[jo5hm4n]

So for the first few years in my business whenever i was late at all even by a day or so i would let customers know.  Every single time i went on holiday i hand dropped letters to let customers know i was going to be 1-2 weeks later than usual with my 4 weekly cleaning.

As my business started to grow i wondered if this was just way too much effort on my part.  For instance, what if i get behind due to weather in winter, or get the flu or take usual holidays.  If i train my customers to get used to having letters from me and always informing them when i am late, that will become the normal to them.

I have now decided i dont really want to do that.  Correct me if i am wrong but i feel like 90% of customers aren't even that bothered if you are 1-2 weeks late, if when they see you, you explain why you are late and its a genuine reason they are nearly always understanding.

So lads, i'm running 2 weeks behind with my work for the first time ever in my business.  What do you think i should do?  Should i phone and text every single customer explaining we are 2 weeks behind, or just carry on as normal and when i turn up on the day explain to the customer we have been behind to due weather etc.

I want my customers to realise that if for some reason i ever don't turn up when i am due for 4 weekly, they know that it is because we are behind.  But i don't really want to keep having to always tell them, potentially several times a year.

Not really sure how to go about this, wanted some feedback to see what most of you guys do regarding this.

[p1w1]

i reckon you're overthinking it mate and worrying about it to much.  If you have been cleaning these customers for years then they know your regular and reliable and as you say 99% of them won't be bothered if your a week or 2 late now and again, in fact i bet they dont even realise.
if they are really wondering where you are then they will call you and ask.

[Dry Clean]

I think my customers would be concerned if I turned up on time, lol. people have more important things to worry about than their
windows as long as your not talking months then most wont even notice.

[nathankaye]

The only time i printed an explanation for all my customers was several years back and was due to having an operation which required several weeks off work. Therefore I posted a note to all my customers explaining a delay and that some fellow friends who were shiners would do them at least once before my return.
All tbe customers were understanding and appreciated knowing. Didnt loose a single one and I had 2 months off work.

That was the only time. My customers know that if i was to stop I would let them know or introduce the next person taking over to them. Therefore if im not on time and haven't done the above, they know im either ill, on holiday or more likely the weather has caused a delay.
However on my facebook page (which alot of my customers follow), i do updatemy status ie, im running a little late. So if they are truly concerned they know how to find out

[KS Cleaning]

99% of your customers won't mind if you are late, in fact some of them will see it as money saved!

[Marc Stock]

Yes I do.

Its common politeness and decency to inform your customers if you cannot make a scheduled clean. Even if they dont care too much, you are running a business and you have the responsibility to ensure your customer base is well managed and looked after.

Every one of my customers know when i am coming becouse the next clean date is on thier bill. I stick to these dates, and if i have to cancel or reschedule i do so by text.

I never just assume. So many of my customers tell me the biggest annoyances of their last window cleaner was not knowing when they were coming, and arriving when they felt like it.

I picked up one customer in January who hadnt heard from her last window cleaner  for 4 months.

 Just after i had taken her on he shows up at her doorstep expecting her to let him clean, she told him " you never got back to me, when you did clean it was when we didnt know you were coming, and you made promises after promise to come back and never did"

To not inform your customers is to treat them with disrespect, and by doing so you show yourself disrespect.

[richard groves]

If its down to the weather of this last week then I think its self explanatory and no need for you to point out the bleeding obvious to them, they'll already have worked that out for themselves.

[Stoots]

2 weeks behind myself.

Very rarely does anyone get upset about it, you get a few who will comment but once explained why they are fine.

You might get 1 or 2 over the years who dump you for it, its not worth worrying about for a week or, if its going to be a month ok you probably should inform them all if off ill etc. But for a 1-2 week holiday, 9/10 wont say a word about it.


I think a lot of it is how you set your stall out from the start, if you run like clockwork to the exact day for years then they will notice.

Although im 4 weekly, all my customers are used to me getting round in 4-5 weeks so im almost always late, or i have been for a good 6 months or so, thats why i took on an employee but last weeks weather wasnt workable anyway.

[dazmond]

Yes I do.

Its common politeness and decency to inform your customers if you cannot make a scheduled clean. Even if they dont care too much, you are running a business and you have the responsibility to ensure your customer base is well managed and looked after.

Every one of my customers know when i am coming becouse the next clean date is on thier bill. I stick to these dates, and if i have to cancel or reschedule i do so by text.

I never just assume. So many of my customers tell me the biggest annoyances of their last window cleaner was not knowing when they were coming, and arriving when they felt like it.

I picked up one customer in January who hadnt heard from her last window cleaner  for 4 months.

 Just after i had taken her on he shows up at her doorstep expecting her to let him clean, she told him " you never got back to me, when you did clean it was when we didnt know you were coming, and you made promises after promise to come back and never did"

To not inform your customers is to treat them with disrespect, and by doing so you show yourself disrespect.

