Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: AuRavelling79 on February 18, 2012, 08:16:13 pm
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Let's use this thread to put in our "speeding it up" tips as in getting a good return per hour spent window cleaning - any ideas - big or small from round organisation to the having right equipment and using it in the right way are welcome.
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Excellent thread idea Gold.
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Reel out the hose to the furthest point first and then work back towards the beginning - saves a lot of time in pulling the hose between each window. Make sure you take your pole with you as you go though otherwise you will have made two journeys.
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and turn on yr controller ;D ;D
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and turn on yr controller ;D ;D
no good if you dont have one. :P
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Stop saying "Yes" every time I get offered a cup of tea! ;D
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Agree with the 'Tea' post. I stopped taking drinks offered about 15 years ago and it has sped me up considerably.
Another thing I brought in with all private clients about 5 years ago was switching them all over to Standing Order payment. No need to ring the bell to collect payment, no waiting for a cheque or cash to be found. Offered them a price incentive to switch over when I was doing an across the board price rise.
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Reel out the hose to the furthest point first and then work back towards the beginning - saves a lot of time in pulling the hose between each window. Make sure you take your pole with you as you go though otherwise you will have made two journeys.
Been w/cleaning 29 years now but only 4 years on WFP. I have only realised this point on Tuesday gone, by doing an unfeasibly large house. Can't beleive it took me this long to suss it out. :-[
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Turn flow rate up to a higher setting, makes you quicker on the glass, and i find it actually saves water.
Also never rinse frosted glass, as spotting wont be an issue.
I have found switching to fan jets has sped me up (some may not agree)
Txt the night before for gates to be left open.
I have recently bought a few buffing mitts, as used for polishing cars, i slip one on prior to rewinding, as it will clean the hose off automaticly, again saving time.
If i think of anymore things i will post
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Few tips (and a few daft comments) on here: http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=111878.0;all
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If you can, mount your reel (mines on top of my tank & I reel out from side door of van)
It's so much quicker reeling up and I'm not bending down breaking my back
If I'm pretty confident a customers out, I write my ticket out and stick it in my pocket before , then pop in letterbox before I clean front door - saves walking back and forth
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If you can, mount your reel (mines on top of my tank & I reel out from side door of van)
It's so much quicker reeling up and I'm not bending down breaking my back
If I'm pretty confident a customers out, I write my ticket out and stick it in my pocket before , then pop in letterbox before I clean front door - saves walking back and forth
i have my reel this way and have my poles mounted on top of the reel in waste pipes, so pull up, open side door grab pole, controller on and im off :)
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leave the door until you ve finished the rest of the house and clean it when you knock.it looks good for the customers if your just scrimming it.obviously if your wfpoing it just give the bottom of the door a wipe before they open it!! ;) ;D ;D
write tickets out the night before or before you get out of the van
have your bottle on a belt round your waist if you tradding ground floors save you going to the van to dip TMOP.
rinse brush on with a medium bristled brush on cleanish windows with a high flow.
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clampless pole
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go trad ;D
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go trad ;D
;D
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Have confidence in your tools; maintenance cleans only need a once over with the brush and a quick rinse.
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Have confidence in your tools; maintenance cleans only need a once over with the brush and a quick rinse.
PROVE IT
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Have confidence in your tools; maintenance cleans only need a once over with the brush and a quick rinse.
PROVE IT
Why? Try the experiment yourself and see!
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Just squirt a bit of water on windows then knock for dosh :o
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Talking is the worst waste of work time and customers who wait 'till you've finished before writing out a cheque, so I knock the door before reeling in and just keep one eye out for the front door to open.
Carry a wooden wedge on windy days to jam the side gate open.
Plan your route to avoid the school runs - never try to cross town for the first jobs - same on bin day.
Keep spares in the van - hose connectors, fuses, tape, superglue, o rings, spare pole even a spare battery if you can carry it.
Take your time - I get more work done when I'm relaxed than when I'm trying to batter it out all stressed.
