Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: geefree on August 31, 2006, 11:35:01 pm
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Hi again you guys,
Do all you guys with the years of experience behind you remember the days when you started as i am now,?
Do you all recall the scattered customers, making a few quid a day.
Do you also remember thinking how slow you were and wondering if you could ever get past 2 houses per hour?
And do you remember thinking, will my round grow and snowball as it should, making me a decent living,?
Will i be able to block it off? and pass on the outlying calls?
What if i never get more than one customer on one street, because they already have a window cleaner, and have for years,?
;) please tell me you all started this way, ( unless you bought a round)..
here i go again too many thoughts. ???
cheers
Gary.
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BIN THERE DONE THAT ;D
GAZA
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Hi Gary.
We have all been there. Keep at it mate cause i would say to you this is the hard bit. you need to get your face known. Always give a quick smile & say hello, it works wonders in the long run.
Macc
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Chin up mate-like you I am starting too and am trying to expand and its just not happening but you have good days and bad.I like to get into a street and get one or two clients cos I know I will gradually get more but it just happens too slowly,this time next year I think I will be laughing but I could do with them now.Prices for existing going up in May as well,but thats between me and you mind so sssshh.
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Thanks for you support lads,
it is slow , i get hassle at home as well as support....(if you get what i mean bills etc)... the phone does ring each day but i still think i may be could work harder at it...although i canvass and leaflet drop every day, its not happening quick enough and fairly scattered , not too much ... i hear tales of w/c retiring so i dash around to canvass, work my arse off and nothing! lol... hence my post on here tonight. :)
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Gazza thats how i feel at the moment :'(
One house per Street .....Lol
Dave
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its bloody disheartening, :).. i hope most guys on here relate to this, or we are doomed ! :o
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I think most guys here are doing well.
They have more wf vans than we have got customers. ;D
Dave
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Hi Dave,
Yes they all seem to be doing well,
i hope we can follow in their footsteps, i do think though without this forum life would be much harder.
What a great way to get w/c issues off your chest knowing you have guys to lean on who know exactly where we are coming from,
Can you imagine talking to your mate about a pane of glass or a set of ladders and expect him to be interested? not a chance ! ;)
but i even lay awake at night wondering about where to canvass,
why the glass smeared today more than usual,
why my ladders are going to collapse.. ha ha
i think i shoul shut up now.
.. gazza
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Keep plugging away lads you,ll get there, it is hard but the longer your cleaning the more cleans you,ll get, it does take time but eventually you will be making a good living and have yourselves a nice buisness to be proud of. ;)
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This forum is a godsend and god bless my wife,she sits listening to my bleating.
Tomorrow lads,hard work and tomorrow.
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gazz back in 1976 the windows were 50 pence a house and went up every 2 years by 5 pence, it was beer money back then, and you could not keep up with demand
my sister needs a wc any chance doing my aunt so on so on
now a days people have caught on to making a living from wc after the constant
experience of redundabcy etc and want sability in their life, that the market has got tighter and tighter.
I think you need to diversify into other types of work as well like
gutter cleaning, jet washing, exterior decorating infact some guys even do grass cutting, you have the customers now so why not explote other services
this way you can fill in the gaps in your diary, get your windows clean to0day tickets made, and on the ticket basically say why not try one of our other services---- list of services, and the customers will come to you for the other services as well.
hope this helps jinky
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Hi again you guys,
Do all you guys with the years of experience behind you remember the days when you started as i am now,?
Do you all recall the scattered customers, making a few quid a day.
Do you also remember thinking how slow you were and wondering if you could ever get past 2 houses per hour?
And do you remember thinking, will my round grow and snowball as it should, making me a decent living,?
Will i be able to block it off? and pass on the outlying calls?
What if i never get more than one customer on one street, because they already have a window cleaner, and have for years,?
;) please tell me you all started this way, ( unless you bought a round)..
here i go again too many thoughts. ???
cheers
Gary.
