any advice for building a round

Hi guys, new here been reading through lots of posts and it has really inspired me. I've been window cleaning for about 10 years now the first 3 years was all trad then we went over on to the wfp system still do trad but no a massive amount.so anyway I've got my van setup I've got everything I need but I'm currently working for a local window cleaning company, and recently he's been letting the work slip a bit organisation is terrible too plus he takes a huge percentage of the work I do which is fair enough but I'd like to go off and start my own round I've got a load of leaflets printed about 5 thousand so far I'm just a bit worried as there's so many window cleaners I'm my area the leaflets I've printed are really simple they look like greens. are leaflets the way to go as Im petrified of door knocking I'm fine talking to customers and collecting money just don't think I could bring myself to knock I'd like to get 200 to 300 customers on a 6 to 8 week round how long do you guys think this will take on leaflets alone is this doable on leaflets cheers tony

Knock doors mate. I knocked a door of a big house in the sticks today. It's next to 2 bungalows and one of the people in the bungalows said that there were new people in the big house. I finished the bungalows and knocked the big house's door. I ended up with a £35 8 weekly. Be pleasant, cheerful and smile. First impressions go a long way. Me and lady T have delivered 100's of leaflets before and got a big fat 0.

Hi & welcome :thumbsup:

Cheers I don't mind knocking if I'm cleaning a house and the customer mentions there neighbours looking for a window cleaner but other than that I've never knocked before and all the jobs I have got through people spotting me and wanting there windows cleaned I've just stupidly put them on the company I work for books I'll have to man up and knock some doors I guess lol in regards to the flyers do the simple flyers get a better response rather than flashy ones

tony , tuffers is bang on you will pick up graft quicker door knocking

set your mind then knock them doors the more you do it the easier it is

this works gd for WFP

I have information pack I call it

its sheet off paper telling cutomer all about the WFP system how it works and how brilliant it is

tony customers love it, as they say breaks the ice

Cheers I don't mind knocking if I'm cleaning a house and the customer mentions there neighbours looking for a window cleaner but other than that I've never knocked before and all the jobs I have got through people spotting me and wanting there windows cleaned I've just stupidly put them on the company I work for books I'll have to man up and knock some doors I guess lol in regards to the flyers do the simple flyers get a better response rather than flashy ones

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flyers DO work but the thing is you have to dole out a lot more than 5000 to get the sort of round you want. i built my round on simple 2 liner flyers and i can tell you it took probably 50000 .

nontheless you have to start somewhere,promise yourself that you will deliver every single one/ of your 5000/ in under 2weeks as a target and see how you get along. good luck!

Thanks for all the replies wow 50000 how long did that take. with flyers do you hit the same area twice I'm gonna put a quote on for the whole house and just the front is this a bad idea cheers duncs do you give them that right from the start I'm trying to come up with a short simple line for knocking doors I don't wanna blabber on to much

You don't have to say anything more than, "hello, are you looking for a window cleaner?" then take it from there... You don't need a big sales pitch.

Thanks for all the replies wow 50000 how long did that take. with flyers do you hit the same area twice I'm gonna put a quote on for the whole house and just the front is this a bad idea cheers duncs do you give them that right from the start I'm trying to come up with a short simple line for knocking doors I don't wanna blabber on to much

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50000 was spread over about 3 yrs . i did some doorknockin at the start but that was taking me too long. i didnt cover the same area twice but i wanted to work in 4 diffrent towns in my area so i didnt get bored and it would have taken yrs to doorknock it all

Brilliant I'll have to try that I was thinking more along the lines of "hello I clean windows in this area just wondered if you'd like a window cleaner I come every 4 to 6 weeks" but I guess that's going on a bit too much I think I just can't get my head around knocking I don't know why it's scares me so much I can't stand it when people knock my door selling but I am always polite to them. Boarcity did you build your round on flyers alone has anyone managed to build there round on flyers alone I know when you get the work its easier to speak to people that walk past you doing a job and getting them onboard if I can get 100 jobs either 4 or 8 weeks I could survive on that maybe I need to set my goals a bit lower for now. I can't believe Ive just found this forum it's so inspiring hearing allot of guys going from nothing to having a really good round I'm just annoyed because the in the time I've been working for this company I've got them 100s of jobs I spose you live and learn

I just knock and say " do you need a window cleaner"

Works for me

Eyup mate. Im going through same emotions/ struggles as yourself.

I got into windows last nov after years of been fed up of minimum wage jobs. I always knew it would be very hard as I have anxiety and overthink everything but I couldnt think of a business model better than windows and I already had started doing car valeting so had a lot of gear.

I employed p.dale to canvass for me he got me about 50 custies but a lot cancelled and getting him to replace was a joke in the end I got a refund.

6 months on I have 63 custies. About 30 from facebook. Only maybe 10 of them from canvassing myself.

