[David OCuilleain]

Hi, been window cleaning since June. Going ok but i`m having problems with customers being out. I try to keep on time but as you know its not always possible. some days all is ok but some are a nightmare. One day last week I had almost £40 of work booked for the day wasted time and fuel driving around and came home with £6. any ideas how I can change this. Thanks Dave.

[britishwill]

Email them all on a Sunday evening saying you are coming a particular day weather permitting. Also on the email as them if there is anything else that needs looking at lie gutters etc.
This gives you a few days to book someone else in if they are busy.

Good luck

BW

[Paul Coleman]

Hi, been window cleaning since June. Going ok but i`m having problems with customers being out. I try to keep on time but as you know its not always possible. some days all is ok but some are a nightmare. One day last week I had almost £40 of work booked for the day wasted time and fuel driving around and came home with £6. any ideas how I can change this. Thanks Dave.

Try to get work that you can do regardless of whether they are in or out.  Most of my customers are out when I clean.  They (mostly) either send a cheque or do a bank transfer.  It can take a fair while to fine tune your round like this though so, in the meantime, just pre-arrange the ones with poor access the evening before.  If you dislike pre-arranging (as I do), you can pass on/sell/subcontract this work once you build a bigger round

[dazmond]

sae or bank online transfer.but to be honest mate as you get a bigger round your debt will get bigger and bigger!!im usually owed at least £300 at anyone time.sometimes as much as £700.some guys on here its a £1000 or even £2000!! : : :


the trick is to earn and get paid every day so you have a steady cashflow to live on from day to day but earn far more than you get in when you clean so either collect at the end(or the start of the week)and cheques arriving in the post or in your bank via online banking.and get ahead with your finances so your not needing EVERY PENNY that you earn cos youll never get it all in!!!its the nature of the business were in!!!


best wishes


dazmond

[outdoor restore]

Hi, been window cleaning since June. Going ok but i`m having problems with customers being out. I try to keep on time but as you know its not always possible. some days all is ok but some are a nightmare. One day last week I had almost £40 of work booked for the day wasted time and fuel driving around and came home with £6. any ideas how I can change this. Thanks Dave.

Is the problem that you couldn't do the clean because they were out or you couldn't collect payment?

[David OCuilleain]

Is the problem that you couldn't do the clean because they were out or you couldn't collect payment?

Most have gates locked or only access through the house someare front only so I do them. I have done the fronts on some then gone back to do the backs but then Im doing twice the the miles for the same price.

[outdoor restore]

How do you let your customers with access issues know when you will be coming?
If they know you are coming and have not left access, then I would just do the fronts and charge 2/3rds of full price (some will charge the full price), not go back to do the rears.
If they don't know you are due, then you need to sort out a way to tell them! If the gates are padlocked will they let you have a key?, I have supplied padlocks to a couple of my elderly customers (you can get key alike sets of 3/5 from the DIY sheds).  If gates only bolted, make yourself an opener!

[rosskesava]

Hi Mate

Been there and done it albeit years ago.

Get phone numbers and phone the night beforehand for the jobs where access is via a locked back gate etc and ask to leave the gate etc open or ask them to hide the key in the garden somewhere. Then leave a pre printed letter and SAE saying you've done their windows and to please send a cheque.

For jobs you can only do when the customer is in as you need access through their house, you obviously can only do those jobs when they are in. The same applies re phoning them. Make a note of when they say they are generally in and do the windows then even if it's during the evening and dark.

The fact that you say about £40 a day means you are at that point where every job counts. £6 is disherartening so work smart.

Ignore the £600 or whatever debt list. In the main for where you sound you are at, I don't think you'll get much more owed money than a few quid. If they don't pay, ask them next time you phone. Usually most people have just forgotten and if they them still don't pay, just write it off and don't go back.

Window cleaning is an odd trade. You'll find that the work will start to find you when when you wear the job like an old familiar coat and you think of yourself as a window cleaner and not someone trying to get work. Stick at it - you'll get there in the end.

Cheers. Ross.

[bobby p]

that post above is so very true.     

its a mistake with domestic to start off agreeing  phoning the night before because they Always slide into forgetting to open the gate/forget to leave the money .  i put up with that malarkey then once my round grew big i dropped every one of these houses in one sweep. this decision made me relax because then im free to go clean where i want on impulse the next day and i recommend it

at the beginning its easy to agree to all manner of bowing and scraping  cos you need the work but a few months later it feels GREAT to cast off the messers once you are known on the streets

[Paul Coleman]

Is the problem that you couldn't do the clean because they were out or you couldn't collect payment?