Yes of course. That's how it nearly always starts. One of the classic ones for me was a road in Handcross, West Sussex. There are 35 houses there - all in a circle. For about 5 years I was doing 2 or 3 of them. After 6 years, I was doing 17 of them. I gave away all the work in the village eventually as it was seriously underpriced (my original work).
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yes long time ago we never did houses ::) last time we did a house I got 6 months for it :o go for comercial more money no nagging house wifes
nosey parkers watching your every move,I know you have to ern but
try local papers or go for one big book add :-\ it takes time good luck with it ;)
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It was like that for me when I started.
One house here.....another one half a mile up the road..... horrible.
I couldn't take it any more after a month, so I bought it instead.
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One house streets......I've still got some, and I've been going 20 years. But others, you gradually get known. It is a slow process, one estate took me about 6 years, first one then two, after six years I could hardly manage them all. In the meantime, even on a bad day, ask yourself how long would it take to be paid by a shelf filling job the amount you now get?
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Yeah we all been there mate. Keep it up though you will reap your rewards soon enough.. Go on the knocker and tell them you already clean a few of their neighbours. ;). if asked say Mrs Davis in No.13 or was 17 anyway do you want me.
There is always sweet talking, this is what i used to say: Do you want a w/c thats good, hard working honest and cheap... they always go for it. Aim for 20 houses a day to start, you will lose half of them within a few months.. and just keep smiling everyone loves a smiler :D
Good luck mate.
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Hi Gazza, I've been going a year now and while I have a few pockets of well payed customers still a lot of mine is spread out too. Like someone else said always look cheerful, say hello and smile at everyone! it will pay in the long run. It may seem a bit generous of me but I always let new customers know(especially if its a new street) that if they recommend me to anyone and I win a new monthly contract I'll give them 50% off their next bill, its beginning to work for me and the word spreading! what do others think?
Anyways good luck
Simon
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Its not easy.And its hard to stay positive sometimes.There has been a few times when i feel like jacking it all in.As said in previous threads,the longer you stick it out the better.Alot of the time,its being in the right place at the right time.Sign writing your van helps alot aswell.Image is important.At the end of the day,if you look cheap and unprofessional,who is going to let you work around their million pound house?Having a friendly attitude helps.Also,talking to other window cleaners helps.Paul Griffin from this forum put a couple of jobs my way,which,after canvessing,have developed into a few more.If you ever start doubting your decision to be a window cleaner,think back to what you was doing before.Thats what i do.Anyway gazza,good luck and keep your chin up.As a business,im still in the extremely early stages,and still have loads to do.There is money in window cleaning,but it is hard work
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It was like that for me when I started.
One house here.....another one half a mile up the road..... horrible.
I couldn't take it any more after a month, so I bought it instead.
Are you into alan partridge,squeaky?
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;) please tell me you all started this way,
Gary.
Gary,
I can honestly relate to everything you've stated in your initial post.
It took me three-years to get a decent round put together; and even though I'm approaching my fourth year, I've still debts incurred from the time I couldn't pay certain bills (only one last payment to Gordon Brown to go; Wahay).
I've nearly 'jacked' it in many-a-time; it's not easy mate; not for the faint-hearted or for those who give up easily.
My advice would be to 'bite the bullet' and get out there and canvass at every opportunity. It's the only way to build up a compact round quickly. Make sure you get your pricing right though; that's extremely important. If you're unsure how to price correctly (I still get it wrong frequently); then start a new thread about how to price.
Also, suffer the Winter (although I think I prefer Winter to Summer; sometimes) and look forward to Spring where you'll pick up loads of new customers from window cleaners who haven't been able to hack another winter; or just dropped their 'B Jobs' since they couldn't fit them in with the reduced day-light hours.
If you want a good business; dig deep; and you'll get it.
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I have never seen so many vans/cars driving arround with bright shiny ladders. there seems to be a lot of new guys starting up and good luck to them. having said that I am still getting stopped and asked if I do this or that area. I don't go to new streets any more unless they are really big jobs. I frequently get asked by existing customers if I do the area where they are moving to. If I was looking to expand this would be an ideal way of getting a start in new areas.
