Working all day then waiting a week for payments

[Pjj]

As little third party influence or control in my life and business as possible. I don't want or need it. ?

Totally agree once you have signed up with thousands of customers on it they can charge you what they want and there is very little you can do about it , try changing to another company what a hassle , no way would I even consider it . 

 

[Davy G]

It amazes me how easy and freely some people walk into handing over their independence, free thinking and power to third parties : political parties, "celebrities", middle men, organised religions. No wish at all to offend anyone or their beliefs but I just don't understand it.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I suppose it saves you alot of time chasing money or looking to see who owes what, so you are paying them to do it. If you do it yourself then you are paying their fee to yourself but one has to put the time in. There must be an optimum point when it pays for all your customers to be on it, maybe 200 customers. ?

 

[Jaygti]

I’m sure GoCardless works for some businesses , but window cleaning??

As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist. 

 

[Davy G]

I’m sure GoCardless works for some businesses , but window cleaning??

As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s solving a problem that doesn’t exist. 

It certainly doesn't exist for our one van family business. Our reciept of payment methods are explained at the time we recruit the customers. We're at somewhere around 600 or so regular customers and a steady flow of one offs ( moving, selling, end of tenancy etc). All charged a fair and appropriate sum.

 

[Part Timer]

This has become the new hot water debate ?

 

[Pjj]

It certainly doesn't exist for our one van family business. Our reciept of payment methods are explained at the time we recruit the customers. We're at somewhere around 600 or so regular customers and a steady flow of one offs ( moving, selling, end of tenancy etc). All charged a fair and appropriate sum.

It certainly doesn’t exist for us either with 3 vans and 4,500 customers, like you we set out our stool at time of quoting , cash , cheques or preferably BACS payments only . Don’t have a problem getting paid we have constant cash flow coming in but always owed many thousands of pounds but I don’t have a problem with that as it’s mainly 30 day commercial payments .

 

[Jamesmarshall]

I’ve some Commercial which is 60 days. I will hound them every day after that though. If domestic customers can’t pay on time get them to leave the cash out . Mine is 75% cash and probably 80% of those will pay on the day or leave in a agreed place. As so little of them pay online I have been known to forget to check and a small minority of people will try it on or take the pi55 with it. A reminder followed by a demand if ignored does the trick, if it had to come to a knock on the door it would be a kick and not a knock ?

 

[Jamesmarshall]

I’ve some Commercial which is 60 days. I will hound them every day after that though. If domestic customers can’t pay on time get them to leave the cash out . Mine is 75% cash and probably 80% of those will pay on the day or leave in a agreed place. As so little of them pay online I have been known to forget to check and a small minority of people will try it on or take the pi55 with it. A reminder followed by a demand if ignored does the trick, if it had to come to a knock on the door it would be a kick and not a knock ?

Edit 

just read other pages .go cardless charging every transaction plus monthly fee???  Even cleaner planner or squeegee is a **** take at someone said £30 a month  ?

Microsoft excel is free, or good old fashioned book and pen 

2minutes a day admin ticking or dashing payers/ non payers . Group texting customers at night copy and pasted no more than 2minutes. Payment chasing every couple weeks prob less than a minute ?
are these extra few minutes leisure time a week making life Much easier and more enjoyable? Probably not because you have less spare money to spend because of these third party middle men sponging it along the way to you ?

 

[RyeCleanLiam]

Can't believe this thread is still on going. And again how tight window cleaners are to think £30 a month is a a lot of money to spend on software to run your business on. I can make that in 20-30 minutes most days. I pay £10 pm to QuickBooks to do my accounts and around £80 a month on GoCardless. All well worth it for me. If it's not for you then fine, that's great. Doesn't mean it's not worth it for someone else.

 

[cleaniac]

I have a few on Go Careless.

It's great for forgetful ones that are too busy, but that is it. 

Most pay via BACS, Credit &  Debit card using my sum up terminal. I don't accept cash anymore it's too much a pita. 

Go Careless has it's place, and it does lock those normally problem customers into long term ones 

 

[Pjj]

I have a few on Go Careless.

It's great for forgetful ones that are too busy, but that is it. 

Most pay via BACS, Credit &  Debit card using my sum up terminal. I don't accept cash anymore it's too much a pita. 

