Canvassing.. What do you say exactly?

Obviously you ask them if they need/want a window cleaner, but I suspect there's more to it than that.

Any tips for a guy starting out?

@Whizz\-Bizz is a legend when it comes to this sort of thing so hopefully he can help us all out.

hi and welcome JJ Windows Cleaners cant help you i am afraid i have never done it ...i use local papers and a leaflet drop...but good luck in the future.

Haha everyone loves an oversell Smurf lol heres some tips I wrote for my friends at the Hub http://www.thehub360.com/canvassing-tips.html the real trick is keep it simple and have fun. :thumbsup:

No spiels. You can hear when something is rehearsed. Also as said keep it simple. There is no special phrase, that will yield big results. Just let them know who you are, and why you are at there door.

Hi my name is _______ I am the owner of __________, we work in this area, and wanted to let you know about our services. (Hand business card).

For me, I think looking the part is have the battle. I would recommend wearing uniforms, or logoed t-shirts, and be presentable. Clean shaven, no collars up etc.

Some great tips, thanks guys.

I've booked a few days off work next week so I can hit the streets and see what's what. I'm not holding out much hope though, as the local areas seem to be saturated with windies at the moment.

How do you go about quoting customers? Is it per window? Ease of access? Would appreciate any info as I don't want to over charge or sell myself short.

But we shall see /emoticons/smile.png

yeh lots of windys around here ....you can kinda blame coronation street for a lot...and of course spring...wait til the winter comes and watch them drop...as for charging ...very hard to get it right ..and of course once you give a price your stuck with it....i am doing two tomorrow which i priced when on another planet...i soon put them up a bit but still cra...ppy jobs...my work ranges from min wage to top wack but unfortunately i would say only 5 percent is at the top....:rofl:

Generally speaking I will take in about £15 per hour, sometimes a little less if I am doing a bit of running around in an area that is not as compact as my other work. Some people will think, whow that is low, I make £30 a hour no less. But they might be talking about inner boroughs of London. Which can have a very different cost of living, than where you are.

So what to charge, well What are you happy with?

If Its 20k a year for 5 days work, then you will have to budget about IMO 5k for expenses working on your own. So it you add those two figures together, then divided that up with all the hours you are going to work( less 5%) to account for down time, sitting in the van waiting for showers to pass etc, and taking 4 weeks off a year. You get an hourly sales target of £13.70.

Now, how long is a piece of string, I mean how long will a job take. Yesterday I did £140, in 7 hours, some days its £100 in 8 hours. I don;t just charge £1 per window, because they are all different. Time you self on a few jobs, maybe take a 5 mins drive to your nearest friends house and do theirs, see how long it all takes. What ever pricing structure you come up with, remember to account for driving time, because you cant count on them all being next door to each other.

Think about minimum pricing. With small jobs with only a few windows, you can end up loosing money if you go as low as £3 or £4. There is just a base cost of driving, dealing with the customer, going back to collect when they are not in, that you cant absorb when you only charging for a few windows. My minimum is £5.50. But I would say charge a £6 minimum. That way you know even if you have to do a little driving between jobs, you can do 3 no probs and meet your target.

Think about minimum pricing. With small jobs with only a few windows, you can end up loosing money if you go as low as £3 or £4. There is just a base cost of driving, dealing with the customer, going back to collect when they are not in, that you cant absorb when you only charging for a few windows. My minimum is £5.50. But I would say charge a £6 minimum. That way you know even if you have to do a little driving between jobs, you can do 3 no probs and meet your target.

best post on here for a while .very honest and not many windys like to talk about the money thing, great writing ....i kinda think there is a monopoly effect to window cleaning too....as in ...if you have a nice compact round where you park up and dont move and you can go from house to house all day....that would be our park lane or mayfair ...but you have to start doing odd ones...and do they pay.....well ...yes and no....

yesterday i changed my plans due to an incoming job via home phone in the morning...and the weather looked too windy for my planned high work ....so i went off to do two odd jobs which i dont really want to do....but the people are great...but it was handy to have the ability to alter my plans on the fly, so to speak and i never know where i will end up....so yes the odd little jobs do count sometimes even if on paper they would look daft.../emoticons/smile.png

Thats the thing some jobs seem a pain in the peverbial but how many times when the rain has come on or high winds you can get away with doing these type of ducking and diving jobs so to speak, and by the end of the day you still go home with brass in pocket. Also a lesson I have learned is some jobs are only a pain in @~** because they are underpriced so the right price is key I think most of the time.

Hi sorry to bother you my name is ....., Im a local window cleaner and im expanding my window cleaning round in the area, would you be interested in FREE quote for your windows to be cleaned.

