Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: richard jagger on November 03, 2010, 01:40:29 pm
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I have just been reading the tread on winter cancellations. Thinking of a solution but feel the ground work is not in place.
Here are so many problems coming up in our trade that need a few adjustments in the way we do business.
One common problem we all have is custies do what they want with us. Until we start seeing ourselves as an industry and all share many problem in our daily business. Thing might not happen on the Day others have them but we will all get these problems sooner or later. We need to deal with it as an industry, or at least a group within an industry. We can drive nice vans, ware a uniform, us ladder or a pole Until we see the common goals and problems we cannot win our need for respect within our industry and put a stop to this misuse of our services.
What are your feelings on this subject?
???
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Eh?
Did you not just belittle the idea of licences as "Just a kwango to make money"
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It sounds a bit like American Hype what I'm about to say Wiz, but your attitude dictates how your custies see you and how they treat you. If guys get messed about all the time and never seem to get their business under control, it must be their problem.
We all have the same people to deal with. Some can cope and deal with people, some need to learn and some would rather have a stand up punch-up to decide who "owns" what custies.
Your business is as pro as you decide to make it mate.
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how can u make a custy have there windows cleaned, this industry has been held back for years by the people working in it, like the fwc, saying wfp was crap when it first come out, it has always been classed as a job that people do when they cant get a other job, your get the odd one who wants to be proffessional, but for every one of them there is 10 wc doing it for beer money working out of there cars, with football tops on, signing on
the only way to make this business proffessional is to ban ladders, have license and insurance, have quals that u must have as minimum, but it will never happen, as the people in charge of this industry dont want change
this is just my opinion
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Who's "in charge" of this industry?
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Window cleaning is a service industry - customers can come and go as they please, just as they choose
where to shop.
when setting up this business i did some surveys and the top requirement was RELIABILITY closely followed by QUALITY.
we strive to clean custy's on a set date ( given inadvance ) turn up smart - be polite and give 100% effort.
i have seen others on this forum say, ahh, fancy a few days off - oh i'll clean next weeks custy early etc... or they want trad not WFP, how dare that custy tell ME how to clean windows.... ( sorry they pay the money if they want trad and i am happy
to do it trad thats what the custy gets )
if you are reliable do a good job then you will keep custy's
Darran
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by that i mean the fwc, who go to gov and help them decided what we should have in this industry when there membership is only a small percentage of actual window cleaners
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Blue, the government don't listen to anyone mate, not even the speaking clock. I doubt the Fed have a direct line to the commons. The only way to change things is for you to keep treating your business as a pro. Window cleaning still has a bit of an image problem in the UK, but that will change eventually.
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i agree cozy, it is like to day was out and car pulls up with a wc in and all his wfp stuff, jeans on and a coat, he was in a old astra car, how this can be professional i do not know,
but it is what u class as professional, is it just doing a good job, or looking the part and the over all image
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All of it mate. I know what you mean about guys in football tops and old cars, but all you can do is carry on as a pro.
It will take time, but you can't speed it up mate. It's not just what they wear, it's cavemen fighting over custies. People using dodgey kit and ripping custies off. Just watch where YOU are going and don't worry about the rest mate.
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i dont worry about the rest, it just annoys me when i see people trying to make a living and doing this business properly ie here for the long term make a career out of it rather than a job in the summer and we get classed the same as a numpty who has borrowed some ladders and is out working till 12 to get his beer money for the day, u know the type has a slash in a custy back garden,
to make this business better you need to get rid of the idiots,
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Did you not just belittle the idea of licences as "Just a kwango to make money.TELL ME A FEW GOOD THINGS THAT HAVE COME OF LICENCING.Or a benafit achievedv for Scotland.JUst took money and thats all.There are still chaps working without liences working in Scotland.
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Did you not just belittle the idea of licences as "Just a kwango to make money.TELL ME A FEW GOOD THINGS THAT HAVE COME OF LICENCING.Or a benafit achievedv for Scotland.JUst took money and thats all.There are still chaps working without liences working in Scotland.
All true.
BUT
How can you moan about unprofessional WC one thread and then dismiss the idea of licensing (specifically designed to weed them out) on another?
You want it both ways?
Look at taxi licensing, you still get dodgy minicab drivers but because the public are on the most part aware of the licensing law the sensible ones will avoid the dodgers.
If a similar licensing law was introduced and made national and enforced and the public were made aware of it, it could work.
