Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Ian101 on February 02, 2011, 05:05:37 pm
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Went to do 3 first cleans this afternoon on an estate i do a few on already ... canvassed the estate Saturday and picked these 3 up cos their old window cleaner had stopped coming .... or so they thought :)
So turns up only to see a trad guy also called Ian as it so happens tradding a load of houses so went to check whether the ones I had canvassed were his customers ..... turns out 1 was ;D so apologised for canvassing his customers and said u can have her back no he said shes a crap payer and ur welcome to her :)
he was happy I hadnt tried to undercut him as i never would and then had a bit of a banter about trad v wfp and parted mates
did i do the crap payer .... yes as think i can train her .... hopefully !!
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theres no need to tread on toes of other windys you did the right thing mate me and me windy mates do have a understanding on this as it could cause problems in the future
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I have done the same in the past, i know all of the local windys and we often help each other out.
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I have done the same in the past, i know all of the local windys and we often help each other out.
Your lucky, my local windy is Scud. He turns up at my place pretending to be my mate but I am not daft, I know his missus has put him on a diet and all he is after is free tea with extra sugar and when my back is turned I am sure he is in the biscuit barrel.
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I have done the same in the past, i know all of the local windys and we often help each other out.
Your lucky, my local windy is Scud. He turns up at my place pretending to be my mate but I am not daft, I know his missus has put him on a diet and all he is after is free tea with extra sugar and when my back is turned I am sure he is in the biscuit barrel.
can you get some choocy biscuits next time you go shopping you tight git!
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i picked a custys up on a road that iv only got 1 house on,but he had a windy but wasnt happy so went with me,then cleaned it first time and another person approached me asking to do hers aswell wasnt happy with them either, so what would you do? as the bloke told me the windy wasnt happy about it,he actually said nobody should be cleaning windows as this is there patch,it is a 2 man team
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where in stoke is this patch
its mine youl find i just let a few
people work in my areas ;D ;D
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"my" patch :D
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well the whole of england is my patch! so i want you all off! or else! ;D
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Went to do 3 first cleans this afternoon on an estate i do a few on already ... canvassed the estate Saturday and picked these 3 up cos their old window cleaner had stopped coming .... or so they thought :)
So turns up only to see a trad guy also called Ian as it so happens tradding a load of houses so went to check whether the ones I had canvassed were his customers ..... turns out 1 was ;D so apologised for canvassing his customers and said u can have her back no he said shes a crap payer and ur welcome to her :)
he was happy I hadnt tried to undercut him as i never would and then had a bit of a banter about trad v wfp and parted mates
did i do the crap payer .... yes as think i can train her .... hopefully !!
There's a lesson to be learnt here Ian . If they 'thought' he wasn't coming he probably is unreliable. Of course he would have no recourse with you as he knows this. At least you do know they want some one who will turn up so make sure you don't miss them or they'll dump you too!! Why o earth you apologised to him for canvassing i'll never know, but thats up to you. People don't dump good window cleaners.
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Oh, and one more thing........ i'll bet they couldn't affirm or deny their concerns of their cleaner turning up by ringing him up and finding out?
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He might have stopped going and not let her know, because he couldn`t get paid.
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He might have stopped going and not let her know, because he couldn`t get paid.
Good point. He can't get paid and she doesn't know if he's coming or not. What do you think we could learn from that?
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He might have stopped going and not let her know, because he couldn`t get paid.
Good point. He can't get paid and she doesn't know if he's coming or not. What do you think we could learn from that?
Errrm.....errrm....she is an unreliable customer and Ian, the window cleaner might have been reliable.
So, when you canvass an estate with a cleaner and some don`t have him/her, you might be getting a rubbish customer.
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He might have stopped going and not let her know, because he couldn`t get paid.
Good point. He can't get paid and she doesn't know if he's coming or not. What do you think we could learn from that?
Errrm.....errrm....she is an unreliable customer and Ian, the window cleaner might have been reliable.
So, when you canvass an estate with a cleaner and some don`t have him/her, you might be getting a rubbish customer.
Right ok, you didn't learn anything from that. Really its just affirmed your opinion that its a rubbish customer. Now here's what i do (not for everyone i know) i ring them the day before i'm coming and ask them to leave the money out if they aint gonna be in. I know its a load of bollox having to ring, but to me it the difference between having paying customers and writing off non payers. I always get paid. I also always turn up !!! So some one canvassing where i work would not concern me in the slightest. Now what have you learnt? Yes..keep in touch with your customers and let them know whats going on !! (i hope).
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Right ok, you didn't learn anything from that. Really its just affirmed your opinion that its a rubbish customer. Now here's what i do (not for everyone i know) i ring them the day before i'm coming and ask them to leave the money out if they aint gonna be in. I know its a load of bollox having to ring, but to me it the difference between having paying customers and writing off non payers. I always get paid. I also always turn up !!! So some one canvassing where i work would not concern me in the slightest. Now what have you learnt? Yes..keep in touch with your customers and let them know whats going on !! (i hope).
Amen!
