[D Scott]

I know this subject gets discussed quite often, but as it has been chucking it down here for most of the day it has got me thinking.

A few on this forum say they work whatever the weather, but I know if I turned up and it was raining heavily a lot of my customers would tell me not to bother. What's the secret to winning customers round so they are happy for you to work in bad weather?

I do work if it is only light showers, and my customers know and are mostly happy with this. If the rain is heavy though I just think you look a bit of a cowboy working in it.

Thanks

[stuart webster]

Trad, no. WFP yes

[Sir Squeaky]

Thankyou Andrew McCann, oops sorry I meant Bear....

[Dominic]

Depends if your wfp or trad. If your wfp just tell them that it doesn't make any difference if raining and that you will come back free of charge if they are not happy when windows eventually dry out.
If your trad tell them the only way to keep up your reliabilty and efficiency is to work whatever the weather otherwise your round will always be late etc.
If they make too much fuss change the whingers for people that do want reliability and are more understanding.
I don't see how it is possible to run a business well if you have to keep stopping for the weather all the time.
That's what we do anyway. We worked all day today and got asked three times about rain so just have to keep explaining. Didn't lose any customers though and still earnt a living. Some people will moan whatever you do though.
Don't feel like a cowboy though because you are doing people a great service and they should be greatful in my opinion.
cheers Dom

[stuart webster]

Thankyou Andrew McCann, oops sorry I meant Bear....

I can always sell you a system Squeaky

[gaza]

D SCOTT:WFP DO the ones that are out,soon gets around the estate,why didnt they clean mine, they start asking,cus you were in you can reply.
     Serious now: when I  change them over I make it quite clear that I can now clean in the rain,so I can now be even more regular[when they ask what day, I can reply what hr do you want me to do them]
      I also tell them the only reason I wont clean in the rain depends on how wet I want to get and any complaints about the finished product to air them strait away [so far not one complaint]when theve been cleaned in the rain

  gaza

[Easyclean Windows]

Same here Wfp yes Trad no.

rain water dosent make windows dirty...dirt does.tell them youve come to scrub the dirt off not the rain.

What if it was a nice bright sunny day you cleaned them and it rains the next day? do you go back and do them again? no probably not.

I dont have any customers who tell me not to clean in the rain also if they do say "its raining can you do them another day "say no and move on.You will find enough customers who want the windows cleaning come rain or shine.

In the summer when your late and they call you say sorry cant come its too hot. If they say your joking say"well you wont let me clean in the rain so why should i clean them when im too hot"

[gsw]

wfp...and i'll only stop for lightning!!

greg

[D Scott]

Some good advice. Thanks

I make a point now with new customers of letting them know straight away that I will clean even when raining, within reason. Most of my round is in process of being switched to WFP.

I just need to be a bit firmer with customers at times, my problem is i am not very good at dealing with difficult customers. Oh well, will have to try harder

[ronaldo]

If we worked round here in the rain our customers would tell us to p### off!!!!!!

[carl stanton]

    

[Sir Squeaky]

If we worked round here in the rain our customers would tell us to p### off!!!!!!

Same around here mate.
Don't listen to Tosh if he replies, he does council houses.

I don't want to work in the rain anyway?
Why get soaked?

[gaza]

THATS WHY YOU TELL THEM TO PI''' O'' FIRST,NO ITS ALL DOWN TO TRAINING YOUR CUSTOMER.

TELL THEM YOUR GOING TO CLEAN IN THE RAIN,DO IT, AND SEE THEIR FACE WHEN, WHAT YOU SAID WOULD HAPPEN HAPPENED,THEY WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR EVERMORE

 GAZA

[ronaldo]

THATS WHY YOU TELL THEM TO PI''' O'' FIRST,NO ITS ALL DOWN TO TRAINING YOUR CUSTOMER.

TELL THEM YOUR GOING TO CLEAN IN THE RAIN,DO IT, AND SEE THEIR FACE WHEN, WHAT YOU SAID WOULD HAPPEN HAPPENED,THEY WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR EVERMORE

 GAZA

Is that after theyve dumped you for anoyher wc? because they think your wasting your time and their money!

[gsw]

i tell them if they are not happy when they dry they can have the next one for free, obviously if they tried to take me up on this they would end up with a new window cleaner! as i know that with wfp the rain makes no difference at all, i'm there to clean em not dry em!


please tell me in a country as green as ours (present hosepipe ban excluded!) how you can maintain a decent turnover on only working dry days?

if you set out your terms from the start the customer cant argue.

[D Scott]

Customers are always telling me that good window cleaners are like gold dust. If you do a good job, are reliable, always friendly they will be scared to lose you. So they generally find most don't mind me working in light rain or if it is a showery day

[Sir Squeaky]

please tell me in a country as green as ours (present hosepipe ban excluded!) how you can maintain a decent turnover on only working dry days?

Easy. 

All my bills are paid in the first two days.
Yes I have cheap rent, but I've got a child, I run 2 cars, I've got Sky, Broadband, go out every weekend, golf every week, spend hundreds on photography and computer games, ....etc...etc...

You should earn enough to cover yourself without worrying about wet days.
It just means you've got a bit less spending money.

Perhaps it's because I don't have your overheads.

Rog.

[Ian_Giles]

It was absolutely hammering it down from about 7am until 10am (ish) and I worked right through it and got soaked to the skin.
But as these were weekly shops I just got on with it.
Were I still trad only there may have been a couple I couldn't do due to the fact they were georgian, but even so I would have still done most of them.

Having said that I would not have dreamt of doing domestic accounts in heavy, driving rain.
Regardless of what system I was using.
Light rain and drizzle yes, but not the stair rods we had today.