Not necessarily saying it would work for every window cleaner everywhere but it would be an improvement to the half arsed attempt up here and the.. well.. nothing that you have down there.
A step in the right direction perhaps?
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it has always been classed as a job that people do when they cant get a other job
I thought if all else failed you became a teacher.
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i hope i can get my point across with this.
i find alot of the time its the customer that can make our trade look/sound less pro.
more and more wc are getting uniforms, cards .... and of course insurance.
and i fell a good 70% of wc are now trying to promote a very pro look ...
but the customers seem to think or just assume we are all crack heads or on the dole.
customers or maybe i should say general public still think its a fiver to clean the windows and its ok to mess you around with money and the cleaning frequency ...
i had a customer ask me the other day - what do you do in the winter? a bit of painting? me - no we are full time all year round business .... annoyed me a bit. some dont see our trade as a business..
i suppose all we can do is carry on promoting the pro look and see what happens in the future ...
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I think you need to take care of your own customers and business if you conduct yourself in a professional manner then your business will only grow as you build up your reputation amongst your core customer base,There is a gang of 3 w/c that clean my street and area round where I live,they do a good job but get dropped off in a Mondeo and walk the round with old worn out ladders rip shirts fAgs hanging out there mouth-Professional.My neighbours that know I clean windows ask me to do theirs because they dont like the look of them.Its a win win situation for me I make sure look clean and presentable never swear in front of a customer respect their property and try to be reliable.These cowboys will always be there in all Professions.waiting for Dominic Littlewood to do a show on Cowboy window cleaners. :P
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It sounds a bit like American Hype what I'm about to say Wiz, but your attitude dictates how your custies see you and how they treat you. If guys get messed about all the time and never seem to get their business under control, it must be their problem.
We all have the same people to deal with. Some can cope and deal with people, some need to learn and some would rather have a stand up punch-up to decide who "owns" what custies.
Your business is as pro as you decide to make it mate.
Spot on! ;)
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It sounds a bit like American Hype what I'm about to say Wiz, but your attitude dictates how your custies see you and how they treat you. If guys get messed about all the time and never seem to get their business under control, it must be their problem.
We all have the same people to deal with. Some can cope and deal with people, some need to learn and some would rather have a stand up punch-up to decide who "owns" what custies.
Your business is as pro as you decide to make it mate.
Spot on! ;)
I agree but I think that's missing the point a bit.
The point being that when a customer decides their windows are manky and they can't be bothered cleaning them they are expecting a guy who does it only in summer months then paints/draws dole/hibernates all winter.
You can be as professional as you like but that's not what this post is about.
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It is mate, "Do we need professional order". That's the point.
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Yes Do we need professional order in this job
Not
Do we need to be professional in this job
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Yes Do we need professional order in this job
Not
Do we need to be professional in this job
Ah! See what you mean, alright alright. ;)
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All of it mate. I know what you mean about guys in football tops and old cars, but all you can do is carry on as a pro.
It will take time, but you can't speed it up mate. It's not just what they wear, it's cavemen fighting over custies. People using dodgey kit and ripping custies off. Just watch where YOU are going and don't worry about the rest mate.
I quoted a customer £24 for a twelve weekly clean over the weekend. Got there to do it today and he said a guy had knocked on Sunday and offered to do it for a tenner but he looked like he'd come once and never again so the customer was sticking with me.
If you're professional and reliable you'll build up a group of customers who relish your service for those aspects. Ignore the scruffs; their day is coming to an end as long as you keep your professionalism come what may.
Vin
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All of it mate. I know what you mean about guys in football tops and old cars, but all you can do is carry on as a pro.
It will take time, but you can't speed it up mate. It's not just what they wear, it's cavemen fighting over custies. People using dodgey kit and ripping custies off. Just watch where YOU are going and don't worry about the rest mate.
I quoted a customer £24 for a twelve weekly clean over the weekend. Got there to do it today and he said a guy had knocked on Sunday and offered to do it for a tenner but he looked like he'd come once and never again so the customer was sticking with me.
If you're professional and reliable you'll build up a group of customers who relish your service for those aspects. Ignore the scruffs; their day is coming to an end as long as you keep your professionalism come what may.
Vin
Let's hope so!
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i agree cozy, it is like to day was out and car pulls up with a wc in and all his wfp stuff, jeans on and a coat, he was in a old astra car, how this can be professional i do not know,
but it is what u class as professional, is it just doing a good job, or looking the part and the over all image
Jeans and a coat! Old Astra!
