[davetherave]

now i don't know if this has happened to any other w/cs out there but today i got stopped by the police while i was canvassing, some saddo had phoned 999 and reported me as looking like a very shifty character. Granted i've currently got two black eyes from my amateur boxing but still i felt it was a little over the top. i couldn't believe it i never been in trouble with the police before and here i was getting questioned. they ran a background check on me asked if i had ever been arrested, it goes with out saying it didn't make a very good impression in front of any potential customers. i had just got a new customer a couple of houses back and if she saw me getting questioned one only wonders what she must have thought.    god almighty i never thought the humble window cleaner would be considered public enemy no 1.

[Paul Coleman]

now i don't know if this has happened to any other w/cs out there but today i got stopped by the police while i was canvassing, some saddo had phoned 999 and reported me as looking like a very shifty character. Granted i've currently got two black eyes from my amateur boxing but still i felt it was a little over the top. i couldn't believe it i never been in trouble with the police before and here i was getting questioned. they ran a background check on me asked if i had ever been arrested, it goes with out saying it didn't make a very good impression in front of any potential customers. i had just got a new customer a couple of houses back and if she saw me getting questioned one only wonders what she must have thought.    god almighty i never thought the humble window cleaner would be considered public enemy no 1.

It hasn't happened for a few years now but I went through a phase when I was pulled over regularly for the heinous crime o having a ladder on my van after bedtime.  One copper even suggested I take it off the van before going out for the evening.  Plonker !!

[gaza]

aCOUPLE OF BLACK EYES HOPE YOUR W/C IS BETTER THAN YOUR BOXING SKILLS
I must say getting two new customers with them is a credit to your social skills

nearly as good as going to see a shared flat with a trombone slung over your shoulder

 gaza

[Mike_Boxall]

Dave

I've had to change the name of this topic due to complaints about how unprofessional the title was.

You may not be concerned about how people percieve you and the industry as a whole but most people here are!

Please take more time to consider what you post!

Mike Boxall

[Morph]

aCOUPLE OF BLACK EYES HOPE YOUR W/C IS BETTER THAN YOUR BOXING SKILLS
I must say getting two new customers with them is a credit to your social skills

nearly as good as going to see a shared flat with a trombone slung over your shoulder

 gaza

Another classic from Gaza

[Trevor Knight]

I had the same trouble, went to my local police station, told then this situation was ridiculous and a waste of both of our time and I had to complete a G4(Jan31). This told them the make and reg of vehicle, names of occupants. Since then I have never had any problems.

Not sure if this is a County or Local arrangement.

regards,  Trev

[windolene]

Hi,

Dave I would not like some bloke with black eyes knocking on my door. Perhaps you should get someone to do your canvassing until your eyes have settled down. I am positive you are only getting a fraction of the work that you would get without black eyes. Also you should  let new customers know before you turn up to clean that you are an amateur boxer & you sometimes come off second best or suffer the odd black eye.

Kevin WINDOLENE.

[busydaffodil]

Personally, I would not employ a bloke WC who is an amateur boxer, even without black eyes...........any problems and I would be too scared to tell him...or sack him!   
If I was you, I'd leave canvassing until your eyes better  and I would not make it known to potential customers that you have a past-time that involves fighting.

Lizzy

ps....I actually adore boxing....my OH was a boxer when he was younger......but I wouldnt knowingly employ 1 to do work for me.   

pps   This is MY opinion........please dont have a dig if it differs from yours.  Or I'll send that window cleaner with the black eyes around!!!!

[Trevor Knight]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I am also an Ex Boxer and enjoyed 4 1/2 years in this sport and I am amazed and shocked that the stigma people are associating with boxing!!

What in the world makes an ex or current boxer not suitable for work?

Is it because he is in good physical shape, can work hard, is able to push himself to the limit??

So don't understand the postings on here

 

[bumper]

 hi
i once got stoped by copper while cleaning windows,OI YOU comeince ere (yes fuhrer)LIFT YOUR SHOE UP(ok)RIGHT YOU  CAN GO NOW.All i can think of  is he was looking at my tread on my trainers,glad they were't the same trainers as the burgler had on
oh by the way ive no front teeth in
                                     bumper

[windolene]

Hi,

Most people get a black eye from fighting down the pub & not in the ring. That is why I suggested that he tell his customers before hand.

When canvassing this is what they think & they will say no thank-you even if they want one. they wont bother to ask how he came about the black eye.

I would think that he has been fighting down the local boozer so would on no terms want him cleaning my windows if this is the environment he keeps.

i

Kevin WINDOLENE.