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dont sit in van in between jobs, just pull up and get started imediately
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with all these tips i will at least save 5 mins a day ;D
i simply set a target of customers per day more in summer than winter
with more hours available.work morning have nice lunch work afternoon
chat to occasional customer finish day go home happy :) to tiring to worry
about the seconds i could be saving mulitiplied by the hours im working
mulitiplied by the number of days i work multiplied by the number of weeks
a year i work :-\zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
may i suggest you all stop worrying about the seconds you could be saving
be happy ;)
and most importantly get a life! ;D
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Skip lunch .........."lunch is for wimps!". ;D
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learn how to place you vechicle.
use a variety of different equipment, some are faster to use than others on certain propertys.
Do a thoughy 1st clean, you will find further cleans faster, with a deep clean every 6 months or so.
if you work in a team, get one to always do the back and one the front, the front guy starts off by feeding the hose out for the back guy, he also collects the money, as he normally has less glass to clean.
Always phone/text the night before, saves going back to collect or to clamber over gates or roofs.
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with all these tips i will at least save 5 mins a day ;D
i simply set a target of customers per day more in summer than winter
with more hours available.work morning have nice lunch work afternoon
chat to occasional customer finish day go home happy :) to tiring to worry
about the seconds i could be saving mulitiplied by the hours im working
mulitiplied by the number of days i work multiplied by the number of weeks
a year i work :-\zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
may i suggest you all stop worrying about the seconds you could be saving
be happy ;)
and most importantly get a life! ;D
which could equate to 50 mins in a week which would be on average 3 houses at a average £10.00 per house an could have earned you £30.00 a week,£120.00 a month,£1,200 a year(allowing for weather holidays etc) which helps you get a better life?
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Interesting thread.
My take is this. I am probably the slowest window cleaner on the planet. I am near OCD in the attention to detail that I expect of myself.
I have tried speeding up, but when I have done, I find that I need to check my work more, and lo and behold, I find mistakes which I have to put right. All this takes more time.
So now I just take as long as I need to, and by doing so, the job gets done right the first time, my stress levels return to zero as I love this business, and I can earn enough even at my snail's pace! Also, I can't say no to a cup of tea and a chat.
John
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We've found the gardiners super lite sill brush has sped us up. much faster on doors, windows with small bits of glass, and much easier to incorporate frames in with glass cleaning.
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when going to the toilet wipe properly because if you miss stuff you will be scratching away all day not only wasting time but looking bad in front of the customer ;D
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Turn flow rate up to a higher setting, makes you quicker on the glass, and i find it actually saves water.
Also never rinse frosted glass, as spotting wont be an issue.
I have found switching to fan jets has sped me up (some may not agree)
Txt the night before for gates to be left open.
I have recently bought a few buffing mitts, as used for polishing cars, i slip one on prior to rewinding, as it will clean the hose off automaticly, again saving time.
If i think of anymore things i will post
Yes it does. I was asked to do the insides after i had not rinsed the toilet window...Boy did it show
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with all these tips i will at least save 5 mins a day ;D
i simply set a target of customers per day more in summer than winter
with more hours available.work morning have nice lunch work afternoon
chat to occasional customer finish day go home happy :) to tiring to worry
about the seconds i could be saving mulitiplied by the hours im working
mulitiplied by the number of days i work multiplied by the number of weeks
a year i work :-\zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
may i suggest you all stop worrying about the seconds you could be saving
be happy ;)
and most importantly get a life! ;D
It's easy to take the mick, but between me and my Joey we do twenty-odd houses a day.
So, assuming we can save a minute a job by using some good ideas, that leaves us able to fit in another job a day. Our average job price is just inder £21, so That's an extra £21 a day. Or over £4,000 a year for working not a minute longer. Alternatively, if you prefer, have an extra 20 minutes sitting in front of Jeremy Kyle.
You'd have to be barmy not to bother either way.
Vin
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Make sure you have tickets ready and that are easy to write on, for example, on mine it says everything and all i have to fill in is the date, price and tick which payment they need to do. Also i have all my envelopes printed and stamped.
Although a small thing this saves time at end of job.
Agree with faster water as we have turned flow up recently, been much quicker and not used any more water and maybe saved some!
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There's one not been mentioned yet.
Don't faff about. It's easy (especially two man working) just to be standing for a few secnds doing not a lot. Have the mindset that you're going to get through the work then relax. You can show the truth of this by remembering the last time you were short of time - somehow you managed to fit in all the jobs.
Vin
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Go to the gym...
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I would second that!
We have timed every job we have even done. Even a first clean. This enables you to manage your day and know if you are doing well for time.