When I started, I targeted new developments, this is by far the best way to get started without buying a round. Get in early and keep going back. If you don't quit you'll win. Dai
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thanks for all the encouragement guys
its appreciated ;)
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We have all started at sometime or other.
The question is do you want to be sucssefull at running your own w/c buisness?
If its Yes, then work your bloody socks off.
My Tip, Set yourself targets. If someone were to start w/c next week I would advise Canvass, Canvass, Canvass. Try to get £50's worth of work for each week for the first month. Its not a lot but its achievable. At the end of your first month, you have £200 worth of work. Do that for the next 6 months, allways hitting your Target. You will feel good when you hit the target which will spur you on. After 6 months you will have an income of £300 a week. Then reavaluate and set yourself another target. it will keep you focused and you will feel like you are moving forward and you should find it more rewarding.
All the best. Nel.
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I remember going home and collapsing after a days work - £42! (Imagine a fat guy who has only done office, selling and driving for ten years being wheeled home in a wheelbarrow - legs and arms hanging out that was me!)
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thats me now, after driving and selling its hard work eh , but i really do enjoy it, thanks for all your input, and cheers fast one for always lifting me. :)
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Thanks Neil, thats a great piece of advice....re: setting targets....I have been going 3 weeks now and have 16 clients....it all does seem like a distant goal to have regular weeks of full work....pushed out a 1000 leaflets this week (3000 so far) in a mainly country area....did it on my bicycle (getting fitter if nothing else)...not much repsonse this week had 5 phone calls and that transpired into 4 new customers from the leaflets.....
I suppose I am just having a bit of a 'low' at the moment... had one call...woman wanted the tops doing twice a year....another call, lady wanted small terraced doing every 3 months...I have declined them both...I want regular work not peice meal.
New week coming and will get those new customers
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if its any more constellation , i was exactly in the same boat driving out to villages to give a quote then drive back to clean, pick a new one up a week later, i seem to have spent more time travelling than working.
All of a sudden i got blocks of houses which allowed me to drop the odd ones, just stick at it be proffessional, smart ,clean shaven (with your neck in the back of your collar, arms parellel with the ground and a thirty inch pace :o) and friendly, word will get around.
stick with it mate and it ll come alright , nobody apart from us knows how much we earn and a lot of people would be shocked if they knew.
STICK AT IT!
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Thanks BlueSteve ;) needed that....
Reminds me of the fun runs with the screws shouting "push it out" ;)
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Why leaflet drop when you can canvass?
With canvassing you know instantly if you get a new customer, you know if their is another w/c in the area. You get to know how much they charge and if they are any good.
I have never leaflet dropped.
You do get a catch 33 in w/c. You will pick up more work by working, But you have to get the work in the first place.
I picked up 4 new customers on one street this week because they saw me working. Their w/c has just packed in, they were so keen to get me to clean them, I did them in the rain. That was three houses at £10 and one at £14.
Ring other local w/c and ask if they have any spare work going or if they will sell you any.
I canvassed with my son the other night to try and help him get a w/c round up and running. We where out for an hour. Got one cutomer at £14, another at £11. The biggest was £17, thats £42. When we cleaned them another person asked if we could clean his, who was out when we canvassed, another £11. So my son has £55 of work from an hours canvassing.
I want more work myself due to being so much faster with wfp, I canvassed the outer areas of a village I clean, Casnvassing took one hour and I picked up three customers Two at £21 and one at £20. Thats £62 in total for 1 and 1/2 hrs work.
I have tied to illustrate the effectivness of canvassing, its far better then leaflet dropping were you are then waiting for the phone to ring. You can pull out a map and tick off the areas you have canvassed. If you have villages Near you or in a proximity of 20 miles go and canvass these as you might have more success.
Nel.
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Hi Neil.
I built my round by leafleting.
Unfortunately some of us dont have the gift of the gab or the bottle to cold call.
I understand what you are saying and I know from others that cold calling is the best way but when I tried it I kept getting toungue twisted. ::)
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Petski2,
I know its a bit of a facer, my son has a confidence problem and though he will come with me I will do the talking, I let him price it up and adjust the price if hes too cheap or to dear, though hes usually bang on with the price.
