[Roberto Smith]

When your out canvasing do you bother knocking on houses that have gleaming windows?

 I've done a load of flyer dropping just lately and when I see the windows are spotless it almost feels like its not worth dropping the flyer.

I'd imagine door knocking is even worse, do you bother knocking or just move on to next door? Thought I would ask you canvassing pros  because I think I might give canvassing a bash in new year.

[richywilts]

I personally do t like taking other window cleaners work as it says a lot about the customer especially if it over money fair enuf if it's a trad cleaner and frames are rotten there changing for a better service but alarm bells ring when people are willing to change over on price alone

[SeanK]

Back in my canvassing days I knocked on them all, its the really filthy ones that you need to be careful of.
I would say 50% of my work came from people who where not happy with their window cleaner so I don't
have a problem taking work from other guys.
As Richy has said be careful if they are only interested in price as they will just do the same to you when somebody
cheaper comes along.

[Johnny B]

I did when I canvassed. It told me that this householder wants clean windows (obviously), but more than that, I thought that it may have been possible that they cleaned their own because there was nobody offering a better service. One could reason that their valuable time could be spent on more enjoyable persuits if they engaged my service.

John    

[C o z y]

I knock everything. If there's a dogs kennel outside, I knock that too. 
I don't assume anything or second guess anyone, just knock til I've run out of doors.
Works for me.

[Smudger]

Well said cozy,

Knock everything !

darran

[Dave Willis]

There's a knocking shop in town. Don't think they're bothered about the windows

[Clever Forum Name]

How do you know the home owner doesn't clean them and is fed of doing it and looking for a cleaner?

Assumption is the mother of all..............................

[Ian Lancaster]

I knock every door.

I never ask if they have a window cleaner already.

If they say they have, I never ask how much he's charging.

If they want a quote I give them one based on my formula - that way I'm not taking advantage, nor am I deliberately targetting someone else's work or trying to undercut.

[Roberto Smith]

Ok, thanks for replies. Looks like i'll be knocking them all 

[Mick Kent]

You need to think out of the box when on a canvassing campaign and not do it how everyone else does just like everyone else is saying on this thread.
What i do is find an area i want to hit and do my research on the area by trailing down the roads noting the dirty windows as you have more chance of converting a dirty house into a customer, yes some are dirty besause they are trampy people who dont care but i find half of them do want a cleaner, many of the dirty ones will say they had a window cleaner who hasnt showed for the last 6 months which happens a lot!. There arnt many window cleaners that would in there own time walk up and down roads jotting all info down to target the knocking.

You can spend all night knocking on every single house and get a few customers or maybe get 5 customers if your lucky, if you knock on your list of targetted houses where they are dirty then you know your not wasting time knocking for them to say they do it themselfs or they already have a window cleaner! This way you will get over 10 new customers in an evening which will be your average.

Thats why i built up doing mainly main roads as found loads of dirty houses with the main reason them not having one was no window cleaner wanted to work those roads.

Over the last 3 years i have built up over 1200 solid regular customers doing this method and also the sold board method if you read below.

The sold board campaign (as i call it) It is by far the best way to build up a full round in minimal time, will take 6 months to get around 200/300 decent customers if you do it reguly and cover a big enough area. Rarely would someone buy a new house and not want clean windows to show off there new home to friends and family! My hit rate is over 80% as a whole and the best part is you can pick and choose what sold boards houses you want, soon as the sold board goes down knock the door and say how you have noticed they have just moved in and that you clean that road and say"im guessing you would like me to add you to the round"! Trust me that simple line works a treat.
You wont go wrong following my advice i promise you.

[Smudger]

Your spot on with the "sold" campaign - we do this as well,

However I will point out a difference in your canvassing method, and that is your fall out percentage which is 20% if I remember, and I'm not knocking that because your hit rate shows your a great seller of your product, but because of this you take on those " oh our windy stopped coming for no reason " brigade then they drop out after 1 or 2 cleans

Knocking very house is a little slower and may yield a little less per night but for me the drop out is only 2 or 3 percent - I negate some of the one hit wonders by having a first clean price which if the customer is genuine does not put them off.

