[Tosh]

Wor Lass and I, who both work ‘together’ as a ‘team’ often have this discussion which goes along the lines of:

Wor Lass:  ‘Do a perfect job every time and you have a happy customer’.

Me:  ‘Do a quick job and you earn more money and burn fewer calories; and you’ll be able to buy more tat for the house’.

I mean tat doesn’t come cheap these days and I don’t want to work extra hard in the hope of getting some praise from my customers; I just want their money for doing an ‘acceptable’ job.  Those customers who want a top class job done every time simply do not fit the customer profile I’m after; but thankfully they don’t seem that fussy; mostly; and as for the fussy buggers I have, I will up my game for their properties; if the price is right.

Though personally, I reckon the difference between an ‘exceeds expectations job’ level versus ‘just about reaches an acceptable standard’ is a whole load of cash lost, and if I lost a customer though our differing standards; never mind; there’s plenty more of them who will accept a ’un-perfect’ job.

Of course I’m not a nutter; I always ensure a first clean is blindingly brilliant, but within month-three, I’m cutting every corner I can; while Wor Lass is still double-checking her work - and sometimes mine too!  It drives me up the wall!

What’s your views on the standard of work you provide?  Are you a Saint; or a Devil?

[jaykie]

I am a saint as would like to think id get recomendations from my custys and wouldnt leave a job unless i was happy and id expect that sort of work on my own property.

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I work as fast as I can whilst still being as pleasant as possible to the customer.  First cleans take a lot longer to make sure that the are perfect.  After that I'm sure I do a brilliant job, I won't miss windows, but a perfect job I doubt it.  There are some good earning jobs that I might take a little longer on and double check to make sure they are perfect.

I think that we get most of our custom from being regular (to the day) and friendly, not from not leaving the odd spot or smear every 6 months.

Simon.

[TVCS]

I came to realise a while ago that our standards ( by 'ours' I mean us window cleaners) are nearly always higher than the custies.      80% of our round has been built up by recommendations so I must do a decent job.

I have recently given away / dropped nearly all my custies bar about 20 and each one I have spoken to have said that I did a really good job, Some even said the best window cleaner they have ever had ( my head is swelling now)     The more windows you do the wiser you become and know the custies that you can rush with and the ones that require abit more attention.

[NWH]

I have massive horns lol,after the first couple of cleans on a job it`s like colouring in.

[Chris Galloway]

You could also say you do it to the standard you think the customer deserves.

Of course you will leave it 'clean' but you may miss the frames etc now ans then?

Everyone has those customers they really like who really like them so you will do a really good clean, but then you get those customers you dont care if you keep or lose for one reason or another.. and their clean will not be so good.

[Rob_Mac]

Tosh

Been to price a new clean up this afternoon - residential work.

I say you must have a window cleaner - because they look clean

Chap says - yes we've got one but he keeps missing a bit on one of the sills, on the conservatory

Rob bags another job because Rob is going to clean all of the glass, all of the sills, all of the frames and all of the doors - not just on the first clean but on every clean.

The job has been priced well to allow for a full clean every time.

As I said to you the other day - offer half a service and you open the door for someone like me to come and offer a better service!!!

Rob

[NWH]

I know a trad WC and he admits that he`s a fool to himself because he`s to fussy,i have spoken to some of his customers before now and they`ve even laughed about him.You do enough why do more than that at the end of the day it`s all about the money,i wouldn`t want to go home and say i had a really good day today love i polished all there sills and paintwork for them they were well pleased,i havn`t earn`t much money though.All he needs is mug printed on his forehead and he`ll be well away lol. ,don`t get me wrong i do a good job but there`s a point where you draw the line unless there paying.

[Rob_Mac]

NWH

Do you not just price it into the job. I think that the customers are a lot more savvy than we give them credit for and I strongly believe that most of the time the customers will put up with it only because that is what they are used to.