He still has not built up the courage to have a go yet so I will help him a little longer. But if you want new customers and you want them now you are going to have to do it.
Its simple, All you are asking is do they want a good honest Regular Window Cleaner. They will answer Yes or No or we allready have a w/c. If its yes you walk round the house and price up, give the price and tell them how often you clean them, and they will tell you yes or no.
The ones that want a w/c will be so gratefull and happyyou called. They are the ones your looking for. Be nice, keep it simple and direct. After an hour you will have cracked it.
You will get highs when you pick up a lot of work,normally in an ares where their is no w.c. And you will get lows when you go out and pick up nothing. You have to be mentally tough and you have to go out and get the work.
Nel.
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I have use leaflets as I am English and my conversational Dutch is not yet good enough for door knocking... ;), I am trying to get canvassers but that is proving difficult at the moment.....
Dave.
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That makes it a little bit more difficult.
But most Dutch speak English as their second language so it should not be to difficult to overcome.
I was brought up as a J wittness so I was weaned on door knocking so I know given any intrest they will become customers. I also beleive I am the best w/c in the Northen Hemisphere, so my customers get quite a bargin by having me as there w/cleaner.
All the best. Nel.
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Great post gazza .
Reading these comments realy help you to keep getting them ladders out.
Thanks guys for all the replys to this post
Dave
Ps .... Gazza by your regular posts i can see you will get to the top.
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Hi to you all,
Thanks for all your imput and help regarding this post,
I simply cant say thanks individually as too many, and too many posts from myself perhaps ;)?... but you are all brill.
One small concern i do have is up here in the north i would need to get around 400 customers at an average of £6 per house, to earn a decent living,
thats 20 houses per day, will i be able to do so many in a day when im up to speed?
Also i do understand that i will get larger houses and commercial work as i progress as well .
hopefully ;)
ps. thanks dave for that compliment, i do hope so..
and so will you :)
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gazza
I started with 5 house a day, within 3 months of cleaning i am now upto 15 houses a day. These are on the same road.
Dave
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Gazza what is your total of cleans you have now per month?
Dave
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That makes it a little bit more difficult.
But most Dutch speak English as their second language so it should not be to difficult to overcome.
I was brought up as a J wittness so I was weaned on door knocking so I know given any intrest they will become customers. I also beleive I am the best w/c in the Northen Hemisphere, so my customers get quite a bargin by having me as there w/cleaner.
All the best. Nel.
I found that being brought up in that faith (since left) was a hindrance to my early doorknocking with window cleaning. I found that I was giving off signals that indicated that I expected to be rejected for window cleaning too !!
P.S. I wasn't dunked in water so wasn't disf'd nor did I disassociate formally so communication is permitted and the "shunning" advice needn't apply.
What I did learn was to carry on regardless in spite of it being slow to build up the business.
That probably answers a few things that were asked on here before from others.
Mystery solved guys. I don't have 7 heads or 10 horns :)
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i've found my 'door knocking' esxperience has helped me really. You get used to talking to people you dont know, and being pleasent to them.
I think the best way to build up your round is definatly by canvassing, that way the customers can get to know you personally, so they know who will be looking in there windows when they are not around!
All you need to be is smart and polite ... ooh and smile! Then you've got a very good chance of building a good, compact round
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Gazza what is your total of cleans you have now per month?
Dave
hi dave 34 with just over 3 weeks of starting.. dont laugh ;)
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Gazza what is your total of cleans you have now per month?
Dave
hi dave 34 with just over 3 weeks of starting.. dont laugh ;)
That would equate to around 290 customers after 6 months. Sounds fine to me. That's more than I currently have after 15 years. Mind you, I did have about 400 at one time.
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Nice to read your reply Shiner.
I know its off topic so I will only make the comment once.
I am no longer a JW, I left in 1996 of my own accord after being disillusioned with certain things in the faith. I was baptized and a former pioneer but I was not disfellowshipped. I still have many freinds who are in the faith.
