Canvassing companies?

Pretty new to window cleaning, was running it part time alongside another part time job, I’m now going all out with the windows, bit sad but I’ve only managed to secure 10 customers, I’m now looking to build the customer base, I’ve quite heavily leafleted doors, sign written van, rank on google 1st page locally, consider I do a good job, but definitely struggling to conjure up more customers, is this a bad time of the year for building up a business in the Cleaning game or am I not doing enough?

As I’m now getting disheartened I was thinking of a dedicated canvassing company, can I have views on using one of these companies, will it be worth the outlay or should I be taking a different approach?

Carts69 said:

Pretty new to window cleaning, was running it part time alongside another part time job, I’m now going all out with the windows, bit sad but I’ve only managed to secure 10 customers, I’m now looking to build the customer base, I’ve quite heavily leafleted doors, sign written van, rank on google 1st page locally, consider I do a good job, but definitely struggling to conjure up more customers, is this a bad time of the year for building up a business in the Cleaning game or am I not doing enough?

As I’m now getting disheartened I was thinking of a dedicated canvassing company, can I have views on using one of these companies, will it be worth the outlay or should I be taking a different approach?

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Hi mate.

So this is a quiter time of the year than others for sure. I am at my busiest for window enquiries around April to June.

If you have this time free now, perhaps you can canvass yourself? Other wise you'll pay around 3 x the clean for canvassing companies. What i am advising you to do is what I done, and what we will do this year to build enough for van 2.

Any questions just ask, but the percentage of success in door to door (as varied as it can be) will be all you need if you do this regular and for 6 months approx.

How big an area are you on page 1 at the top for? Check this off a device you haven't ever searched for your company or anything window cleaning related on. Confirm you are positioned where you think you are basically, cos Google will show things in an order it think a you want to see (based on previous searches )

First chance of the year to quote my favourite phrase ''Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth'' Mike Tyson. Don't get disheartened mate, pick yourself up and carry on.

Average return from leaflets is 1-2%, get and put more out. If you're not seeing this sort of return then ask yourself why. Is your leaflet too difficult to understand? Remember you only have a couple of seconds to get their attention or its going in the recycling. If you're happy with your leaflets then perhaps you are leafleting the wrong areas, try different streets.

If you really really wanna win at this then you might have to go back and knock the same doors you leafleted a few days later. Its daunting for some but its really simple... ''Hello I dropped a leaflet through the other day, just wondering if you need a window cleaner?''... If you pay a canvassing company they will undoubtably over price the job, get the customer to sign up for monthly when they actually want 2 monthly and then charge you 3x the price for the privilege.

People are still feeling the pinch from Christmas, logged onto my credit card last night and my eyes started to water so I know this to be true ?. You can look at it one of 2 ways, either the canvassing company will hard sell your services and bring you lots of cancellations or they will have to work harder and bring you lots of customers who have an expendable income and won't cancel you next winter.

If I were in your position I would be delivering 500+ leaflets a day and if they didn't start to come in from that I would canvass the streets I had leafleted. If they did come in from that I would canvass the streets when I worked there. I would be advertising on every for sale group I could as often as I could. Get out in between and clean some friends houses if you need an excuse to canvass....

But yes this is a not a good time of year. Its like a snowball though mate, takes time to get going but once it does you will start to grow so quickly this will be a distant memory.

Ok , thanks to you both for your advice, very much appreciated! Having read through both your replies.. I’m now steering away from the canvassing companies, I understand I’ve get to get the round I need myself & put more effort in, that is what I shall do from now on, I know the work is out there so need to dust myself off & go again, great replies & has given me encouragement, cheers ?

Carts69 said:

Ok , thanks to you both for your advice, very much appreciated! Having read through both your replies.. I’m now steering away from the canvassing companies, I understand I’ve get to get the round I need myself & put more effort in, that is what I shall do from now on, I know the work is out there so need to dust myself off & go again, great replies & has given more encouragement, cheers ?

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If you got a few bob to invest @Green Pro Clean Ltd does lead generation. Never used it but some lads on here rave about it. He gives you the details of people who have actually requested a window cleaner, you get in touch and quote them and that costs a lot less than the canvassing companies but of course don't give you a guaranteed return.

Above all else treat this as a job. Imagine tomorrow you're working for someone else. If you worked for me and I was paying you 8-4 with a half hour lunch then you would be working 7.5 hours like it or lump it so do that for yourself. If you could speak to you from 6 months in the future he would thank you for it!

V

P4dstar said:

If you got a few bob to invest @Green Pro Clean Ltd does lead generation. Never used it but some lads on here rave about it. He gives you the details of people who have actually requested a window cleaner, you get in touch and quote them and that costs a lot less than the canvassing companies but of course don't give you a guaranteed return.

Above all else treat this as a job. Imagine tomorrow you're working for someone else. If you worked for me and I was paying you 8-4 with a half hour lunch then you would be working 7.5 hours like it or lump it so do that for yourself. If you could speak to you from 6 months in the future he would thank you for it!

