Leave My Windows

[scottish cleaning service]

I just use 2 small ladders, one on front side of gate and one on inside and then climb over. That was what we did in the fire service and it works a treat and I don't even tell them. :1f609:

 

[Part Timer]

One of the ways I can get twice the price of the local trad guys is by selling the service, part of which is informing them I'll be there tomorrow. 

 

[Incheck]

You've been lucky, in Swansea we had about 20 mins respite all day! Then the wind started again and rain followed, just been to get something from car and got drenched! Tomorrow looks ok so I'll try get out for at least 2-3 hours see how it goes. 

Yeah it’s amazing what a difference of 40 miles can make. I seem to remember us having 2ft of snow when areas not so far from you had none.
My mrs grandmother phoned up, shes 85 years old in a static caravan right next to the sea tonight bless her. Her phone call was just as i expected [emoji23]
“Oooooo Yooou’d never believe it, the rain is torrential, the wind is howling 100 mile an hour” etc etc. Bless her. What a week to go to porthcawl [emoji85]


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[dmw]

I probably send out less than 5 texts a week to leave gates open.
I don't have all my customers phone numbers which is a blessing because I don't want them mithering me
I just turn up, clean them and get paid.
The weather is unpredictable. Sometimes they stay clean for weeks others it rains while I'm cleaning them, I never feel guilty as I'm just paid for maintaining them on a set day.
The key is the customers know how I work and generally understand how this business works.
Start as you mean to go on and never let them dictate.
I know it can sound a bit brutal but I think it's the best way to run things.

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[THL4KEL]

I text a lot to the majority of customers. One to say I am coming and one when I have left and the job is complete.. I see it as a method to nudge them to make bank transfer payment. They either pay me cash placed in a relatively secure location on the day of the job or bank transfer.

I text the day before I am due to gutter clean or pressure wash, last thing I want is to have big job booked in and I turn up and they have forgotten and the job is cancelled or has to booked at a later date. I want the job done as planned and payment made as I do not have the time to be chasing cash.

 

[Suhrly]

I don’t understand why ones txt a customer the night before it’s not worth the hassle, when I quote I tell them we will turn up every 4 weeks sometimes get a bit behind if weathers bad or away on holiday , the only jobs we informe are big commercial which I don’t mind but ime certainly not txting 50+ customers a day , I think if you start running a business like that you are making a rod for your own back , if it’s done to get them to leave a gate unlocked then we wouldn’t take on a job like that in the first place , I think it was green pro who had a list of certain things that he wouldn’t accept with customers and that would certainly be on my list , I know we are all different but shortly we all want as easier days work as possible so why start something like this ? 

I'm with you on this Pjj. It's just a service I don't wish to offer as sometimes it can prompt them to do the whole 'leave it this time' reply. It's just one more thing on your to-do list that I don't want on top of everything else. I can understand the few who have locked gates. If the customer is in and comes out just before I'm about to clean then I'll leave it if requested. If not, then it gets cleaned and it's tuff luck.

 

[P4dstar]

I was just about to start pretty much the same topic. I fell asleep early tonight and just woke up, still gotta turn the RO on and out the backpacks on charge etc so I checked my phone and I get...

''Could I cancel please, weather not that good, will be in contact to book again''

This is in response to a reminder text messages. It's annoying and when she calls back she will be saved in my phone with DNA in front of her name. DNA meaning do not answer. If I ever cancel a customer I tell them why but when they cancel me I have no need to speak to them again or to explain myself!

I tried texting from a name instead of a number but in all honesty I don't want to keep people on the books who don't want to be there. It felt like a sly way of getting the customer to keep having them done and meant I didn't know if they wanted them done or not. Now I send from my own number and I accept that the odd customer will text back and ask a time and of course some will cancel. The space left by a ? customer can then be filled by a good customer.

I appreciate the guys with very small rounds don't want to drop these people because they may have them next time but just take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If you keep them on the books they will recommend you to their friends. These friends may become good customers who pay their bills regularly and never cancel. Now you're stuck with the original messer because there is a chance you'll lose a good customer if you cancel them. If you have 1 or 2 of these a day and lose lets say £15 on average. Thats £75 a week. Assuming you only work 48 weeks of the year you've just lost £3600.

The fact I remind people before I come and tell them when i'm due again has brought me so many customers I can't count. I do add a little disclaimer when speaking to them that I may sometimes run behind but they all have a date when i'm next due. This is why I get so p1ssed off when I get a cancellation text the night before! A few days before fine, I will just fill the gap. The night before means I've lost money!