We and the guys who works for me naturally want to do the job in the same time or faster so we time it and review as we are leaving. We also have a fAg and eat lunch on the way to the next client.
Bearing in mind this works for me but I can see on shop front or very small house this may take longer to write down than its worth.
We have only really marketed for larger houses and therefore it works a treat as I book in 5-6 hours working on the glass a day. Start at 8.15-8.30 get home (40 mins from the area we work in) approx 3.30pm.
We also have a system where if a client comes out to chat and they are taking up time the other person comes and makes an excuse to get us away. I can quiote easily chat for ages but you have to remember time is def money
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with all these tips i will at least save 5 mins a day ;D
i simply set a target of customers per day more in summer than winter
with more hours available.work morning have nice lunch work afternoon
chat to occasional customer finish day go home happy :) to tiring to worry
about the seconds i could be saving mulitiplied by the hours im working
mulitiplied by the number of days i work multiplied by the number of weeks
a year i work :-\zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
may i suggest you all stop worrying about the seconds you could be saving
be happy ;)
and most importantly get a life! ;D
which could equate to 50 mins in a week which would be on average 3 houses at a average £10.00 per house an could have earned you £30.00 a week,£120.00 a month,£1,200 a year(allowing for weather holidays etc) which helps you get a better life?
yawn...im happy with my life ;)
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Have confidence in your tools; maintenance cleans only need a once over with the brush and a quick rinse.
i agree with this, and ive been doing it for a week now! no need i find to go over glass twice (mostly)
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with all these tips i will at least save 5 mins a day ;D
i simply set a target of customers per day more in summer than winter
with more hours available.work morning have nice lunch work afternoon
chat to occasional customer finish day go home happy :) to tiring to worry
about the seconds i could be saving mulitiplied by the hours im working
mulitiplied by the number of days i work multiplied by the number of weeks
a year i work :-\zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
may i suggest you all stop worrying about the seconds you could be saving
be happy ;)
and most importantly get a life! ;D
It's easy to take the mick, but between me and my Joey we do twenty-odd houses a day.
So, assuming we can save a minute a job by using some good ideas, that leaves us able to fit in another job a day. Our average job price is just inder £21, so That's an extra £21 a day. Or over £4,000 a year for working not a minute longer. Alternatively, if you prefer, have an extra 20 minutes sitting in front of Jeremy Kyle.
You'd have to be barmy not to bother either way.
Vin
life isnt all about money it helps but my happiness is most important,you could save a minute
on a job then you might hit a traffic jam on the way to the next job and lose half hour ;D
you can calculate your seconds all you like but in the end its unlikely to make a iota of
difference in the end as anything can throw you out,
make your targets achievable everyday even if you have to stretch yourself a little ;D
and you wont go wrong ;)
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when going to the toilet wipe properly because if you miss stuff you will be scratching away all day not only wasting time but looking bad in front of the customer ;D
There is something seriously wrong with this guys mind!
Made me laugh though ;D Does that mean there something wrong with me too!?
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you can calculate your seconds all you like but in the end its unlikely to make a iota of
difference in the end as anything can throw you out,
What a weirdly pessimistic way to look at it. If you're consistently a minute or two a job quicker then over the year you'll either have a lot more time with the kids or earn more, regardless of whether you get caught in traffic jams occasionally.
If you want neither then carry on as you are.
Vin
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you can calculate your seconds all you like but in the end its unlikely to make a iota of
difference in the end as anything can throw you out,
What a weirdly pessimistic way to look at it. If you're consistently a minute or two a job quicker then over the year you'll either have a lot more time with the kids or earn more, regardless of whether you get caught in traffic jams occasionally.
If you want neither then carry on as you are.
Vin
look whatever makes you happy ;) sorry but im not a pessimistic person i work this job
to suit myself thats why i started window cleaning have been wfp since 2007 and have got progressively
quicker some of it has been through good advice but most has come from confidence in my
tools and doing the job well.
i set targets which are achievable sometimes at a stretch if it suits me,im not particulary
interested in greatly pressurising myself to a greater income,my income tends to grow naturally
with introductions of price rises and better priced new work im not interested in introducing
stress into my life why should i.
i mean spending my time working out how many mins i can save here and there is far to
stressful and my time is far better served making myself some cheese on toast getting a beer
from the fridge and watching a disney film with the kids ;D
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perfect mate i also think you should develop a sense of humor, life can really be dull
without one no matter how much you are earning ;)
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perfect mate i also think you should develop a sense of humor, life can really be dull
without one no matter how much you are earning ;)
I think the point is to learn new little wrinkles so that you do them automatically as a habit Gary - not to stress over it.
