[jo5hm4n]

So i'm finally getting round to actively converting customers onto GoCardless.  (2 years late!)

So far i have sent out GoCardless 1st round of texts to all existing online payers.  So far about 20% have converted so im pretty happy with that.  My next plan is to deliver letters explaining GoCardless to the oldschool customers and see how that goes.

Just want to know for those of you who have mass converted onto GoCardless with existing customers, which did you find the best way to do it, or how did you deal with people not signing up or just ignoring you.

Im not interested in anyone saying they still  let them carry on without GoCardless.  Longterm i want every customer on there in about a years time.  I dont mind taking my time switching over, but longterm i want GoCardless only, so please only advise if you have actually done or are trying to achieve the same thing.

Thanks guys

[Tom-01]

Hi mate

This is an example text I have sent:

“Good morning. Just to let you know we will be cleaning your windows tomorrow. Also, all our customers are now moving over to our direct debit method for payment, the account details you have are no longer in use. We request payment only after each clean - our customers have found this a much simpler way to pay. Please can you text me your email address and I can forward you the details. Many thanks, Tom”

If they are dubious about setting up GC I then send something like this:

“Once it's set up it's easy and you are notified via email 3 days before any payment is collected from your account. Our banking and associated costs are going up, I don't want to introduce drastic price increases to our customers and the direct debit method is free and saves everyone a lot of time. Perhaps we can try it for this payment so you can see how it works. Thanks, Tom”

Obviously it costs in GC fees, however the pros of using GC far outweigh the costs. Plus we do a lot of gutter cleans, GFS cleans etc so we make the money back.

Hope this helps.
Tom

[Tom-01]

To add, a little while ago I text nearly everyone and the majority signed up. We have a very small number who still BACS but they are very good payers and usually pay within a couple of days so we’re fine with that.

Tom

[Smudger]

Due to Covid we no longer take cash

its worked wonders for the die hard cash payers


Darran

[jo5hm4n]

Hi mate

This is an example text I have sent:

“Good morning. Just to let you know we will be cleaning your windows tomorrow. Also, all our customers are now moving over to our direct debit method for payment, the account details you have are no longer in use. We request payment only after each clean - our customers have found this a much simpler way to pay. Please can you text me your email address and I can forward you the details. Many thanks, Tom”

If they are dubious about setting up GC I then send something like this:

“Once it's set up it's easy and you are notified via email 3 days before any payment is collected from your account. Our banking and associated costs are going up, I don't want to introduce drastic price increases to our customers and the direct debit method is free and saves everyone a lot of time. Perhaps we can try it for this payment so you can see how it works. Thanks, Tom”

Obviously it costs in GC fees, however the pros of using GC far outweigh the costs. Plus we do a lot of gutter cleans, GFS cleans etc so we make the money back.

Hope this helps.
Tom

This is very good.  When you say give me your email address so i can forward the details onto you.  What details do you then send via email?

[jo5hm4n]

Due to Covid we no longer take cash

its worked wonders for the die hard cash payers


Darran

Weirdly ive done a bit of a U Turn with cash.  I actually dont mind cash payers because atleast we get paid on the day.  Its the bank transfer goons that take weeks/months to pay that are causing me the most problems.

I could use the Covid card to get rid of cash payers, but right now i need to sort out my bank transfer custards first.  Got atleast 20-40% of customers who use bank transfer who are really slow with payment.

[combat1]

If you go onto Customers in Gocardless you can tap the link for add customers.  You can copy the link for sending an email or if you are on your mobile you can also text the link.
I text mine.
I’m now at the stage of clearing up! All but a few are on GC.
I now offer the last few customers the choice, pointing out that we are now fully GC and that’s the only payment method.
Dropped two, that’s all.
Gc has saved me over the recent months.
Some customers regularly took 4/6 weeks to pay, maybe after two costly statements.
I know we pay fees but with Aworka it’s just so easy.

[Tom-01]

Hi mate

This is an example text I have sent:

“Good morning. Just to let you know we will be cleaning your windows tomorrow. Also, all our customers are now moving over to our direct debit method for payment, the account details you have are no longer in use. We request payment only after each clean - our customers have found this a much simpler way to pay. Please can you text me your email address and I can forward you the details. Many thanks, Tom”

If they are dubious about setting up GC I then send something like this:

“Once it's set up it's easy and you are notified via email 3 days before any payment is collected from your account. Our banking and associated costs are going up, I don't want to introduce drastic price increases to our customers and the direct debit method is free and saves everyone a lot of time. Perhaps we can try it for this payment so you can see how it works. Thanks, Tom”

Obviously it costs in GC fees, however the pros of using GC far outweigh the costs. Plus we do a lot of gutter cleans, GFS cleans etc so we make the money back.

