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My very first clean

cooperman

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Messages
54
Finally got round to starting up at the weekend. First customer was a friend and neighbour. Took me 4 hours to complete a 3 bed terraced house, but wanted to make sure my work ethic shined, literally!

Scrubbed the frames to a brilliant white and doors and obviously glass.

But it's paid off. She's over the moon with the result so hopefully I'll get a few more customers off the back of this one.

Plus, now the frames are so clean, next time it shouldn't take me half a day to do! [emoji1]

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Should have really taken a "before" photo, but didn't. Here's the finished product. (the frames started off with that dull grey grime all over them) cleaned up quite nice in the end.
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Looking good, you need to speed up or you won't make much cash. Don't be too OCD as its not restoration work, unless that's what their paying for. :1f44d:

 
You will speed up as you go along, but don’t let it bug you for now. Top two priorities is figuring out how long a job WILL take, based on previous experiences you can price it right, and doing a good job, which you have done. Dont make the mistake 9/10 people make and sell yourself short, i did it, still do on occasions [emoji849]. You have to earn a living off it remember. People seriously undervalue this industry but the fact is you’ve got to make ends meet just like anyone else in this world. Whether its carpet cleaners, plumbers, satellite technicians etc, nobodies showing up at our door for less than 50/60 quid these days even if its only an hours work for them. If we all get a bit braver and strive for better prices, people will realise that’s what we need as a fair wage, and we will all be a bit better off [emoji4] don’t let cheap competition scare you, they rarely last, or they get so booked up they cant take any more on...ever.


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Cheers guys.
I charged a tenner for this. She used to pay her last windy £7! My initial valuation was a quid a window, but I was tempted to match it as I know her and I'm new to this. But after realising that getting my ladders down the narrowest (maybe wouldn't have been as bad if it wasnt full of random bits of wood and bin bags) alleyway in the world to get round the back, and the dodgy toilet window directly above it, I decided a quid a window + door would be a fair price.
I've also since decided that £10 is going to be my minimum fee, which would include upto 8 windows and 2 doors. Every extra window/door would incur an appropriate cost depending on size and location.
My wife went mad that it took so long to do and I was in effect working for £2.50 an hour.
But so what... I still got a tenner for it. More than I'd have got trooping wound meadowhall with her and the youngster [emoji16]
My logic is this: first cleans are where the windows are going to be at their worst, so this is my opportunity to "Wow" the customer by showing them how clean they can and will be in one fell swoop.
I could tell them that each clean I do will brighten them up and yes in 10 cleans they may reach their full potential, but that's gonna take a year! Will they notice as much? Maybe, maybe not?
I figured if I spend a little longer on my first cleans to get these sort of results, I may not make quite as much an hour this time, but next time, when I just need to give them a quick swizz off on the glass and I'm still charging a tenner for 10mins work!
Incidentally, the next house I did only took me 2 hours to get the same results. [emoji106]


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Well done. Make sure you don't get caught out by customs who only Want a one off clean. (they won't tell you that until you finished.)

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You will speed up as you go along, but don’t let it bug you for now. Top two priorities is figuring out how long a job WILL take, based on previous experiences you can price it right, and doing a good job, which you have done. Dont make the mistake 9/10 people make and sell yourself short, i did it, still do on occasions [emoji849]. You have to earn a living off it remember. People seriously undervalue this industry but the fact is you’ve got to make ends meet just like anyone else in this world. Whether its carpet cleaners, plumbers, satellite technicians etc, nobodies showing up at our door for less than 50/60 quid these days even if its only an hours work for them. If we all get a bit braver and strive for better prices, people will realise that’s what we need as a fair wage, and we will all be a bit better off [emoji4] don’t let cheap competition scare you, they rarely last, or they get so booked up they cant take any more on...ever.


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Well said.

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Well done. Make sure you don't get caught out by customs who only Want a one off clean. (they won't tell you that until you finished.)

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I think you did a restoration clean, not a first clean when it came to the frames.

So should of charged more and reflected in time it  took besides being a beginner in the game.

Could of offered the restoration of the frames/sills at later date when they are regular customers.

Would solve the best comment which is very valid.

Did a first clean(I do not charge extra for first cleans) and had to scrape old paint splatters from most of the windows....then half way through the owners daughter said the old window cleaner has come back and will be doing them in future. Just cleaned the remainder without scraping the paint splatters. If I had of restored the frames etc.........the old windie would be over the moon. And they put up with the job he did!!!!!

 
charge at least 50% more for 1st cleans, ideally double, explain they'll take longer on 1st clean so need to charge more, also weeds out messers before you even start

 
I think you did a restoration clean, not a first clean when it came to the frames.
So should of charged more and reflected in time it  took besides being a beginner in the game.
Could of offered the restoration of the frames/sills at later date when they are regular customers.
Would solve the best comment which is very valid.
Did a first clean(I do not charge extra for first cleans) and had to scrape old paint splatters from most of the windows....then half way through the owners daughter said the old window cleaner has come back and will be doing them in future. Just cleaned the remainder without scraping the paint splatters. If I had of restored the frames etc.........the old windie would be over the moon. And they put up with the job he did!!!!!
Cheers Mike. You make a good point. Might be worth me offering the restoration at a later date.
I suppose there's still a difference to be seen just after a simple wash round with a cloth.


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Not trying to pee on your cornflakes here but..It's OK to be keen, but don't be a mug. Respect yourself and the trade you're entering. Spending 4hrs on a house for ten quid no matter how new you are in the game is just dumb. The problem this trade has is that there are hundreds of people starting in the trade doing silly stuff like this and bringing down the price for everyone with this kind of desparation tactics. These people then end up broke and going back to whatever they were doing before. Clean the house reasonable standard, have a friendly chat and pretend you've been doing it for years, then move on to the next.

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Cooperman, what did you use to clean the frames?
I did a first clean a while back and used W5 and it left a really soapy sticky film.
I was thinking of trying Virosol or Ubik.
Magic Sponges mate. They work wonders.
Tried some Upvc restorer in a spray bottle but found that ate away at the rubber seals and streaked all over when you wiped them down.
Magic sponges foam up nicely enough to give a good clean but then wipe down lovely with a damp then dry cloth.

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good stuff mate took a bit to long but your speed will come and ive always applied the logic of I want to make the next door neighbours look like dirty sods and feel the need to have there house looking as good as the one I've just cleaned

 
good stuff mate took a bit to long but your speed will come and ive always applied the logic of I want to make the next door neighbours look like dirty sods and feel the need to have there house looking as good as the one I've just cleaned
Cheers mate. And exactly my thoughts. If I can wow my customer, I can wow their neighbours too, so they'll want me to do their windows so they're not the scruffy house on the street. Haha

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good stuff mate took a bit to long but your speed will come and ive always applied the logic of I want to make the next door neighbours look like dirty sods and feel the need to have there house looking as good as the one I've just cleaned
Cheers mate. And exactly my thoughts. If I can wow my customer, I can wow their neighbours too, so they'll want me to do their windows so they're not the scruffy house on the street. Haha

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on really bad first cleans I always tell tem that the frames will come back over 3-4 monthly cleans and they do,  but they will always see and instant improvement after the first clean.  I don't use anything abrasive as you will only scratch upvc frames and that just then adds to the problem

 
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