I was **** scared to death of canvassing and now I would say im very anxious about it but not as bad. The first time I went I got a mate to come and hold my hand. Very homo but it did force me to knock and thinking about it is far worse than doing it.

That said ive only knocked 3-4 times and still build up huge anxiety about it.

The problem for me now is I work 30 hours employed and theres no point getting more custies as I cant get round the ones ive got. If it rains in my day off work im fecked.

If you're that scared eventually youll get so ****** off with yourself for not doing it youll grab your coat storm out the door and go knock a few youll then realise its not that bad worst youll come across I a miserable old git snapping im not interested at you. Im at the point now where im getting ****** off with working when I could be canvassing or cleaning windows i asked my boss last week if I could reduce my hours and if he doesnt im quitting.

In short get ****** off or put yourself in a situation where youve no choice. One bit of advice is always remember YOU ARE GOING TO DIE one day. Really get with that idea visualise the accomplishment and the growth and remember the more painfull the process the greater the prize. If u drive to the canvassing area and bottle it like I did dust yourself off and keep pushing if u can get to the first door thats your only goal not whether u get a yes a no or a smack in the mouth you knock that feckin door if it kills you be prepared to die.

Lol I get super emotional I hate being scared to do stuff it drives me insane

Well it sounds like your a hard grafter I'm sure you'll get there 63 is good going so you're hoping to go full time on the windows eventually and give in your other job? I'm kind off in the same situation Im planning on staying on for the company I'm working for and picking up jobs here and there only problem is the round I'm doing for them atm is All over the place and I like to build a more compact round only problem is there's allot of guys around here doing it for beer money so they charge a fiver a house and there's no way I'm competing with that the company I work for take around 35% out of the jobs I do so to try and get a start I was going to try and charge a little bit less than I would normally quote then put them up a little bit in a year or so. I'd never under cut any one on purpose. It's just I need to make a start I'm hoping charging a little bit lower to start will get me more work then do a good job and hopefully get a few customers recommend me to friends the customers you got through Facebook are they friends or just through adverts?

i built my whole round on flyers . as i said it took 3 yrs of doling them out . my first year i mostly flyered and cleaned when work came in. by end of year 1 the balance changed to 50:50 flyering and cleaning - at year 2 i took on a parttime helper and HE was first employed doling flyers out with the promise that if they brought in work,if he worked hard at it,hed move on to the squeegee. this proved to be the case , then next i had 2 parttimers.

several years later iv now 3 fulltime squeegee lads and theres precious little time to go flyering.

but about a month ago i put work aside for a few hours , and we all 4 of us went flyering

this brought in work in a particular area id always fancied working.

Yes mate. Got plans to be full time this year.

Loads of windys round here as well some are the fiver merchants but dont compete.

In the long run youre better off sticking to your guns. I have an average of 12 quid a house and if it falls below the next enquiries I get will be quoted above 12 quid to get the average back up.

Also what boar said get a helper. Young lad willing to flyer or knock. Ive advertised twice both times its paid off. Ive got to place a new ad this weekend now the clocks have gone back need to be out 5-8 a few times a week.

Your get there your obviously dedicated.

Yeah I don't think there stick around forever at that price I notice allot of these guys disappear in the winter lol yeah I was thinking of a £11 to £12 average per house to start with going from what I've heard from other guys in this area the average ranges from 15 to 20 but tbh 11 to 12 seems like a fair price to me especially on the 4 to 6 week jobs which do come around quick

adam why did the 50 cancel who paul got you how come i hear ver y very gd things about him

Don't quote cheap to get jobs.

I put my price in and leave of they won't pay it.

The cheap ones always mess up eventually by rushing or not turning up on time because a better round is due.

When they come back to me I put an extra pound on.

As for advertising, one leaflet in the local chippy or corner shop can bring in a few, as can paying the local paperboy to stuff one in his papers.

For a nice compact round though your better off buying one. I started my own 3 months ago with a little £160 a month round that I payed £160 for.

I have just bought another £220 a month round for £450.

There are some bargains around of you know where to look.

People are friendly. Knock on doors smiling, but not over the top. Say 'I've just booked in your neighbour for window cleaning and I'm seeing if anyone else in the area would like a quote?'

This works good for me.

Get out and do it!!!!!!

adam why did the 50 cancel who paul got you how come i hear ver y very gd things about him

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Hi mate, he got me about 50, about half cancelled, the vast majority before the first clean, some before the second, i think the reason for most were because hey wernt setup properly, he had put stuff like needs to ask wife/husband first etc. apparently a couple cancelled due to not been happy with the job but the vast majority just cancelled for unknown reason.

I spent the next two months going back and forth via email with him arranging to come up and replace on 3 occasions to let me down and have an excuse as to why he couldnt come up, in the end he offered a refund, which obv i took as just wanted an end to the whole thing. Very quick to take his money not so qiuck to sort out problems.

But in the end i did get it sorted so cant slag him off to much it just didnt work out.