Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Roundbuildersuk on September 08, 2006, 07:54:16 pm
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Hi guys and girls, this is just to re-introduce ourselves "Round Builders UK".
We are a close nit all female round building service. We only employ canvassers that are adults, who are professional, reliable, presentable and personable. We use a natural, non pushy door knocking technique which has proven to be very successful with an extremely low cancellation rate!
We have found, from previous experience, that our female work force have been able to build rounds quickly for local window cleaners and we are therefore looking to offer our services nationwide.
We offer a competitive rate to our customers and very fair payment terms for our work.
If you are interested to find out more about how we can develop your business and expand your turn-over ... please email us(roundbuildersuk@hotmail.com).
References available upon request. We'd love to hear from you!
From "The Round Builders UK" Team
roundbuildersuk@hotmail.com
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what if a customer cancels - will you refund the value of the clean from the bill?
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very fair payment terms
I take it that would be you get the work and payment in full on completion.
Paul
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Not much in there profile
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why do you not answer information requests or calls :(
bit of a strange way to run a buisness .
r you still in buisness ???
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No personal name, no phone number, no website, no history, just a hotmail account! Luke
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Just like I was saying to wcr the other day I would never use a company that seemingly cant respond to peoples questions (have you got something to hide?) Why are you now using hotmail when you had a different email address on your website? What do you do about cancellations? What are the payment terms and what is your U.S.P apart from being all female which makes no difference to me What about sex discrimination if you run a all female team then obviously you would only employ females. the reason i ask the last question is because personally I can see the potential for future legal problems and I wouldn't want to employ you to do the canvassing only to find that you have gone out of business because you overlooked this piece of employment legislation. Also what experience of window cleaning do you have? Who sets the prices? Whats the average sign up rate when canvassing and what percentage of that is the average cancelation rate? I.e one night you knock 100 houses, 10 sign up, thats a 10% sign up. However, if 2 then cancel then that leaves 8 which means sign up rate is 8
% and that means that the cancelation rate would be 20%. Using that formula whats the averages? Are cancelations replaced or refunded or nothing? Also how long have you been established and how many rounds have you built? Also if you get work that comes in months later do you pass that on to clients in that area and if so what do you do if you have more than client in the same area and they both want that job. How do you decide who gets it? So come on roundbuilders as i've said before I may be interested in using a canvassing company if they convince me that they are reliable, honest and up front about the service they can provide with some proof of past success. I am sure that I am not the only person who thinks this so come on roundbuilders (or any of the other canvassing companies who can answer the above) Convince us!
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calm down lads. www.roundbuilders.com. they do some work for me every
few months. in my opinion, i dont think there's a problem using just girl
canvassers. i think you'll find there's lady only cab drivers, decorators,
hairdressers, insurance etc. as for there pricing very good. ive used
guys 3/4 times over the last few years and believe me the girls do a much
better job. i did get an email last week saying that there up north somewhere
this week i guess that's why no replys. but can i say before or if anyone
replys to this gemma, or roundbuilders is nothing to with me other than
a contracted working one.
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what do you mean calm down? I only asked because before I was seriously considering using a canvassing company until i heard the comments on here. I mean you have jumped to roundbuilders defense and so have others for the other companies but you seem to be in the minority most posts seem to me to be about problems the biggest being down to a lack of communication. This is the biggest gripe followed closely by confusion over a clear policy on replacement/refunds of cancellations ( and in some cases it would seem what is actually a cancellation). After being on here and reading the comments about canvassing companies if I was to start my own canvassing company the first thing I would do is find a way to address these problems then worry about promoting my service. Just so you know I run my own window cleaning company (nothing else) and I have been a member here for a few months but rarely post i enjoy reading the different topics as in general i have found members comments genuine (except about earnings (jdemarco in particular!!!- I mean best bit is he uses a trolley system (like me) but does all this work which means ether he charges through the roof (i.e about £50 for a 2 bed terrace or he is using a petrol tanker to cart the water around) ( by the way jdemarco what vehicles do you have/use?). If a member has said something they believe in and someone tells them they disagree they are quick to jump to their defence . My point there is people are saying that they await responses etc from roundbuilders and the others. In this case they have become so fed up with waiting for a response that they have posted on a public forum about it despite the post being started in september. That means that these people have been waiting anything up to 9 weeks for a response and you wonder why i am saying that I find it hard to trust them? If and when these companies prove that they have sorted the problems out i will seriously consider using them but until then personally they stand no chance.
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I think there is problems with every canvassing company, I have spoke to most, some I have used, some I will not, and some I would never use, or use again.
the main problem I have found is:
1, they advertise and when you ask them to do it they cant, not yet to busy.
2, they work for you and dont get what you want.
3, you email and get a reply a week or so later
4, they do work for you and get one-off cleans (that you pay more for)
5, once they have done work they dont call you or let you know whats going on
6, they give it the big we can do this can do that , then not deliver.
I know one of these companies have reformed sacked the problems and are going forward, other still do the same and dont listen, in a few years some of these will not be around and I would lay money on it.
RANT OVER
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Fair play window washers I agree. That is exactly the point. Only the ones who learn this will survive Also further to my last but one post, Yes there are companies that have e.g female cleaners only but i think you will find that the work they do is in situations where is isn't possible to use males ie they clean female changing rooms at a sports centre and the legislation regarding discrimination has excemptions regarding this but as a general rule you cant descriminate against certain sexes in the same way that you cant against disabled people. I seem to remember a company on dragons den that was going to be a female only builing comapany and one of the reasons the dragons wouldn't invest was for this exact reason so i would be interested to know how they got round it.