So I do find canvassing so easy, I also have an experince in sales, But at the end of the day its peoples lack of belief in themselves that hold many back from canvassing. It should not, all you want to do is find people who dont have a w/c who want there windows cleaned. If they are willing to pay, CUSTOMERS.
Dont make it harder then it is.
Nel.
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All you new starters keep at it and it will begin to grow nicely. I started up on my own last October while working for a local w/c. He was messing me about with my wages so i thought sod it i'll drop some leaflets and give it a go myself.
I now currently have over 250 customers on my books and i'm still getting the calls from new customers. Lots are recommendations but some are from my last leaflet drop which must have been back in Feb.
The round i have is scattered all over the place just like you new guys but it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Providing you price the job right and do a bloody good clean to justify this you'll have customers galore in no time.
I think the most compact part of my round is 8 houses in 1 street but apart form that it's mainly 2' and 3's. I even have the odd day where after each job it another trip in the car to the next one. (never that far mind).
Never done any canvassing but seriously considering it now as i have just taken someone on and could do with a few more customers.
Just keep at it guys and you'll be wondering what all the fuss was about in no time.
Regards,
Lance
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thanks lance thats really encouraging,
nice to hear you doing so well.
and taking someone on. i hope i can post the same thing in 10 months,
you done brill.
Gary.
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Nice to read your reply Shiner.
I know its off topic so I will only make the comment once.
I am no longer a JW, I left in 1996 of my own accord after being disillusioned with certain things in the faith. I was baptized and a former pioneer but I was not disfellowshipped. I still have many freinds who are in the faith.
So I do find canvassing so easy, I also have an experince in sales, But at the end of the day its peoples lack of belief in themselves that hold many back from canvassing. It should not, all you want to do is find people who dont have a w/c who want there windows cleaned. If they are willing to pay, CUSTOMERS.
Dont make it harder then it is.
Nel.
Agreed about the lack of belief in self Neil. I was fine with canvassing once I realised what was causing the problems for me. It was a lack of belief in myself coupled with the fact that it unconciously reminded me of my negative childhood experiences with door knocking. Once I became aware that it was what I was being reminded of rather than what I was actually doing (seeking window cleaning work) then I got on with it very well. I have no friends there as I walked away in 1973 but I do bump into people sometimes and chat. So long as someone accepts I'm not conversion material it's fine with me. I even attended a funeral of an elderly lady at their hall a little while back as I regard that as a separate issue to attending a service (meeting). The guy who took the funeral service was a window cleaner who I know :) (he said trying to keep it vaguely on topic) ;D
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WOW you where brave Shiner, 1973.
Glad to see 1975 passed by without incedent.
Sorry off topic.
Nel.
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WOW you where brave Shiner, 1973.
Glad to see 1975 passed by without incedent.
Sorry off topic.
Nel.
Yes I did get the heebie jeebies about that for a while ;D .
I could say a lot more but it's not really the place for it. Suffice to say that I believe that the worldview I have these days is far healthier than the one I once had.
There are plenty of places on the internet for in depth discussions of such topics. It can sometimes be difficult to tackle such issues without polarisation occurring in the discussion.
All I really wanted to say from the outset was that I experienced so much rejection early in my life during my door knocking experiences, I unwittingly carried that mindset into canvassing for window cleaning. Once I got past that, the canvassing style got better.
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Gazza what is your total of cleans you have now per month?
Dave
Hi Gazza
Would never laugh i am at only 45 after 3 months, But it's like winning the lottery when i get the extra new customer.
Also i work Sundays just to get the new business.
But i am quiet a handy person and have got some good property maintance work.
Dave
hi dave 34 with just over 3 weeks of starting.. dont laugh ;)
That would equate to around 290 customers after 6 months. Sounds fine to me. That's more than I currently have after 15 years. Mind you, I did have about 400 at one time.
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Gazza what is your total of cleans you have now per month?
Dave
hi dave 34 with just over 3 weeks of starting.. dont laugh ;)
Hi Gazza
Would never laugh i am at only 45 after 3 months, But it's like winning the lottery when i get the extra new customer.