Hope this helps.
Tom

This is very good.  When you say give me your email address so i can forward the details onto you.  What details do you then send via email?

Hi mate

The email I send is something like this:

"Hi XXXXX

As discussed we now take payment by direct debit. All our customers are moving over to this method and have found it a much simpler way to pay. We request the payment from your nominated account only after each clean - it is not a set monthly debit. We use GoCardless, who are the #1 direct debit provider and you are fully protected under the direct debit guarantee. You are notified by email 3-5 days prior to the payment being made and we never have access to your bank details. You have full control over your account and can cancel at any time.

Please follow xxxxxxxxxxxxx.com/payments to set up, it takes less than two minutes.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. "

[jo5hm4n]

GoCardless Update

So i started the year with about 60 customers on GoCardless.  As of today now have 150 customers on there, and we literally just sent out 200 letters in the post to all our bacs customers and slow payers, so im expecting an influx of signups over the next week or so.

Cashflow is already improving, every week getting a large chunk of GoCardless payments paid into my bank every monday.  Hoping to have maybe 50% converted by the end of the year!  Got alot of cash payers which im actually fine with, its mainly the bank transfer i just cant be bothered with anymore, need to reduce admin time and this seems to be working so far.

[HampshireWindowCleaning]

I have about 50 on Gocardless, the rest on bank transfer, the Gocardless money is always the last to come in, takes ages to clear, bank transfer money is usually in account within a day or 2. Don't understand why you would want everyone on Gocardless when it's so slow and there is also fees to pay.

[NWH]

I can’t see the point in having 50/50 with this you either have everyone on it or non,if you have very good customers that refuse to use this method what do you do dump them ? that would be impossible for me to have that mindset it would be chucking good work away.
If you don’t have 100% GoCardless you still have payments to chase or keep on top of it’s inevitable,imo the best option would be asking for payment with a week etc online transactions go straight into my bank within minutes I can clean it and be paid by the time I’m down the road.
Do you do 20-40 jobs a day that are small amounts maybe GoCardless is for you but it’s not needed for all people in this job,I could be wrong but why would you split you’re work with online and GoCardless.

[windowswashed]

I have about 50 on Gocardless, the rest on bank transfer, the Gocardless money is always the last to come in, takes ages to clear, bank transfer money is usually in account within a day or 2. Don't understand why you would want everyone on Gocardless when it's so slow and there is also fees to pay.

Why would you want to convert BACS customers to go on Gocardless, madness. No transaction fees and in the bank as you are cleaning some of the houses, win win. I converted cheque payers over to BACS a long time ago. The worse ones I found to be cash payers except the old folk where some arent tech familiar so fair enough.

[Richard iSparkle]

Convert all customers to DD

Anything that simplifies your business is a winner if you want to grow

IMHO

we’re100% DD on domestic customers 

[jo5hm4n]

Richard gets it.  I need to get to your stage that is impressive!

Right so lots of what you guys does make sense.  GoCardless is slower than good paying Bacs.  The bank fees are much lower than GoCardless.   You need to understand what is more important to each window cleaner though.

I have lots of savings in the bank, i am not desperate for the money.  I can wait 7 days for the GoCardless money to clear, so time is not a problem.  Also the fees are not a problem.  Too me the fees are just another business expense.  I was spending hours every week chasing payments, or trawling through bank statements to look for 100s of window cleaning payments for £10-£15 and manually updating our cleaner planner software.  It takes atleast 2-3 hours of my time per week minimum.  If i can save that time alone, then to me its worth it for paying the fees.

GoCardless to me, is more about the bigger picture.  To all you one man bands it makes sense to not bother with GC, stick with cash and bank transfer etc.

I however don't work on the tools anymore.  I have 2 vans out full time with staff.  I dont want the hassle of having to tell my workers who still owes money, or who pays cash or who pays bacs, its just more effort and hassle overall.

If longterm i can get every customer on GoCardless then it  means i can just send the lads out to do the jobs, no worrying about people paying cash, or bank transfer, it just makes the business function much more flawlessly and automatically.

One day i plan to either Franchise or Expand to around 5 vans, this is longterm in the future.  So before then i want to eventually get every customer onto GoCardless.

Good paying customers its going to break my heart having to tell them GoCardless or GoElsewhere, but one day in the future i will have to do that for the longterm health of the business.

None of this matters if you are a one man band it wont make sense at all.  If you have several vans on the road, or are expanding then you will know how problematic it becomes having multiple payment options and cashflow issues because of slow or late bacs payers.

I literally dont care how expensive GoCardless is for fees, i just want my business to run as smooth as possible 

[Richard iSparkle]

Richard gets it.  I need to get to your stage that is impressive!

Right so lots of what you guys does make sense.  GoCardless is slower than good paying Bacs.  The bank fees are much lower than GoCardless.   You need to understand what is more important to each window cleaner though.

