Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: R W C on February 16, 2009, 07:24:58 pm
-
My misses has been working in a shop in town with a friend of hers who is the manager, her mate said i can do the windows if i want but i turned this down as there was already a cleaner doing them as i felt bad, her friend has now got herself another managers job in the town and she said i could do them too if i want but theres also a cleaner there, and my misses has been offered her mates old job, should i take both these jobs which is worth £30 fortnight or just leave let the current cleaners carry on.
Chris
-
would make an interesting poll, i wouldnt take it, if they were doing a poor job fair enough,
-
as you requested
-
not no more
-
oh i can its my game and i make the rules ;D
-
hi chris you have to adhear to the pole what ever the outcome ok?? their fate rests on this poll!!
-
ill lock it now then ;D
-
Sorry second vote was me ;D worth £780 per year I'd take them.
-
I would never canvass someones work but this feels different as ive been asked and not offered.
Chris
-
If you have been asked then there must have been a problem with other cleaner so go for it
-
Chris, do you actually want to do the work?
If you do, then do it..
-
all the yes men are bang out of order. if you get it im going to under cut you ;D ;D ;D ;D
-
That's why everyone hates Chris's ;)
-
Take it. Look after yourself and forget about everyone else ;D
-
My misses has been working in a shop in town with a friend of hers who is the manager, her mate said i can do the windows if i want but i turned this down as there was already a cleaner doing them as i felt bad, her friend has now got herself another managers job in the town and she said i could do them too if i want but theres also a cleaner there, and my misses has been offered her mates old job, should i take both these jobs which is worth £30 fortnight or just leave let the current cleaners carry on.
Chris
If its in manchester mate and shops, take it, i dont think its a bad thing, you would never build your business far if you dont take work at some point as everybody usually has a WC so if they dont like them (which they obviously dont, or at least not as much as you) then there loss :)
Good luck
-
if they said his work was poope .id go for it .but if it was u .and u were doing a good job how would u feel .mind u if its ocs cleaners u have my blessing
-
At the end of the day think??
WOULD THEY DO IT TO YOU???????
-
If they were happy with current window cleaner...would they be asking you?...Espeically you...lol
-
at £2 per day ... not worth the hassle.... 2 nice detached could turn up tomorrow same price.
cant do with town centre stuff anyway.
me ;D
-
Hmmm.... difficult. I'm new to this game but will say I'm taking whatever I can at the moment. Gotta pay the mortgage. I do try not to step on anyone's toes and keep it freindly. But it does come back to 'should you canvas an area where you know someone already works??' How do you know which houses they clean and which they don't? If you get someone asking you then you should take it. 'Gift Horse' springs to mind.
I do have a bit of a dilemma myself with a nursey in town here. A mate of mine who says he has too much work really to stay out of the tax mans reach (supposedly) already does it. I have a kind of standing agreement I won't go after his work. But lately I have been picking up one or two jobs that the customers, of his, have rung me because he's doing a poop job and charging too much. So does that mean, A; I'm not charging enough. B; I do a better job and word of mouth is kicking in, C; he'll be kicking my head in soon?
Probably a combination of all three.
-
i would take it, there will be times when the same haens to you you loose work cause they have got a friend to do it ect.
but make sure its not some one your friendly with or this could turn sour.
if you see the new cleaner while your cleaning them just lay dumb and say thety asked you to quote and you prusumed there was no cleaner.
-
Take it....why should you care about other wc's....you are in business,and that means (or should) going for business that YOU want,wether it is someone elses job or not is irrelevant.
I am about to take over a biggish contract that i know the wc very well,he opened his mouth and told me all the details,i tendered for it and won...do i feel bad...not on your nelly mate...IT IS BUSINESS.
-
Scruples its a case if you dont take it then someone else will I would never try and poach work from someone else but if customers are looking to change window cleaner you might as well take it .
-
I will "poach" without any worries,if it is a job that i want (by the way i am not talking about general domestic stuff here).
I started in this business to make a success,not to worry about others.They dont pay my bills (they wouldnt want to with my wife :().
Commercial stuff is open to anyone to get,if you tread on toes so what.We all know that commercial customers are not loyal one bit,so some you win and some you lose.