There is a market for exceptional cleaning and I for one am cashing in on the back of the window cleaners who have this cutting corners attitude.

I sold my round back in March and am already have on fifth of the income that I sold. This does not include any of my larger commercial dealings. I haven't gone out of my way to create a new residential customer base, when I get a half day I will leaflet and wait for the phone to ring. Conversion rate is 9 out of 10 (at the doorstep) why? - because I offer a service that they cannot get anywhere else!!!!

Rob

Rob

[groundhog]

With the prices that I charge, I really do have to do a good job, but with wfp that is easy, especially if you are cleaning on a Monthly basis. Just make sure that the first clean is thorough, and the rest is easy!!! 

[NWH]

Like i say don`t get me wrong i do a good job daily but all i`m saying is don`t get sucked into all this i do a fantastic perfect job everytime, people want a reliable WC not someone that`s so fussy he`s always behind.At the end of the day customers just want there windows cleaned,i mean it when i say his customers were laughing at him they were,they even said he goes over the top most of the time it`s not needed.1 i spoke to said they didn`t like it cos he was there what seemed like forever.

[NWH]

With the prices that I charge, I really do have to do a good job, but with wfp that is easy, especially if you are cleaning on a Monthly basis. Just make sure that the first clean is thorough, and the rest is easy!!! 

Groundhog me old mucker lol,do me another vid.

[groundhog]

For you NWH I will gladly do another vid!! any requests? 

[ftp]

Never happy unless it's the best i can do, quality is more important to me than quantity. Just the way i am, often clean unnessary bits just because they annoy me.

[NWH]

The majority of customers won`t thank you for it and that`s a fact,just because you have a fetish about it dosen`t mean Mr and Mrs customer does.Like i said most people want you to do a good job and most of all be reliable,they don`t expect you to go round like a french polisher.

[Wayne Thomas]

On 'initial cleans' I'm a perfectionist. After that I do the bare minimum plus a little bit to be on the safe side.

When I was a trad cleaner I use to go overboard, my own stupid fault. Not anymore with wfp, time is money and I just do the bare minimum required to prevent any complaints arising. I would get bored if I had to spend ages cleaning a window, I like to rush around a house and onto the next one

[ftp]

The majority of customers won`t thank you for it and that`s a fact,just because you have a fetish about it dosen`t mean Mr and Mrs customer does.Like i said most people want you to do a good job and most of all be reliable,they don`t expect you to go round like a french polisher.

No need to get funny, told you that's the way i am.

[NWH]

LOL i wasn`t being funny,err that wasn`t you i saw cleaning the other day in a gas mask and leather trousers was it lol.

[dai]

I do get every spider out of every corner if I can see them, and I can't see any of them when I'm doing the tops, some of those spiders nests take more than a quick poke with the brush to remove.
I can't see the upstairs sills either, I do run the brush along them but not going to climb any ladders to check. If you are not getting complaints why worry.
I don't take any special care cleaning the brushes either, the downstairs brush looks like I combed a dog with it sometimes, soaking a brush in a bit of the pure stuff, sure aint going to get rid of all those cobwebs.
They are only made of pure silk anyway.
I do take more care if I know that I have to do the insides.

Another misconception IMO is the reliability factor, most customers don't give a dam as long as you don't go too often. I was working today on monthly accounts last serviced on the 3rd July, Two customers asked if I had been on holiday, the others said nowt.

[michael papworth]

Did a first clean today. Place hadn't been cleaned in YEARS!

One of the downstairs windows was a bay with a flat roof over it. There was plenty of quite intricate woodwork absolutely filthy and full of cobwebs.

I gave it a good cleaning as the whole job would have looked awful otherwise.

Customer was well pleased. Gave me a £10 tip.

She'll always get that kind of service.

[dmlservices]

i tend to do just enough to do a good job , by that i mean to a standard i would be happy with on my own windows. going overboard costs  you money, and most custys would not notice the difference any way.