Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: H20cleaning on August 15, 2013, 09:40:41 am
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At the start of the year work was coming in fast, i then went away for 10days. I have been home over 6 weeks now and not got any newbys! Anyone else finding these summer holidays slow.
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There was another windy in Teesside that has picked up a lot of work in Inglby Barwick recently as a cleaner has just stopped.
I don't know which section, so if you are in need of work, then I suggest that you door knock that area in an organised, preplanned manner. You may hit it lucky.
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H20
Try thinking outside the box and think of everyway possible that is correct behaviour in picking work up and get in to it.
You have to get at it, because its there,
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I now pick and choose what I want to clean, and refuse quite a bit of work
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At the start of the year work was coming in fast, i then went away for 10days. I have been home over 6 weeks now and not got any newbys! Anyone else finding these summer holidays slow.
We tend to get a slight dip in August - if you remember that most of the working population of Britain (about 1/2) go on holiday for two weeks over a six week period, that means that 1/6 of the population is away at any one time over the summer holidays.
That said, it's normally a dip rather than the kind of slump you've hit.
Leaflet, leaflet, leaflet is our solution.
Cue the usual suspect to tell us why that won't work and that doorknocking is the only possible way to gain customers.
Vin
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Perfect windows,
Who is the usual suspect
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I already do alot of work on inglby barwick so i might get 10,000 leaflets shot out there. I have enough work to keep going but just abit gutting when your having a bad patch!
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Perfect windows,
Who is the usual suspect
I couldn't possibly say. He gets a bit ... er, overexcited if I point out that he's a monomaniac. He'll be along presently.
Vin
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Does his name begin with m
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I find leaflets a waste of money there are not better that knocking does take balls. I have days were I get 3-4 new ones just from people around my existing custies.By asking anyone I see out and about.
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H20
Try thinking outside the box and think of everyway possible that is correct behaviour in picking work up and get in to it.
You have to get at it, because its there,
Perfect advice.
Thats exactly what i do chase the work as it wont simply come to you! Why wait for a standalone job from website when you can canvass the whole street and get 3 or 4.
Why spend all delivering 1000 leaflets for 2 customers if your lucky when you could spend all day canvassing and pick up 15 plus.
There are far too many window cleaners out now to get a huge flow of customers coming in unless you go and get them yourself.
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H20
Try thinking outside the box and think of everyway possible that is correct behaviour in picking work up and get in to it.
You have to get at it, because its there,
Perfect advice.
Thats exactly what i do chase the work as it wont simply come to you! Why wait for a standalone job from website when you can canvass the whole street and get 3 or 4.
Why spend all delivering 1000 leaflets for 2 customers if your lucky when you could spend all day canvassing and pick up 15 plus.
There are far too many window cleaners out now to get a huge flow of customers coming in unless you go and get them yourself.
+1
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QED
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I do love people who "think" they are funny and clever!.
I just gave my opinion on a proven method that is faster at gaining work than waiting for work to come to you from leaflets/websites.
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I do love people who "think" they are funny and clever!.
I just gave my opinion on a proven method that is faster at gaining work than waiting for work to come to you from leaflets/websites.
No humour intended at all. I was deadly serious.
QED - look it up - means that what was to have been proven was proven.
I predicted someone would "tell us why that won't work and that doorknocking is the only possible way to gain customers" and someone did. QED.
You see, I think both have their place. You don't. Odd, that. I seem to be doing OK. I was even told I have extremely compact work the other week, which surprised me greatly.
And here's another prediction (that I hope won't come true). Your response - if there is one - will be a personal insult: e.g. I "think" I am funny or clever or I'm a mong or a claim that I've lost my rag or some other ad hominem attack.
Vin
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iv doorknocked and iv leafletted - in the short term doorknocking will give you summat to get on with, BUT leafletting has an advantage in that it will get you a slow trickle of work , lasting a lot longer, some folk ring years later i have found
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I do love people who "think" they are funny and clever!.
I just gave my opinion on a proven method that is faster at gaining work than waiting for work to come to you from leaflets/websites.
Totally agree,
How many leaflets do we all get daily and how many do we read.
