Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Lee Pryor on September 21, 2010, 06:51:50 pm
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PROJECT X RESEARCH
ok, my last poll wasnt very clear, so, what i want to know is if you have wfp or not, only vote wfp if you have lets say a van mount of over 200lt or vote wfp if you do both but mostly wfp.
As I said before i am working on something that will benefit other wc when its launched, there is nothing else like it.
ONLY ONE VOTE EACH PLEASE i need a clear idear of numbers
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What about trailers? Do I count even though is not permenant?
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What about trailers? Do I count even though is not permenant?
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Sorry stuart i forgot about those, yes thats fine
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hmmm lots of views not many voters.
let me say that the project is to do with getting new customers in a way that has never been seen before.
you will never print another leaflet, knock another door or pay 3 times the clean value to a canvassing company again, in fact you will never waste another penny to gain a customer again. I am genuinely thinking of going on dragons den to get the money I will need to launch this new project, (at least a year away at the moment)
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Theres no WFP and trad button ;D
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Hi Lee..Is this to do with radio advertising??
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wfp and trad i offer the complete service ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I thought window cleaning has been on dragons den.
Daz
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best of luck mate ;D
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i use both trad and wfp
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Wfp :)
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wfp
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How much will you ask the dragons for, for what equity, and what potential return?
When they ask about the market and market research is this thread on CIU a major part of it?
However good your idea i doubt that it's investable.They expect a massive return.
Nationwide things have been tried, and failed before (professional wc etc) window washers offers this of a sort.
Funnily enough i do this stuff, and the problem is you can't protect it.Once someone else twigs what you are up to they copy. I come from a retail background and have spent the last twenty years getting a good kicking.But it was instructive and applicable.
My advice is to keep it under wraps for as long as you can.
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Trad is a dying trade. Anybody that can use a pole system properly will never go back to trad only. Guaranteed.
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guys I would love to spill the beans, its doing my head in, what im looking to do is a new idear, that really could change everything, imagine if every penny you spent to grow got you a new customer, that was well priced, came to you and cost nowwhere near 3 times a clean value.
rest asured, alot of work and time is going in at this end, and yes there will be something to join that will have a cost to it, how much i dont yet know.
this year i have spent 10k on large leaflet drops and so on, and yes it works, have a canvasser that works too, I know alot of you pay rip off cowboy canvassing companies fortunes for what is underpriced weak work.
I will be doing other polls on here and asking other questions, so please keep a look out for those over the next few months. This forum is one of many places im gathering info from at the moment. cant say anything more right now.
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What about trailers? Do I count even though is not permenant?
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Sorry stuart i forgot about those, yes thats fine
Shall we start again?
Another pole, make sure you include trailers ;D
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And trolleys
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And wheel-chairs
(http://www.electricwindowcleaner.com/ewc_files/phot_gallery/photo4.jpg)
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Thats Jeff Brimbles wheelchair aint it?
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I love the wheel chair!!!!!
I dont think trollys will count, (dont shoot me down ive never had one) Im looking for people who are mostly wfp
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wfp 90%
trad 30%
;D ;D ;D
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Sounds intriguing Lee
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thats his beer trolley
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lee this is already doable, but there is no cost, it's just knowledge.Hardly anyone can figure it out , except on a hypothetical basis.I have even tried to explain it to people without actually spilling the beans and they still don't get it.
Occasionally you get the odd mad scheme- like those people who give you a card that says excuse the unusual approach- and suggest if you ring this number you can earn £500 pw - or joeuk's putting twenty pound notes onto leaflets to get attention.I'd call things like this marketing gimmicks.And then there's your leaflets canvassers and marketing pros like kate.I'd call this persistence marketing and of course this does produce results, particularly as you are selling a good product.
But there is another way, a way that even the slowest member on here once he's seen it would say- well that's obvious- blindingly obvious and blindingly successful.And because of this it makes your idea redundant because anyone can do this for nothing, they just need the knowledge.
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The fed have 2,500
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I think the FWC should do it, might even be possible for the MGWC if there membership is high enough.
Do what mate?