Thanks for the tips guys - keep 'em coming.
I saw "Terry Tibbs" set up in his VW Transporter and he has three hose reels - one on each back door and one on the (only) side door. I thought that was good.
When doing upstairs do the windows above a downstairs set of patio doors first as these always have the most area to catch drips from above. But if there is a flat roofed gutterless bay downstairs then always do the window above that as the water will often keep running onto one pane of glass.
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perfect mate i also think you should develop a sense of humor, life can really be dull
without one no matter how much you are earning ;)
I think the point is to learn new little wrinkles so that you do them automatically as a habit Gary - not to stress over it.
Thanks for the tips guys - keep 'em coming.
I saw "Terry Tibbs" set up in his VW Transporter and he has three hose reels - one on each back door and one on the (only) side door. I thought that was good.
When doing upstairs do the windows above a downstairs set of patio doors first as these always have the most area to catch drips from above. But if there is a flat roofed gutterless bay downstairs then always do the window above that as the water will often keep running onto one pane of glass.
yep gold you are right old boy :) i just think some take themselves too seriously ;)
and if you look closely at my tongue in cheek posts i did offer a little bit of wisdom myself :P
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im not particulary interested in greatly pressurising myself to a greater income
Me neither, so rather than pressurising myself, I do a few tiny little things that all save a little time so I earn a little more without any pressure whatsoever.
You're obviously happy doing what you're doing so why tell us that we're wrong to do it? Why not just live and let live?
Vin
PS. As for no sense of humour, belive what you want.
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im not particulary interested in greatly pressurising myself to a greater income
Me neither, so rather than pressurising myself, I do a few tiny little things that all save a little time so I earn a little more without any pressure whatsoever.
You're obviously happy doing what you're doing so why tell us that we're wrong to do it? Why not just live and let live?
Vin
PS. As for no sense of humour, belive what you want.
the above post shows you have no sense of humor matey! ;D if you had read my post above
yours you would of seen it was generally tongue in cheek and you still feel need to have
a pop.i sense you are a very stressed individual :)
buy a banjo it will help ;)
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Gary, try reading my post. I said do what you want to do. How relaxed about it do you want me to be?
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let it go mate ;D
i tell you what you put another post on and you can have the last word ;D
and we will call it quits its just no fun anymore ;D
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if i stoped calling at number 32 on a monday i would save 2 hours a week
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has a few off you will know i dont care.i stop i chat,i go for lunch,
what dont get done today gets done tomorrow,and most friday i get a headache about 12oclock,
money doesnt keep me going,some people cant understand this(trippy and co)but thats mememememememeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
but if i want i can work as fast as anyone,and all the tips above are good ones, ;)
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1) Write out your tickets & sort envelopes before you set off in the morning
2) Organise your van so that everything has a place, and it is within easy reach (saves having to search around for something you need).
3) Van mounted hosereel
4) Flow controller,pump & battery mounted near back doors or side door within easy reach.
Drive up, open back doors,grab pole, turn on flow controller and walk to the back of the property and start cleaning. ;)
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Every time you buy a connector or clip to replace something that's broken, buy a couple at least and put the spare on the van. You'll end up with a supply of spares so you never need to go home for, or worse have to wait for delivery of, a part that stops you working.
Vin
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Hot water.
Power Reel.
Bowl of porridge for brekkie. (No wandering round Tescos looking for sarnies)
Tickets in pocket.
Worksheets prepped.
First window done by 8.45am
Shame I only charge a fiver Id be minted otherwise.
BVC.
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Hot water.
Power Reel.
Bowl of porridge for brekkie. (No wandering round Tescos looking for sarnies)Tickets in pocket.
Worksheets prepped.
First window done by 8.45am
Shame I only charge a fiver Id be minted otherwise.
BVC.