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I do love people who "think" they are funny and clever!.
I just gave my opinion on a proven method that is faster at gaining work than waiting for work to come to you from leaflets/websites.
Totally agree,
How many leaflets do we all get daily and how many do we read.
My customers all read them. Then they phoned us. To be fair, we only have 856 of them, though.
And the odd thing? The thing that people forget? The leaflets went out when I was cleaning windows or, better, when I was spending time with the kids or the wife, or was on holiday.
Vin
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I have picked up new customers every week since the start of this year.
This month i have had 7 new residential customers plus new shops and industrial units
Paul
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I have hardly ever done leaflets, but I think if I did it would be good,
I think of other things to do to try to gain work, and I have picked up the most amount of work in the last 6 weeks, than I ever have in 23 years of running my business.
Do the groundwork, and do a good job and the work will come to you.
Well that's how I have done it, I know it wont work for all but then again I am obsessed with thinking of new ideas and ways of retaining my work and getting more, although like I have already mentioned I refuse quite a lot of work and cherry pick what I want to go for.
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I now pick and choose what I want to clean, and refuse quite a bit of work
So you told City to get another cleaner then? :)
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iv doorknocked and iv leafletted - in the short term doorknocking will give you summat to get on with, BUT leafletting has an advantage in that it will get you a slow trickle of work , lasting a lot longer, some folk ring years later i have found
+1. Leafletted ciustomers, though fewer in number, tend to be stayers in my experience. So it depends if someone is after some cashflow sooner or building for the mid future. In reality, a bit of both seems to be about right.
I'm after 50 new residential customers by the end of September. Should be perhaps £700 - £1,000 per 6-8 weekly cycle hopefully
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Hi Paul,
No we still clean City, even picked up an Academy next to their ground ;)
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I can't say i'm finding it hard to get new customers, i've had people coming up and asking for quotes all week. Pricing really high aswell now as i'm so busy and no one bats an eye at the prices, it just shows you can get really good prices if you've got the balls to quote high.
My view on the canvassing v leaflet debate, i'd say canvassing is great for quantity but leafleting is better for quality.
I've canvassed hard this year and picked up a lot of jobs but i've had to weed out the good from the bad. But i've found in the past that jobs aquired from leaflets are usually very good customers, after all they have gone out their way to contact you and arrange for you visit them because they 100% want a window cleaner, not because you've knocked on their door and caught them off guard and forced them to make a split decision.
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Well i have had the odd call but only 3 i think this month, 2 wanted one offs and 1 wanted a tiny house in a highstreet wich is always packed so i didnt do it.
I have been leafletting here and there im just used to picking up work weekly from phone and word of mouth... Having said that 6 of my customers from today are on holiday lol mayby its bad luck.
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I have had a steady flow this year, about 20 a month on average. I have never knocked only done leaflets.
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I do love people who "think" they are funny and clever!.
I just gave my opinion on a proven method that is faster at gaining work than waiting for work to come to you from leaflets/websites.
No humour intended at all. I was deadly serious.
QED - look it up - means that what was to have been proven was proven.
I predicted someone would "tell us why that won't work and that doorknocking is the only possible way to gain customers" and someone did. QED.
You see, I think both have their place. You don't. Odd, that. I seem to be doing OK. I was even told I have extremely compact work the other week, which surprised me greatly.
And here's another prediction (that I hope won't come true). Your response - if there is one - will be a personal insult: e.g. I "think" I am funny or clever or I'm a mong or a claim that I've lost my rag or some other ad hominem attack.
Vin
Funny guy!.
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lost a fair few this year down to selling houses or kicking the bucket but still picking up new work consistently from other wfp users who do a bad job, dave morris could have had loads of your jobs as they keep asking me as they're not happy with your standards, been told that by quite a few now. Lose the odd one or two to trad cleaners through customers preference, that's life :)
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lost a fair few this year down to selling houses or kicking the bucket but still picking up new work consistently from other wfp users who do a bad job, dave morris could have had loads of your jobs as they keep asking me as they're not happy with your standards, been told that by quite a few now. Lose the odd one or two to trad cleaners through customers preference, that's life :)
Surprised to find your getting work from bad wfp users I find customers who dump a bad wfp user don't want another
as they blame the system.
