Pole versus trads.

[Windamon]

Hy.long time since I was here but a question for the trade.has ur customer base improved since the Introduction of the pole lads? I ask because mine has. Been cleaning since 1994 (been home for my dinner in-between tho) and noticed a 15% increase in work due to the dislike of the pole system.prefering the trads having tried the pole system .is the pole wearing off with domestic homes?

 

[Pjj]

I think the answer is definitely yes but in part that’s due to being able to do jobs that would have been impossible to do trad

 

[Cleanco]

I’ve been pretty much constant on picking up new work over the years whether cleaned wfp or traditional. A lot of my existing domestic customers where very pleased when I switched to wfp as I could start doin their windows over the connys and out of reach velux etc and I wouldn’t have been able to take on most of my commercial jobs with out the pole system. You still get the odd one stuck in there ways and unwilling to give wfp a chance. Their loss I suppose and they are very few and far between these days though as most people are used to seeing it done that way a lot more now.

 

[Part Timer]

and noticed a 15% increase in work due to the dislike of the pole system.prefering the trads having tried the pole system .is the pole wearing off with domestic homes?

I think you'll find that those that don't like the pole system have had people that didn't care, or didn't know how, to do a good job. There are still some windows where trad is better but most of our enquiries now ask if we use WFP as that is what they want.

 

[Jaygti]

It’s not about WFP or Trad, it’s about Good Window Cleaners and Bad ones.

There was some resistance when I swapped to Wfp 15 years ago, but it’s not an issue anymore.
Very few care how it’s done.

 

[RyeCleanLiam]

The only people I tend to get who ask if I do Trad are ones who have specific needs, like one women who had an oak extension built and the builder told her wfp would ruin it. Other than that very few people round here care, all they want is clean windows. And I also lose very little work as well without good reason, like moving house etc. So I'm definitely not losing work to Tradders

 

[Yogi1872]

I tend to do whatever is going to be the quickest, my runs probably 50/50 split between both, jobs quite repetitive, so if anything it gives a slight variety I suppose.

 

[Windamon]

I’ve been pretty much constant on picking up new work over the years whether cleaned wfp or traditional. A lot of my existing domestic customers where very pleased when I switched to wfp as I could start doin their windows over the connys and out of reach velux etc and I wouldn’t have been able to take on most of my commercial jobs with out the pole system. You still get the odd one stuck in there ways and unwilling to give wfp a chance. Their loss I suppose and they are very few and far between these days though as most people are used to seeing it done that way a lot more now.

Hy pal.wen u switched to pole did u put ur prices up? And if so by how much percentage wise.

 

[Iron Giant]

The only people I tend to get who ask if I do Trad are ones who have specific needs, like one women who had an oak extension built and the builder told her wfp would ruin it. Other than that very few people round here care, all they want is clean windows. And I also lose very little work as well without good reason, like moving house etc. So I'm definitely not losing work to Tradders

I wonder what the builders take is on it raining

I used to have a job that replaced there pvc windows with solid oak some of the windows at the bottom bead overtime just looked really bad, in my opinion probably one of the worst mistakes to put oak windows in that just had a light varnished finish,

we had hardwood and softwood windows at an old house of ours never had a single issue with wfp at all, these were stained a dark stain.

 

[Beeejayteee]

I have the best of both worlds. My son, who works with me, doesn't like the pole, I only have one trolley system, so he does the down stairs traditionally,which I don't care what anyone says, if done properly leaves a better job all of the time regardless of what type of windows your cleaning. This leaves me to get on with the tops which are looked through for thirty seconds when they first draw back the curtains in the morning .They are cleaned properly but sometimes I'm not happy with the result and are done again.
So to put it simply my customers are very happy with our cleaning method regardless of pole or traditional.

 

[Yogi1872]

I have the best of both worlds. My son, who works with me, doesn't like the pole, I only have one trolley system, so he does the down stairs traditionally,which I don't care what anyone says, if done properly leaves a better job all of the time regardless of what type of windows your cleaning. This leaves me to get on with the tops which are looked through for thirty seconds when they first draw back the curtains in the morning .They are cleaned properly but sometimes I'm not happy with the result and are done again.
So to put it simply my customers are very happy with our cleaning method regardless of pole or traditional.

I do 50% of my work traditional, so I have no horse in this race which would make me biased to one side or the other.

Wfp results are better than the results you get from traditional though. It's not even up for debate tbh.

 

[Gadgetfox]

I'm 100% Pole. If a customer doesn't like pole it's because the last wfp cleaner did a poor job. The pole has to be better for numerous reasons; frames are cleaned more thourougly, safer for the cleaner, greater earning potential and I'm sure there are more... Pole has 40% uplift on trad prices. All in my humble opinion of course

 

[Septimus Meek]

Hy.long time since I was here but a question for the trade.has ur customer base improved since the Introduction of the pole lads? I ask because mine has. Been cleaning since 1994 (been home for my dinner in-between tho) and noticed a 15% increase in work due to the dislike of the pole system.prefering the trads having tried the pole system .is the pole wearing off with domestic homes?