Response mostly goes like this: I dont need new windows.... lmao.

Works for me I picked up 10 costumers a few weekends ago I did canvassing for a solar panel company for a few weeks and there tip is smile! Friendly! and always talk about what your offering!! Not anything else. If they say no walk away with: thanks for your time or thanks for wasting my time lol no dont say that.

Sometimes you will get annoyed or youll find a certain system isnt working mix it up a bit dont be affraid throw in different phrases. When people say yes youll find what works best for you, specifically mention you are a window cleaner. When people here FREE they listen but can sometimes be like whats the catch....

The Main Thing is To Smile 100% and i say " morning - afternoon - evening just wondering have you got a window cleaner sir or madam?" they either say yes or no then if they say no i say " Would You Like One?" they normally say um maybe how much? then work your magic be a pro get in the back have a look see whats going down how bad it is ect, they will find you very interesting to watch writing it all down. Try and chat a bit like weather and how busy you are and its nice that you are going to make the windows ect. then i hit um with a price of what i think i base cold calling quotes cheaper because it is after all a hard call so i discount the first clean high price down to what it would be every 6 weeks ect £10 -£18 is the most i have ever got cold calling.

100 % customer

Haha everyone loves an oversell Smurf lol heres some tips I wrote for my friends at the Hub http://www.thehub360.com/canvassing-tips.html the real trick is keep it simple and have fun. :thumbsup:

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hi may I have an idea of how much do you charge and what areas do u cover pls . do you have a min charge ? I pay a canvasser but he wants cash only and not really impressed with the customers I get as after 2nd clean (he charges me 200 %) most of the customers say they dont need me anymore or "can you contact me in 6 wkks etc "

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I need to expand my round in southampton (west end preferably ) - and around camberley surrey

Thanks for all the info guys, it has really helped a lot and is very much appreciated. Another hurdle I have hit is which street to start on, how to keep track of which roads I have visited and need to visit next. I think keeping rough guide on conversion rates would also be beneficial.

I am trying to put together a spreadsheet of all local streets and the number of houses on each, but it's a mammoth task.

Any further help would be great /emoticons/biggrin.png

Here's a little preview of what I was talking about.

View attachment 2583

JJ if you are on your own, I would forget that idea pal. You can make a quick forum to fill out while your there, for any you want to try get in on another night. But personally, all I do, is knock, and if they are not in post a leaflet and move on. My town has about 44,000 residents, and there is no way I could canvass all that in a year. No will power me. But I have found that you will get 2 or 3 new customers for every 100 customers you canvass on average. So if you think you will be fully booked with 300 customers. At a 1% success rate, you will only have to knock and or leaflet 30,000 doors. At 3% it will only be 10,000.

Allot of work, so don't make it complicated, just get cracking. Any street will do, office blocks, shops, flats, council estates, to mansions.

JJ if you are on your own, I would forget that idea pal. You can make a quick forum to fill out while your there, for any you want to try get in on another night. But personally, all I do, is knock, and if they are not in post a leaflet and move on. My town has about 44,000 residents, and there is no way I could canvass all that in a year. No will power me. But I have found that you will get 2 or 3 new customers for every 100 customers you canvass on average. So if you think you will be fully booked with 300 customers. At a 1% success rate, you will only have to knock and or leaflet 30,000 doors. At 3% it will only be 10,000.
Allot of work, so don't make it complicated, just get cracking. Any street will do, office blocks, shops, flats, council estates, to mansions.

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This is bang on, You have to remember some people will not require a window cleaner they will already have one or simply don't want one. If you wanted your round to be very compact it would take alot of time (years) unless you get lucky.

This is bang on, You have to remember some people will not require a window cleaner they will already have one or simply don't want one. If you wanted your round to be very compact it would take alot of time (years) unless you get lucky.

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yeh i wish i had kept my old rounds now...../emoticons/smile.png

100 % customer


hi may I have an idea of how much do you charge and what areas do u cover pls . do you have a min charge ? I pay a canvasser but he wants cash only and not really impressed with the customers I get as after 2nd clean (he charges me 200 %) most of the customers say they dont need me anymore or "can you contact me in 6 wkks etc "

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I need to expand my round in southampton (west end preferably ) - and around camberley surrey

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I cover those areas no problem drop me an email

stick a cucumber down your trousers and hope only females answer the door, when they see what you have to offer them, you have a new customer.

stand with your pelvis facing outwards so she can notice. works for me all the time. minus the cucumber.

wear cheap trackies n trainers i find gets the very best results.they must be clean though and keep the chat informal works best ,make em laff and ur onto a winner . no lank greasey hair either