Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Ortsa on August 18, 2020, 05:02:01 pm
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What do you say to customers who insist on asking what time you are coming?
Its pretty tough to say, and annoying to try and stick to these times. What do you say to your customers?
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What do you say to customers who insist on asking what time you are coming?
Its pretty tough to say, and annoying to try and stick to these times. What do you say to your customers?
If you're in the area all day I usually only give these types "first thing" or "last thing".
And charge a premium for the privilege.
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It will either be in the morning or in the afternoon. That’s it .
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I usually just fob them off with something like, "might be about 1"..... then proceed to turn up whenever i get there
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I usually give a rough time but put ish at the end off the time that way they cant hold me to the time i say 😊👍
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What do you say to customers who insist on asking what time you are coming?
Its pretty tough to say, and annoying to try and stick to these times. What do you say to your customers?
luckily this doesnt happen very often anymore as i dont clean inside windows......if they do i say morning or afternoon.....thats as clear as i can be......
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If I know I’m gonna be in that area all day I let them pick a time. Makes em feel special and it really doesn’t matter to me.
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What do you say to customers who insist on asking what time you are coming?
Its pretty tough to say, and annoying to try and stick to these times. What do you say to your customers?
I only have a few like that.
I will nearly always book them in as the first job of the day at 9am.
Easy to manage that way.
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if its bespoke works - s/f/g or pressure washing they get a time - usually first of the day so 8AM
I have several regular customers who are first of the day, but as we have set rounds for each day I can usually give the customer a time give or take 30 mins - I don't really cater for anyone wanting their "own" time as it may not fit into the round but more than happy to give them a general idea
Darran
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I only have 2 or 3 that require an ETA, they are part of compact work so I am happy give them a 2 hour window. For the 10 or so who require a text the night before, I just tell them I will be along tomorrow.
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I normally give them an hour window.
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“Will be with you sometime between 8am and 3pm”
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Wednesday.
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Morning or afternoon
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9am or between the hour i thinking i will get there
They seem to be growing since covid
Was much easier when they were in work
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I wont give em a day , never mind a time . In fact had a new custy phone today . Asked what day of the month we would be due . Told her , we do your area first week of the month . She was fine with that . See you in September.
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Agree with some of the above. AM or PM and that’s it. Hate being tied to a time slot as it’s not realistic long term.
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We say... if it’s the first clean we can say before midday or after midday. If they want more specific we just say we can’t. We don’t want to promise them a time I can’t guarantee I tell them. And no we can’t ring when we’re on the way either
But we say we can only do that on the first clean. After that we tell them the day we are coming but it can be any time between 8am and 6pm so leave any gates unlocked for us
We need to train our customers what to expect
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When I get there !
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It’s not difficult to work out , it’s not as if everyone asks.
Just give a rough guesstimate between the hour
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Part of the beauty of being self employed is the freedom to get there when it suits you. I occasionally get asked what time & hate having to reply. Sometimes you might get held up on another job for whatever reason. Depends whether I like the customer & particular job as to how flexible I am. Mostly though I'm as vague as possible.
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You can usually tell within a couple of hours the actual ETA. Unless something is holding you up, building work, first clean, etc. I usually tell them, late morning, just after lunch or whatever. If I'm running late I try and let them know. Don't really see it as a problem TBH as it doesn't happen that often.
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There's always an exception to the rule but I usually find this to be a messer question from people who think you should be at their hand and foot, don't answer and they will either ask you to stop cleaning or stop asking the question.
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I just say I can’t give a specific time but it will be roughly between 1pm-3pm for example, I just try give 2 hour leeway for myself lol. Those customers who ask for time are bit annoying though!
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I clean in very compact areas, so it really doesn't matter to me, one way or another.
Obviously we don't want everyone asking, but those that do ask, usually do so, so they can be in to pay me cash, or don't like leaving their gates unlocked for long periods during the day.
My stock reply is 'would you prefer am or pm?' I reckon this only happens 1 customer per day.
That is the high level of quality service I offer.... ;D
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After cleaning their windows I now tell my customers what day I intend to clean their windows weather permitting, which is 28 days later so they can mark it in their calendar if they wish. (Some still manage to get this wrong).
About 10% have asked me to text them the day before which I reluctantly do because it gives them the chance to ask me to miss them or for them to ask what time will I be arriving.
I sent a text to a customer (this customer is a heavy drinker and wont let me get there before 10am) on Friday telling her I will clean her windows on Monday, Sunday she replied asking what time I would be there, I said, you are my 5th customer so my best estimate is 10:15am, I got there 2 minutes early.
I put up with her because I clean the insides too and it is one of my highest paying jobs. But I did tell her this time I wont be texting her anymore before the next clean, I will be there September 21st.