Im out
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fasten a hose roller guide in the back of your van and run the hose thro it,you can walk in any direction and the hose wont jam,best £5 i ever spent.
buy a couple of 450 mm cones from northern tool theyre great for standing on to reach bolts over gates,you can stand them next to cars to stop the hose getting caught under the tyre [obviously not ones that are going to be driven away] and theyre good to warn people about the hose,best £4 i ever spent.
carry one of them little washing up sponges with the rough green side on them in your pouch, they instantly remove bird crap.best 10p i ever spent
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leave the house with the right frame of mind and have a definite target is my best advice. i.e minimum £150, or dont stop working till 4pm etc.
make sure you spend 5 mins the night before getting everything sorted, rather than spending an hour in the middle of the day refilling your tank etc.
i find my mind is my biggest challenge. as soon as i run out of water, or scrims, or someone doesnt leave the gate open etc it really knocks me off my stride and i start to persuade myself i can finish at 1 and catch up tomorrow. Just keep plodding on and if you're feeling negative just appreciate the good things about the job.
if i get all this right then i finish the day without any stress, having earnt myself a lot of money, and feeling good
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fasten a hose roller guide in the back of your van and run the hose thro it,you can walk in any direction and the hose wont jam,best £5 i ever spent.
buy a couple of 450 mm cones from northern tool theyre great for standing on to reach bolts over gates,you can stand them next to cars to stop the hose getting caught under the tyre [obviously not ones that are going to be driven away] and theyre good to warn people about the hose,best £4 i ever spent.
carry one of them little washing up sponges with the rough green side on them in your pouch, they instantly remove bird crap.best 10p i ever spent
Cut it in to your back door you mean? or fix it somewhere?
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If you use a customer's toilet, don't flush it; let them do it. I spent ages trying to flush a huge log away one morning and it set me right back for the day >:(.
Oh and don't ask to borrow their newspaper to take in with you; those minutes soon turn into hours.
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fasten a hose roller guide in the back of your van and run the hose thro it,you can walk in any direction and the hose wont jam,best £5 i ever spent.
buy a couple of 450 mm cones from northern tool theyre great for standing on to reach bolts over gates,you can stand them next to cars to stop the hose getting caught under the tyre [obviously not ones that are going to be driven away] and theyre good to warn people about the hose,best £4 i ever spent.
carry one of them little washing up sponges with the rough green side on them in your pouch, they instantly remove bird crap.best 10p i ever spent
Cut it in to your back door you mean? or fix it somewhere?
fix it on the van floor in front of the reel
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fasten a hose roller guide in the back of your van and run the hose thro it,you can walk in any direction and the hose wont jam,best £5 i ever spent.
buy a couple of 450 mm cones from northern tool theyre great for standing on to reach bolts over gates,you can stand them next to cars to stop the hose getting caught under the tyre [obviously not ones that are going to be driven away] and theyre good to warn people about the hose,best £4 i ever spent.
carry one of them little washing up sponges with the rough green side on them in your pouch, they instantly remove bird crap.best 10p i ever spent
Cut it in to your back door you mean? or fix it somewhere?
fix it on the van floor in front of the reel
ive got mine attached to a piece of 3 by 2, which in its self is attached to the front leg of the reel (i keep reel in van all the time) Im so chuffed with it, as the other poster said , best fiver ever spent, it has made my work so much quicker
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As ever, the clue as to what to write about is in the thread title...
I started window cleaning a long time ago and I discovered through trial and error the things that make / allow me clean more efficiently, none of them had anything to do with rushing around and aiming to go faster just to make more money. Like a lot of people on here it was about doing the small things which made the flow of work improve and reduce the stress overall with the objective of doing the work in less time and having some choices. So the only reason for speeding up the work rate really is that there may be other things in life (or business) you want to do rather than just cleaning the same old winderz... ALL DAY!
The best thing I ever did was keep a tight round, not letting it grow endlessly but still paying attention to the customer 'churn' rate.I went out during the working day in the time I had made for myself, sticking more leaflets through doors to get more customers.
That's how I got more money, using leaflets to drive people to my web site where I could advertise all the things we do. That led me on to up-selling oportunities, basically increasing the number of services we provide, not just cleaning but other types of property maintenance, especially seasonal work for when the days get longer.
It was through taking on board that a variety of work types is more often a better way of securing a longer term predictable increase in earnings, that I managed to get things where I wanted them to be, happy in my work.
