Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: careless.david@gmail.com on January 13, 2011, 10:17:21 am
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I started WFP W/c late Sept after being made redundant & have picked up around 30+ customers, mostly at around the £10 mark & usually get 1-3 new customers per week, through referals.
I am currently getting well stressed as money is getting tight & the number of customers wont cover my bills.
My area also seems too have gone from an area with almost no W/C to yesterday, i saw nine. (obviously many in the same situation as me)
I am advertising in the local mag which hits around 7000 homes, for the first time next month, but also i am seriously looking at quitting & going for other jobs.
How long did it take you to get established & any tips on building your business???
Thanks in advance for any replies.
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go knocking doors, easist way to get custys, u r going to see more and more wc start up this year and then vanish
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David it can take years to build and refine a solid round. It doesnt help that you started at the worst time of the year for gaining new customers but I think were through the worst of it now.
Personally I dont rate local mag or newspaper advertising and so on. In your position the best thing you can do is get out there with some leaflets try to deliver at least 1000 per week and at the same time knock door to door. After that its really just a numbers game you get out what you put in aim for 10-20 new customers per week.
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So you're having financial difficulties but you have time.
Get a part time job whilst you have financial problems and continue to clean the 30 customers - whilst the round is increasing naturally every week try and find time to deliver more leaflets as Lee said.
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The fastest way IMO is to leaflet and follow up knocking within 3 days. I drop leaflets saying who we are and that we will be expanding our business to cover their area. I also say we will be calling in the near future to see if they are interested and answer any questions they may have.
3 or 4 days later, I knock on the door and say something like " Hello, I'm from (company name) Did you get our leaflet about window cleaning?" They can only say yes or no, either way, you now have them infront of you. Never fails. Just remember, some will some wont, so what? The worst that can happen is they say no. Some will say yes, you just have to be better than the guys that are afraid to knock.
A WC around here where I live said to me once: "That's not right, you're knocking on doors". Haven't seen him for a couple of years now................. ::)
No good poking it with a stick and waiting to see what happens mate. Give it the beans and suprise yourself at your results. Nothing to do with luck, it's down to you.
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I used to do this:
Monday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Wednesday / Thursday.
Tuesday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Thursday / Friday.
Wednesday / Thursday / Friday Clean new work - Canvass when not cleaning.
Then I used to canvass all day Saturday and a few hours Sunday afternoon.
Post leaflets in all "not at homes"... Your round will soon build up and you will start getting some phone calls from the "not at homes" for quotes.
Perseverance is the key!
Andy
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I used to do this:
Monday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Wednesday / Thursday.
Tuesday - Canvass (door knock) from 9am til dark. Any new work tell customer I would clean on Thursday / Friday.
Wednesday / Thursday / Friday Clean new work - Canvass when not cleaning.
Then I used to canvass all day Saturday and a few hours Sunday afternoon.
Post leaflets in all "not at homes"... Your round will soon build up and you will start getting some phone calls from the "not at homes" for quotes.
Perseverance is the key!
Andy
Sounds good. The main thing is DO SOMETHING. ;D
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The main thing is DO SOMETHING
Exactly!
Oh, and don't use your email address "careless.david@gmail.com" on leaflets!
Andy
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Oh, and don't use your email address "careless.david@gmail.com" on leaflets
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D I blame the parents 8)
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The main thing is DO SOMETHING
Exactly!
Oh, and don't use your email address "careless.david@gmail.com" on leaflets!
Andy
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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i am interested to know what you expected. you started in september and are getting new customers with referals. have you been knocking, i am wondering where you thought you would be in 4 months.
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Absolutely not!
I started last October, not a brilliant time but what I did was systematically door knock my immediate area, print some street maps off google and go knocking! If they arent in either pop back in the evening or post a business card ( I dont think leaflets work too well ). What I do is dress smart casual, first time I went out in shirt and tie and probably scared any custies away! What I say is " afternoon / evening sorry to bother you Im a window cleaner could I give you a quote please" short and polite and smile!!, if yes great if no which will be the majority, say "ok thanks" forget it and move on to the next house. The hard part is keeping going especially after a few hours in the rain with no custies but the way to look at it is youve just eliminated a fruitless area, move on. I guarantee you they are out there you just have to put the leg work in to get them. Ive had people say no then Ive got the house next door and on the second clean theyve come out and asked me to clean! Be methodical and disciplined and you will get them, best of luck
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The fastest way IMO is to leaflet and follow up knocking within 3 days. I drop leaflets saying who we are and that we will be expanding our business to cover their area. I also say we will be calling in the near future to see if they are interested and answer any questions they may have.
3 or 4 days later, I knock on the door and say something like " Hello, I'm from (company name) Did you get our leaflet about window cleaning?" They can only say yes or no, either way, you now have them infront of you. Never fails. Just remember, some will some wont, so what? The worst that can happen is they say no. Some will say yes, you just have to be better than the guys that are afraid to knock.
