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Easter madness!!

Damo

Well-known member
Messages
2,580
Location
Bedfordshire
Seems to be worse than Christmas this year.

Seems like everyone and his dog want their windows cleaned, fascias cleaned or roof's cleaned. 

It's been an unreal year so far but this madness is wearing thin with me lol.

Luckily i have two new guys to train up and send out to help with these one off's.

Anyone else experiencing this? I see Easter as chocolate time YUM!

 
Same here mate, I’m booked up until the beginning of June. 

I even quoted a few jobs a bit high because of how busy I am and got those too!

 
We are always flat out with plastic cleans from March through September , Ime promoting softwashing this year we have been doing it for the last 10 years but I have never really advertised it only offered it as an add on to existing customers , but it’s a buisness that I might go into far more Ime in the process of building a van mount system , with much more capacity than the backpacks we currently use , there is a huge market for it down hear customers want there properties clean and automatically think pressurewashing is the way to do it , so it’s a case of trying to educate the general public that there are far better alternatives to pressurewashing for certain things , so far we have a number of big detached properties booked in and things are looking very promising, just need the time to build the machine , will be starting tomorrow ??

 
@Pjj if yo dont mind me asking what area are you based? I am finding it very hard work educating people on softwashing. They all just assume pressure washing is the only way to go. What are you looking to i clude in your van mount? Its a great add on but taking it to the next step is a real stuggle for me. (Berkshire based ) 

 
Either people are feeling the squeeze or there’s some cheap competition down here ?. Probably a bit of both.

We’re occupied like but not exactly jam packed. Waiting to hear back from quotes on a few bigger jobs

a few regulars have discontinued services due to financial difficulties but we have probably picked up marginally more in return. 

Glad you guys a faring a bit better! 

 
It is very common practice for our Eastern Block friends to have a full house clean right before Easter and Christmas in preparations of religious festivals so listen out for the accents and be sure you arent getting pulled in for one offs. 

 
I'm run off my feet, working 7 days a week. Trying not to get work but repeat business always comes in around this time. Once they meet me again we discuss what next to clean. Much prefer women customers because the man always says 'don't know why she is getting it cleaned because it was fine like it was' after he hands over the money. Might try and get in cahoots with estate agents to offer advice to folk selling their homes. They do it in the US and don't know why its not big business here.

 
@Pjj if yo dont mind me asking what area are you based? I am finding it very hard work educating people on softwashing. They all just assume pressure washing is the only way to go. What are you looking to i clude in your van mount? Its a great add on but taking it to the next step is a real stuggle for me. (Berkshire based ) 




Ime in Cornwall , most people think if there House is dirty it needs pressurewashing, most phone up asking us to pressurewasher it for them , I go round have a look and then explain the options and explain what type of cleaning is going to be best for there house ie brick: painted render: krend ,cladding etc etc , we get the vast majority of jobs we quote competition is virtually non existent , some expect you to  clean a 5 bed detached for £50 and when you price it in the hundreds nearly have a coronary , but you always get some muppets no matter what you price up . 

Softwashing in this country is not known about by the vast majority of people ,they haven’t got a clue what it is , but it is starting to take off given a few years I think it will be as common as water  fed pole window cleaning is now , 15 years ago people laughter wfp said it would never take off , how wrong they were . ??

Ime in the process of building a van mount softwashing machine , I have looked at several ready made systems and don’t  want to spend 15k plus vat + a van , the system Ime going to build should cost less than £1500 hopefully, if ones are intrested I will post pictures of what Ime doing , it’s not difficult anyone with very basic tools and a bit of common sense can do it , my system will be a “ one batch system” not using metering ball valves ,or dosertrons , in 10 years of softwashing have never found the need to alter  the mix part way through a job , the simpler a thing is the less to go wrong .

 
Conny cleans, pressure washing and SFG all subbed out now .

Mon-Friday window cleaning, 2 of us flat out takes 7 weeks to get round, so any extra customers (you’re right @Damo especially crazy at the moment), are sold off to another windie I’m friendly with.

All this because I’m ‘trying’ to slow down ?.

Its that time again ??

Have a great weekend fellow windies. More to life than work ?

 
Conny cleans, pressure washing and SFG all subbed out now .
Appreciate you're probably on the lash by now Steve but just querying when you get a chance......When you sub out the sfg cleans etc, don;t you get just a little anxious that the cleaner that you sub out to might take over the window cleaning as well, assuming that you clean the windows and he does the other bits ? I can just imagine some custys saying ....well if you're doing the sfg and conny clean, you might as well do the windows as well. 

Also, how do you work out the price that you get from him , if you don,t mind me asking, for giving him the work?

Reason that I ask is that I have turned down three substantial SFG cleans in the last week due to a neck ache problem and i'm now focusing on just windows. 

 
Finding a-lot of people wanting one off cleans and i don't really mind when they are paying me 45+ but started to be a bit more selective as i want returning customers.

 
Appreciate you're probably on the lash by now Steve but just querying when you get a chance......When you sub out the sfg cleans etc, don;t you get just a little anxious that the cleaner that you sub out to might take over the window cleaning as well, assuming that you clean the windows and he does the other bits ? I can just imagine some custys saying ....well if you're doing the sfg and conny clean, you might as well do the windows as well. 

Also, how do you work out the price that you get from him , if you don,t mind me asking, for giving him the work?

Reason that I ask is that I have turned down three substantial SFG cleans in the last week due to a neck ache problem and i'm now focusing on just windows. 
Morning jack. I’m not worried about customers leaving.

I’ve been doing this for around 25 years now so am very friendly with my customers.

The guy I give the conny roofs, SFG jobs to (Roy, blades windows), I’ve also become quite friendly with.

As for the money aspect of it, it’s kept very simple. I give the customer his number, he prices it, and bungs money on for me depending on the size of the job.

If it’s a small drive or patio, my worker Jake likes the extra cash at weekends. 

I have a Karcher, the grey machine which is the next one up from the K7, so he’ll put that in his car and go and do it. 

The customers obviously know him, so their happy and I’m earning for nothing ?.

The excess window cleaning work is also kept simple. Another windie who works in the same area as me, gives me the price of 2 cleans for each job I get him. 

I work in affluent areas (chislehurst, Petts Wood, bickley etc), so a lot of the houses I do are generally around £25-45.

So 2-3 of these a week come in handy.

I Play snooker with him occasionally and have no worries about him.

Once you get friendly with customers and been doing this game for a while, there’s plenty of ways do make money.

I get work for a decorator I use, the guy who laid my drive, the guy who done my extension. All people who was recommended to me and done a good job.

I get them work, they give me a good drink out of it.

Just got to be confident and bring the subjects up when talking to customers.

Been on this forum for years and I think that’s the longest post I’ve ever done! My apologies ?

 

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