Also i work Sundays just to get the new business.
But i am quiet a handy person and have got some good property maintance work.
Dave
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Sunshine windows....just as a matter of intrest...how many leaflets did you drop?
Cheers
Dave.
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Gazza do you find knocking the doors better or leaflet drop?
Also if you do both, which one you tend to do the most?
Thanks Dave
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hi dave, they all recommend door knocking but i do more leaflet drops after so many knockbacks in the morning, i then blast leaflets out all day. so they work for me.
i really should go out more in the evenings when they all home,
but once i get a couple of calls i then get a couple more up the ladders.
Gary.
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Back out on the streets today...have pledged to get 500 leaflets out today....have set myself some targets this week...I want 100 euros worth of new work (about 69quid), so far I have 16 customers...
Did a one-off 70 euros (about 48quid) took me three hours with the wfp !
Have started targeting large type houses....have thought that wfp is really good for these so am spending a portion of the week seeking these out.
Good luck to all and especially us newbies :D
Cheers
Dave.
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Hi Gazza
Yes i found leaflets where better for me.
Only posted about 700 so need to up my volume a bit.
I have brought a freedom trolley so i will look for them 3 storey properties now.
Pity we was not close we could have set up together, Never mind i not moving house...lol
Dave
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that would have been a good idea , i long for some help with leaflets, girlfriend and her teenage lads no interest at all , but never mind wait until they want holiday work off me ;D
did a semi today (£7)... it was disgusting, never seen anything like it... her frames were unrecognisable, .. leaded windows , bird poop. cobwebs... youve seen it dave, you know what i mean.....it took me well over an hour!.... i used a degreaser when i did some pressure washing....so i tested it on a tiny bit of pvc frame, left it five minutes and....bingo!!! bright and clean.... she was so impressed she gave me a tenner , and £7 per fortnight...
well chuffed but was knackered lol... will be easy next time, i really do enjoy it but these first cleans are hard and time consuming, but i wont speed up until i know its 100% clean..... then hopefully when i do hit speed the quality will go hand in hand.
gary.
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Gazza did you clean the upvc with pressure washer?
What type of degreaser did you use?
Only i have a first clean which is in a bit of bird poo state.
If you did you a pressure washer was it petrol?
Dave
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Sunshine windows....just as a matter of intrest...how many leaflets did you drop?
Cheers
Dave
Me and my dear old mum (she'll kill me if she catches me calling her that) delivered just over 10,000 leaflets in total. I got rid of a batch of 10,000 then got another 5,000 printed but have since moved and changed home phone numbers. For some reason they wouldn't let us keep the old number. I now have just short of 5,000 sat in the back of my car doing nothing. :(
I have just experienced my first taste of door knocking today with the new starter i took on last week. Was really nervous on the first house but when i got the job it got kind of addictive. Picked up 3 new customers in return for knocking about 15 doors after finishing work today. Not a bad % return.
Those that weren't in, i was leaving a quote form that i have written up giving them a choice of monthly or bi-monthly cleans. Hopefully get a few calls later too.
Keep plugging away guys and you'll be too busy to canvass soon. ;D
Lance
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dave ,
i used the degreaser i use to use on drives, but i did not use pressure to do windows lol, would i blown them out, i have 13 litres per min petrol washer.....
Its called Maxima industrial degreaser, maximum strength.. mix it half and half with water cos its strong........oh blow it ;) i put it on neat then washed my hands straight away
Wipe the whole frame with it,.. leave for 5 and it will shift anything.... and bring out the dirt on upvc.... it also brings yellow frames back to white......
they think am a miracle worker lol...
good stuff.
Gary.
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Gazza thanks i will try and get some.
I was think of using some sort of pressure washer on guttering and fascias
Dave
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you can buy a lance which hooks over the gutter to clean it,,, and they are rubbish, they send crap everywhere, and you are there forever cleaning around the house, its easier to don a pair of gloves and lug it out.... thats just my opinion.... clean facias with pressure washer no prob, but unless you got an extendable lance be very careful of the kick back.
gary.