Most have gates locked or only access through the house someare front only so I do them. I have done the fronts on some then gone back to do the backs but then Im doing twice the the miles for the same price.

The few I do where the gate is left locked, I text or phone the previous evening for it to be left unlocked for the day.  If they won't do this then I'm afraid they just don't get the service - at least not from me.  I do offer an alternative of letting me have a gate key where the lock is reachable from a stepladder.  Or even sometimes suggest a combi lock and tell me the code. Where access is only through the house, I decline to quote.  Occasionally there might be a job with front gates for security.  These jobs have to be done when they are in usually.  Such a job generally has to pay well and/or be of a decent size to compensate for inconvenience in scheduling.  I try to work the occasional job like this as first call of the day and do no more than one a day.  Otherwise, if you are trying to give a time part way through the day, you're having to guess how long the earlier work will take.
Generally (though there may be the odd exception) if the customer feels unable to trust me with access to the outside of their house, then I regard the job as too difficult to schedule and don't quote.
It will come together eventually.  As time goes by you will gradually fill your round with decent access properties and/or build up a collection of gate keys.

[Paul Coleman]

that post above is so very true.     

its a mistake with domestic to start off agreeing  phoning the night before because they Always slide into forgetting to open the gate/forget to leave the money .  i put up with that malarkey then once my round grew big i dropped every one of these houses in one sweep. this decision made me relax because then im free to go clean where i want on impulse the next day and i recommend it

at the beginning its easy to agree to all manner of bowing and scraping  cos you need the work but a few months later it feels GREAT to cast off the messers once you are known on the streets

Pretty much how I have found it.  I reached a point where I wouldn't even quote for a job if I had to pre-arrange it.  I have relented a little bit recently though as I would have missed out on a few goods jobs.
On the odd occasion I need to phone, I feel it is important for the customer to realise that I'm not phoning up to ask to clean their windows the next day.  I'm phoning up to inform them that the work is due so that they can leave access.  It's a bad idea to have too much work that must be pre-arranged like this.  Apart from the inconvenience, in the holiday season you can end up losing a fair bit of money as they won't be home to do the unlocking.

[barry mallett]

Hi, been window cleaning since June. Going ok but i`m having problems with customers being out. I try to keep on time but as you know its not always possible. some days all is ok but some are a nightmare. One day last week I had almost £40 of work booked for the day wasted time and fuel driving around and came home with £6. any ideas how I can change this. Thanks Dave.

another new guy been given crap advice by guys on )here . whats all this booked in rubbish. and e mailing the night before .when you get a new custy agree a price , agree a clean frequency . you dont have to stick to a set day of the week  , i text prob 1% the night before - locked gates and thats it . when you pick up a new custy you are just making it a lot more stressful for yourself by offering to give notice of the clean /,  : :

[Londoner]

I am finding more and more customers have to be phoned the night before to say leave the gate open as people get more security conscious and fit big padlocks. Its not a big problem and if it means keeping a good customer.
More and more also I find people don't want window cleaners who just turn up unannounced. Gate or no gate.

[Paul Coleman]

sae or bank online transfer.but to be honest mate as you get a bigger round your debt will get bigger and bigger!!im usually owed at least £300 at anyone time.sometimes as much as £700.some guys on here its a £1000 or even £2000!! : : :

Indeed, I'm always owed between £1k and £2k.  It used to be less but WFP has allowed me to take more commercial jobs.  The important thing IMO is that there is a reasonable flow coming in.  That might be a few cheques via the post each week, some bank transfers and perhaps even a bit of cash.

[Pureclean Essex Services]

Most have gates locked or only access through the house someare front only so I do them. I have done the fronts on some then gone back to do the backs but then Im doing twice the the miles for the same price.

cant you just ask your customers for a gate key,or climb over,I have a fair few keys on my round,others I climb over,no probs,and always owed around £200-£300 each month.

[SB Cleaning]

Hi, been window cleaning since June. Going ok but i`m having problems with customers being out. I try to keep on time but as you know its not always possible. some days all is ok but some are a nightmare. One day last week I had almost £40 of work booked for the day wasted time and fuel driving around and came home with £6. any ideas how I can change this. Thanks Dave.

This is the reason i ring all my custys the night before the clean!!!

[ant french]

do you have a website mate, try and get some kind of payment system added onto your site where customers log in and pay there bill in advance, i might try this and say if you pay in advance ill knock 10% off the bill. 