But mainly it was about not letting the work spread into all the available time in the working day, so I still had the quality of life, for which reason I gave up what I was doing previously on an office treadmill.
Oh... and not forgetting to make time to go to Windex and see first hand what new products are available. Hmmm, there's some junk kit around, to be sure...
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Well said Toprung 8)
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fasten a hose roller guide in the back of your van and run the hose thro it,you can walk in any direction and the hose wont jam,best £5 i ever spent.
buy a couple of 450 mm cones from northern tool theyre great for standing on to reach bolts over gates,you can stand them next to cars to stop the hose getting caught under the tyre [obviously not ones that are going to be driven away] and theyre good to warn people about the hose,best £4 i ever spent.
carry one of them little washing up sponges with the rough green side on them in your pouch, they instantly remove bird crap.best 10p i ever spent
Cut it in to your back door you mean? or fix it somewhere?
fix it on the van floor in front of the reel
ive got mine attached to a piece of 3 by 2, which in its self is attached to the front leg of the reel (i keep reel in van all the time) Im so chuffed with it, as the other poster said , best fiver ever spent, it has made my work so much quicker
So yours goes through the floor trippy?
Im intrigued as to how everyone uses there hose reel as mine keeps blowing the connector and so im constantly running back to fit it , or not turning water off incase it goes which wastes water
And i use it out of van but its always falling over if i pull to hard on hose, nightmare
Id like to bolt it into van but worry that i cant a, de pressure the system b, connector blows and soaks van
ideas on a postcard please
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I've cable tied my hoselock connection onto the swivel elbow of the hosereel for extra protection.
I used 3 cable ties: one just under the hoselock connector, another one around the brass swivel elbow on the reel and the third cable tie is used to connect the other two ties together.
Now the connector can only physically come away from the hosereel if the cable ties break or are cut.
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Try to cut back on the afternoon naps in the van.
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Another thing I brought in with all private clients about 5 years ago was switching them all over to Standing Order payment. No need to ring the bell to collect payment, no waiting for a cheque or cash to be found. Offered them a price incentive to switch over when I was doing an across the board price rise.
Alex i was thinking about this myself, fed up with the odd not today thank you's, I bet the standing order cut this out and also makes it easier to work in light rain as they've already paid ;D
Only thing i was wondering Alex is this difficult to run a standing order scheme as a sole trader (1 man band)
Just worried about running late due to heavy rain bank and personal holidays. (custies getting the ump understandabley being overcharged in effect.
P.s, what's the difference between direct debit and standing order?
Thanks Lee.
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Alex; sorry one more question, how do you keep track of all those standing orders
just worried i'd clean a custies windows only to find thet stopped payment the day before :'(
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Alex; sorry one more question, how do you keep track of all those standing orders
just worried i'd clean a custies windows only to find thet stopped payment the day before :'(
not difficult at all using standng orders as a sole trader. you can ask your bank to supply you with a template for one.
make sure you put your own reference on the standing order, street name and house number work well.
you add a date of when the standing order starts, and then you check at the end of every month that the payment has come through. if it hasnt you need to call you r custie to let them know.
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I find on line banking is the way to go no more going out collecting money my customers pay online or post a cheque , thank to online banking!!
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Just screwed hoseguides in front of my reels - much better at those awkward angles. (I know you've all done this before but in case there is another thicko out there I thought it might be useful)
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SPEEDING UP YOUR WORK RATE?
things that have worked for me.
going from trolley to van mount
aqua-daptor
25FT SLX
light gardiners sill brush
being organised!tickets/invoices printed/written out ready to go
taking a packed lunch/flask with me every morning so lunch is 30 mins tops then back on the job.
rinsing brush on the glass on cleanish windows with a high flow
having boab/bottle on my belt for easy transition between wfp and trad for certain jobs
working my round from a-z roughly in the same order(apart from stand alone 8 weeklies)
i also find working at a steady brisk pace instead of hammering my work at full speed is more productive.less chance of burning myself out or having an accident!!
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As ever, the clue as to what to write about is in the thread title...
The best thing I ever did was keep a tight round, not letting it grow endlessly but still paying attention to the customer 'churn' rate.I went out during the working day in the time I had made for myself, sticking more leaflets through doors to get more customers.
