Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: window11 on January 13, 2011, 06:01:06 pm
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Hi all.
big wake up call for me today, i need to see if its just a one off.
Iv been in the game for 4 years got over 400 or so custies and a good few contracts.
However...
Today whilst working another window cleaner came to clean next door, we said hi to each other and started talking the talk..
whilst we talked their custi ans the door and said o can you leave it this month, the window cleaners who were cleaning were a married couple, the wife, straight to the point and to her face said, if you dont have it cleaned this time we wont call again!!
to which the custi replied oo ok il get a chq...
after the clean we were looking at each others vans ect talking... and i picked her brains, she simply stated that she tells everyone the same who says leave it.. she has lost a few but she dnt mind, she'd rather a good solid round..I just say ok il see you next time and some even say it twice in a row.
What do you lot do, as its bugged me for the whole day now.. iv thought about it and i lose easy 200 250 a month by custies saying leave it..
No more im going to gamble and chance this tuff talking business like..
I couldn beleive it, so straight and confident, really take my hat off to her..
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very tempting i tell you, but the amount of work i would lose if i said that, it wouldnt be worth it. luckily i have so many custies it doesnt effect me too much.
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I think then shes probably not be prepared to muck about really - and it should be that way.
She probably just cuts to the chase.
Good on her
Some people are just like that. Have that quiet confidence
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Fair play to her. ard nut!
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she really striked me as the women not to be messed around.
I have enough custies to take a gamble on the ones who say leave it.
After seeing it, i have no choice, it was awsome, what i forgot to add to the first post was, i used to clean this custie b4, i stopped going there as it really wasn worth it, saying leave it all the time.
and now they clean she still says the same, but today obvioulsy got put in her place.
makes sence really, if your not cleaning reg then might as well chance it and tell them straight..
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Shes probably a very confident lady - and says what she thinks. Not to be mucked around with, you either want the service or you dont. If you dont then we move on - probably hasnt got alot of time for timewasters
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i agree dan.
but it makes time to think about it.
and on the flip side, the custies dnt know she says this to everyone. If they are late i guess they wouldn be none the wiser, but i know where your coming from.
they said they worked yest in the poring rain and always work in the rain. the snow last month they worked right through it, with the hot water systems, i bet they make a right packet i tell you.
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Also they have eachother, and if they have a strong emotional bond, they will go out whatever conditions, because they have that support. Work, play and live together probably - it can be a dynamic team husband and wife
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shes got balls that lady has. and well done to her to stick up for themselves
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I think the 3 strikes and your out rule is a good one to go by, to instantly say you are dropped if they say not today for the first time is harsh.
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How many times have you gone out of your way, got your equipment out and just about to start then you get the "can you leave it this month"
We do as the woman did, apart from if someone has good reason.
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I see this as rigid. There can be reasons for not having a clean, such as off on 3 weeks holidays, that's OK with me. Not having a reason is a no no. the 3 strikes rule is a good one to guide you. That couple must have a very full round or a very well worked in trained group of custies. Good luck to them, but I see this as a people business and you need to respond to people.
Having said that, I've had messers in the past, they are replaced with new custies when I get fed up of them. It's all about posture. You need posture in business. Just get the balance right.
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yes i agree, 3 times is to long, 1 is to short, i think il go for the 2 strike from tomr morning.
she said im running a business and i cant let them ruin my rounds.
No ladders on the van, no trad tools, nothing apart from the tanks and poles, all neat and tidy, very good business...
it made me feel like iv got the crapiest rounds in the world when i started to think about the slakness in my business.
i guess some people are born to be in business!
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women...born organisers and tidiers
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Don't put yourself down mate. Image and posture. Don't take everything at face value. ;) It may be that you want to be like them, but you only saw the first impression, for all you know, they may be wondering how to get new custies and find it hard to knock doors etc.
Keep growing and make your own decisions.
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No no, Windows dont feel like that. They are a team, both gunning for the same goal, and that makes a hell of alot of difference.
But it dosent mean that you wont be a success, infact it should fire you on.