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I would love to know what you think it is slumpbuster, or anyone else that thinks they know, i would be very suprised if you guess right. im not interested in gimicks! as i have said i am putting something together that will be a different way for us all to get new and strong customers for an affordable price. Slump, you should know that before wc I was a sales and marketing manager for a multinational company and ran a team of people that brought in over 2million pounds a year, before that I was the top salesman in the previous 2 jobs i had. That said im fairly confident that im on to a winner, its really just a case of how much it will cost.
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this year i have spent 10k on large leaflet drops and so on, and yes it works, have a canvasser that works too,
Would you care to divulge how much buisness that investment has generated you?
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I've got a pretty good idea, something I dreamt up a while ago now. It would be interesting to find out if it's similar to yours. We'l just have to wait n see who gets there first ;)
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I would love to know what you think it is slumpbuster, or anyone else that thinks they know, i would be very suprised if you guess right. im not interested in gimicks! as i have said i am putting something together that will be a different way for us all to get new and strong customers for an affordable price. Slump, you should know that before wc I was a sales and marketing manager for a multinational company and ran a team of people that brought in over 2million pounds a year, before that I was the top salesman in the previous 2 jobs i had. That said im fairly confident that im on to a winner, its really just a case of how much it will cost.
whatever it is lee good luck I have had a chat with you and you seem like a chap with his head screwed on count me in!
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this year i have spent 10k on large leaflet drops and so on, and yes it works, have a canvasser that works too,
Would you care to divulge how much buisness that investment has generated you?
about 400 regular customers with an average clean value of £17-£22, roughly 25% of those had at least one of our additional services with the first clean, most popular was conservatory roof for which we charge £3.50 per panel with a minimum price of £30, followed by gutter clearing with an average price of £70. many people spent 3-4 hundred pounds on multiple services with their first clean
In addition we have had the best year yet on jetwashing (i did 2 patios today in 6 hours with a total value of £390) and performing additional one-off services to people who already have a wc and didnt want to change.
we still have 25,000 leaflets in our unit to go out which will put us at 120,000 leaflets this year. new customers are still coming in every day.
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about 400 regular customers with an average clean value of £17-£22, roughly 25% of those had at least one of our additional services with the first clean, most popular was conservatory roof for which we charge £3.50 per panel with a minimum price of £30, followed by gutter clearing with an average price of £70. many people spent 3-4 hundred pounds on multiple services with their first clean
In addition we have had the best year yet on jetwashing (i did 2 patios today in 6 hours with a total value of £390) and performing additional one-off services to people who already have a wc and didnt want to change.
we still have 25,000 leaflets in our unit to go out which will put us at 120,000 leaflets this year. new customers are still coming in every day.
Very good Lee. I am familiar with offering these extra services as a whole package, and see a growth in it. Not in a dissimilar way to the way property maintainance companies operate now for commercial premises. Not many people want to spend their time off cleaning gutters, conny roofs, windows, cutting grass, cleaning patios or drives or even wasting time searching for people to do it, a one stop shop is a no brainer. Good luck.
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Slumpbuster, very flattered "marketing pro" not so sure about that, very kind though.
Lee is your idea to do with "bulk buying" on a national scale
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Slumpbuster, very flattered "marketing pro" not so sure about that, very kind though.
Lee is your idea to do with "bulk buying" on a national scale
Hi Kate, no its not but I am going to try the national scale bit. As you know a great idear is usually a few good idears brought together, I run my wc business very differently to most, especially the way I price jobs and get new customers in, next year I will try something new and if it works well my idear is offer it on a national scale as a new way for wc to buy new customers as and when they want, where they want and for a more reasonable price than just leaflets or canvassers.
We all know there is loads of money in wc and that the residential market is very underserviced and that there are alot of cowboys still out there, the public want good reliable wc and we want strong well priced work to grow our businesses, im going to try to bring it all together while at the same time getting rid of the public image that window cleaners are loosers but people who run proper business and earn good money.
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Whats the time scale Lee?