[clearlyclean]

I mostly climb over locked gates and put SAE through door,I use cash payments as a float.And looks like if you only have £40 a day you need to canvass pop back in evenings and canvass the streets you already have and collect money at same time

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

[Jackal]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

i couldnt agree more phoning every custy night before not a chance,iv got 2 i text and thats enough

[mikecam]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

Thats the longest way to say if there's access issues then don't clean the house i've ever read !!
And another thought occured to me...do you think there is a niche/premium market for people with access isues who require cleaning by arrangement?
 

[Johnny B]

I only ever ring customers when I really need to. Many are out when I clean their windows.
Some have locked back gates, most of which I can climb over (I always get permission first). Any I can't get over just have the fronts done. I leave a slip in their door and call back within a few days, usually on a Friday evening. Some send me a cheque, but most have the money waiting when I call back. As I like my customers, and am very happy to spend some time chatting with them, I see that as a pleasure rather than a chore.  

John  
 

[rosskesava]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

Personally, I find it a lot less effort and simpler, and not to mention safer, to make a sixty second phone call than to get a ladder and climb over a gate or fence. I also don't understand how phoning a customer is letting them run my business and making things complicated.

Daveoc121's original question was about not having access and him wasting time and fuel. Dumping the customer because phoning is so complicated and the erroneous idea that by doing so is letting the customer run his business doesn't solve his problem from where his business is at this point in time. The customer isn't his enemy or some stupid idiot that needs to be trained, they are his source of income.

Communicating with his customers is a solution to his problem and one of the easiest forms of that is by phone.

Also, by phoning the night before, I have less debt problems because they usually leave the cash or cheque somewhere hidden. What's simpler, easy access or climbing over gates? Plus is it simpler  going back for payment or leaving an SAE, or getting paid on the day?

Cheers

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

I was simply letting him know there are plenty of un complicated customers to be had out there with no issues.
I would find it a drag calling all my custys the night before. i prefer to spend the evenings with my family put my lads to bed and chill.
30 phone calls a night,
IM A WINDOW CLEANER GET ME OUT OF HERE!

[David OCuilleain]

Thanks to you all. lot to think about. I use wfp so climbing is out. had a mixed day today so need to get something sorted soon.

[mikecam]

Thanks to you all. lot to think about. I use wfp so climbing is out. had a mixed day today so need to get something sorted soon.

Dave what are you doing..are you ringing them before hand or not? And if you are are you arranging a time?

[David OCuilleain]

Thanks to you all. lot to think about. I use wfp so climbing is out. had a mixed day today so need to get something sorted soon.

Dave what are you doing..are you ringing them before hand or not? And if you are are you arranging a time?

No i`m not contacting them in any way just when I leave I ask if they want me back next time and tell them it will be 4 week today if running on time. always get to them within a few days if late.

[rosskesava]

I was simply letting him know there are plenty of un complicated customers to be had out there with no issues.
I would find it a drag calling all my custys the night before. i prefer to spend the evenings with my family put my lads to bed and chill.
30 phone calls a night,
IM A WINDOW CLEANER GET ME OUT OF HERE!

That made me smile. I've only got 1 job tomorrow so I only need to phone one person which isn't such a chore. Usually though, I never have to make more than the odd phone call or two.

No not contacting them. just saying I will be back in 4 weeks if on time. I always get back within a few days if late as I dont have any full days yet so easy to catch up.

No i`m not contacting them in any way just when I leave I ask if they want me back next time and tell them it will be 4 week today if running on time. always get to them within a few days if late.

What happens if you have the same problem next month? Or when you get really busy? It's worth thinking about.

Cheers

[David OCuilleain]

What happens if you have the same problem next month? Or when you get really busy? It's worth thinking about.

Cheers

That seems to be whats  happened. sort of got rolling then out of control. Most are good customers when I do get to clean them.

[mlscontractcleaner]

We never ring and simply turn up 4 weeks after the last clean - give or take - and have no problems; just the odd gate to climb over. We put a " you've been cleaned" slip through the door and some we collect and some send cheques / pay by paypal.

I agree with the lads who reckon window cleaning shouldn't be so complicated :

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

i do the same as you mls, great init mate

[rosskesava]

We never ring and simply turn up 4 weeks after the last clean - give or take - and have no problems; just the odd gate to climb over. We put a " you've been cleaned" slip through the door and some we collect and some send cheques / pay by paypal.

I agree with the lads who reckon window cleaning shouldn't be so complicated :

The point I was making is that if someone can't get do the job because they don't have access and the customer is not in..... which was the question asked........ I was answering that problem and not window cleaning logistics in general.

I do agree to keep it simple but if you cannot get access..... like the job we have tomorrow which is a days well paid work, what do I do? Not phone just to keep the job simple and not do the job?

