Minger !!

[WombatPool]

Went out for my second canvassing session this morning when I happened to knock at a property where the owner is a chairman from a local village hall. He said he didn’t need his windows cleaned at home but asked if I could visit the hall instead and give him a quote for that.. The jobs I have taken in the last two days canvassing have all been WFP work, but this guy was adamant he wanted them done traditionally - which is fine by me.. Its 10 small windows and 5 medium that I can reach from the ground easily, but everyone is an absolute minger! Looks like they haven’t been cleaned in a very long time, if ever. The frames are awful and it’s more of a restoration than a normal first clean.
There’s creosote on a few of the sills from sloppy painters in the past - if I win the job, I’m thinking of using ubik for the frames and possibly unger rub out? Sound good ? Any tips on these much appreciated!
Maybe this work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but but I’m starting this business from scratch and it’s from my second ever attempt canvassing, so I want it. I will charge them accordingly though, if they agree I’ll be happy to do the work, if not I’ll move on…

As ever, learning as I go!!

Most frames are like this


Thanks !

 

[WombatPool]

To be honest I’m not 100% it’ll come up spotless? maybe I need to manage expectations with the chairman first


Edit…. I should have said, they want an ongoing regular clean too..

 

[ched999uk]

Always manage expectations.
Personally I would ask him to let you give wfp a try and if he's not happy with the results then you will do it trad. By that time you will have cleaned the frames so trad will be easier if needed, which I doubt.

The Pink Stuff is very good maybe as good as Unger RubOut but a lot cheaper! Ubik is good stuff but make 100% sure you rinse well as it can give rainbow stripes on glass especially with the low winter sun! If I use it I rinse twice.

 

[Pjj]

Went out for my second canvassing session this morning when I happened to knock at a property where the owner is a chairman from a local village hall. He said he didn’t need his windows cleaned at home but asked if I could visit the hall instead and give him a quote for that.. The jobs I have taken in the last two days canvassing have all been WFP work, but this guy was adamant he wanted them done traditionally - which is fine by me.. Its 10 small windows and 5 medium that I can reach from the ground easily, but everyone is an absolute minger! Looks like they haven’t been cleaned in a very long time, if ever. The frames are awful and it’s more of a restoration than a normal first clean.
There’s creosote on a few of the sills from sloppy painters in the past - if I win the job, I’m thinking of using ubik for the frames and possibly unger rub out? Sound good ? Any tips on these much appreciated!
Maybe this work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but but I’m starting this business from scratch and it’s from my second ever attempt canvassing, so I want it. I will charge them accordingly though, if they agree I’ll be happy to do the work, if not I’ll move on…

As ever, learning as I go!!

Most frames are like this
View attachment 27560

Thanks !

Get some flash with bleach kitchen spray cleaner from Tesco £1 a bottle spray that on the frames and glass leave it for 5 muinits scrub with magic sponge rinse or wipe off will come up like new , or clean it off with WFP if he will let you ??

 

[WombatPool]

Thanks ched good tips I’ll look into the pink stuff and let you know how the job goes.

Im not exactly sure how long the job will take to be honest to get all the windows frames and sills back to looking decent. I thought earlier when I looked at it possibly a whole day. I didn’t mention theres a couple double UPVC doors too, which are filthy and need sorting out. I guess with experience I’ll learn all these things!

 

[WombatPool]

Get some flash with bleach kitchen spray cleaner from Tesco £1 a bottle spray that on the frames and glass leave it for 5 muinits scrub with magic sponge rinse or wipe off will come up like new , or clean it off with WFP if he will let you ??

And Bobs your uncle


I have a lot to learn

 

[WombatPool]

I think to be honest I just need to better sell the idea of a water fed pole to him.. it was a fairly brief chat at the door but he said he didn’t want ‘water dripping down the walls’ ????? He gave his reasons but I can’t remember exactly what he said, What ever he said didn’t really make much sense to be honest probably why it went in one ear and out the other.. But when I looked at the Job I really didn’t see a problem if I was to use WFP. I’ll give him a demonstration and see if I am twist his arm. He’s a really old man so not really ‘up on things I guess

 

[Pjj]

And Bobs your uncle


I have a lot to learn

Every day is a school day , we can all still learn a few tricks regardless of how long we have been doing the job .

 

[WombatPool]

Amen to that!
I’m learning a lot just out knocking on doors and speaking to people it’s all good experience. Some say
‘no thanks not today’
and quickly shut the door with an awkward look on their face. Others are really nice and say
‘sorry love I have a window cleaner but I hope you do really well keep knocking doors’
and point you in the direction of their neighbours.
One customer today at a bungalow agreed to a clean before I even told him the price (wish they was all like this)
It’s all good fun I relish the challenge of building a round, with plenty to learn but I’m very keen and willing!

 

[THL4KEL]

He might just want the glass cleaning and not the frames. Probably for a tenner....