TOTALLY agree with this ... I just went for it last year and ended up with rounds all over the place and had to work like a crazy man to get it all done.
Every month there were customers not getting done so end of last year sold everything off in Chester to concentrate on North Wales ... got a part time helper and a canvasser now building nicely the areas I didnt drop ... getting a good bit of infill now in the rounds and taken a drop in dosh but long term defo way foward.
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As ever, the clue as to what to write about is in the thread title...
The best thing I ever did was keep a tight round, not letting it grow endlessly but still paying attention to the customer 'churn' rate.I went out during the working day in the time I had made for myself, sticking more leaflets through doors to get more customers.
TOTALLY agree with this ... I just went for it last year and ended up with rounds all over the place and had to work like a crazy man to get it all done.
Every month there were customers not getting done so end of last year sold everything off in Chester to concentrate on North Wales ... got a part time helper and a canvasser now building nicely the areas I didnt drop ... getting a good bit of infill now in the rounds and taken a drop in dosh but long term defo way foward.
Agree with this Ian
Starting to in-fill the gaps in the round, compacting all the time.My guys enjoy working together(they also work harder and faster ) so now doubling up the
days where we can, which means less fuel , higher takings/profit and better profile for the business
Aiming to swap all our poles over to Gardiners as they are bl**dy mint!
And relentless leafletting/canvassing in our covered areas with upselling of our other services too
Regards
Roy
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Another thing I brought in with all private clients about 5 years ago was switching them all over to Standing Order payment. No need to ring the bell to collect payment, no waiting for a cheque or cash to be found. Offered them a price incentive to switch over when I was doing an across the board price rise.
Alex i was thinking about this myself, fed up with the odd not today thank you's, I bet the standing order cut this out and also makes it easier to work in light rain as they've already paid ;D
Only thing i was wondering Alex is this difficult to run a standing order scheme as a sole trader (1 man band)
Just worried about running late due to heavy rain bank and personal holidays. (custies getting the ump understandabley being overcharged in effect.
P.s, what's the difference between direct debit and standing order?
Thanks Lee.
As has been said it is quite easy to run a standing order system. The bank will supply a template if you need, all you really need is to give the client your bank details and also a reference number if you want to help track the payments. I use WCP software to keep track of my rounds, but I also have a written list of all of my standing order clients and once a month I go through my online bank statement to quickly check if they have paid. It does help cut out a lot of not this time type clients. I work on a monthly schedule due to the high percentage of commercial work that I do. This usually gives a couple of spare days in the month to catch up if needed. You can always refund if needed. The difference between a standing order and a DD is that the SO is controlled by the client , this does reassure clients that they control the process.
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Regarding Standing Orders do u have all come in at same time or spread out ??
Once I can prove to myself that all work can be done ontime then I will be swapping mine over.
Bob Plumb has loads of his on S.O.
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Regarding Standing Orders do u have all come in at same time or spread out ??
Once I can prove to myself that all work can be done ontime then I will be swapping mine over.
Bob Plumb has loads of his on S.O.
I have them all spread out through the month, basically depending on when the clients has set them up. It would be easier to have them all coming in on the 5th or something, but it would be difficult to get working.
The main reason that I have done this is because most of my work is commercial and the only way I can put up with domestic clients is if they (a) live right next to the commercial work and (b) if they pay by SO so that I do not have to waste time waiting for money etc.
Now that they are used to it most clients prefer it as they do not even have to answer the door if they do not want to, they can carry on doing what they want to.
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I think I have a direct debit to Gardiners.
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I think I have a direct debit to Gardiners.
Just set up a regular standing order to us and keep it simple ;D
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I have asked residential customers to pay via standing order based on the fact that I promise 10 cleans per year.
They pay the year total divided by 12 and it works itself out over time.
ie. £15 job done 10 times = £150 = 12 payments of £12.50
George keeps track, any time a customer wants a statement of account it can be produced.
Commercial customers are on a 'service charge' anyway. That is they pay monthly for a monthly amount of work.
Even the ones I clean 4 times a year pay by monthly SO.
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Thanks Alex and Sunshine cleaning; Guys ;)
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Run up and down the ladder as fast as possible ! I used to work with an old chap and he slowed me down no end. I have timed the jobs and compared and one pub with all French windows used to take us 45mins, now I do it in an hour alone!