I didn't realise a simple solution to a simple problem was so complicated nor did I realise a phone call is complex either. Tonights phone call lasted about 60 seconds or less.

Sorry to sound a little baffled but I honestly cannot see why a few phone calls when needed is complicated.

[AuRavelling79]

Hi Ross - howyadoin'? MalcG here!

I hate phoning custies the night before as it gives them the opportunity to cancel or try and change the schedule.

I have about half a dozen that I pre-arrange but the vast majority are "turn up on time and do" jobs.

[rosskesava]

Hi Malc

I'm doing more than ok and I hope you are also. I didn't reckonise the name but I knew the picture. It's the Malverns isn't it?

I don't normally post (I just look these days) but I felt sorry for Dave who'd been out for day and earnt £6 especially as I've was once in that very same situation before this forum existed to even ask the question. Me and a mate once went 3 days without earning a single penny because everyone was out. I worked it out for myself but for Dave, it seems the only viable solution wasn't suitable.

As for phone calls, I only have relatively a few customers who I need to phone first and it's always for the same reason - access, but it can be a bit of a chore all the same. These days I've only got customers who want their windows cleaned. Those that ummm and arghhh never get called again. I've gone for quality not quantity like tomorrows job. Just doing one or two really decent jobs a day, now that is really simple.

Cheers

[colinyates]

We tex or email customers a couple of days prior to the service down here in South Africa,   the texing is done from the computer, if we didnt do this I would be out of business.
We just cant pitch up, probably be arrested due to the crime in this place.

[barry mallett]

just going to bed , shattered , pnoned 10 custys, e mailed 15 and sent texts to 10 , too tired to go to work now . give it another go tomorrow ,  or is that tonight

[bobby p]

We tex or email customers a couple of days prior to the service down here in South Africa,   the texing is done from the computer, if we didnt do this I would be out of business.
We just cant pitch up, probably be arrested due to the crime in this place.

  have you got a flame thrower fixed below the side of your van?  i read in my local paper about a couple who emigrated to S.A having had great holidays there but they returned to england after only a few months the crime was so bad .lost a fortune

[Paul Coleman]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

I agree with you there.  I do have the odd well paid job though where a text or call the night before is necessary.  Some places have large front gates.  Getting over them with a ladder would be impractical.  However, if a job is paying £50+ a clean then pre-arranging is not such an issue.  Doing it for run of the mill jobs would be an issue though.  I think I only have about 6 jobs on my entire round where I need to pre-notify.
Climbing over is all very well but when you are older, fatter, and have had intermittent back problems, it's not such a great idea.
signed
Fatty   

[Paul Coleman]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

Thats the longest way to say if there's access issues then don't clean the house i've ever read !!
And another thought occured to me...do you think there is a niche/premium market for people with access isues who require cleaning by arrangement?
 

Yes, I believe there is.
I price these higher anyway.  They are worth it because they can cause messing around with my scheduling/more travel time and cost.  However, I do believe that just for a few, much larger types of job, there is room for a dial-a-clean type service (so long as rerasonable notice were given).  Premium+ rate of course to compensate for the above and having to do the equivalent of a near first clean each time.  Also, it would not be possible to rely on such work for bread and butter.
Just my opinion.  Nobody has to take any note of it 

[Paul Coleman]

GOD!!!!! some on here dont arf make life complicated for themselves!!!!!!!
Use ya ladders to climb over gates it real easy!!!!!!!
houses that you need to walk through to clean leave for someone else!!!!!
texting phoning the night before?? WHY......
Dont let your customers run  your business, RUN IT YOURSELF.
I dont ring any, they all know i will get in and clean them.
If your wfp make sure you have 100 m of microbore so any long drives with big gates can be cleaned leaving ur van outside.
Am i speaking sense??
Make it easy for yourself

Personally, I find it a lot less effort and simpler, and not to mention safer, to make a sixty second phone call than to get a ladder and climb over a gate or fence. I also don't understand how phoning a customer is letting them run my business and making things complicated.

Daveoc121's original question was about not having access and him wasting time and fuel. Dumping the customer because phoning is so complicated and the erroneous idea that by doing so is letting the customer run his business doesn't solve his problem from where his business is at this point in time. The customer isn't his enemy or some stupid idiot that needs to be trained, they are his source of income.

Indeed Ross.  Climbing gates is effort for a fat git like me.
Pre-arranging an occasional job is not letting the customer run the business.  It would only start to feel like that if they treated the call as a request to clean the windows that they frequently declined.  However, such a customer would not remain a customer for very long.

BTW.  Nice to see you posting again Ross.