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Went to do 3 first cleans this afternoon on an estate i do a few on already ... canvassed the estate Saturday and picked these 3 up cos their old window cleaner had stopped coming .... or so they thought :)
So turns up only to see a trad guy also called Ian as it so happens tradding a load of houses so went to check whether the ones I had canvassed were his customers ..... turns out 1 was ;D so apologised for canvassing his customers and said u can have her back no he said shes a crap payer and ur welcome to her :)
he was happy I hadnt tried to undercut him as i never would and then had a bit of a banter about trad v wfp and parted mates
did i do the crap payer .... yes as think i can train her .... hopefully !!
Why o earth you apologised to him for canvassing i'll never know, but thats up to you. People don't dump good window cleaners.
well only apologised because this bloke is also a plumber and was working at neighbours house end of last year when I was struggling to sort fittings for my booster pump and he came over and gave me some help / advice and what to buy from where so sort of felt guilty when i realised who it was yesterday as he had been very helpful to me with the booster pump ..... didnt want to bore everyone with the details when i posted though .... although i have now ;D
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People don't dump good window cleaners.
I'll rephrase that for you. People don't get rid of good CHEAP window cleaners :P ;)
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There have been loads of times over the years that I have taken on new customers because their old cleaners have gone missing. Only to have the old cleaner re emerge again months later. Usually with some lame story.
I have had this happen to me loads of times when new-ish customers have said "my old cleaner is back on the scene". In other words you are dropped. Its not always that the customer feels they have any choice, more that a few times the old cleaner has turned up and cleaned the house unannounced.
I have a standard answer, I just say "Yes, we have heard he's out of prison now, mind you I think he should have got longer considering what he did to that poor woman"
I have used it a few times to very good effect.
Anyone who disappears off their round for six months or so and then re-appears out of the blue having not contacted their customers has been in prison - official
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id say thats a bit naughty vince .and unprofessional.
you may be right ,but you shouldnt say that .the guy may of been off due to injury or something .
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He might have stopped going and not let her know, because he couldn`t get paid.
Good point. He can't get paid and she doesn't know if he's coming or not. What do you think we could learn from that?
Errrm.....errrm....she is an unreliable customer and Ian, the window cleaner might have been reliable.
So, when you canvass an estate with a cleaner and some don`t have him/her, you might be getting a rubbish customer.
Right ok, you didn't learn anything from that. Really its just affirmed your opinion that its a rubbish customer. Now here's what i do (not for everyone i know) i ring them the day before i'm coming and ask them to leave the money out if they aint gonna be in. I know its a load of bollox having to ring, but to me it the difference between having paying customers and writing off non payers. I always get paid. I also always turn up !!! So some one canvassing where i work would not concern me in the slightest. Now what have you learnt? Yes..keep in touch with your customers and let them know whats going on !! (i hope).
Yeah, I know what you`re saying Mike but I don`t have an opinion of the customer, it`s all hypothetical.
My point was that the customer could have been dumped without knowing and she thought he had just stopped going.
I don`t always let customers know they are dumped. I may be wrong but that`s how I work. Some don`t deserve that courtesy, if they don`t want to pay.
And there`s always the chance they could settle up, if they think you going to clean their house.
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id say thats a bit naughty vince .and unprofessional.
you may be right ,but you shouldnt say that .the guy may of been off due to injury or something .
Can you tell me that if you were injured or sick either you or someone among your family and friends wouldn't contact all your customers and tell them the score? It would be an absolute priority. And if things were dragging out you would get back to them again and give them an update.
The need to protect your round and your income surely must be one of your greatest concerns??
What bugs me is that these budding Lord Lucans don't knock on the door and say "I'm back, do you still want you windows cleaned? They clean first then knock.
Besides, many of them may well have been inside. what other reasonable and believable reason can you put forward for months of absence. Unlike the cock and bull stories they spin the customers.
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vince nobody goes to prison these days for 6 mths:
you have to murder someone to get 12 mths
just dumpt one this week cant wait to see whos picked her up ;D real pain
horsee type can you clean my windows theres only a bit of snow / ice on the ground
and sub zero
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vince nobody goes to prison these days for 6 mths:
you have to murder someone to get 12 mths
I know, I just say it to wind the customer up a bit and sow a few seeds of doubt in their minds.
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vince nobody goes to prison these days for 6 mths:
you have to murder someone to get 12 mths
just dumpt one this week cant wait to see whos picked her up ;D real pain
horsee type can you clean my windows theres only a bit of snow / ice on the ground
and sub zero
don't know about that one of my customers was sent down for three years and she owed me £4 ;D gutted I was
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IVE JUST BEEN OFF SICK FOR 2 MONTHS AND THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN TELL ALL YOUR CUSTOMERS AS WHEN SOMEONE GOES AND TELLS THE A LOT ARNT IN AND A LOT WHO COME TO THE DOOR ARNT INTERESTED,sorry about the caps done by mistake and cant be bothered retyping ;D
Sounds like you have a good solid round and customer base there Stan. What happens, they just wait two months for you or you get someone to clean it for you?
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What about ppl canvasing/flyer dropping the whole town and offering £5 any house any size??
Good practice?? I think not!!
Thoughts?
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If I get asked to do a quote and the custy says my current window cleaner is cheaper, I ask why are getting a quote of me then? You cant be happy with your existing windy