Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: johns window kleen on July 07, 2009, 02:50:47 pm
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I have personally never worked in the rain much before, mainly because I felt the custies wouldn't like it, and secondly co's ive never seen anyone else doing it, and it looks a bit daft to me, but having read the posts from the people who do I thought I would persevere with it today and see what happened.
Anyways, heavy showers on and off I carry on and the third customer says "are you mad I don't want mine cleaned whilst its raining"
It was said in a jokey way but it confirmed to me that people will genuinely get the hump if we work when its raining.
I gave up on today cos the skies were black and I think the majority of people will think were taking them for monkeys.
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thats the way i feel . light showers i will work on but nothing else
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I Dont work in downpours but saying that i was half way through a bungolow this morning and got soaked ;D ;D
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put yourself in their shoes how would you feel paying for a window clean when its pouring? would you be happy?
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i have tried it a number of times, and it doesnt work, the customer might tolerate it, but they dont like it
i will never forget a elderly lady that said " dont worry about cleaning them today in the rain " and paid me the money
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Quite apart from (non) customer satisfaction working in the rain just looks plain ridiculous.
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light rain and showers im fine with but torrential downpours im
not neither are my customers
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I will clean in light rain on domestic although I did work in heavier rain today because I was finishing a patio and conservatory roof clean from yesterday.
when I doing commercial I will work in any weather
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Agree, never work in rain, i dont care how many of you say people dont mind...they do.
Like you johns window kleen i tried a number of times and after the 2 or 3 "not todas" you get ticked off. But i do completly understand. When it rains i dont even try, wait in van for a while or book to do conserv roofs or pressure washing jobs.
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not working in the rain i cant understand why so many window cleaners run for cover just because of a little rain. i clean all my customers in the rain or snow or gales it does not matter what the weather is doing with wfp you can clean regardless in some cases its easier because all the bird muck and stains are soft and easy to move. all my custys know i'll be there regardless of weather conditions those that complain get replaced with others ,untill you have a customer base you can rely on. being a weather wimp dosn't pay the bills :o :o
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Why wouldnt you work in the rain? in this country it can be blazing sunshine one min then rain the next or sunny am then p with rain in the afternoon. cant see the difference in cleaning in rain than it raining later in the day. I have to agree its easier to get the bird poo of in the rain and its much easier to do 1st cleans when its raining. How do you guys keep up if you stop work or call it a day as soon as it rains?
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I held off for a bit this morning early when it was bad but when it kept on/off on/off i had enough and just worked through, not bothered anymore, i dont know why i held off in the first place, its just a mental block i cant get rid of that looks for a way out when its raining i think its because i listen to the dont clean in rain nonsense on here :) ive never been asked to stop in it!! its never really that bad once you work in it - and i ALWAYS do good money wise in rain, as i work faster and its slightly quicker, so here on in i dont care anymore, i will offer rain guarantee etc, if one custy really complains skip them till tommorow or next week or when it stops etc etc so what, id rather do the 20 others and miss one than do a big fat 0!! Do the ones at work bla bla theres always a way, if you dont work in the rain at all you will find your schedule getting really annoying!! Those days you plan off will never happen!!
My opinion, im sure some of you dont clean in rain and are still millionaires etc but i find its a pain in the bum but i live in sunny manchester :)
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i never work in the rain ,nothing to do with the customer,i dont like it
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i never work in the rain ,nothing to do with the customer,i dont like it
FAir enough lol
My bro in law said that too today, i said just keep going custies wont care, he said - no i dont like getting wet,
I dont mind it :)
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get wet get depressed,fines up still wet,sit in car when its raining and raring to go when it fines up ;D ;D
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I cleaned in the rain the other day.
Custy asked me to clean the insides next day.
I was quite shocked as their was spot marks on the tops of each pain.
I cleaned the outside as pur how I would normally do.
Makes me wonder how all my other work was that day.
This house is quite an easy one and I often do the insides as well so I know its not normal to see any spotting.
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never clean in the rain its not worth it the custys dont like it and you end up of with cold then you miss more work than you would of if it was raining
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I won't go to work if it's raining unless I'm on commercials. However if I'm out and it's raining, I just carry on unless it gets persistenly heavy and is in for the day.
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the way i work
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we clean through the rain. you can't run a business as and when the weather suits. the bank manager doesn't let you off paying money if you can't work cause of rain. on all sign ups its explained how we work. we don't get any not todays related to rain nowadays. they just need training
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i think beacuse wfp cleaning is still quite new for most of the public they still think in traditional window cleaning mode. if it rains we stop. if its windy we stop. but since the advent of wfp they need to be re-educated we dont stop for any reason other than death or coffee. ;D
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those that don,t work in the rain are either always behind with there work or they have small rounds and are therefore only part time window cleaners lol regards to all you partimers i prefer to count my money rather than watch jeremy kyle
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I clean in mild to moderate rain, never in really heavy rain. its not worth getting colds and chills as this will affect your work later on.
