Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: lee_dewing on November 19, 2005, 02:28:08 pm
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hi, just bought a days work off another w/c, because he preferred cash he use to collect
If i miss the customer i leave an envelope to get payment by cheque through post my customers are good with this. The ones i bought are not complying should i leave a note next month saying i missed windows as you haven't paid last month's bill?
Or is this foolish as i could lose what i've paid £240 for.
If i go collecting on this bit i won't convert them.
Any ideas?
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I wonder if that was the real reason he got rid,i would do them one more clean to see if you get paid if they seem ok keep them but if you feel they are going to be bad customers then you could always say to them "can you pay upfront for your next clean" see what their reaction is,Gaz ;)
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gaz, thanks for response
i work with w/c i got work off of sometimes, the customers pay but as said they've got use to paying on the doorstep
i hate collecting and basically don't
I mean't to be buying some more work off of tony i help out every now and then
but lst time i paid 3b times the rate of the work
but this time i'm offering him 2 times to makeup for under pricing and collecting probs as they're be same paying at door which is good but obviously not all gonna be in.
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Lee
I am owed over £2000 off my round i never collect or leave envelopes.
I just wait until i see the customer or they usually send me a cheque after a few cleans the record was 14 months but she came to my door one christmas and paid .It is not something i worry about i concentrate on the work and let the money take care of itself one less thing to worry about.
I never get ripped off more than say £20 a year which aint bad ,and always get paid eventually.
Dave
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Oh Dave, your trusting. I trust no-one. No money, no goods.
Glad it works for you though. It wouldnt for me.
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I'm with busy daffs (alias Mick Jagger) on this - three cleans max (and they're few and far between) and it's dropping time!
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If i thought that way i would be shooting myself in the foot if i am making £25 hour out of someone i aint going to drop them just because they dont pay for 5 or 6 months as i said i always get it in the end.
Dave
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Lee,
if you leave an envelope is it stamped or not?
if not, do you think your customers mind having to stamp it?
cheers
ben
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the biggest loss i have had was 3 cleans of 19 quid, so 57 quid
the same week i did the last clean, they moved house
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i'M like Dave on this one, Go out earn the money and the money comes in their and then, Or whenever they send it in to me.
I dont have bad payers, some are a bit slow it might take them 6 months.But I get it in the end.
I collect 2 times a month, Im allways owed money, somewere between £1500. and £2000. Its good though if I really need the money I go mental collecting for one week say in a really cold snap where you cant work. Or the tax man needeth and heypresto.
Though a couple of weeks before xmas is a great time to collect, extra tips to boot.
If you try to get every last £ in thats owed you will waste such a lot of time and get really stressed.One of my customers whos in the fashion trade said he had 2 clients who have gone bust, one owed him £30000.00 and the other £20000.00.
It kind of puts things in perspective.
If the odd customer did not pay. I just view it that I gave him 20mins of my time for free.
Got one life, live it.
Nel.
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sod that owed 1500 to 2000 lark you would not go and work in another job and not be bothered if you were not paid for 6 months, no bad payers on my round, they would not be on for long if they were, plenty of decent fish in the sea and all that
cheers simb0
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True.
But remmber people are paid monthly. Do a months work then get paid. I go out every day and get money in my hand.
The majorty of my customers work, so are not in when I clean the windows. I maxamize my time at work cleaning windows.If I'm not cleaning I'm not earning.I class collecting as wasted time so I do it relucently.
In 26 years of w/c I have lost no more then £50.00 through bad payment which works out less then 1/2 pence a day. Hell I pick more coins of the floor then that.
My realtionship with my customers is fantastic. Hence the amount of tip money I make at Xmas would make other w/c weep in envy.
My money is safe. My time is profitable. I make a great living.
Nel
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True.
But remmber people are paid monthly. Do a months work then get paid. I go out every day and get money in my hand.
The majorty of my customers work, so are not in when I clean the windows. I maxamize my time at work cleaning windows.If I'm not cleaning I'm not earning.I class collecting as wasted time so I do it relucently.
In 26 years of w/c I have lost no more then £50.00 through bad payment which works out less then 1/2 pence a day. Hell I pick more coins of the floor then that.
My realtionship with my customers is fantastic. Hence the amount of tip money I make at Xmas would make other w/c weep in envy.
My money is safe. My time is profitable. I make a great living.
Nel
I'm with Neil and Dave, don't get worried about late payers, simply educate them.
I stopped collecting altogether about 6 months ago, I leave an envelope, unstamped.
To resuts are that I now have more time.
The interesting fact is that what we are owed has remained the same, around £2000.
I take the view that as the money comes in anyway, time spent in the evenings is wasted time, I would rather spend it with my family.
It will however depend on the no. of customers you have. I know some WCers who work part time and earn £200 per week, they only have £800 worth of work, so they NEED to collect as they dont have the wriggle room to allow money to be missing.
We however, have over £5000 worth of work, and after the initial 3week shock, money arrives on my doorstep daily.
All things being said, it's up to the individual, we prefer to educate customers. We will however tell them we will miss them next time if payment doesn't arrive. This is a valid way of sifting out those who are bad payers, as opposed to those who honestly forget.
I also like the idea that I have a small amount to fall back on in case of crisis.
The Bear
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THEbear were yeah been?BOUGHT SOME WORK 20 MILES AWAY FROM MY HOUSE,
changing them all into envelope payments if not in on day of cleaning their house,not one has objected yet,saves 40 mile round trip,
gaza
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I don't like being owed money but you form a judgement based on the customer rather than how much you are owed.
For obvious reasons a lot of WCs don't like getting too many cheques each week and the banks don't like you paying in loads of cheques so they try to hit you with bank charges.
Often the customers you think are going to be dodgy turn out to be as good as gold. Its the ones you don't suspect that knock you.
Don't be fooled by the flash cars in the drive etc etc lots of people are living way beyond their means.
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thanks for all the input guys
I've got about £1400 of work a month(built from scratch) bought that new bit.
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never got more than£200 outstanding so i suppose i'm doing ok compared to some of you (£2000 jesus!)
i never stamp envelope's(ben chan)
this library computer is sh*t.
thanks all lee
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Was once owed £10 by a lad who promised payment within a week. He didnt come and pay his debt and I then found out he was in prison. A few months later, he came out & kept driving past me smirking. This kept happening - it was like he was doing it on purpose assume that I would do nothing cos I am a female.
Poor guy. One day I snapped when he did the drivepast thing, I jumped in my car, went up the side of his car on the wrong side of the road, and pushed him off the road. Then I held him by the windpipe until my £10 was gained.
He never drove past again.
Luv
Lizzy
aka Mick Jaggers mouth
aka the welsh girl with a VERY slow to ignite temper but with a bite.