Your making a rod for your own back IMO.....

no need to inform customers if your only a week or two late.....if your off for longer then yes inform them...

Your creating more work for yourself that aint necessary.....

I'm usually bang on time and very rarely get behind(apart from the usual holidays)and the occasional bad weather days....

The last time I informed them was when I torn my ankle ligaments a few years ago and was off for nearly a month...

Other than that most customers don't even notice(or care)if it's a week or so....

[dazmond]

I'm certainly not showing my  customers 'disrespect' by not informing them I'm a week late..... ........

[dazmond]

2 weeks behind myself.

Very rarely does anyone get upset about it, you get a few who will comment but once explained why they are fine.

You might get 1 or 2 over the years who dump you for it, its not worth worrying about for a week or, if its going to be a month ok you probably should inform them all if off ill etc. But for a 1-2 week holiday, 9/10 wont say a word about it.


I think a lot of it is how you set your stall out from the start, if you run like clockwork to the exact day for years then they will notice.

Although im 4 weekly, all my customers are used to me getting round in 4-5 weeks so im almost always late, or i have been for a good 6 months or so, thats why i took on an employee but last weeks weather wasnt workable anyway.

No excuses for getting behind now Adam....

You should be bang on time now u have an employee.more money earnt,less dirt to clean off the windows...thats how it should be....

[Marc Stock]

Hey its just my opinion Dazmond 

[nathankaye]

If ive made prior arrangements with a customer and not able to keep it, then yes I do.
But Marc sounds like hes making more hard work for himself. My customers know I come every 4 weeks but that's not on a specific date., because anything can happen within 4wks. So i can understand why he does so, BUT it sounds more hard work than is needed.
I have customers who I text the night before for their gates to be open and thats enough to give heads up.  Very rarely does it back fire! So apart from that, customers have a guide for when i will show up and if im running late usually common sense will let them know why

[Marc Stock]

Its not hard work simply telling customers what the next clean date it. I still dont understand.

Maybe im just very very weird.

 

[nathankaye]

Its not hard work simply telling customers what the next clean date it. I still dont understand.

Maybe im just very very weird.

 

Its just that for my thinking, anything can go wrong in those four weeks or whatever duration you have.  The van could break down or someone could run into the back of you.  You could fall ill or take a turn for the worse.  Or simply have some days off for the snow for instance and you have to reschedule and let them all know.   

[jo5hm4n]

Have taken all your comments into consideration and decided apart from 1 or 2 customers who i know are picky i'm not informing any of my customers that i will be 2 weeks late.  I will explain on the day, and ofcourse text the access ones the night before anyway.  Let's see if i lose any customers at all.  This to me is a test to see how much my customers do notice and care if i am behind at all, even though as you have said, most people will realise because of the weather that has been all over the UK.

Let's see what happens, will report back in a month to inform if i lost any customers or if i had many that were upset that i was late 

[robbo333]

I clean every 8 weeks and on very rare occasions it can run into 10 weeks for the odd customer.
I contact my customers the day before to get access.
I get the odd one say 'is it that time already?'   

[Tom-01]

Yes I do.

Its common politeness and decency to inform your customers if you cannot make a scheduled clean. Even if they dont care too much, you are running a business and you have the responsibility to ensure your customer base is well managed and looked after.

Every one of my customers know when i am coming becouse the next clean date is on thier bill. I stick to these dates, and if i have to cancel or reschedule i do so by text.

I never just assume. So many of my customers tell me the biggest annoyances of their last window cleaner was not knowing when they were coming, and arriving when they felt like it.

I picked up one customer in January who hadnt heard from her last window cleaner  for 4 months.

 Just after i had taken her on he shows up at her doorstep expecting her to let him clean, she told him " you never got back to me, when you did clean it was when we didnt know you were coming, and you made promises after promise to come back and never did"

To not inform your customers is to treat them with disrespect, and by doing so you show yourself disrespect.

I think you'll have to re-think that mate when you start employing!

[Tom-01]

Have taken all your comments into consideration and decided apart from 1 or 2 customers who i know are picky i'm not informing any of my customers that i will be 2 weeks late.  I will explain on the day, and ofcourse text the access ones the night before anyway.  Let's see if i lose any customers at all.  This to me is a test to see how much my customers do notice and care if i am behind at all, even though as you have said, most people will realise because of the weather that has been all over the UK.

Let's see what happens, will report back in a month to inform if i lost any customers or if i had many that were upset that i was late 

You'll probably get 90% of them saying: "Oh is it that time already?" Seriously the majority of them have no idea when we're due.

[Stoots]

2 weeks behind myself.

Very rarely does anyone get upset about it, you get a few who will comment but once explained why they are fine.