For the love of God; hanging`s too good for them.
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i agree cozy, it is like to day was out and car pulls up with a wc in and all his wfp stuff, jeans on and a coat, he was in a old astra car, how this can be professional i do not know,
but it is what u class as professional, is it just doing a good job, or looking the part and the over all image
Jeans and a coat! Old Astra!
For the love of God; hanging`s too good for them.
finally some one agrees with me ;D
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If you're smart, reliable, regular and build up a good reputation from quality work then who cares if everyone else are slobs who have no pride or motivation. It goes in your favour as you'll outshine the competition. :)
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Of course I agree, you need to look professional.
I wear a bespoke suit, drive a brand new van with an Ionics Thermopure system installed and only use the best equipment ;).
But I can`t clean windows to save my life and I`m a complete tosser but that doesn`t matter 8).
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Wrote this thread to provoke some thought on this matter of professionally order. The thing that some many PRESUMED WHAT PROFESSIONAL ORDER WAS From this misinformed understanding the debate went forth.
What has pleased me most that after some time so many started to get to the point and meaning of professional order?
It’s the way all professionals respond to situations. It’s a unison response to a problem that will get the situational to a point were the public respond to us as window cleaners in a positive matter. If the ones who are professional all doing the same think to uplift the image of our industry. So that the customers see for them selves there is a difference between the good ones and the badies in our industry. The customer will react to support the better in the industry.
This can take time but if we work together it will come alot faster.But we all work againsed each other it will never happen.
.Your thoughts on this statement guys?
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I want to be a baddy >:(.
I`m going to work tomorrow in my car,wearing jeans......maybe a baseball cap.....shouting "get stuffed Mrs" to customers who ask why I`ve missed windows.....and am going to ruin the industry.......and there`s nothing you can do.
Ps. can anyone lend me a baseball cap?
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Wrote this thread to provoke some thought on this matter of professionally order. The thing that some many PRESUMED WHAT PROFESSIONAL ORDER WAS From this misinformed understanding the debate went forth.
What has pleased me most that after some time so many started to get to the point and meaning of professional order?
It’s the way all professionals respond to situations. It’s a unison response to a problem that will get the situational to a point were the public respond to us as window cleaners in a positive matter. If the ones who are professional all doing the same think to uplift the image of our industry. So that the customers see for them selves there is a difference between the good ones and the badies in our industry. The customer will react to support the better in the industry.
This can take time but if we work together it will come alot faster.But we all work againsed each other it will never happen.
.Your thoughts on this statement guys?
National licence anyone?
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no one to inforce h+s law, who will inforce liences.
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no one to inforce h+s law, who will inforce liences.
Enforcement would be helpful but I think that awareness is far more important.
If the public were made aware that there are 2 different levels which window cleaning businesses operate i.e. professional licensed window cleaners and guys who drive around holding their ladder through the sun roof, then they can make an informed decision on who they invite to have access to their property while they are at work.
I don't believe that this is a problem that is exclusive to window cleaning, any trade is open to idiots who claim to be professional and are clearly not. The difference is that most other trades have an established guild or licence scheme so the public can, check that their plumber/joiner/slater/builder is a member or choose to ignore if they so wish.
These trades have a professional order we do not.
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I think we already have professional order (What is that?) the problem is there are far too many who operate in this trade illegally or without professionalism (What is that?) it far outweighs the elite aspect of window cleaning you lot represent.
The FWC does have a membership number that limits its clout (Who’s to blame?) (No really who’s to blame!), those illegally working just won’t join.
RE
no one to inforce h+s law, who will inforce liences.
Enforcement would be helpful but I think that awareness is far more important.
If the public were made aware that there are 2 different levels which window cleaning businesses operate i.e. professional licensed window cleaners and guys who drive around holding their ladder through the sun roof, then they can make an informed decision on who they invite to have access to their property while they are at work.
I don't believe that this is a problem that is exclusive to window cleaning, any trade is open to idiots who claim to be professional and are clearly not. The difference is that most other trades have an established guild or licence scheme so the public can, check that their plumber/joiner/slater/builder is a member or choose to ignore if they so wish.
These trades have a professional order we do not.
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If any potential customer wants to check my professionalism,I have a list of references they can speak to look at houses I clean check me out on the internet.If your professional then you will be recommended without belonging to a professional order.