Unable to get customers at 4 weekly

Hi all.

Iv been going 8 weeks now since picking up my first custy. Problem I have is that i can only get them to go 8 weekly, nobody seems to want 4 weekly. Do any of you only offer 4 weekly only? If anyone offers 4 and 8 weekly how do you increase your chances of getting them to go 4 weekly?

Any advice or suggestions appreciated

Double your client base. 8 weekly customers are happy to see you, 4 weekly can moan that 'you're here again already'. 

Your going to have to roll your sleeves up and get more customers. 

I know a lad who lives in Stafford and built his round in Sutton and commutes daily. 

Lastly there's a lot at it, I wouldn't want to be starting up now. But it can be done, it's just harder. Cpm of kingstanding offered me his round a month or so ago as he was thinking of selling up. He may be worth a call?

Depends were you are in the UK, Nearly all mine are 4 weekly but i am in the north east of england.

I offer 4 and 8 weekly

I have about a 50/50 split

No hassle as i do the same area each 4 weeks but there are always some different houses in that area from last month

Doesn't actually affect the round and everyone is happy

Monthly here.

I'm also in the north east (Yorkshire) and almost all my customers are 4 weekly. Some have even requested recently to have it done fortnightly. Before wfp it was more common to have them cleaned every two weeks around here so they're used to frequent cleans. The windows are usually noticably dirty after 4 weeks though even with wfp.

Are you trad or wtf i only offer to do 4 or 6 weeks cycle trying not to let people know that you do 8 weeks between cleaning might help you get more people to agree to work


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Minty said:

Double your client base. 8 weekly customers are happy to see you, 4 weekly can moan that 'you're here again already'. 

Your going to have to roll your sleeves up and get more customers. 

I know a lad who lives in Stafford and built his round in Sutton and commutes daily. 

Lastly there's a lot at it, I wouldn't want to be starting up now. But it can be done, it's just harder. Cpm of kingstanding offered me his round a month or so ago as he was thinking of selling up. He may be worth a call?

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I travel over to sutton from cannock. Not long moved here mate. Im not doing too bad, got 63 custys so far. Advertised for 5 weeks properly in that time, no canvassing done yet. Im happy with the amount but know at 4 weekly thats double in terms of earnings and having to find pretty much half the amount of custys that I am at the minute. Do you know what hes selling for roughly? 

AS Clean said:

Are you trad or wtf i only offer to do 4 or 6 weeks cycle trying not to let people know that you do 8 weeks between cleaning might help you get more people to agree to work


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Wfp mate. I havent got any 6 weekly. Would it be difficult to manage with clashes between 4 and 8 sort of some weeks you get 8 weekly on top of the ones already in at 8 n then sometimes 6 weekly will fall on the 4' and 8's.

I see it that a full customer schedule of 8 week intervals at 50% more than the 4 weekly cost will earn you more in the end. I admit that each clean will take slightly longer and slightly more graft, but not 50% longer and harder.

You just have to work harder to achieve that amount.

We offered add on services to existing customers in the early days to 'swell' the coffers. Conservatory roof cleans, gutters and fascias make nice earners if priced right. We initially tried to schedule these for poor weather days or Saturdays and only do them for existing customers. We also have annual cleans scheduled so we just do them.

In those early days we collected money from most of our customers so it was easy to 'tap' them for additional work once we had established a repore with them. We also asked for referrals for their locally based friends and got quite a good response from that. In fact, most of our round, apart from what we purchased is from referrals.

When you start window cleaning you have to solely focused on growing your business. You need to breath window cleaning every moment of your day. You haven't got time for small talk. You need to pounce on every opportunity. If you are driving past someone cleaning their own windows, stop and ask them for the job.

This forum is full of ideas that others have used successfully to grow their business.

.

PureShine said:

Hi all.

Iv been going 8 weeks now since picking up my first custy. Problem I have is that i can only get them to go 8 weekly, nobody seems to want 4 weekly. Do any of you only offer 4 weekly only? If anyone offers 4 and 8 weekly how do you increase your chances of getting them to go 4 weekly?

Any advice or suggestions appreciated

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They may be choosing 8 weekly because you are saying do you want 4 or 8 weekly ?  Don't give them the choice.

How often do you come ?

Every 4 weeks

Ok no problem add me to the round.

I personally don't  mind anymore and offer both, the 8 weekly at a couple of quid or so more. But generally I don't find 8 takes any longer to clean than 4 so I'm happy to clean at the same price if they insist. 

8 weekly is better in the long run especially if you are charging more.

I work such a compact area that i have about £800 of 6 weekly also and some quarterly but it is never an issue as i am never more than 3 miles from home and usually sort my work into loops on days it clashes so i do a loop from home back to home and still never have more than a short drive to my next few houses 

In rural areas i doubt you could work it like that

I push 4 weekly but if they don't look like they'll bite ill then offer 8 weekly. If you offer it they'll go for it to save a few £

PureShine said:

I travel over to sutton from cannock. Not long moved here mate. Im not doing too bad, got 63 custys so far. Advertised for 5 weeks properly in that time, no canvassing done yet. Im happy with the amount but know at 4 weekly thats double in terms of earnings and having to find pretty much half the amount of custys that I am at the minute. Do you know what hes selling for roughly? 