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Interesting to know, cheers for the further advice, I know most people have been in this situation at the start, some winge some don’t! I just need to think more positively & put more effort into it, I know I’ll get there in the end... I’m not a quitter but do easily get dishartoned, I love doing the windows & the add ons, I’ve invested quite a bit on equipment to cover all my services I offer, I have the equipment.. I have the desire to make this my career, just need the customers to complete this journey ?

Carts69 said:

I know I’ll get there in the end

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Love this sentence... who want's to get there in the end?  I want to get there now!  ?

If you're interested in our lead gen service (1/3rd the cost of traditional canvassers and backed by a money back guarantee) just drop me a PM. 

It grows customer bases faster than any other method for the money invested which is why we can afford to guarantee it.  

Thanks for the mention @P4dstar ?

Carts69 said:

V

Interesting to know, cheers for the further advice, I know most people have been in this situation at the start, some winge some don’t! I just need to think more positively & put more effort into it, I know I’ll get there in the end... I’m not a quitter but do easily get dishartoned, I love doing the windows & the add ons, I’ve invested quite a bit on equipment to cover all my services I offer, I have the equipment.. I have the desire to make this my career, just need the customers to complete this journey ?

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It's really tough this time of year mate.  If you do gutter clearance, might be worth a sponsored Facebook ad ?  I've found chasing add ons easier than regular window cleaning when starting out

Go with Darren at green pro!

If a £15 clean takes 30 minutes including travel then in an hour you’re looking at £30ph. If you do 8 hours of door knocking or leaflet dropping and get 16 houses that cost you £240. Even worse if it’s just leaflets because the return is so poor. 

if you pay for the first 20 at £200 and get 16 of the jobs it’s already saved you £40.

charge a minimum of £25 for a first clean which is what i do and those 16 jobs got you £400. Canvassing you will loose at least half by the third clean but with the lead gen they were actively wanting their windows done and seeking a Window cleaner. 

You can easily do both for the first few weeks, but I soon found I didn’t even have the time to waste going to quote jobs, set a price list up and stick to it so you are ready to quote accurately over the phone when the time comes to only turning the key if it means you are driving to a paying job. 

I started with Darren in April and stopped in October, I have over 200 customers thanks to Darren and that’s not including the walk ups I got from jobs that I only got thanks to the lead gen! I stopped in October as I couldn’t fit in all the work that was being generated due to the nights closing in. I’m not ever worried about running out of customers as I know Darren is a phone call away, I am focusing instead on the core business and efficiency so that I don’t have the same situation where I struggle to fit people in or run out of water in a day, but guess what Darren literally gives away the advice on that for free on his YouTube channel!

I quit my full time job in March and haven’t looked back, you just need that initial injection to get the ball rolling. Phone Darren tomorrow and then come back here in 2 weeks time and share a success story! 

Good luck! 2019 could be the start of something great! 

MWS window cleaning said:

Go with Darren at green pro!
 
If a £15 clean takes 30 minutes including travel then in an hour you’re looking at £30ph. If you do 8 hours of door knocking or leaflet dropping and get 16 houses that cost you £240. Even worse if it’s just leaflets because the return is so poor. 
 
if you pay for the first 20 at £200 and get 16 of the jobs it’s already saved you £40.
 
charge a minimum of £25 for a first clean which is what i do and those 16 jobs got you £400. Canvassing you will loose at least half by the third clean but with the lead gen they were actively wanting their windows done and seeking a Window cleaner. 
 
You can easily do both for the first few weeks, but I soon found I didn’t even have the time to waste going to quote jobs, set a price list up and stick to it so you are ready to quote accurately over the phone when the time comes to only turning the key if it means you are driving to a paying job. 
 
I started with Darren in April and stopped in October, I have over 200 customers thanks to Darren and that’s not including the walk ups I got from jobs that I only got thanks to the lead gen! I stopped in October as I couldn’t fit in all the work that was being generated due to the nights closing in. I’m not ever worried about running out of customers as I know Darren is a phone call away, I am focusing instead on the core business and efficiency so that I don’t have the same situation where I struggle to fit people in or run out of water in a day, but guess what Darren literally gives away the advice on that for free on his YouTube channel!
 
I quit my full time job in March and haven’t looked back, you just need that initial injection to get the ball rolling. Phone Darren tomorrow and then come back here in 2 weeks time and share a success story! 
 
Good luck! 2019 could be the start of something great! 

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I second this 100% Darren got me rolling when I first started no joke I canvassed for a month and had Darren run his lead generation for a month and built 100 customers within my first 3 months .....


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Carts69 said:

Ok , thanks to you both for your advice, very much appreciated! Having read through both your replies.. I’m now steering away from the canvassing companies, I understand I’ve get to get the round I need myself & put more effort in, that is what I shall do from now on, I know the work is out there so need to dust myself off & go again, great replies & has given me encouragement, cheers ?

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knock the doors too...i went out in early january 1993 in the snow and picked up 3 customers on an estate!i was well happy!26 years on i clean over 80 jobs on this estate and have done for many years....?