

I've had times I hardly had a penny left after a long hard week's work by the time I paid my mortgage and ate properly at home. And a few times I had no work. I'll never forget that. I can now achieve a professional wage in part time, light/moderate exercise, modest skill level work, without having to answer to some power hungry, disrespectful p...k.

I'll happily take work any time of year. ?
I agree. I'm on a hot lead, potentially six new ones, I think it'll probably end up being four. You get to know the chancers, though the odd one always slips through the net. I'll fit them in on a w/end if they come on board. 

 
I am advertising in 3 places now. I should have done that from the beginning to build customer base. I get a lead every day now but generally not in an area I do. It means I can decide if it suits my business plan or not.

 
I am advertising in 3 places now. I should have done that from the beginning to build customer base. I get a lead every day now but generally not in an area I do. It means I can decide if it suits my business plan or not.
Can you not tweak the adverts to specify the areas you cover? It might cut down on enquiries but they may be more of the ones you want. Could save you time if the majority of enquiries are in areas you want?

 
Can you not tweak the adverts to specify the areas you cover? It might cut down on enquiries but they may be more of the ones you want. Could save you time if the majority of enquiries are in areas you want?
Its just the Checkatrade adverts because I am the only one on it for window cleaning. I could cut down my radius from 10 mile down to 5 mile as you say. ?

 
Sometimes I get quotes for fitting mess around solar panels and Its a good earner that's why i don't want to reduce my radius. Got an email 5mins ago to finish off mesh on solar panels because they had to replace the cables underneath.

 
So i had a couple jobs in a area that is a little bit further away about 20mins round trip.

Both were going to be second cleans, texted them Monday saying i'll be over Wednesday morning one replied to say will be home but will leave back gate unlocked. The other customer never replied, but some don't and i still do them no problem.

So turn up at house 2 and no answer then check my phone and had a message to say please don't come in today to clean the windows. So i sent text to say I'm already here. anyway later on today i got a reply saying i did send text to say don't come. I replied that i was on the road and it's a bit late to cancel when i texted on the Monday to book them in. So i went back with that and said i'll take you off my round. Do you think that's a bit harsh or justified. I am still trying to build my round but want customers that have some respect for us

 
So i had a couple jobs in a area that is a little bit further away about 20mins round trip.

Both were going to be second cleans, texted them Monday saying i'll be over Wednesday morning one replied to say will be home but will leave back gate unlocked. The other customer never replied, but some don't and i still do them no problem.

So turn up at house 2 and no answer then check my phone and had a message to say please don't come in today to clean the windows. So i sent text to say I'm already here. anyway later on today i got a reply saying i did send text to say don't come. I replied that i was on the road and it's a bit late to cancel when i texted on the Monday to book them in. So i went back with that and said i'll take you off my round. Do you think that's a bit harsh or justified. I am still trying to build my round but want customers that have some respect for us
Probably justified, I'd say. Not much good texting you on the day when it's obvious to anyone that our work is planned the evening before. For all they know you might have had another customer that could have been fitted in instead if you knew in time.

You're right in regards respect. Start as you mean to go on. ?

 
So i had a couple jobs in a area that is a little bit further away about 20mins round trip.

Both were going to be second cleans, texted them Monday saying i'll be over Wednesday morning one replied to say will be home but will leave back gate unlocked. The other customer never replied, but some don't and i still do them no problem.

So turn up at house 2 and no answer then check my phone and had a message to say please don't come in today to clean the windows. So i sent text to say I'm already here. anyway later on today i got a reply saying i did send text to say don't come. I replied that i was on the road and it's a bit late to cancel when i texted on the Monday to book them in. So i went back with that and said i'll take you off my round. Do you think that's a bit harsh or justified. I am still trying to build my round but want customers that have some respect for us
Absolutely justified...

 
So i had a couple jobs in a area that is a little bit further away about 20mins round trip.

Both were going to be second cleans, texted them Monday saying i'll be over Wednesday morning one replied to say will be home but will leave back gate unlocked. The other customer never replied, but some don't and i still do them no problem.

So turn up at house 2 and no answer then check my phone and had a message to say please don't come in today to clean the windows. So i sent text to say I'm already here. anyway later on today i got a reply saying i did send text to say don't come. I replied that i was on the road and it's a bit late to cancel when i texted on the Monday to book them in. So i went back with that and said i'll take you off my round. Do you think that's a bit harsh or justified. I am still trying to build my round but want customers that have some respect for us
Did house 2 pay you? It might have been a good idea to ask why they've cancelled on the day. When this happens to me I ask if access is going to be a problem or building work. That puts the onus on them to respond. If they reply with something other than an access issue or building work then you have a good idea that it's a money saving exercise and then you can make a more informed decision as whether to keep or dump.

 
So i had a couple jobs in a area that is a little bit further away about 20mins round trip.

Both were going to be second cleans, texted them Monday saying i'll be over Wednesday morning one replied to say will be home but will leave back gate unlocked. The other customer never replied, but some don't and i still do them no problem.

So turn up at house 2 and no answer then check my phone and had a message to say please don't come in today to clean the windows. So i sent text to say I'm already here. anyway later on today i got a reply saying i did send text to say don't come. I replied that i was on the road and it's a bit late to cancel when i texted on the Monday to book them in. So i went back with that and said i'll take you off my round. Do you think that's a bit harsh or justified. I am still trying to build my round but want customers that have some respect for us
We don’t txt customers if they have a genuine reason not to have the clean like building work , decorating new windows being fitted that’s fine if they say windows arnt to dirty or give them a miss this time , or it looks like it might rain , or start again in the spring ,it’s an instant dump as at quoting stage we stress that we work all year round in all weathers within reason. they are verbally agreeing to either a 4 or 8 weekly clean before we start doing work for them if they alter that agreement without a good reason then they have broken the agreement, we are that busy don’t need to tolerate that kind of person we did get a few like it years ago but now it’s very rare . 

 
We don’t txt customers if they have a genuine reason not to have the clean like building work , decorating new windows being fitted that’s fine if they say windows arnt to dirty or give them a miss this time , or it looks like it might rain , or start again in the spring ,it’s an instant dump as at quoting stage we stress that we work all year round in all weathers within reason. they are verbally agreeing to either a 4 or 8 weekly clean before we start doing work for them if they alter that agreement without a good reason then they have broken the agreement, we are that busy don’t need to tolerate that kind of person we did get a few like it years ago but now it’s very rare . 
As Green Pro Clean once said, we are in the business of keeping windows clean - not cleaning windows. This is something I've carried with me from day one. 

 
Texting does give customers the opportunity to cancel but it also lets them know you're coming and can save a wasted journey. The day can then be adjusted by adding a job from the next day etc. Common cancellations will be dumped.

 
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