 

[Iron Giant]

I don’t understand why ones txt a customer the night before it’s not worth the hassle, when I quote I tell them we will turn up every 4 weeks sometimes get a bit behind if weathers bad or away on holiday , the only jobs we informe are big commercial which I don’t mind but ime certainly not txting 50+ customers a day , I think if you start running a business like that you are making a rod for your own back , if it’s done to get them to leave a gate unlocked then we wouldn’t take on a job like that in the first place , I think it was green pro who had a list of certain things that he wouldn’t accept with customers and that would certainly be on my list , I know we are all different but shortly we all want as easier days work as possible so why start something like this ? 

Access issues only my friend, I have some security conscious clients who for various reasons prefer to have the side gate locked it's their property, after all, On average it might be around 5-7 a week which is nothing and they are sent via Cleaner Planner with one click of a button to multiple clients, from my perspective they are all good clients and the text service has gained me jobs  

 

[paul alan]

You have got to train em better, tell them from the beginning you work in the rain and water-filled pole wash works fine, warn them in a jovial manner that it affects the window cleaner more than the windows and they will be fine, offer them a "will do them again guarantee". if they are not satisfied ( I have never had to redo a window because of rain),

As for the cancellation because of "its gonna rain" then this one has to bee an X customer,they are no good and you will lose them eventually you cannot be dictated to by people like this, its always "gonna rain" sometime, somewhere in the UK, these types are a drain and you spend time, money and effort pleasing them until you and they part, make a start by dropping this one, you know it makes sense.

Its window cleaning "maintenance" we clean the windows once per month, that keeps them from getting really bad. END OF!

If they cant accept that then good luck trying to find a "fair weather window cleaner" nowadays. You takes your rough with the smooth, as we all do !

 

[paul alan]

I was just about to start pretty much the same topic. I fell asleep early tonight and just woke up, still gotta turn the RO on and out the backpacks on charge etc so I checked my phone and I get...

''Could I cancel please, weather not that good, will be in contact to book again''

This is in response to a reminder text messages. It's annoying and when she calls back she will be saved in my phone with DNA in front of her name. DNA meaning do not answer. If I ever cancel a customer I tell them why but when they cancel me I have no need to speak to them again or to explain myself!

I tried texting from a name instead of a number but in all honesty I don't want to keep people on the books who don't want to be there. It felt like a sly way of getting the customer to keep having them done and meant I didn't know if they wanted them done or not. Now I send from my own number and I accept that the odd customer will text back and ask a time and of course some will cancel. The space left by a ? customer can then be filled by a good customer.

I appreciate the guys with very small rounds don't want to drop these people because they may have them next time but just take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If you keep them on the books they will recommend you to their friends. These friends may become good customers who pay their bills regularly and never cancel. Now you're stuck with the original messer because there is a chance you'll lose a good customer if you cancel them. If you have 1 or 2 of these a day and lose lets say £15 on average. Thats £75 a week. Assuming you only work 48 weeks of the year you've just lost £3600.

The fact I remind people before I come and tell them when i'm due again has brought me so many customers I can't count. I do add a little disclaimer when speaking to them that I may sometimes run behind but they all have a date when i'm next due. This is why I get so p1ssed off when I get a cancellation text the night before! A few days before fine, I will just fill the gap. The night before means I've lost money!

Well said!

I see it as a mutual agreement between me and customer. I'll be the best window cleaner you've ever had, I wont let you down and ill always do a good job, as long as I can rely on you for the work. WHATEVER THE WEATHER! 

 

[David K]

Doing the phone calls and sending out the texts a job I detest every night, told one customer I'm coming tomorrow she's told me to leave it if it's going to rain any time in the next week as it's pointless.

Def. Dump her ! Thats not a Real customer anyway.

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

I’ll give get about one a month at the moment (not very big round) but often I find there is a reason, like getting work done in the garden or something. So if it’s just the once then continue as normal that’s no bother, but I always put in my text ‘that’s fine for THIS TIME’ (I don’t capitalise it in the text). I also offer them a less frequent clean (just add £5 to normal price), just incase they are struggling, as we all are. So far this seems to have worked, but time will tell. 

 

[Den]

Any customer that says leave it this time ‘due to rain’ is now removed from my list as I explained from the start we work in all weathers apart from snow and high winds no exceptions, but we are full to capacity and constantly being bombarded with new enquiries. 

 

[Pjj]

Its window cleaning "maintenance" we clean the windows once per month, that keeps them from getting really bad. END OF!

If they cant accept that then good luck trying to find a "fair weather window cleaner" nowadays. You takes your rough with the smooth, as we all do !