Yea, ok you guys can do it, SO CAN I
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haha im not that upset much lol.
it has given me the edge that i cant wait to get back out there and come across a sorry leave it, haha.
we will see, and yes il let you all know how it went., serious note though it is very important to apply this in the right mannor, i beleive it must have back fired b4 for them, i for one would have said ok leave it, but good windies are hard to come by these days
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Unless customers have a good reason i explain the same. sometimes i dont even explain i just dont go back , then i get a call after 5 months, then i give them one more chance. i would rather have x worth of work i know i am earning then £x-£x depending who says "not this time"
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Yes the right manner exactly, but hey ho youve seen how somebody reacts, you can take that into account and adjust your own reaction
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I've always dropped customers who say, "Leave it this time, mate!" without a good reason (and being skint would be a good reason if any of them would ever say it).
It's a waste of time to tip up at a property to be turned away. I'm not as blunt as that lady sounds, but I say the same thing and consequently I have good customers.
It's easier to find a new customer than it is a customer to find a new window cleaner!
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As a general rule if someone tells me not this month I tell them I don't work on that basis. If they don't agree they are history.
Now - if I have a really top dollar custy say an easy £25 half hour job then I might just cut them some slack if they have a half decent reason once a year. But the following are instant drops:-
"They're not dirty"
"I haven't got any money" (I accept online and cheques in the post so shouldn't be an issue)
"Not this time"
"It looks like rain"
"My dog died/I'm not feeling well/the parrot goes mental/my lazy sod of a son is still in bed"
I usually consider:-
"Putty's still soft from decorators"
"I'm having new windows in a couple of weeks"
"Decorators' are painting them next week"
"My husband has just died and they're coming to take him away today" ;D
If they phone in advance I usually consider a one off "not this time".
My "compass" gravitates to instant drop and so my custies are well trained.
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A good few years ago I put on my chits that I've had a spate of 'Not today, mate' type refusals from customers and that I drop them. That led to a spate of customers trying to wind me up.
Tomo, a local window cleaner (and member of this site) can vouch for what I had on my chits, because he wet his pants laughing at it.
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half and half really then.
i know im way to slak though, look out !! lol
bet i lose at leat 10 toomr haha
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sounds like my wife, she can stand up for herself when she wants to. we were cleaning a big hair dressers for a while, then one day a new manager decides hes bringing in his old window cleaner from a different shop he covers (cheaper) we both turn up at the same time, then as im setting up he explains what hes done, so i just pack up and return to the van, but my wife wouldnt let it go and stormed in and demanded petrol and time wasting money, he said no (this in front of a load of custies having their hair done) and she just stood there until he handed some money over. :)
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dirty windows - that is classic mate
tell your missus she's just like mine!
My wife doesn't work with us (she'd wind me up) but thats exactly what she's like, normally she's really quiet and easy going lass but if something annoys her enough you'd better get out of her way - I do!
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sounds like my wife, she can stand up for herself when she wants to. we were cleaning a big hair dressers for a while, then one day a new manager decides hes bringing in his old window cleaner from a different shop he covers (cheaper) we both turn up at the same time, then as im setting up he explains what hes done, so i just pack up and return to the van, but my wife wouldnt let it go and stormed in and demanded petrol and time wasting money, he said no (this in front of a load of custies having their hair done) and she just stood there until he handed some money over. :)
Now I know it sounds a bit nasty but I'm sure another way of handling that would be to leave it a few weeks, book a lengthy, elaborate hairdressing appointment over the phone, then just not show up. Of course he would have to be informed afterwards what had happened and why it happened for it to be effective. Sometimes that's the only way some people can learn empathy, by having it imposed upon them.
Of course you would have to make sure it wasn't one of those "rent a chair" setups to ensure that the loss didn't fall upon someone else.
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I was talking with a local window cleaner yesterday. I asked how he was gettiing on.
He said "Ok, wish it would stop raining though as i can't get all me work done. How are you going?"
I said "Fine. The only thing that stopped us working flat out was when we had the deep snow"
He said "what your customers allow you to clean in the rain?"
I said "Of course they do. We have a set of guidelines we work to, if they don't like it then they find another window cleaner. I don't remember the last time i got a please leave it this month because of the rain"
He said "oh right......"
I noted before about how well he seems to get on with his customers and i said to him that i think there is a fine line between being matey and being there as a professional. Its the same as the couple in question. They are confident in their work and their business so they potray that 'no nonsense' to the customer which in turn probably gains them some respect. You will get the arseholes stamping their feet but then their easily replaced. I've had it myself many times.