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 I didn't ask but he said he did other things. 

Hers a linky for you 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/PMC-Enterprises/1687141568218908?fref=ts

4 weekly is good at the outset as it means you need less clients so easier to build the round.

once you achieve that then you could always up the cost but inform them its moving to 8 weekly...

I find my hourly rate is better on 8 weekly so I'm not overly bothered if its 4 or 8 weekly now..
new clients get offered 2 prices (4 & 8) and i let them choose however the 8 weekly comes at a 50% surcharge.

for example, a £20 house on a 4 weekly cycle would be priced at £30 for 8 weekly. They then decide if they want that and save themselves an average of £5 per month.

It also gives you more room to grow the business, you'll be surprised at how quickly you fill your days - there never seems enough hours in the day to do the work and fit in the extras such as internal cleans, gutter clearing, conservatory roofs etc...

Good luck

I'm early into building my round but everyone was 4weekly until this week I have had 4 asking for 8 weekly. It's no problem - when I'm fully upto speed I will split the 8 weeklies across my days rather than have 1 busy month 1 quiet month.

adamangler said:

They may be choosing 8 weekly because you are saying do you want 4 or 8 weekly ?  Don't give them the choice.

How often do you come ?

Every 4 weeks

Ok no problem add me to the round.

I personally don't  mind anymore and offer both, the 8 weekly at a couple of quid or so more. But generally I don't find 8 takes any longer to clean than 4 so I'm happy to clean at the same price if they insist. 

8 weekly is better in the long run especially if you are charging more.

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Adam I charge the same for 4 or 8 weekly and do offer them both. So by not adding extra at 8 weekly im shooting myself in the foot. Only thing is i think id also not win the quote if i put the cost any higher. So do I lower the cost of what im already at to entice them into going 4 weekly? 

PureShine said:

Adam I charge the same for 4 or 8 weekly and do offer them both. So by not adding extra at 8 weekly im shooting myself in the foot. Only thing is i think id also not win the quote if i put the cost any higher. So do I lower the cost of what im already at to entice them into going 4 weekly? 

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no. Just don't offer 8 weekly unless they ask for it

also if you upped the price more would go 4 weekly anyway

Clisty1989 said:

no. Just don't offer 8 weekly unless they ask for it

also if you upped the price more would go 4 weekly anyway

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I know what you mean mate, but im flapping as I already run the risk of losing the customer due to being so high with the quote. Sort of feel like if I gave them my normal price and that was for 4 weekly then at 8 weekly a higher quote or if only offered 4 weekly at my normal price Id lose pretty much all quotes. I was out today doing an 8 weekly, bloke comes homes from work next door and asks how much mate. I told him the price and he frowns at me, he said oh it would just be a one of thing then if thats how much its going to cost, i said if its a one-off then it'll be double the cost... he looks at me n says 'are you f**king crazy?' haha

Minty said:

 I didn't ask but he said he did other things. 

Hers a linky for you 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/PMC-Enterprises/1687141568218908?fref=ts

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Minty the link just says the link is generated. Not an actual profile. I cant find a website or anything for it either mate

PureShine said:

I know what you mean mate, but im flapping as I already run the risk of losing the customer due to being so high with the quote. Sort of feel like if I gave them my normal price and that was for 4 weekly then at 8 weekly a higher quote or if only offered 4 weekly at my normal price Id lose pretty much all quotes. I was out today doing an 8 weekly, bloke comes homes from work next door and asks how much mate. I told him the price and he frowns at me, he said oh it would just be a one of thing then if thats how much its going to cost, i said if its a one-off then it'll be double the cost... he looks at me n says 'are you f**king crazy?' haha

Minty the link just says the link is generated. Not an actual profile. I cant find a website or anything for it either mate

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When quoting explain you do frames sills and doors included in price, helps people feel the price is reasonable

PureShine said:

Adam I charge the same for 4 or 8 weekly and do offer them both. So by not adding extra at 8 weekly im shooting myself in the foot. Only thing is i think id also not win the quote if i put the cost any higher. So do I lower the cost of what im already at to entice them into going 4 weekly? 

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Customers are generally  a bit daft when it comes to this, if i offer 4 weekly at a tenner or 8 weekly at 15 most will go for the 4 as they think its cheaper :1f603:  ..they only see the amount and dont see the long term price. 

Well yes you are shooting yourself in the foot, because the main advantage of 8 weekly is to increase turnover, if you are charging the same and it takes longer (slightly) then you are decreasing turnover.

To be honest what i generally do now is not charge 50% more, i might say for just 2-3 pound extra you can go 8 weekly if you like.

Its all about saying it in a way that makes it look more appealing. 

Clisty1989 said:

When quoting explain you do frames sills and doors included in price, helps people feel the price is reasonable

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I do this, i try and sell it to them. When they have had a windy that has only done the glass previously they love it when telling them i do frames and other stuff aswell. But most are used to frames etc being done and its seen as the norm.