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getting three aweek due to having a woman cleaning the windows people are more likely to talk to a woman then a man working for us at the minute
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Hi Susan,
sounds good.
Is there a certain dress code for the woman ????
Short skirt, see through blouse etc, I reckon you will pick more up than 3 per week ;)
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Hi Susan,
sounds good.
Is there a certain dress code for the woman ????
Short skirt, see through blouse etc, I reckon you will pick more up than 3 per week ;)
lol I bet we would but its all about pink , she dress in pink so people look having long dark hair realy makes the push for female window cleaners its working
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How much you charge ?
you can come and clean my windows
as long as you wear the dress code I mentioned ;)
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Its nothing to do with wether leafleted or canvassed! Ask customer beforehand in a friendly manner @do you require regular or a 1 off service they wouldnt say regular would they if had the choice!! Do a good job and the customer will stay with you for the forthcoming future alternatavly do a poor job and lose it, a lot of customers dont want to hurt your feelings so make up a poor excuse hence window cleaner calling the customer a messer etc. it is all down to how you manage everything! I have minr to a t now. Always ask if they require regular or a 1 off, if they ay 1 off i tell them ill call them to arrange there clean which i dont actualy do.
have built 200 customers in just under 2 months for my stepdad and mum from 2-3 canvass sessions each week and they have only lost 2 altogether, 1 was because they were moving and the other was that they werent happy with the poor service which in there defence were old wooden frames so no real loss.
Nomatter what anyone say or makes out about me im fully confident in my ability to source work and fulfill my rounds to the max and much much much much more compact than any leafleted round from within the last 3 years that new ies build!.
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My retention rate for canvased work is about 95% or more but there's usually about 5%-10% bad payers, 'not this time' merchants and 'sorry don't want them done in winter' so these end up dumped after they've messed me around a couple of times.
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My retention rate for canvased work is about 95% or more but there's usually about 5%-10% bad payers, 'not this time' merchants and 'sorry don't want them done in winter' so these end up dumped after they've messed me around a couple of times.
Bad payers can come from any method thiugh canvassed/wbsite of leaflet, im glad you say 95% as its sheer proof if you do a good job you will have good retention.
A good window cleaner keeps his customers where a poor quity one will slowly lose all there work to the good cleaners!.
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I do love people who "think" they are funny and clever!.
I just gave my opinion on a proven method that is faster at gaining work than waiting for work to come to you from leaflets/websites.
No humour intended at all. I was deadly serious.
QED - look it up - means that what was to have been proven was proven.
I predicted someone would "tell us why that won't work and that doorknocking is the only possible way to gain customers" and someone did. QED.
You see, I think both have their place. You don't. Odd, that. I seem to be doing OK. I was even told I have extremely compact work the other week, which surprised me greatly.
And here's another prediction (that I hope won't come true). Your response - if there is one - will be a personal insult: e.g. I "think" I am funny or clever or I'm a mong or a claim that I've lost my rag or some other ad hominem attack.
Vin
Nothing like getting on the front foot is there Vin? ;D
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I'm not knocking canvassing at all Mick, 99% of my round has come from canvassing and i've built nearly a full round in a year.
But my previous round was built on leafleting and although much slower to build up I did build a great round full of good payers.
Both ways are good but if you are just starting or you don't have much work then canvassing wins hands down.
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Hi Paul,
No we still clean City, even picked up an Academy next to their ground ;)
You must be glad with all the new building their doing then ?? going to be massive from the size of the site
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Hi Sean,
buildings are going up everywhere at the moment which can only be good for our business.
How is your business doing this year compared to last ?
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If you can, do everything! I get a good return on leaflets 0.5% which more than pays for itself. Google adwords is ok (and pays for itself) but is just starting to get expensive so I'll cancel that for a while. Canvassing is good and cost nothing but your time. I have had good and bad customers from all three methods and they all have their pros and cons. I don't care which method is best, I just do the lot and as far as I'm concerned, it's all good, providing you do it correctly. ;D