Though I had one person pull up in their car when it was pouring down, my trousers were soaking, the rain was running off my baseball cap and she asked me if I could come along and clean her windows!
I'm going to of course, but had too much on today.

Rain that is falling straight down without any wind doesn't affect much, but if you have strong winds then you are wrong [in my opinion] to clean windows in those conditions.
The rain will be driven against walls and windows and muck will run off the walls and onto the windows, or muck will be dragged up into the air off roadsides and off trees and bushes and so on, and in those conditions you WILL do a poor job.

So for me [on domestic work] it depends on the severity of the conditions, you have to use a little common sense.

Ian

[Moderator David@stives]

I cant understand the mentallity of wfp yes , trad no !!!

There will be absolutely no difference at all in the end result regardless of which way you clean.

I only stop when it gets too wet for me which is anything worse than drizzle,

I am a bit of a wimp at heart

Dave

[pjulk]

I only work in light rain/showers and most of my customers have just come round to this with a bit of resistance along the way.

The rain we had today there is no way im cleaning windows in that and have the cheek to ask for money.

But i do gutter cleaning in rain no matter how hard it is and can earn good money at it.

So for those who don't like cleaning windows in the rain get some water proofs and push for gutter cleans.
And tell the customers its the best time to clean them as you can see if the water is flowing away properly.


Paul

[JohnL]

Ah, a soul mate,  I run 2 cars, I've got Sky, - ah ,no Sky, Broadband, go out every weekend, golf every week, - but now only a glorious memory even if I did play 5 times a week in those days, spend hundreds on photography and computer games, ....etc...etc...

I knew you were a good man     

JohnL

[Ian_Giles]

Dave,

There is no way you can clean georgian windows or leaded windows in the rain, you have to buff dry with your scrim of microfibre and there is no way you can do this trad.
Even if you use a cut down squeegee for georgian work, you will still have to detail every pane and you just cannot keep your scrims or microfibre cloths dry long enough.
On standard casement windows you can get away with it to a degree, but detailing can still be a bit of a problem at times.

Where as with WFP none of the above apply

But as I said, you just need to use a little common sense regardless of what method you use...

Ian

[matt]

i do WFP upstairs and trad down

I have tried many a time to do it in light drizzle, the result is allways the same

"your cleaning in the rain, they will be dirty again in a few hours, give mine a miss"

this happens ALL THE TIME

not that i care, when i was a carpenter, i used to sit in the van or in a house whist it rained, i NEVER WORKED in the rain, hell i was a highly skilled tradesman, i didnt need to work in the rain

same goes now, i dont want to get wet

allways something to do in the house

[gsw]

All my bills are paid in the first two days.
Yes I have cheap rent, but I've got a child, I run 2 cars, I've got Sky, Broadband, go out every weekend, golf every week, spend hundreds on photography and computer games, ....etc...etc...

You should earn enough to cover yourself without worrying about wet days.
It just means you've got a bit less spending money.

Perhaps it's because I don't have your overheads.

Rog.

mate i wish i had cheap rent but unfortunately i have a mortgage that would probably make you sick plus a family to support...i'm running a business and have every intention of making hay while the sun shines or if its p*$%ing down come to that!

but good luck to you, different opinions make the world tick i suppose.

[stuart webster]

i do WFP upstairs and trad down

I have tried many a time to do it in light drizzle, the result is allways the same

"your cleaning in the rain, they will be dirty again in a few hours, give mine a miss"

this happens ALL THE TIME

not that i care, when i was a carpenter, i used to sit in the van or in a house whist it rained, i NEVER WORKED in the rain, hell i was a highly skilled tradesman, i didnt need to work in the rain

same goes now, i dont want to get wet

allways something to do in the house

This is probably why you cant get £150+ a day

[Easyclean Windows]

Is that after theyve dumped you for anoyher wc? because they think your wasting your time and their money!

i cleaned a block of flats today in the rain for £315.00 and another block for £60.00 all in under three hours.Your saying you wouldnt go out and clean them.....yeah right

[ronaldo]

Like i said easyclean round here they would just laugh at you.

So thats exactly what i,m saying

[Moderator David@stives]

Ian

I agree about georgeon and especially leaded,

It all depends on what level of rain is hitting the windows.

With trad i pre detail rather than detailing afterwards so that helps a bit ,sometimes the rain can help as a final rinse as a say to my customers.

Unless i am in the middle of a commercial run i normally go home if i think the rain is coming in for the day.

I only work 4 hours a day on average as does my staff so there is always plenty of time to make up the shortfall in the rest of the week.

You may think 4 hours is a short time but i work smart these days instead of concentrating on high volume and i am a lot better off for it.

Long hours just grind you down and i see my time more productive in finding ways to improve my hourly rate rather than chasing my tail all day.

Dave

[ronaldo]

Like i said easyclean round here they would just laugh at you.

So thats exactly what i,m saying and as for £375.00 in under 3 hours i reckon its bullpoope like alot of the earnings that are talked about on here are if money was like that and it aint round here and ive been cleaning for over 10 years and have probably got one of the best runs in the area, every man and his dog would be doing it.

[Moderator David@stives]

I think Easyclean is in a league of his own and i would not consider his earnings to be typical for anyone else

[Sir Squeaky]

Sounds like you've got a well sorted business there Dave.

[Moderator David@stives]

Its the result of 8 years graft and 10 hour days in the early days.

I was amazed how much more money you can earn simply by keep getting rid of your worst 20% of work every year.

It realy does work.

Dave

[geoffreyspecht]

cleaned windows for thirty years now cleaned windows in hail rain sleet snow blizzards u have got to make a living