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Whats the time scale Lee?
the first stage will be for my business only and is being designed at the moment for next year and will use all of my marketing budget for next year, so i will be sacrificing our proven method of large leaflet campaigns to gamble on something new, by the end of next year i will have a clearer picture of whats possible and if its all good i will invite window cleaners from around the country to a meeting with me to go through it
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Wish you good luck with it Lee, hope it all goes well
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Hi Lee
We are wfp, would like to be involved even if its to find out the plan. fed up with canvassing and leafleting.
cheers
john
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It probably seems as though i'm knocking and i don't mean too.The way you are going is impressive. I agree with pretty much everything you say, and my op is on a much humbler scale.
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Go this industry needs more people like you. If we can cast off this image of dumb, looser window clears. We need to amputate the dud limb that holds the total body back.
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Hi Lee
We are wfp, would like to be involved even if its to find out the plan. fed up with canvassing and leafleting.
cheers
john
sorry john know one else can be involved at this time but when its ready most window cleaners will be able to join, there will be a monthly membership fee as well as a few requirements from each window cleaner as the in coming customers will be expecting a certain level of service ie, insured, always doing frames and sills, text alerts and so on. Anyone that meets our requirements will be able to join
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As soon as a price is put on for gaining these juicy customers and especially on a nationwide scale then corruption shall rear its ugly head.Are you going to be suggesting that anyone that doesn`t subscribe to your grandiose plan is perhaps not quite up to standard. What if 3 window cleaners want the same customer? WILL IT BE DOWN TO WHO PAYS THE MOST?
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Sean I will answer your first question.
customers on this new scheme will be expecting the wc that gets them to have certain systems in place, take the text alert for example, not everyone offers that, but its very easy to add to your business, we do ours from a dedicated mobile phone on a commercial contract that cost £30 a month, which is nothing, very easy and cheap to add and so on.
there will be nothing corupt or hidden, it will be a genuine business which im starting, with regards to your second question, different customers will be worth different amounts to different wc.
All i can say is this, it will be cheaper and better than leafleting on large scales and paying other companies to knock doors for you.
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Does the idea you have work along similar lines as Rated Tradesman website and others Lee?
Or is it genuinely an idea that has never been used before?
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Does the idea you have work along similar lines as Rated Tradesman website and others Lee?
Or is it genuinely an idea that has never been used before?
I kid you not NOTHING else like this exists and will work using methods which i created for my own business which have already been proven and sucessful for us.
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I want all the customers and i will pay the most as all the customers will be serviced by window cleaners that have paid me a healthy sum for training to enter the profession equipped for this new age and an ongoing charge for all the work i have for them.
Anything that drives up the cost of people having their windows cleaned has got to be a good thing.
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Hi lee, well done, I think like the other member said on here, there should be more entrepreneur like you on this forum, good luck, and when you ready, count me in as one of your 1st applicant.
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Hopefully I dont think that that the window cleaning industry is viewed like that any more, you have your corporate image, sign painted vans, embroidered work wear, websites, paypal, personally I think that times are moving forward, dont underestimate yourselves
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dont underestimate yourselves
The biggest mistake you see time and time again
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Hopefully I dont think that that the window cleaning industry is viewed like that any more, you have your corporate image, sign painted vans, embroidered work wear, websites, paypal, personally I think that times are moving forward, dont underestimate yourselves
Very true Kate, however, when lets say at a party someone your talking to asks what do you do? Of course I always say "im a window cleaner" then "the look" comes on their face and in their eyes, you all know the look dont you! haha
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It will always have a stigma - but .............................
If we are are all honest with ourselves, times Do move on, but the attitude needs to come from within. IF YOU THINK your a window cleaner, rather than a part of the community, or a business, thats going to be the downfall. YOUR NOT, your in an industry that provides a service. Be littlttling is only a factor that comes from oneself if you visualise yourself like that, so will everybody else
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Very true Kate, however, when lets say at a party someone your talking to asks what do you do? Of course I always say "im a window cleaner" then "the look" comes on their face and in their eyes, you all know the look dont you! haha
I agree what makes me smile inside is that the person you are talking to with 'the look' is probably killing themselves in an office 40 hours a week for a boss they hate for 20 k a year. and they look down on us!