It's great to see different angles of attack on this, and you need to approach the door knocking in a comfortable, confident manner

Darran

[Johnny B]

I knock every door.

I never ask if they have a window cleaner already.

If they say they have, I never ask how much he's charging.

If they want a quote I give them one based on my formula - that way I'm not taking advantage, nor am I deliberately targetting someone else's work or trying to undercut.

Exactly how I have always operated.

John

[C o z y]

Mick, have I read your post wrong? You spend time walking up and down roads making notes of who you will knock, and who you won't knock, and this is better than knocking every door?
And the ones you don't knock are the ones you don't want or will say no anyway?

That's some skill you've got there mate.  

I'm just too thick to learn that method, and just ask everyone with a pulse.

[trippyboy]

When canvassing remember this one thing." Their filthy for a reason"

[C o z y]

Yeah, knock and find out what the reason is

[Roberto Smith]

You need to think out of the box when on a canvassing campaign and not do it how everyone else does just like everyone else is saying on this thread.
What i do is find an area i want to hit and do my research on the area by trailing down the roads noting the dirty windows as you have more chance of converting a dirty house into a customer, yes some are dirty besause they are trampy people who dont care but i find half of them do want a cleaner, many of the dirty ones will say they had a window cleaner who hasnt showed for the last 6 months which happens a lot!. There arnt many window cleaners that would in there own time walk up and down roads jotting all info down to target the knocking.

You can spend all night knocking on every single house and get a few customers or maybe get 5 customers if your lucky, if you knock on your list of targetted houses where they are dirty then you know your not wasting time knocking for them to say they do it themselfs or they already have a window cleaner! This way you will get over 10 new customers in an evening which will be your average.

Thats why i built up doing mainly main roads as found loads of dirty houses with the main reason them not having one was no window cleaner wanted to work those roads.

Over the last 3 years i have built up over 1200 solid regular customers doing this method and also the sold board method if you read below.

The sold board campaign (as i call it) It is by far the best way to build up a full round in minimal time, will take 6 months to get around 200/300 decent customers if you do it reguly and cover a big enough area. Rarely would someone buy a new house and not want clean windows to show off there new home to friends and family! My hit rate is over 80% as a whole and the best part is you can pick and choose what sold boards houses you want, soon as the sold board goes down knock the door and say how you have noticed they have just moved in and that you clean that road and say"im guessing you would like me to add you to the round"! Trust me that simple line works a treat.
You wont go wrong following my advice i promise you.

Thanks for that advice i'll certainly be giving that a try, especially the sold sign idea.

[trippyboy]

Yeah, knock and find out what the reason is

In my experience the more filthy the windows the less likely you are to picking them up as custards, as I said filthy for a reason meaning the ppl don't give a hoot about their windows, no evidence they clean their own .
Wouldn't stop me canvassing the house or leafleating it after all its best to blanket canvass, but I have found the best potential customer has fairly clean windows.

[Mick Kent]

Mick, have I read your post wrong? You spend time walking up and down roads making notes of who you will knock, and who you won't knock, and this is better than knocking every door?
And the ones you don't knock are the ones you don't want or will say no anyway?

That's some skill you've got there mate.  

I'm just too thick to learn that method, and just ask everyone with a pulse.

Yes i walk up and down roads with my dog and make note of what houses i want. I dont see the pont in knocking on a house thats already clean, as it wastes time imo as they will want to tell you how happy they are with there current cleaner or how they do it to save money etc..
I hit a lot of decent areas in se london where its saturated with window cleaners so the way i find the, is by strolling the streets first or by the sold boards. I like to know im speaking the same language with the customer and that language being there windows are dirty and nobody as of yet is cleaning them.
Anyway it has worked for me! Yes i had a high dropout rate but i got to the top of my game in minimal time and now im left with whats in my eyes for me and my needs is the ultimate round which is what i wanted.
Some may take the mick or question my methods which is fine but untill you try targetted canvassing you will never know just how many more customers you will gain in such a short time frame.