Go Careless has it's place, and it does lock those normally problem customers into long term ones 

If they are problem customer s then they get dumped , I certainly wouldn’t entertain keeping them and going gocardless  to keep ones like that , got more work than we can cope with so  now it’s one strike and they are gone  . 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I have customers who go one or two months without paying but they always pay up. It doesn't bother me unless they question it and then it effects me. When one is busy then it's easy to drop folk but no point if you are quiet unless they fail to pay.

 

[cleaniac]

If they are problem customer s then they get dumped , I certainly wouldn’t entertain keeping them and going gocardless  to keep ones like that , got more work than we can cope with so  now it’s one strike and they are gone  . 

The idea is they don't become a problem because they are on direct debit.

??

 

[scottish cleaning service]

The idea is they don't become a problem because they are on direct debit.

??

How do you get them to up the price of DD? I have one and I'm trying to increase it by a pound.

 

[cleaniac]

How do you get them to up the price of DD? I have one and I'm trying to increase it by a pound.

You just put the price up.

Not sure what the question is. Log into the dashboard, edit the subscription and change the price.

 

[Pjj]

The idea is they don't become a problem because they are on direct debit.

??

I am so busy I am not prepared to Evan consider the possibility of a problem customer anymore , and certainly not prepared to pay through the nose to GC to prevent someone becoming a problem , if they are a problem about paying they will also be problematic in other ways , like oh leave them today they aren't to dirty or looks like it might rain give them a miss this time , been there and done that , I have become very strict these days as we don’t need the work and only take on customers that we are happy with so our rejection rate is now quite high . 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I am so busy I am not prepared to Evan consider the possibility of a problem customer anymore , and certainly not prepared to pay through the nose to GC to prevent someone becoming a problem , if they are a problem about paying they will also be problematic in other ways , like oh leave them today they aren't to dirty or looks like it might rain give them a miss this time , been there and done that , I have become very strict these days as we don’t need the work and only take on customers that we are happy with so our rejection rate is now quite high . 

Its great when the trend is up and more residents realise that their home is their best asset, so why not protect it. Another thing is for insurance purposes, soon they will take windows into consideration as maintenance, I know landlords ask the tenant to clean the windows. Window cleaning is becoming big business and can be put down as business expense when working from home. I will be taking full advantage of it next week when I get my van resigned. 

 

[cleaniac]

I am so busy I am not prepared to Evan consider the possibility of a problem customer anymore , and certainly not prepared to pay through the nose to GC to prevent someone becoming a problem , if they are a problem about paying they will also be problematic in other ways , like oh leave them today they aren't to dirty or looks like it might rain give them a miss this time , been there and done that , I have become very strict these days as we don’t need the work and only take on customers that we are happy with so our rejection rate is now quite high . 

Good for you. ?

However, what makes you think that somehow I am putting up with problem customers? And just because I put customers onto Go Careless that somehow they are not worth keeping?

Genuinely speaking, some people just don't have the time or the inclination to get themselves organised they are already rushed off their feet as it is with their jobs and other stuff, the window cleaner is not a high priority. It's great for me because I have a locked gate policy, that the full payment is due regardless of access. So if i give them a date and they don't leave access, I clean what I can and still take full payment as they are paying for the appointment slot, even better by direct debit. Their forgetfulness makes me  more money. Trust me they only forget once or twice and they never forget again...lol

Also not wanting to stir here, but be careful that your attitude doesn't come across arrogant, I certainly have been in your position and arrogance will come back to bite you.  You get really busy and start thinking that beocuse you are amazing at what you do, and your busy you have grandiose views of yourself and your customers will think to themselves what a prat this guy is.. and it all starts to unravel. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Good for you. ?

However, what makes you think that somehow I am putting up with problem customers? And just because I put customers onto Go Careless that somehow they are not worth keeping?

Genuinely speaking, some people just don't have the time or the inclination to get themselves organised they are already rushed off their feet as it is with their jobs and other stuff, the window cleaner is not a high priority. It's great for me because I have a locked gate policy, that the full payment is due regardless of access. So if i give them a date and they don't leave access, I clean what I can and still take full payment as they are paying for the appointment slot, even better by direct debit. Their forgetfulness makes me  more money. Trust me they only forget once or twice and they never forget again...lol

You don't go over the gate with a ladder? That's part of the fun of window cleaning. ?

 

[cleaniac]

You don't go over the gate with a ladder? That's part of the fun of window cleaning. ?

Also don't forget..The "oh while your at it could you cut the hedge???"