Domestics are a slightly differant story,but if i can get more work at my prices i dont care who i tread on in the process.
-
If you dont want the work dont take it . If you do want the work take it. At the end of the day the've asked you , so you've not poached.
I suppose you could ask yourself if you where them [ the other cleaners ] how would you feel ?
-
you've been asked to take on a job, you didn't undercut, or poach it, so no biggie.
-
Take it!!!
You're in business to make money, full stop.
Take it!!!
-
Don't take it.
You are picking the work up as a result of a mate who says you can have it, not as a result of the cleaner doing a poor or bad job, or even being too expensive.
Have you priced this work or been offered it at the price the previous window cleaner was charging?
I do lots of shop fronts and it really, really winds me up when some new manager cancels me only to give it to their mate. >:( >:(
Nothing wrong with my price or my work, it's just offered across because of chums >:(
Losing work to a competitor because your work isn't acceptable, your price is too high or maybe your manner and appearance are just not very professional is fair enough....but to lose out to a mates husband? No way!
Ian
-
You lot seem a nice bunch of lads. :o
A lot of people on here will say take it but.....would they? Some would & some wouldn't have the balls.
I have seen this happen in Norwich and also alot of blood spilt. It just ainy worth the hassle.
Bob
-
Not when you can get a couple of nice worry free houses via your phone ringing....
i wouldnt take it for a couple of reasons.... one of them is simple.
the other is straightforward ;D
-
well some say take it some say don't, well in that case my advice would be get a coin heads you take it and tails you don't, so flip the coin.
-
My misses has been working in a shop in town with a friend of hers who is the manager, her mate said i can do the windows if i want but i turned this down as there was already a cleaner doing them as i felt bad, her friend has now got herself another managers job in the town and she said i could do them too if i want but theres also a cleaner there, and my misses has been offered her mates old job, should i take both these jobs which is worth £30 fortnight or just leave let the current cleaners carry on.
Chris
LOL Chris, by the time you actually decide you will have lost the chance! Instead of worrying about what people on here think go with your instincts ;)
-
Its up to the customer who they employ. Those who say you wouldnt do it cos you would feel bad must be nuts. Would they care about you....Of course not. Balls to them take the work and look after your family!!
-
Business is business, if someone asks me to clean I will give them our prices and if they accept I clean them.
I do not undercut but if they are looking for someone else then the work is fair game in my opinion.
-
No dont take it. For the reasons well spelt out by Signor Giles. Little power trip by this woman dont you think? "Ive got some balls im the manager"
Sod that, go get some honest decent jobs, not some piddle on offer like that. Its only £60 per month
If your not desperate, have some self respect ,and dont think like some of the plastic Alan Sugars on here then say no thanks.
Ive had pubs and other "good stuff offered" like this and said No, worth much more than this is.
-
Coming from a fellow yid ;D
-
I know your with me really bruv.
Shalom.
;D
-
LOL....if you want to take opportunities that offer themselves to you then go for it.
If you want to be a goodie twoshoes and "dont do it because of the other poor chap who is losing the job" then dont bother.
I wonder why some people are in self employement?
Who pays your bills man?...
-
This isn't about opportunity alone, ethics are involved, you are getting a job via the 'nudge nudge, wink wink' method...jobs for the lads.
It's a deeply underhand way of obtaining work.
A mate of some description is saying, "Look, I've just got a new job, You are my mate so I'll sack the window cleaner for no good reason and give the job to you, at the same price too if you like?'
You had instinctive reservations when it was first offered to you, those feeling were right.
How would some of you that urge him to take the work feel if the window cleaner losing the job was yourself?
How would you feel if, when you asked why you were losing the job, the manager said, "Oh it's nothing wrong with your price or quality of work, I just want to give the job to a mate of mine."
I don't think any of you would feel happy.
It's bad enough when you lose out because a competitor has come in with a cheaper price, but at least there is a hard business reason behind the decision to sack you...
Ian
-
Asked to quote, submit quotation, quotation accepted then let the begrudgers go to hell.