I have lots of savings in the bank, i am not desperate for the money.  I can wait 7 days for the GoCardless money to clear, so time is not a problem.  Also the fees are not a problem.  Too me the fees are just another business expense.  I was spending hours every week chasing payments, or trawling through bank statements to look for 100s of window cleaning payments for £10-£15 and manually updating our cleaner planner software.  It takes atleast 2-3 hours of my time per week minimum.  If i can save that time alone, then to me its worth it for paying the fees.

GoCardless to me, is more about the bigger picture.  To all you one man bands it makes sense to not bother with GC, stick with cash and bank transfer etc.

I however don't work on the tools anymore.  I have 2 vans out full time with staff.  I dont want the hassle of having to tell my workers who still owes money, or who pays cash or who pays bacs, its just more effort and hassle overall.

If longterm i can get every customer on GoCardless then it  means i can just send the lads out to do the jobs, no worrying about people paying cash, or bank transfer, it just makes the business function much more flawlessly and automatically.

One day i plan to either Franchise or Expand to around 5 vans, this is longterm in the future.  So before then i want to eventually get every customer onto GoCardless.

Good paying customers its going to break my heart having to tell them GoCardless or GoElsewhere, but one day in the future i will have to do that for the longterm health of the business.

None of this matters if you are a one man band it wont make sense at all.  If you have several vans on the road, or are expanding then you will know how problematic it becomes having multiple payment options and cashflow issues because of slow or late bacs payers.

I literally dont care how expensive GoCardless is for fees, i just want my business to run as smooth as possible 

send me an email rleechest96@gmail.com please 

[jo5hm4n]

Update:

Now at around 240 customers on GoCardless.  Had a few months where i didn't get many done at all as was so busy with other parts of the business this summer.  Aiming to have 300 Customers on GoCardless by end of this year which will mean more than 50%.  Next phase is to text all the slow/bad payers and tell them if they wish to continue the service they need to sign up to direct debit.  I am expecting to lose quite a few customers, but whats that point in having bad payers that take like a whole month to pay on average or longer?

Still got lots of good customers that pay with bacs within 3 days so not forcing those over not for atleast a year or more anyway.

Also my debtlist is exactly half of what it was this time last year.  I am confident that is due to the increased cashflow with having more customers on GoCardless.

Im made up so far.  More updates to come on my long journey to 100% Customers on GoCardless.  That will probably be by about 2023!!!   

[NWH]

It’s not about how many customers you’ve got it’s about how many good customers you’ve got,it’s obvious you need something like GoCardless in place if you have multiple vans-staff etc how would you possibly keep track otherwise.

[Dry Clean]

It’s not about how many customers you’ve got it’s about how many good customers you’ve got,it’s obvious you need something like GoCardless in place if you have multiple vans-staff etc how would you possibly keep track otherwise.

So it is about how many customers you have. but I get what you are saying, for a one man operator GC is a needless expense.

[Stoots]

Only thing with go cardless is when you forget to click collect payment on cleaner planner. Just realised i have 30 customers i have forgot to take payment from for over a week 

[jo5hm4n]

Update:

Now sat at 275 Customers on GoCardless.  Really want to finish the year on 300!

Some Customers who were adamant they were not going to sign up to GoCardless i found a way to encourage those kinds of customers to sign up.  Im now offering any existing customer that signs up a £10 discount on their next clean.  So far it's working a treat.  Dont care how much it costs, i just want all customers on GC longterm.

Might have to do a final push and get some new customers in to hit my 300 Target!

The reason why i am continuing this thread is it keeps me accountable to hit this goal which i put off for literally 2 years!

Final update before end of the year 

[Smudger]

Well done👍

[Richard iSparkle]

Update:

Now sat at 275 Customers on GoCardless.  Really want to finish the year on 300!

Some Customers who were adamant they were not going to sign up to GoCardless i found a way to encourage those kinds of customers to sign up.  Im now offering any existing customer that signs up a £10 discount on their next clean.  So far it's working a treat.  Dont care how much it costs, i just want all customers on GC longterm.

Might have to do a final push and get some new customers in to hit my 300 Target!

The reason why i am continuing this thread is it keeps me accountable to hit this goal which i put off for literally 2 years!

Final update before end of the year 

well done Josh

i'm never a fan of discounting people for switching or reviews or whatnot... but if its working for you and you're happy with it thats great

[Tom-01]

Update:

Now sat at 275 Customers on GoCardless.  Really want to finish the year on 300!

Some Customers who were adamant they were not going to sign up to GoCardless i found a way to encourage those kinds of customers to sign up.  Im now offering any existing customer that signs up a £10 discount on their next clean.  So far it's working a treat.  Dont care how much it costs, i just want all customers on GC longterm.

Might have to do a final push and get some new customers in to hit my 300 Target!