[C o z y]

I understand what your system is with the boards Mick. What I don't get is why you, of all people are second guessing people. Why not just knock every door, and let the customer base sort it's self out.
It's like Trippy is saying that he knows who's a good customer because the windows are minging!!  
When I've knocked these, some say no thanks, don't want/need a windy. Where as others with minging windows have said they hate cleaning them as it means leaning out etc, and/or no windy had canvassed them, because they were walking their dogs and only knocking on the doors of newly sold houses.  

Why complicate matters. Knock and ask. We're both forgetting something though. Some people would rather eat their own left foot, than knock on doors.

On the same note, some people would rather let their windows get an inch of crud on them before they cleaned them themselves.

When in doubt, knock and ask.

Now do you get my point?

[Smudger]

Mick, not sure why you need to walk the street twice. If your targeting dirty windows and note them why not tap them on the first walk past ?

Maybe the only ones I don't knock are those with a garden full of bin bags/scrap iron and a couple of burnt out cars,

Call me judgemental but I feel these people would have window cleaning as very low priority

Darran

[C o z y]

 

[Ian101]

Mick, not sure why you need to walk the street twice. If your targeting dirty windows and note them why not tap them on the first walk past ?

Maybe the only ones I don't knock are those with a garden full of bin bags/scrap iron and a couple of burnt out cars,

Call me judgemental but I feel these people would have window cleaning as very low priority

Darran

+1

[Mick Kent]

Its not that hard to work out is it! In the day next to no one is home so no point knocking!. In the evening especialy winter its too dark to tell whats clean or whats dirty. I have done it for long enough to know my best method on what works best.

[Mick Kent]

Anyway everyone has there own way of doing things! For me i have done all the legwork and graft building in rapid time that now i dont have too which is bliss.
As i said it totally worked for me! i did things different to all you lot and it worked.
I used to knock on every door and dismiss every for sale and sold board and only gained 1-2 new customers or 5 if i was lucky like i mentioned before. By changing it i was averaging 10 new customers a night.
If i was to build another round id do exactly the same thing.

[pdale]

I knock every door. I tend to find the dirtier the windows the less likely they are to want a window cleaner as that's the way they live.

I find the easier ones to book are those who have clean downstairs windows, but their upstairs are dirty ... it shows that they like to have clean windows but haven't got a window cleaner. Also if they have slightly dirty windows but perhaps look after their garden, or have nice clean cars on the drive, it shows they look after their property but haven't got a window cleaner, so a more likely to book.

With that said though I book jobs every day where the windows are clean, maybe they clean them themselves or could be unhappy with their window cleaner. It's impossible to judge, which is why I knock every door.

[Joe Bromley]

Mick - when you say "soon as the sold board goes down" do you mean once it's been taken down or..?

[Ian101]

I knock every door. I tend to find the dirtier the windows the less likely they are to want a window cleaner as that's the way they live.

I find the easier ones to book are those who have clean downstairs windows, but their upstairs are dirty ... it shows that they like to have clean windows but haven't got a window cleaner. Also if they have slightly dirty windows but perhaps look after their garden, or have nice clean cars on the drive, it shows they look after their property but haven't got a window cleaner, so a more likely to book.

With that said though I book jobs every day where the windows are clean, maybe they clean them themselves or could be unhappy with their window cleaner. It's impossible to judge, which is why I knock every door.

Hi Paul ... understand if you don't wont to answer this but do u manage to get the £500 week in week out and what time do you find best to knock 

[Mick Kent]

Soon as the new owners are in the house, bang the door i meant.

[Smudger]

How far do you walk each day mick ?

Are you in a city area ?