This is is exactly my thoughts quite agree ime not interested in leave it this time or looks like it might rain or I’ll call you again in the spring , we have hundreds of customers on out books that don’t require txt or calls I won’t entertain it ime afrade , maybe ime lucky with where I live and work I don’t know but running your own business is just that not letting customers pick and choose when they feel they want you to come they are instantly dumped and told why they have been dumped , and the ones that phone in the spring to start again are told no you can led the service I work all year not just summer months never take them on again once a messed always a messer , it’s no good trying to build a business with people like that , if you just need beer money and are prepared to be treated like that then that’s up to each individual, but as padstar said your earnings can and will be drastically affected that’s no good to me ime afrade staff to pay etc 

I’ll give get about one a month at the moment (not very big round) but often I find there is a reason, like getting work done in the garden or something. So if it’s just the once then continue as normal that’s no bother, but I always put in my text ‘that’s fine for THIS TIME’ (I don’t capitalise it in the text). I also offer them a less frequent clean (just add £5 to normal price), just incase they are struggling, as we all are. So far this seems to have worked, but time will tell. 

If if they are having building work done or decorating that’s fine , it’s the leave it till spring or looks like it will rain that we dump 

 

[Tuffers]

FAO of those that don't text the night before. What if you turn up to a big house that's having building work done? You've lost a fair whack without being able to fill your day? If you texted the night before they may text back saying they've got the builders in and then you can go to your database and possibly reschedule a job to fill that day.

Just a thought like.

 

[paul alan]

This is is exactly my thoughts quite agree ime not interested in leave it this time or looks like it might rain or I’ll call you again in the spring , we have hundreds of customers on out books that don’t require txt or calls I won’t entertain it ime afrade , maybe ime lucky with where I live and work I don’t know but running your own business is just that not letting customers pick and choose when they feel they want you to come they are instantly dumped and told why they have been dumped , and the ones that phone in the spring to start again are told no you can led the service I work all year not just summer months never take them on again once a messed always a messer , it’s no good trying to build a business with people like that , if you just need beer money and are prepared to be treated like that then that’s up to each individual, but as padstar said your earnings can and will be drastically affected that’s no good to me ime afrade staff to pay etc 

If if they are having building work done or decorating that’s fine , it’s the leave it till spring or looks like it will rain that we dump 

Absolutely, I am full to bursting with customers that dont complain about the weather. I have been through a few to get there though.

We all have different stances on the subject but it all boils down to what your willing to put up with, I for one am not interested in customers that dont fit in with my way of doing things. I dont tolerate them, it works out for me as I always have work and dont play victim to the weather.

Some window cleaners I imagine would rather not be outside when its grim, its understandable. I always say "you can dry off and warm up later"

FAO of those that don't text the night before. What if you turn up to a big house that's having building work done? You've lost a fair whack without being able to fill your day? If you texted the night before they may text back saying they've got the builders in and then you can go to your database and possibly reschedule a job to fill that day.

Just a thought like.

I always text where required (75% of work)

 

[Dave B]

FAO of those that don't text the night before. What if you turn up to a big house that's having building work done? You've lost a fair whack without being able to fill your day? If you texted the night before they may text back saying they've got the builders in and then you can go to your database and possibly reschedule a job to fill that day.

Just a thought like.

I used to text as few as possible but after taking advice off a successful mate I realised that it is a good selling point and saves wasted time for situations like tuffers just mentioned

I text everyone nowadays and don't get any "leave it this time" from people but they all like the fact I text them

Plus I get money left places for me by some

I also text the same group in the evening to say windows have been done instead of wasting time with your windows have been cleaned slips through the door

 

[Tuffers]

I've had 5 cancellations this week. Two of them I've taken off the round and the other three I've let go as they may have had good reason like being away etc. I text for access and for those that leave cash. This saves me doing any collecting. Five cancellations has balanced out in saving me hours in collecting.

I'm happy texting the majority.

 

[Dave B]

I've had 5 cancellations this week. Two of them I've taken off the round and the other three I've let go as they may have had good reason like being away etc. I text for access and for those that leave cash. This saves me doing any collecting. Five cancellations has saved me hours in collecting.

It helps to weed out the ? customers

 

[Pjj]

Absolutely, I am full to bursting with customers that dont complain about the weather. I have been through a few to get there though.

We all have different stances on the subject but it all boils down to what your willing to put up with, I for one am not interested in customers that dont fit in with my way of doing things. I dont tolerate them, it works out for me as I always have work and dont play victim to the weather.

Some window cleaners I imagine would rather not be outside when its grim, its understandable. I always say "you can dry off and warm up later"

I always text where required (75% of work)

Should that hat happen then we would start on the next days work , or go and do a plastic clean or gutter vac job as we are always booked 6 weeks ahead for that type of work , or just finish early at the end of the week and take some time off ???

 

[Tuffers]

Excellent idea if you're in the same area the next day ^^. Does every day run like clockwork or do you just tell us the good bits?