[Matt_Benton]

Hi there,

Dunno if this is really the same thing, but i've got a number zero shaved haircut. I only do it for convenience, cos i don't wanna have to do my hair in the morning  , but you'd be surprised about the reaction i get sometimes. Like maybe if i've been talking to a customer on the phone and then i see them in person, i get a shocked reaction, as if it wasn't me they were talking to before. I guess people just judge on site, that's the way they are.

Cheers, Matt

PS. I wear a hat now when i go canvassing; it's just easier. Maybe you could wear dark glasses...  and look like the FBI coming round to investigate!

[mark dew]

Hi there,

Dunno if this is really the same thing, but i've got a number zero shaved haircut. I only do it for convenience, cos i don't wanna have to do my hair in the morning  , but you'd be surprised about the reaction i get sometimes. Like maybe if i've been talking to a customer on the phone and then i see them in person, i get a shocked reaction, as if it wasn't me they were talking to before. I guess people just judge on site, that's the way they are.

Cheers, Matt

PS. I wear a hat now when i go canvassing; it's just easier. Maybe you could wear dark glasses...  and look like the FBI coming round to investigate!

I had a no.4 for 5 years but i have grown it out since becoming WC because some people seemed wary of me walking up their drive. Especially if i was looking stressed.
I only shaved it because i though i was going bald and thought i'd confront the issue.
I look more like a teddy bear now...

....goes with out saying it didn't make a very good impression in front of any potential customers. i had just got a new customer a couple of houses back and if she saw me getting questioned one only wonders what she must have thought.    god almighty i never thought the humble window cleaner would be considered public enemy no 1.

You could use this to your advantage by telling these customers that you have been police checked and everything is fine. 

[windows_chepstow]

My advice would be to try to look 'non-aggressive', when you approach customers; especially new and/or potential customers.

It doesn't take a brain-surgeon to work out why this should matter.

Even when I was in the army, during tours of Northern Ireland, we were ordered to have 'non-aggressive' haircuts, prior to embarkation.  I've also known many 'evil-looking soldiers', that were honestly good lads.

I was also recently informed that, 'Image is everything', these days.

I'm not sure how much I want to believe that statement, because I'd like to think a good service and being fair with your customers counts more; but image certainly helps.

You may look like a thug, but think of yourself as a 'fluffy-sort-of-bloke', but first impressions DO count.

[JohnL]

talking about fluffy I have a fairly longish set of locks, ie 60's style, thats in age of the last  century and also just age    - you know, slightly long above the ears and whispey arond the back, a sophisticated Christopher Plummer lookalike     

JohnL

[windolene]

Hi,

It does not matter how you wear your hair in the slightest. But it does your clothes. I always wear a clean blue shirt when I start my day, in fact yesterday I took a spare out because of a messy job I new I would be cleaning. It gives me so much confidence when I am cleaning that the customer is thinking what a well turned out window cleaner I am. We all know how it works, we judge a book by its cover & I must say it is usually the case.

When canvassing I wear A printed Kevin Dixon window cleaner t-shirt.

Kevin WINDOLENE.

[dai]

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Dai

[huntercontractors]

i have been window cleaning a few months and have found away around this which also gets you in good standing.
i mostly do little villages and found a very "you are not from round here" attitude.
i previosly managed sales teams and what we used to do is phone the regional old bill station I.E Norwich or Yarmouth for Norfolk on a monday and tell them where we would be working. i have adopted this approach to window cleaning and someone rings plod as they no doubt always do with a cockney lad in a strange village, the police tell them that they are aware of me i am ok. this gets you in with locals!!

[TVCS]

Speaking of first impressions.
The other day I was sat at the table helping my nipper spill his dinner everywhere when I thought the front door was being smashed down.  The hardest knocking in the world 

I swung the door open and to my supprise, on the doorstep was a rather angry looking little man with a fAg on the go and a tattoo creeping up his neck.  I also spotted a rag hanging from his belt.

"Want ya windows doing?"  He grunted, without removing the ciggy. "Tenna!"

"No thanks mate, I do my own." I said.
"8 quid then, thats cheap that is"
"Really mate I do my own, thanks anyway"
The best bit was when he shook his head and dropped his dog end on my front door mat and stamped it out.
"Could you take that with you?" I said, a tad dis-gruntled. 
To my supprise he bent down and picked it up and walked off.
Right past my van which says quite clearly "WINDOW CLEANING"
Now it isn`t just because I am a window cleaner that I didn't require his services but his overall appearance and attitude put me off slightly.
Maybe I'm just fussy.

[davetherave]

yeah i guess it must have been the black eyes that made me look dodgy although they weren't really bad black eyes only a bit bruised. i thought once i told the copper i was a window cleaner and showed him my card he'd leave it at that, its was having a background check asking me all questions like if i'd ever been arrested that ped me off the most. But then i suppose you could argue he was only doing his job. it was funny, nobody actually asked about the black eyes even the police so they can't have been that noticeable.