Darran

[Mick Kent]

I dont do any domestic roundbuilding anymore as am too overloaded but when i did i only targeted compact terraced roads/main roads etc, i work mainly south east london and east london and is saturated with nice terraced houses everywhere. All the houses are 250k plus and nobody ever questions the price of £10 for the front.
All i did walking wise was whilst i cleaned the 2 or 3 houses i did on the roads is walk the whole road and closes off noteing the dirty ones to return in the evening or weekend to knock which turned the 2 or 3 in a road to 5 or 6.
Sometimes i had someone with me to note all the dirty ones. That and sold boards built me the best round i could have wished for. For me it beat knocking on everydoor wasting time with people who do it themselfs or people who have a cleaner, for the few that may say they are not happy with there current cleaner for me didnt seem worth the time wasting.
Someone like pdale doing it for others have no choice but to knock the whole road/every house as no time to plan it out as he wants in and out and payed as quick as possible but where its my area i work i like to fully plan and target so i can get the best out of everything and for me the way to get the best was 1 thing which was to compact compact compact. Whats the point doing a £25 house then pack away to drive 5 mins away to do another £25 houses when you can do 6 £10 fronts all in same road from 1 spot taking less than 20 mins??.
Anyway as said it worked for me, and also my stepdad who i also built up and showed him the ropes how to get the best from his areas who also has a verey compact round full of mainly £10 fronts.

[Smudger]

As you can appreciate not all areas are saturated with Terrence housing we are quite rural, even if I travelled into Norwich I'd only find smallish areas where you could canvass like that, and the house prices are only a third of London ( which you might think would give them lots of spare cash, but many of those I come across are low rent bedsits ) so a tenner for a front only is a big deal.

Most roads are semis or detached with easy access to rear, they range from modern to 18th century in the same road, and the majority of the roads have no more than 70 houses in them.

So in short, we have to adapt to our area of operation to make our biz successfull

Darran

[Leeds]

As you can appreciate not all areas are saturated with Terrence housing we are quite rural, even if I travelled into Norwich I'd only find smallish areas where you could canvass like that, and the house prices are only a third of London ( which you might think would give them lots of spare cash, but many of those I come across are low rent bedsits ) so a tenner for a front only is a big deal.

Most roads are semis or detached with easy access to rear, they range from modern to 18th century in the same road, and the majority of the roads have no more than 70 houses in them.

So in short, we have to adapt to our area of operation to make our biz successfull

Darran

Well said Darran.

Here up North i always feel bad when i'm charging half of what some of these window cleaners down south are charging. £25 an hour in Leeds is nothing to be sniffed at, even if it isn't amazing in London.

Each to their own style i say.

meridion

[pdale]

Hi Paul ... understand if you don't wont to answer this but do u manage to get the £500 week in week out and what time do you find best to knock  Smiley

Hi Ian, yes i've never gone beyond a week to get £500, 3-4 days is an average.

The best time to knock is evenings after the school run, from 4pm onwards for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean there isn't work to get during the daytime. Weekends can go one way or the other, if it's a sunny day there can be a lot out, but if it's rainy or overcast a weekend is good for catching people in.

[Clever Forum Name]

When P dale knocked for us, he went out for like 2-4 hours rung me up and said how much can i do in a day of first cleans?

Told him £150 of dirty first cleans. "ow best start booking for Tuesday or Wednesday"

I think P dale averaged nearly £200 a day when he was down here.

[Mick Kent]

Pdale, how come you dont build yourself up a decent round thats a regular income instead of building others up around the country?? Not knocking you as your doing realy well just it wont last forever and you do seem to have your head screwed on and get good reports from everyone so imagine how much of an empire you could build up for yourself. Defo worth thinking about.

[pdale]

Pdale, how come you dont build yourself up a decent round thats a regular income instead of building others up around the country?? Not knocking you as your doing realy well just it wont last forever and you do seem to have your head screwed on and get good reports from everyone so imagine how much of an empire you could build up for yourself. Defo worth thinking about.

I have considered it Mick. When I was window cleaning myself I now realise that I bent over backwards to accommodate the customer, now have learnt so much in the last 18 or so months from different people and would definitely do it different. The reality is though that there is other stuff I do outside of the window cleaning industry, so if canvassing does curtail at some point I'll be moving onto other things. That said I have given setting up on my own consideration from time to time.