 

[ched999uk]

I think to be honest I just need to better sell the idea of a water fed pole to him.. it was a fairly brief chat at the door but he said he didn’t want ‘water dripping down the walls’ ????? He gave his reasons but I can’t remember exactly what he said, What ever he said didn’t really make much sense to be honest probably why it went in one ear and out the other.. But when I looked at the Job I really didn’t see a problem if I was to use WFP. I’ll give him a demonstration and see if I am twist his arm. He’s a really old man so not really ‘up on things I guess

A couple of point that might help. Rain hits the walls so wfp is no worse than rain! If he has had bad experience of a previous wfp clean then it's the person not the tool that's at fault! Would he use a hammer and chisel to create a hole, no he would use an electric drill!

Obviously treat his wishes/beliefs respectfully but it would be good for you to get him to allow you to give wfp a go. It will help you gain experience of a minging first clean and how long it takes.
Treat it as a learning experience but if it's only 15 windows and a few doors even if it's really really bad I can't see it taking much more than a couple of hrs.

The Pink Stuff tub (£1.50 a tub in Home Bargains, Asda, Wilko, Tesco, Sainsbury, etc) is very good, use a scourer sponge with some pink stuff paste on and it's amazing how quick dirt comes off - even fence paint type stuff, also takes oxidisation off!

 

[WombatPool]

He might just want the glass cleaning and not the frames. Probably for a tenner....

Haha yeah could well be. He did tell me it was all dirty and he wasn’t wrong !
Guess ill find out soon.
I won’t do it for peanuts, if he wants a proper job I’ll do it (one way or another) but not for pennies… I’ll tell him what I can offer and we’ll see how it’s pans out.

 

[WombatPool]

To be honest though I’m pretty sure he wants the whole lot done

 

[WombatPool]

And there’s dirty gutters too, if I get the job I’ll suggest to him the gutters could do with a clean as well

 

[K in Kent]

As @ched999uk says, always manage expectations because there are no guatantees how something is going to turn out. But just look at this job as a challenge and learning experience to give you an idea of what's achievable in the future, plus you're making money and might get a regulat job out of it.
Perhaps he was so adamant about wanting trad cos of the state of the frames etc and he guessed something more would be required. Once you've done the first clean he might be happy to go with wfp?
Just bear in mind r.e. products you use that some are abrasive and may scratch certain surfaces - always read the small print on the label to check if it specifies surfaces not to use it on. In which case don't use it or be very careful and don't apply too much pressure. Hot water also helps to clean more effectively.
It sounds like it might be quite alot of work so don't let him take advantage and if he's not prepared to pay a reasonable price walk away. People who want something for nothing can do one as far as I'm concerned. They want it cheap then expect a premium service and are never happy...and insist on trad cos they want their pound of flesh

 

[WombatPool]

I quoted the job earlier this week on Monday and I still haven’t heard anything back. I’m not 100% sure I will get it to be honest. I guess the chairman of the hall might want to speak to the rest of his team before any decisions are made though so maybe that’s why I haven’t had a response. Either that or my price was too high. I dropped a written quote through his letter box along with a couple pics of a small test area I cleaned to see how things would look..



Hopefully they get in contact…..

 

[Yogi1872]

The bits I use the wfp for on my run I tell them if it doesn't do atleast as good a job as trad then il happily get the ladder off. Think there's been 2 houses that wfp leaves streaks everytime. It's older windows not like the pvc. Wooden windows I don't touch with it either.

 

[K in Kent]

I quoted the job earlier this week on Monday and I still haven’t heard anything back. I’m not 100% sure I will get it to be honest. I guess the chairman of the hall might want to speak to the rest of his team before any decisions are made though so maybe that’s why I haven’t had a response. Either that or my price was too high. I dropped a written quote through his letter box along with a couple pics of a small test area I cleaned to see how things would look..

View attachment 27616View attachment 27617

Hopefully they get in contact…..

Based on that I would've thought so. As regards the price: you know how much work is involved and just keep it reasonable and realistic. As you build up the round and gain experience you'll be more confident about quoting higher when appropriate, and with a bigger customer base you won't feel like you need to take on every job.
If you don't fancy it you won't bother cos that's much easier to do when you know you've got X amount coming in every month.
If you don't hear back from him you'll know why the windows are in such a state - cos they don't want to pay a decent price. """" 'em and move on.
There are plenty of decent people out there and plenty of others who, if they think you need the work, they'll do their best to exploit to you and be glad to have you working for a pittance. With your enthusiasm you'll soon start building up the round

 

[Pjj]

Based on that I would've thought so. As regards the price: you know how much work is involved and just keep it reasonable and realistic. As you build up the round and gain experience you'll be more confident about quoting higher when appropriate, and with a bigger customer base you won't feel like you need to take on every job.
If you don't fancy it you won't bother cos that's much easier to do when you know you've got X amount coming in every month.
If you don't hear back from him you'll know why the windows are in such a state - cos they don't want to pay a decent price. """" 'em and move on.
There are plenty of decent people out there and plenty of others who, if they think you need the work, they'll do their best to exploit to you and be glad to have you working for a pittance. With your enthusiasm you'll soon start building up the round

Sometimes with theses commercial jobs there is lots of meetings to be had before a decission is made weather the quote is acceptable or not sometimes I have had a call 2-3 months after quoting giving us the go ahead , sometimes never hear back .