I suspect this isnt your idea but i have thought for a long time that we could form a consortiom for marketing purposes. For instance if a 100 forum members chipped in a grand each per annum that would just about cover a sales manager and a rep or a telesales team.
Each could have there own geographic area which would be targeted equally and they would get the work gained in that area.
An extension of this would then be to take on the big nationals and get hotel chains ect. each member of the consortiom could go and quote the sites in his area and those sites would be theres if the national contracts where gained.
just a few random thoughts i had when out canvassing tired and fed up once.
Out of interest lee how do you structure your canvasser salary, commission, or bit of both. do they quote the jobs for you or just generate the leads for you to follow up.
I have been trying to find someone but there has been no real interest in the job.
cheers
john
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I think you have to go along with the lines of "a quiet confidence" no need to prove anything. As long as you believe in yourself thats all you need really
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thats a good idea clarkson.
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Its a very difficult situation to deal with, BUT it can be done, as long as everybody is kept happy. Thing on our side without sounding to up our own asses. We have the IT, and I really dont want to sound know all feck all, we could do what Lee is trying to do, but we would be able to put Midas forward as part of the package Also, as long as everbody plays ball It would be quite a difficult situation, myself, I would go by postcode. Its a horrendous task to try and sort.
Main benefector for me is keeping everybody happy
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Thats fine Ewan
BUT unless you take a different view YOUR NOT JUST A WINDOW CLEANER
The mindset has to turn around, I can honestly say I dont know how. But I think you have to put a value on your business whatever you do, Dosent matter, whether you a plumber, electrician, you have to give your business status, and I think things are moving on. Window cleaners arent just that, its how you portray yourself
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Um dont see its menial, youve just labelled it, like I said mindset and portrayal of yourself. Anything can be a success as long as portrayed in the right way. Im a freelance telesales person, worked for alot of different people. PAT testing being one of them lot of volume calls but Im representing the person I work for, so I have to have to be of a particular manner. If you instill that manner, it will always be in peoples mindset, if you portray yourself as a professional, that will stay in their minds also
Whose saying about being self employed I have been for 12 years.
I understand your point Ewan, but rather than putting it down big it up - what can we do on this forum to make it work for all. Myself I have to be positive about everything - but yes of course I take your points to be valid, I just see a bigger picture what can we do?
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Ok mate
what do you fancy doing?
What are you good at?
Most small businesses derive from a hobby
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Hopefully I dont think that that the window cleaning industry is viewed like that any more, you have your corporate image, sign painted vans, embroidered work wear, websites, paypal, personally I think that times are moving forward, dont underestimate yourselves
Very true Kate, however, when lets say at a party someone your talking to asks what do you do? Of course I always say "im a window cleaner" then "the look" comes on their face and in their eyes, you all know the look dont you! haha
The reaction I've had is "That's OK !!" I just reply with a smile "Yes, I know it is"
I couldn't resist at one party I went to though.
I said I was a doctor and I carried it off pretty well ;D
Anyone who knows me will wonder how I carried it off but when suited and booted, I can be fairly eloquent for half an hour until the halo slips ;)
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nice one
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I could never work for anybody else doing this job because it’s not challenging or stimulating, but working for your self is completely different and window cleaning has some many things going for it over other more skilled trade.
That last bit really struck a chord with me Ewan.
It's the self employment that is the real bonus rather than the actual act of cleaning a window - for me anyhow.
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Yep Paul your right
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yep I cleaned windows for my fathers company many moons ago and I detested it, it does make a difference when you are doing it for yourself, I still get bored actually cleaning though, it is all the other stuff that keeps you going.
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I went from a managerial/office job to window cleaning and I know that working for yourself is a million times better than working for someone else.
I am prouder of what I do now than I ever was pushing paper round a desk.
I feel genuine pity for those who probably do want to leave office life but haven't the gumption but still feel they can 'look down' on window cleaners. Someone asked me once why I'd taken a step down, I said I'd taken a step up - that shut them up ;D
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Stu - but your still doing it for yourself I know it probably stinks sometimes
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I hope were all still voting! its good so far, I will probably need about 2-300 window cleaners around the country to sign up to get the ball rolling, i wonder if i could talk the fed into giving me a members list.