I can see her being dropped in the future because she has called before the day before I am due saying it is going to rain so do not come Monday, and it was not a bad day in the end.
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After cleaning their windows I now tell my customers what day I intend to clean their windows weather permitting, which is 28 days later so they can mark it in their calendar if they wish. (Some still manage to get this wrong).
About 10% have asked me to text them the day before which I reluctantly do because it gives them the chance to ask me to miss them or for them to ask what time will I be arriving.
I sent a text to a customer (this customer is a heavy drinker and wont let me get there before 10am) on Friday telling her I will clean her windows on Monday, Sunday she replied asking what time I would be there, I said, you are my 5th customer so my best estimate is 10:15am, I got there 2 minutes early.
I put up with her because I clean the insides too and it is one of my highest paying jobs. But I did tell her this time I wont be texting her anymore before the next clean, I will be there September 21st.
I can see her being dropped in the future because she has called before the day before I am due saying it is going to rain so do not come Monday, and it was not a bad day in the end.
personally i think your mad to give them a next clean date...your just putting yourself under pressure to stick to that schedule....in fact your taking away one of the best things about running your own window cleaning business.....flexibility.....
anything can happen between now and 28 days into the future......like todays weather for example!no way would i clean in this......sometimes it could be that im rescheduling work to have a long weekend off or a holiday,doctors appointment,dentist,etc so it could be a day earlier or a day later than usual....or you might pick up some other work,add on job ,etc that need fitting in somewhere......
i do text some customers the night before out of courtesy(usually larger posher jobs)and some for access......i dont even think about them skipping(if they do for no reason they dont stay on my books for long)...this is a very rare occurrence anyway.....
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am or pm is all we say!
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After cleaning their windows I now tell my customers what day I intend to clean their windows weather permitting, which is 28 days later so they can mark it in their calendar if they wish. (Some still manage to get this wrong).
About 10% have asked me to text them the day before which I reluctantly do because it gives them the chance to ask me to miss them or for them to ask what time will I be arriving.
I sent a text to a customer (this customer is a heavy drinker and wont let me get there before 10am) on Friday telling her I will clean her windows on Monday, Sunday she replied asking what time I would be there, I said, you are my 5th customer so my best estimate is 10:15am, I got there 2 minutes early.
I put up with her because I clean the insides too and it is one of my highest paying jobs. But I did tell her this time I wont be texting her anymore before the next clean, I will be there September 21st.
I can see her being dropped in the future because she has called before the day before I am due saying it is going to rain so do not come Monday, and it was not a bad day in the end.
personally i think your mad to give them a next clean date...your just putting yourself under pressure to stick to that schedule....in fact your taking away one of the best things about running your own window cleaning business.....flexibility.....
anything can happen between now and 28 days into the future......like todays weather for example!no way would i clean in this......sometimes it could be that im rescheduling work to have a long weekend off or a holiday,doctors appointment,dentist,etc so it could be a day earlier or a day later than usual....or you might pick up some other work,add on job ,etc that need fitting in somewhere......
i do text some customers the night before out of courtesy(usually larger posher jobs)and some for access......i dont even think about them skipping(if they do for no reason they dont stay on my books for long)...this is a very rare occurrence anyway.....
I can see your point if I was jam packed and working 5 days a week, but I am not.
This area is saturated with window cleaners, trad and WFP so it has been tough building a round.
I had a call yesterday from a woman who said her friend recommended me. Her window cleaner has not been for 7 weeks and he has only cleaned them once since lockdown.
I went there today and also got her neighbours bungalow, they both asked when I would be there as they often go out and the gates will be locked, they also wanted to leave the payment in a jar, so I gave them a date and said I will be there unless I get rained off of crash my car or fall off a ladder.
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For me personally I always give my customers the exact date I'll next be with them be it in 4 weeks, 8 weeks time or whatever. It does take away the flexibility aspect of the job I'll grant you but I think most of them like it as it avoids confusion and keeps things super organised. I think things would just get into too much of a mess for me if I didn't stick to my schedule to the letter where ever possible.
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For me personally I always give my customers the exact date I'll next be with them be it in 4 weeks, 8 weeks time or whatever. It does take away the flexibility aspect of the job I'll grant you but I think most of them like it as it avoids confusion and keeps things super organised. I think things would just get into too much of a mess for me if I didn't stick to my schedule to the letter where ever possible.
That's what round software is for.....it keeps my work tidy..... ;D
I usually do stick to my schedule but it's nice the have the option to be flexible.....
If some customers want notifying just text them the night before....
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I have a few that I give a time too. they are not messers, one has kennels and one is a chapel of rest/ undertakers.
however... I generally do them as my first job of the day.
for any others that ask , I will say between x and x which is normally a 2 hour windowl