A WC around here where I live said to me once: "That's not right, you're knocking on doors". Haven't seen him for a couple of years now................. ::)
No good poking it with a stick and waiting to see what happens mate. Give it the beans and suprise yourself at your results. Nothing to do with luck, it's down to you.
Surely the best post 2day.
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Agree with above, get knocking. Knock 1000 doors as quick as you can and come back on here and tell us how you got on. How quickly can you knock 1000 plus doors?
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My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.
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My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.
thinking about it ..................yer right, give up :D
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My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.
That made me chuckle lol ;D
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My advice, and it is valued among many here, is to give up.
OI!! Give the guy a break. ;D ::)
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is there any work for sale in your area?
if so buy it and get a loan from the aa or other decent rate lenders,
i bought some work 3 years ago for about 5k and it cost me £150 per month for 3 years, also give you 2 months break from payments at start of loan, mines finished now and its the best thing i could of done, worked out better than canvassing for me!
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End of day, you end up doing what is right for you, not what everyone else thinks.
Go for it! Keep door knocking! You CAN do it!
Or
Give up.
Which reply do you want to read?
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I don't think you should even ask the question until you've knocked at least 1000 doors or put out several thousand leaflets.
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i started last feb bought a small round and iv built on that with some door knocking my self and my m8 canvassing for me. its hard but iv enjoyed the last 11months
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i am interested to know what you expected. you started in september and are getting new customers with referals. have you been knocking, i am wondering where you thought you would be in 4 months.
When i decided to take the leap, i had researched for around 2yrs & there were (at the time) a serious lack of w/c in my area. I expected to gain around 140 - 200 customers in around 6 months.
I know there probably has not been a worse time (weather & cut backs) to start up, but heyho
- thanks to all for the good advice & encouragement - i will be out tomorrow hunting down the other 100 customers.
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I'm not a window cleaner so I apologise if this is a stupi idea but when you are knocking if a custy isn't in could you not stick a card through with a quote on it? Do you need to speak to them to give a quote? A fascia board fitter did it for me last me last week, thought it was quite clever.
Or do you do this anyway?
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Do it anyway. Not going to hurt, and saves you going back. I always drop a card in at any opportunity.
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Dont give up, sounds like youve made a good start but you cant start and expect to live off of it immediately, try and do a part time job as well until the round builds up some more, if youve kept going through this winter youre doing ok! A lot of us have been struggling the last few months.
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I remember when I started up - I canvassed my ahhhsss off, between 50 and 80 hours a week, then as the customers came in I cleaned them and continued to canvass. It was basically 12 hrs a day, 5 or 6 days a week.
As I got busier I had to change direction, I couldn't keep up so I took on my son, still working 60 hrs a week mix of cleaning and canvassing. As more and more commercial came in I sold off some domestic work as I knew I wanted to employ and prefer commercial for employing.
Allow yourself a year to build a half decent business, and I do mean, Half decent, but only if you work your butt off
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Not sure if this is any use but these men have just started to follow us on Twitter. Wondered if they'd be any use to you.
http://windowroundsolutions.blogspot.com/
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still a bit shocked by this post. in 4 months he has picked up new customers. i am not sure what other method he is using but he hasnt asked about any other method of marketing on here. the last months of the year i find are not the best for getting new customers, concidring decembers weather
work does not land on your doorstep there is loads out there, but i have found lately that people think the can earn big money straight away and give up before thay can develop a business
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its crazy to give up now mate the spring is a coming and its the best canvassing months jan and feb go knock those doors and take some leaflets target main roads there will be loads of dirty windows there
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Again, this may be another stupid idea but when people move house they probably have no idea who does the windows in their new street until they bump into a window cleaner who is canvassing or when you are working, which is more difficult cos the homeowner is probably out at work when you are in their street.
I know there are fewer people moving house at present but still plenty. Would it not be worth looking on something like www.houseprices.co.uk and registering to receive updates on a postcode area? You will find out all new house owners (i think within a month of completion) and then nip round?
Again, I'm not a window cleaner but when i moved last year I couldnt find a window cleaner for a month with being at work and moving around Christmas I had other things to do first. He knocked one night and said " i used to clean the windows for the people who lived he before, can I do them for you". Course he could.
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ten years ago I started my round all trad work so much work back then not many wc's to what there is today I've now been wfp fo past 4 years. wfp is easy to do conpairing trad thats why so many more people are starting up
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i started in november have built my round purely on knocking and leafleting
picking up on average between 5-8 new customers a week using this method
ive taken on another job as well which helps cover the bills until i get to a point where i have a full round
just keep at but look at some other way at making a few bob whilst your building your round