It would be better if the existing window cleaner was also asked to quote and that the contract was awarded on price or other consideration but that is in an ideal world.
-
When i was told the price they where paying for one these jobs £12 1 large pane and a door i said id of done the inside too every other clean for that price, thats when they said its mine if i want it.
Chris
-
Just go for it,dont listen to the dogooders,they dont pay your bills and support your family.You have already justified being offered the work by saying that you will do the insides,so you are offering a better service already than the other wc....
Take what you can get,whichever way you can get it...if like others say you get stiffed every now and again,dont moan about it...just put it down to business.
-
what goes around comes around or something like that these jobs come up.
and next min your history as well if hes doing a good job leave him be.
not worth hassel thers loads of glass out there to clean can you realy do with muppets
hiring and firing for no real reason
-
When i was told the price they where paying for one these jobs £12 1 large pane and a door i said id of done the inside too every other clean for that price, thats when they said its mine if i want it.
Chris
On the above evidence you got the job (or will have if you take it on) on business merit, the other window cleaner is absolutely ripping off the customer...£12.00 for 2 panes of glass?
You're having a laugh! He deserves to lose it.
Just go for it,dont listen to the dogooders,they dont pay your bills and support your family.You have already justified being offered the work by saying that you will do the insides,so you are offering a better service already than the other wc....
Take what you can get,whichever way you can get it...if like others say you get stiffed every now and again,dont moan about it...just put it down to business.
Got to disagree with you here, lots of reasons not to cynically dump on a competitor, I totally agree with competition, but you take on work in a sneaky fashion you are going to come up against a great deal of resentment, at the first opportunity the other guy is going to dump on you whenever and however possible.
Business is not a popularity contest, if you are invited to submit a quote then you do so, but when you operate with the business ethics of a shark your reputation will spread, no one will trust you because they know you will shaft them the moment you get the chance.
Ian
-
Ian,who is going to know you will shaft them...? another window cleaner...?
I would not worry one bit about what other wc's think,as i stand by my statements that business is business.
Do you think that all major businesses got to where they are by being the nice guy,of course not,they would be the first ones to tread on your toes.
If you had the chance of taking work from a large company would you not get pleasure in taking it?I would and a lot of others would as well...yet we would still be taking work from someone.....
Go and ask some of the big boys about their consciences when it comes to getting work.
Each to their own,and if it makes you feel like you have done the right thing then good on you,but i like to get what i can if i want it and i dont care if it does come back around...to me that is part of business.
-
Fortunately around here most of us operate with a good business ethic, there are a couple (Tosh and Squeaky in particular) who I trust enough to caretake my round (the shops at least) and I know they are not going to leap in and try to take the work from under my nose, likewise there is another guy who gets me to look after some of his work when he goes away.
There are also a couple with the ethics of a shark, they have earned the distrust of most who come across them, they'll undercut you and take work off you in whatever way they can...
Are they big, successful entrepenaurs? Are they hell! The one in particular I dislike with a vengence, the other is a ...well, on here I'm polite so I won't say!
Neither earn as much as I do and the one has been going as long as I have.
I get on well with my competitors and I'll compete as hard as I can for the same work too.
If I scratch their backs, they will return the favour, but if one of them dived in and took one of my good accounts off me purely on the basis that their mate was the manager of the shop...well what do you think would happen?
All trust gone, all friendship gone and I'd be poised to dump on them at the very first opportunity, just as they would on me if the postions were reversed.
I've no doubt the likes of Alan Sugar are utterly ruthless in business, but they operate in a very different league to us, people are just pawns to them.
Small people like us need to operate in a different way, far better to earn the trust and respect of customers AND competitors..it's a reputation that gets you far more work at a better price than the stab-in-the-back-get-the-work-at-any-cost brigade....
-
Ian....your views are respected but not supported by me.
Each to their own. ;)
-
cor what have I started ::)
-
cor what have I started ::)
A good discussion and exchange of viewpoints!
No ranting or slagging, which is how debate should be ;)
Ian
-
Just how the forum should be ;D
-
thing is Chris you arnt going to clean them are you ;D ;D
im going to get you too do them for me stan and pay you £1.70 ;D