The reason why i am continuing this thread is it keeps me accountable to hit this goal which i put off for literally 2 years!

Final update before end of the year 

Hey mate!

Nice one, good work 👍

Have you found your cash flow is a lot better now and saves you a ton of time reconciling payments?

[jo5hm4n]

Update:

Now sat at 275 Customers on GoCardless.  Really want to finish the year on 300!

Some Customers who were adamant they were not going to sign up to GoCardless i found a way to encourage those kinds of customers to sign up.  Im now offering any existing customer that signs up a £10 discount on their next clean.  So far it's working a treat.  Dont care how much it costs, i just want all customers on GC longterm.

Might have to do a final push and get some new customers in to hit my 300 Target!

The reason why i am continuing this thread is it keeps me accountable to hit this goal which i put off for literally 2 years!

Final update before end of the year 

Hey mate!

Nice one, good work 👍

Have you found your cash flow is a lot better now and saves you a ton of time reconciling payments?

Our Debt list is 50% less now than it was a year ago.  It has helped massively with cash flow.  Its also helped tighten up with the bad/slow payers still on BACs, naturally eliminating some of those.  Also admin time is probably 25% of what it used to be chasing payments or noting down who has or hasnt paid via BACS.

For me wanting an easier life this is definitely helping to reduce the admin side of things.  I know a few cleaners who are 100% GoCardless and they literally dont spend any time chasing payments or sending reminders.  If only!!!   

[jo5hm4n]

Update:

Now sat at 275 Customers on GoCardless.  Really want to finish the year on 300!

Some Customers who were adamant they were not going to sign up to GoCardless i found a way to encourage those kinds of customers to sign up.  Im now offering any existing customer that signs up a £10 discount on their next clean.  So far it's working a treat.  Dont care how much it costs, i just want all customers on GC longterm.

Might have to do a final push and get some new customers in to hit my 300 Target!

The reason why i am continuing this thread is it keeps me accountable to hit this goal which i put off for literally 2 years!

Final update before end of the year 

well done Josh

i'm never a fan of discounting people for switching or reviews or whatnot... but if its working for you and you're happy with it thats great

Thanks yes its working thats the main thing.  I don't like it either really, but some customers just need a push i guess.

[Richard iSparkle]

Update:

Now sat at 275 Customers on GoCardless.  Really want to finish the year on 300!

Some Customers who were adamant they were not going to sign up to GoCardless i found a way to encourage those kinds of customers to sign up.  Im now offering any existing customer that signs up a £10 discount on their next clean.  So far it's working a treat.  Dont care how much it costs, i just want all customers on GC longterm.

Might have to do a final push and get some new customers in to hit my 300 Target!

The reason why i am continuing this thread is it keeps me accountable to hit this goal which i put off for literally 2 years!

Final update before end of the year 

well done Josh

i'm never a fan of discounting people for switching or reviews or whatnot... but if its working for you and you're happy with it thats great

Thanks yes its working thats the main thing.  I don't like it either really, but some customers just need a push i guess.

well they don't need paying.

as you know i'm 100% DD and none of them needed a discount to get there. they just needed persistent pressure.

but if you're happy to pay them, or its the best option for you to get it done with the least hassle, that's OK too

great result either way

[Mike Burd]

You can ofcourse still get non payers with Gocardless.

My calculation with it was that at any one time I’d have the same amount awaiting payout as I have in my debt list. Typically it’s a week’s revenue at any time showing as a debt which ofcourse is the time Gocardless take to pay out so it makes no difference to cash flow.

But…. The time it takes now to reconcile payments is a pain in ar8e.

[jo5hm4n]

Well just about managed it!  As of today 302 Customers on GoCardless.  So im happy with that.  Hit my goal if nothing else.  Next year think ill finally go after the cash payers and just keep slowly converting customers over.

Either way managed to get over 50% on GC so im more than happy with that massively helped with cashflow and reduced the debtlist.

 

[Soupy]

If you want to 100% direct debit you need to get a deal where you can sign customers up. I believe gocardless is about £200 to do that, if you are computer savvy (Excel especially) you can get a much better deal. I'm with smart debit. It takes me about an hour a week to process about 400 direct debits manually, four hours to do 1500 - 2000 per month. It's not for the faint hearted but I pay 1/2 what I would on gocardless.

Being able to sign customers up over the phone, even if they have no email address, is worth its weight in gold especially during covid.

I have customers who I've cleaned for 20 years - always paid cash or cheque - now direct debit after a two minute phone call.

[Stoots]

I offered a free clean to about 200 customers if they switched to GC, only about 30 took up the offer so it shows lots still just dont like the idea or the incentive wasnt enough.

[hotsteam]

Why don't you, say due to bank charges and admin you will have to add £3 to each clean, unless they sign up to gocardless?