You might get 1 or 2 over the years who dump you for it, its not worth worrying about for a week or, if its going to be a month ok you probably should inform them all if off ill etc. But for a 1-2 week holiday, 9/10 wont say a word about it.


I think a lot of it is how you set your stall out from the start, if you run like clockwork to the exact day for years then they will notice.

Although im 4 weekly, all my customers are used to me getting round in 4-5 weeks so im almost always late, or i have been for a good 6 months or so, thats why i took on an employee but last weeks weather wasnt workable anyway.

No excuses for getting behind now Adam....

You should be bang on time now u have an employee.more money earnt,less dirt to clean off the windows...thats how it should be....

Well i will be soon mate, i was 2 weeks behind when i took him on (hes only done two weeks) at first we wernt making any more than i would solo as you would expect but last couple of days with him ive noticed a good increase in his speed.

Then i got to just 1 week behind, then last week struck and im back to two weeks 

Not too bothered its plenty for us to go at and am eager to get stuck in after been bored to tears this last week   

[P @ F]

Why would you even waste the time doing that ?
If you can get there to post this letter then clean them , cos if they are in you will get caught yappin anyway !

All your custies must have your number , so if they are that bothered they will ring you to see if you are ok / still working , mine do , not that many really care when i turn up , just as long as i do they are not fussed when that might be , i run my biz like this for a bit less stress to myself .

I am compiling an Email list though as at some point in the future i will need heart surgery , this way the Mrs can do it for me   

[paul alan]

I am also looking forward to doing some work now, my body has been missing the graft.

Only got 3 days this week as I managed to get Monday done last week, I like work but it's great when it's an easy week.

[paul alan]

Why would you even waste the time doing that ?
If you can get there to post this letter then clean them , cos if they are in you will get caught yappin anyway !

All your custies must have your number , so if they are that bothered they will ring you to see if you are ok / still working , mine do , not that many really care when i turn up , just as long as i do they are not fussed when that might be , i run my biz like this for a bit less stress to myself .

I am compiling an Email list though as at some point in the future i will need heart surgery , this way the Mrs can do it for me 

Scary that mate, heart surgery!

Are you the bloke that had a stroke?

[Walter Mitty]

Its not hard work simply telling customers what the next clean date it. I still dont understand.

Maybe im just very very weird.

 

Not weird, but such rigidity is a way of making oneself ill IMO.  For me, giving customers a next-clean date would remove one of the best things about being self-employed.  If someone asks when the next clean will be, I quickly work it out in my head and add that the date assumes that everything runs smoothly and it might, at most, be a couple of days early but is more likely to be on time or up to a week later.

[P @ F]

Why would you even waste the time doing that ?
If you can get there to post this letter then clean them , cos if they are in you will get caught yappin anyway !

All your custies must have your number , so if they are that bothered they will ring you to see if you are ok / still working , mine do , not that many really care when i turn up , just as long as i do they are not fussed when that might be , i run my biz like this for a bit less stress to myself .

I am compiling an Email list though as at some point in the future i will need heart surgery , this way the Mrs can do it for me 

Scary that mate, heart surgery!

Are you the bloke that had a stroke?

Yeah thats me , lucky aint i eh ?
Thats why i no longer suffer fools , do what i want , work the hours i want , the less stress the better for me now !

[alank]

I tell all customers when I take them on it's whatever frequency give or take a week or two for holidays bad weather etc never had one question this. Makes it less of ballache for me. If I wanted a rigid schedule I would have still been working 12 hour shifts for someone else 

[C & S]

The worst thing to do in window cleaning is to overthink it this making life more harder on yourself, more admin time etc.

99percent of customers dont bloody care as long as they are having their windows cleaned fairly regulary.

Of course over winter months thing fall behind.

I have not seen some of my customers since before xmas! Do they care? No. Will they be their when I get round to doing them next? yes they will.

I have a good report with my customers. But I dont bend over backwards for them.

Just clean windows. If I have a short week due to weather etc. I will do my most profitable houses on that part of the round 1st to make up for say a day missed.

This is how I work tbh I have lost/dropped a few over the years who didnt fit in with my style but I'm happy with how things are ran.

90 percent of your customers would be happy if you spent jan to fed hibernating only to be seen again in march.

[P @ F]

I suppose that is where i am a bit lucky , as i dont do full days to start with , if i am a bit behind then i will do a little more each day and i soon catch up , not too much though as i might trick myself into being a full timer again 

[Marc Stock]

Well its very clear that i am in the minority here.

I still take holidays, i still get ill, the van still needs maintenance, but somehow it just works very well.

I am a little gobsmacked tbh. I see it completely different. I dont need to send out texts to customers the night before, i dont need to ask to leave access. They already know that im coming. All i do is clean when they fall due on the calander.

As far as holidays and time off, just use the calendar and book dates accordingly.

I just dont understand how that makes my life more difficult.

[Walter Mitty]

Well its very clear that i am in the minority here.

