Starting a window cleaning business - Equipment you need, suppliers to use and trade organisations to join, etc.

first day canvassing blues!!
Posted by adge (adge), 30 January 2004
done some follow up knocking today and gained only 9 customers from 100 leaflets, is this normal?.......will it get better!!! Huh
Posted by mickeyfat (VGC), 30 January 2004
you mean you posted 100 leaflets and went home and 9  people rang you...this sounds ok to me..i have been known to knock all nite 5-8 and only get 9 customers and thats cold calling on the ones that are in and leaflets for the ones that are out...my best is about 40 £6.00 houses in one street..(fluke of the year) and my worst is one front and one bungallow when is was p""""""g down Cool
Posted by adge (adge), 30 January 2004
no i posted the leaflets the previous day and followed up the next with a "knock". I just wasnt sure whether this was the accepted norm % response or whether i'm just poo @ canvassing?!!!!
Posted by mickeyfat (VGC), 30 January 2004
depends on areas , but hey you cant moan at 9 new cusomers...if you did that each nite youd be laughing....by the way i found i get just as many without the leaflets..i just knock with my uniform and clipoard...my m8 says 1st clean free he gets lots and lots but im to sure about that ..he seems to work alot for nowt
Posted by pdhanson (Silly Philly), 30 January 2004
Don't be downhearted at that, thats good!

9 Customers from one nights follow up canvassing is good going.

Say they're each worth £10, thats £90 a month.  

Do it 3 times a week for a month and you'll have nearly £13,000 a year.  
Do it for 2 months and its £26,000 a year.  How long would you work in an office before they paid you that?  2 months? I don't think so.

You're doing well, don't give up - it just takes time.

Silly
Posted by adge (adge), 30 January 2004
thankd for the tips mate, will keep you posted on my progress Grin
Posted by exterioruk (exterioruk), 30 January 2004
I would say that 9 is fine, i started at the begining of the year and have fliers and knocking, i have found that a flier saying clean me , and put it in your window if you wan them cleaned works best, im getting around 12 per 100, but it just saves knocking and geting no custom, this way the customers you knock have alreadyu let you know they want a cleaner your just going round to sort the price, let me know how u get along, message me is you need ideas for clean me flier.

dan
Posted by windows_chepstow (windows_chepstow), 31 January 2004
Nine is really good!  Just get cleaning them.  They're probably scattered all over the place, as mine were and it always seems to be ladders on the car - ladders off.

Over time people will grab you in the street and the quality of your round will improve.

Do a good job and you'll end up cleaning their relations houses.  

Over a ten month period, purely from leafleting, I've got 267 houses and a handfull of shops/pubs for weekly/fortnightly cleans.

Don't price too cheap too.  What happens is.... you're desperate for work so price cheap.  Then the neighbor says "can you do mine" and you do hers for the same price.  The next thing you know, you're doing ten houses for £5.50 when you should be charging £7.50 per house.

I've got whole streets like this, but will be putting the prices up closer to the summer.

Oh, other tips:

    As I take on a house next to where I clean; I pass on a 'drive-between' to a fellow window cleaner.

   Don't clean any houses in the married quarter estate in Beachley Barracks, Chepstow.  The window cleaner there threatens your family with violence.





Posted by mickeyfat (VGC), 31 January 2004
i agree fully..apart from the bully bit...fuck him Tongue
Posted by adge (adge), 31 January 2004
thanks for the reassurance everyone, i'll keep you all posted of my progress Grin
Posted by Londoner (Londoner), 31 January 2004
This is not the best time of year to go canvassing because people are not really all that fussed about their windows being dirty and are probably a bit skint as well.

Nine is good, but don't start keeping score. It doesn't work like that
Think of canvassing as being a something you will always be doing not just something you are doing now to get started.
You always lose customers over a period of time and some you drop so you need to keep adding good replacements to improve your book.
Posted by andy (andy), 31 January 2004
HI EDGE!

9 is very good, it dosent take that long to leaflet 100 houses and go round knocking.

I give you a bit of advice, you dont like the score that you have at the moment. employe someone to help you for 2 hours per night, at the rate your getting the customers you wll easly cover your costs.

ANDY1
Posted by Bones (Bones), 31 January 2004
Hi

9 is great mate, i had the luck when i first went out canvassing I had my w/c mate who knew what area needed a cleaner and i cleaned up (excuce the pun) Grin

from that 9 you'll end up with more once you start cleaning them, when people see you up the ladder you'll get asked by others in the street.

Keep it up!!

Mikey
Posted by stevekennedy (stevekennedy), 1 February 2004
Hi Adge,

You've done pretty well  Wink I would be happy with that for a first try. Did you keep a note of the ones that weren't in? You should try these ones again on another day/ time of day. The chances are the other window cleaners haven't got them in either. I find the take-up rate is significantly higher with the ones that are out a lot.

SteveK
Posted by paul (paul), 4 February 2004
your find as people see you around more often and here of the good job your doing more and more people will want your service and with spring round the corner get ready for the busy season


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