I'm trad only and I'd say around two in three new customers who phone me say something along the lines of 'you don't use that pole thing do you'? When I ask why they just say they didn't like it. I'm not criticising it as I've never used it but I assume it's the same as trad, if you don't know what you're doing you're not going to get the results. I've also never lost a job to wfp. Most of the window cleaners I see round my way are trad as well.

 

[Cleanco]

Hy pal.wen u switched to pole did u put ur prices up? And if so by how much percentage wise.

Hi, no pal. I make regular price rises already every other year as standard and most people don’t like change so would probs be rockin the boat too much. Although the first clean with wfp took a lot longer gettin all the frames etc flushed out I was makin more money on the subsequent cleans as wfp is quicker any way so the money came back in the end. I did swap over one section of my round at a time though due to the first wfp clean taking a lot longer with some just doing the tops wfp while still cleaning the bottoms traditionally. I found this technique great for the sceptical custys as they could compare the difference between both methods and see for their self the benefits of doing them wfp. I must admit it was a complete ball ache swapping over in the beginning and I nearly gave up and went back to trad but looking back it was well worth it in the end. I do still clean a fair bit of trad fir various different reasons but I will always try and get the job done with wfp if I can.

 

[Scrubsy]

I do 50% of my work traditional, so I have no horse in this race which would make me biased to one side or the other.

Wfp results are better than the results you get from traditional though. It's not even up for debate tbh.

@Yogi1872 me too mate. I do quite a bit of traditional as I have a number of bungalows that are easier and quicker to squeegee than they are by pole. The glass I can usually get spot on, but for frames and sills wfp does a better job.

 

[Yogi1872]

If you really went looking you could find a fault on the glass more tines than you wouldn't with traditional, marks down the side of the glass, even when wiping away with a cloth it can still mark. Marks from the rubber that sometimes you can't even see until the sun shines on the glass.

There's a few times when someone's not to sure about wfp, il say to them, if wfp doesn't do a better job il clean your windows free for a year. As of yet I've never had to clean anyone's for free for the year.

I never really had a problem switching over, and sometimes il do wfp on the parts of the run that are done trad if I think the conditions aren't safe enough to use the ladder.

The only customer I had a problem with changing over to wfp, I said to her no problem, il have to write up a disclaimer though saying I'm not liable if the ladder damages your car etc as your not really insured on them to be working off unless it's the last alternative. She wasn't prepared to sign it, I said so your not willing to take that chance but you think I should?. She was fine after they got done. Only reason she was against it was because her daughters window cleaner leaves them all spots.

Our water comes out at about 17tds. Some just go with that instead of bringing it down to zero.

 

[Septimus Meek]

There will always be a call for trad even if it's only for insides or shop fronts inside a precinct but I think there will always be some domestics who want it done that way. After all the microwve oven didn't do away with the conventional oven and the electric shaver didn't see off the traditional razor.

 

[Beeejayteee]

I do 50% of my work traditional, so I have no horse in this race which would make me biased to one side or the other.

Wfp results are better than the results you get from traditional though. It's not even up for debate tbh.

Well your certainly entitled to your opinion but the fact of the matter is you're down there and the window is up there, are you absolutely sure that have seen every possible contaminant, the bit of bird muck, fly and spider muck or some other and then successfully got it all off all of the time, leaving no residue? You leave a wet window and then go off onto the next. I'm sure that if you got your ladders off and checked them all when they were dry you would see some things you didn't realise you were leaving .
The point I was making is the consistent finish with traditional, you see the contaminant , you scrub it, you squeegee it, check it and move on knowing you have done it properly . No we're not perfect but in my opinion you know the job is always done properly with traditional.
Brian

 

[Yogi1872]

Well your certainly entitled to your opinion but the fact of the matter is you're down there and the window is up there, are you absolutely sure that have seen every possible contaminant, the bit of bird muck, fly and spider muck or some other and then successfully got it all off all of the time, leaving no residue? You leave a wet window and then go off onto the next. I'm sure that if you got your ladders off and checked them all when they were dry you would see some things you didn't realise you were leaving .
The point I was making is the consistent finish with traditional, you see the contaminant , you scrub it, you squeegee it, check it and move on knowing you have done it properly . No we're not perfect but in my opinion you know the job is always done properly with traditional.
Brian

If you have a look at a bottom window that's been done trad and do the bottom window next to it wfp. Then the results in every department, glass or frames, wfp once dried has the better end product.

 

[Gadgetfox]

If you have a look at a bottom window that's been done trad and do the bottom window next to it wfp. Then the results in every department, glass or frames, wfp once dried has the better end product.

Agreed!

 

[Septimus Meek]

Well your certainly entitled to your opinion but the fact of the matter is you're down there and the window is up there, are you absolutely sure that have seen every possible contaminant, the bit of bird muck, fly and spider muck or some other and then successfully got it all off all of the time, leaving no residue? You leave a wet window and then go off onto the next. I'm sure that if you got your ladders off and checked them all when they were dry you would see some things you didn't realise you were leaving .
The point I was making is the consistent finish with traditional, you see the contaminant , you scrub it, you squeegee it, check it and move on knowing you have done it properly . No we're not perfect but in my opinion you know the job is always done properly with traditional.
Brian

Yes, agree with that. For what it's worth Polzn bladz reckons he's never had perfect results from wfp.