I still take holidays, i still get ill, the van still needs maintenance, but somehow it just works very well.

I am a little gobsmacked tbh. I see it completely different. I dont need to send out texts to customers the night before, i dont need to ask to leave access. They already know that im coming. All i do is clean when they fall due on the calander.

As far as holidays and time off, just use the calendar and book dates accordingly.

I just dont understand how that makes my life more difficult.

Whatever works for you, Marc
One of the best parts of being self-employed for me is that if I fancy a day off to visit a gallery in London (or elsewhere), go down the beach with a friend, stay in and do some writing, or simply recuperate from working hard, I can do it. That wouldn't be so easy if my work was all pre-arranged.  I've had my share of health issues too and had to change a few things.  A couple of years back it was threatening to blow up in my face again - the first time in many years.  Fortunately, I learned enough from before to make changes before it went too bad.  BTW.  I deliberately keep pre-arranging to a minimum - only about 12 customers currently.  However, I do have plenty of gate keys and codes.  I also have a stepladder and crowbar to reach over and hook around some types of bolt.  If someone won't allow me reasonably free access, I probably won't take the job on (I do give them a couple of cleans grace to sort out access and to build a little trust though).

[G Griffin]

I always send my customers a post card from my jollies.
I never send those cheeky ones though in case they feel I'm being dispectful.
I have lost a few customers though because they thought I was showing off as they couldn't afford to holiday in Blackpool like myself  . 

[Steven Biggs]

Right this is how it works .
New custy " hi do you have room for a new customer and how often do you clean "
Me " we clean every 6 weeks . Occasionally we may be slightly early if we are going on holiday and trying to get in front . Sometimes slightly late depending on bad weather or holidays  . But it all evens out over the year to give you 8 or 9 cleans per year .
Custy " that sounds great add me to the round please "
Then what you do is clean the Windows , get paid , go home , have your tea, go to the pub or watch tv , or talk to the wife . Then repeat for 3 or 4 more days .
It really is easy .

[dazmond]

steven  thats not quite right.....

....clean the windows,get paid,have your tea,go to the gym,bang the missus.....then repeat for 3 or 4 more days......

[Slacky]

Yes I do.

Its common politeness and decency to inform your customers if you cannot make a scheduled clean. Even if they dont care too much, you are running a business and you have the responsibility to ensure your customer base is well managed and looked after.

Every one of my customers know when i am coming becouse the next clean date is on thier bill. I stick to these dates, and if i have to cancel or reschedule i do so by text.

I never just assume. So many of my customers tell me the biggest annoyances of their last window cleaner was not knowing when they were coming, and arriving when they felt like it.

I picked up one customer in January who hadnt heard from her last window cleaner  for 4 months.

 Just after i had taken her on he shows up at her doorstep expecting her to let him clean, she told him " you never got back to me, when you did clean it was when we didnt know you were coming, and you made promises after promise to come back and never did"

To not inform your customers is to treat them with disrespect, and by doing so you show yourself disrespect.

Your making a rod for your own back IMO.....

no need to inform customers if your only a week or two late.....if your off for longer then yes inform them...

Your creating more work for yourself that aint necessary.....

I'm usually bang on time and very rarely get behind(apart from the usual holidays)and the occasional bad weather days....

The last time I informed them was when I torn my ankle ligaments a few years ago and was off for nearly a month...

Other than that most customers don't even notice(or care)if it's a week or so....

Exactly what I was going to say, about making a rod for your own back.

Marc, it’s window cleaning, chill man, it’s a relatively unimportant service we carry out, we’re not talking about life and death hospital appointments. Take it easy man. You’ll have a stroke if you carry on like that.

[Slacky]

As for telling them what day you’ll be coming in how ever many weeks from now.

Fluck that!

[Walter Mitty]

As for telling them what day you’ll be coming in how ever many weeks from now.

Fluck that!

Exactly.  I prefer to leave it in a state of flucks.

[Steven Biggs]

Why not make it even harder for yourself .
When you post the slip after each clean , give all custys that day 3 dates to choose there next clean ..
Ask them to text you there preferred date , then send them all a letter with the date  that got the most votes . With a return slip and envelope with more choices .
1 - yes. Please. , that was the date we chose anyway
2 - well ok , it wasn't our preferred date but we will go along with it
3 miss the next clean , we never get our preferred date

P.s    If the weather is extremely bad on the agreed date , you will get a text that evening with an alternative date .
Pps. . Please state if you prefer a morning clean or an afternoon clean .
4- DONT clean our windows again , the wife thinks your a bit odd .

[Richard iSparkle]

i did similar to you, telling customers if i was late.

now i simply say expect us on.. date.. but when they sign up i say if we're held up and aren't there on the day we're due to expect us a day or two after

if its going to be more than that i will let them know, but by text and email off cleaner planner