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Fair play window washers I agree. That is exactly the point. Only the ones who learn this will survive Also further to my last but one post, Yes there are companies that have e.g female cleaners only but i think you will find that the work they do is in situations where is isn't possible to use males ie they clean female changing rooms at a sports centre and the legislation regarding discrimination has excemptions regarding this but as a general rule you cant descriminate against certain sexes in the same way that you cant against disabled people. I seem to remember a company on dragons den that was going to be a female only builing comapany and one of the reasons the dragons wouldn't invest was for this exact reason so i would be interested to know how they got round it.
discrimination is the keyword there.
Thing that makes me laugh is this, there are companies men only and female only, both advertise this. Why I dont know, little quirk maybe.
Woman on there own good, men on own also good. discrimination again one will lead to drop in work FACT. GIMINCS only work for so long before they loss the gimick patter IMO
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window washers you are a prolific member, if the problems you mention were addressed and you had a need for it would you then consider using these companies?
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ps i mean that as i am classed as a newbie so maybe others won't take me seriously.
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window washers you are a prolific member, if the problems you mention were addressed and you had a need for it would you then consider using these companies?
Prolific member :o
I have used contacted and used many of these companies.
There a a couple I would use one is high priced, the other a company that others on here slated big time, but have reformed and sacked the person that was the problem.
So yes.
I will not say company names of people that I know not to use or that just IMO will not cut it will my company:
the two I would are Cleanermarketing and PDS I think both are on here but dont post to much
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ps i mean that as i am classed as a newbie so maybe others won't take me seriously.
some people do not take newbies as serious, I dont I treat everyone the same ;)
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Thank you window washers i like your website by the way!
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Thank you window washers i like your website by the way!
Don't go telling him that ::) ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Thank you window washers i like your website by the way!
Don't go telling him that ::) ;D ;D ;D ;D
Shhh John. :P
Thank you WCE ;)
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I've used Gemma at round builders before and I must admit they did a good job for me. If you had the money to get them working for you for one month every day. I believe that they could knock you a £50,000 a year business up.
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i say take people as you find them, this is how i found PDS
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=42016.0
but as is pointed out here many times everyone is entitled to an opinion!
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the update to the above link, is that the womans windows are rank, her sills are thick with traffic film and every time I do next door but one I smile my B*&&*cks off!! sorry didn't mean to hi jak the post
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Colley.. If you use them again give us a shout i mite get some canvasing done too..
Could split the costs just a thought
dave
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Will do dave ;)
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nice 1
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Prolific member
I have used contacted and used many of these companies.
There a a couple I would use one is high priced, the other a company that others on here slated big time, but have reformed and sacked the person that was the problem.
So yes.
I will not say company names of people that I know not to use or that just IMO will not cut it will my company:
the two I would are Cleanermarketing and PDS I think both are on here but dont post to much
i used one of these companys last year ,,,then found out they went back to the same area for another company which i found out of order
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Hi all
Yes we are still in business and working very hard!
You have started this thread from an old posting that was entered before we had our website constructed www.roundbuilders.com. After completing our website we were inundated with enquiries for new canvassing and telesales contracts - all enquiries are replied to!
We now have new contact details and email addresses! You can still reach us on either the original hotmail account (roundbuildersuk@hotmail.com) or sales@roundbuilders.com/design@roundbuilders.com.
After a few well earned days holiday for my b-day celebrations we had 2 contracts to work on back to front which both involved working away from home and I'm afraid we did not have access to the internet and our email accounts. However, I can always be contacted on the mobile no: 07704187580 and I did receive several enquiry calls while I was away which were all responded to. We do however, apologise for any late responses, since then, as we are catching up at the moment.
I am afraid that as we run both telesales contracts and design briefs during the day and work unsocialable hours in the eves and weekends our time is very limited to spend on forums and hence this is the first opportunity to read and respond to this thread.
Our present experience is that having completed initial canvassing requirements for customers we are being asked to extend canvassing contracts to gain even more work for the window cleaners.
Just to make it clear, we are not the company who canvassed the same area for different window cleaners! Once we have carried out work for a window cleaner we are careful never to return to the same area for someone else!
We hope that our customers in the past and present have not had any reason to speak negatively about our company. Everyone is entitled to freedom of choice but
in response to the below I can only speak for our company:
1, they advertise and when you ask them to do it they cant, not yet to busy.
Yes, we are booked up with contracts until the end of Jan/beginning of Feb - we are pleased to be in high demand!
2, they work for you and don’t get what you want.
Each of our clients explains their requirements and working methods and we work to their specifications
3, you email and get a reply a week or so later
Generally our response time is within 24hours. However some circumstances do not permit this (i.e. the last 2 weeks) and therefore responses can be later. However, I can always be reached on my mobile!
4, they do work for you and get one-off cleans (that you pay more for)
We are asked for the occasional one-off cleans (tend to be conservatory roof cleans that are worth alot more than a regular house clean!) and our customers are always given the option to decline them ... but from our experience do not as sometimes they actually lead to more regular cleans!
5, once they have done work they dont call you or let you know whats going on.
Customers are always informed of progress once a canvassing schedule is completed. The main reason for this is because we like to be paid!
6, they give it the big we can do this can do that, then not deliver.
All we do is offer our services to companies that do not have the time or resources to do the work themselves.
Kind Regards From Gemma