I tell my custy's that theres no difference to cleaning in the rain or cleaning then it rains after.
the custys pay for their windows to be cleaned dont they? and the windows are clean when I leave.
I tell my custys if they are not satisfied with the clean then I will call back and re-clean the problem windows.
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I only work in the rain now. I find it saves my water i get by all day on one litre of pure now.
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those that don,t work in the rain are either always behind with there work or they have small rounds and are therefore only part time window cleaners lol regards to all you partimers i prefer to count my money rather than watch jeremy kyle
I'm not allways behind, and 'cos I dont work in the rain I have got a full round, of happy customers. ;D
I can allways catch up by doubling up work if I have to.
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A window cleaner cleaning in the pouring rain is a desperate man in serious need of a few quid,clean finish that job and wait for it to stop but to turn up and start when it`s raining hard is taking the mickey in not just my opinion.I`ve said before you shouldn`t need to do it in the rain you should have either done enough when it`s fine or get off your lazy A*** when the suns out,has anyone heard the saying make hay while the sun shines.My oldman used to say things to me like that whilst at work window cleaning and i used to think he was mad but as someone once said with age comes wisdom,it`s no good trying to convince yourself that customers like it they more than likely would feel sorry for you.
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If you take into account how many days it rains in the UK you wouldn't work for 4 months of the year.
Anyway I thought we were all professional window cleaners! aren't we?
being a professional window cleaner means you TURN UP on time! not when its dry!
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Stan what would you do if you went out cleaning shortly after it stops raining and its still dark skies above and the customer tells you "not today"?
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Stan what I meant was if you added all the days in the year that you couldnt work due to rain it would be close to 4 months over the course of a year.
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I only work in the rain now. I find it saves my water i get by all day on one litre of pure now.
Genius!!
:)
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Last summer I lost 5 weeks alone due to rain. the summer before that was about the same.
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those that don,t work in the rain are either always behind with there work or they have small rounds and are therefore only part time window cleaners lol regards to all you partimers i prefer to count my money rather than watch jeremy kyle
i agree.... i just cant double up...like others say they do.... its impossible ... how can you fit 12 hours into 6???
i too prefer to count my money raqthr than moan aout the weather 8)
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A window cleaner cleaning in the pouring rain is a desperate man in serious need of a few quid,clean finish that job and wait for it to stop but to turn up and start when it`s raining hard is taking the mickey in not just my opinion.I`ve said before you shouldn`t need to do it in the rain you should have either done enough when it`s fine or get off your lazy A*** when the suns out,has anyone heard the saying make hay while the sun shines.My oldman used to say things to me like that whilst at work window cleaning and i used to think he was mad but as someone once said with age comes wisdom,it`s no good trying to convince yourself that customers like it they more than likely would feel sorry for you.
desperate LMFAO! ;D ;D
depends on your set up. if i was a one man band i could probably only work in good weather. When you employ you have overheads to pay its called the rough with the smooth, the guys don't moan when they finish at 2.30pm on a sunny afternoon so to be out in rainy weather is part and parcel. no customer complains unless we haven't done our job properly. thats not down to the weather normally new custies one way or another
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those that don,t work in the rain are either always behind with there work or they have small rounds and are therefore only part time window cleaners lol regards to all you partimers i prefer to count my money rather than watch jeremy kyle
i agree.... i just cant double up...like others say they do.... its impossible ... how can you fit 12 hours into 6???
i too prefer to count my money raqthr than moan aout the weather 8)
I don't work on an hours per day basis. I normally work on a set number of jobs per day = x amount of £'s.
I set a well achievable number of jobs, that can be increased to make up for any lost time over the week if needs be, without too much stress.
I bet I have the same amount of money counted as you do at the end of the month,{ well that's dependant on the value of your round} but I'm not soaked and I havent P'd off all of my customers. ie,full round completed on time.
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I've heard all this debate before but I have yet to find a customer who thinks its great that you cleaned their windows in the rain.
If you price your work properly you allow for the odd rainy day. To say I have to work come rain or shine sounds to me like your work is underpriced.
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sounds to me like your work is underpriced.
it just gets better on here don't it? ;D
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i never work in the rain ,nothing to do with the customer,i dont like it
A couple of years ago Stan I was going up Burnley road east and 2 guys were doing the windows of those new houses near where Lamberts used to be in Whitwell Bottom. It was sheeting it down sideways. When you said that you had work in that area I thought it was you....Obvously not :-\
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Last summer I lost 5 weeks alone due to rain. the summer before that was about the same.
they were exceptionally bad summers,ive lost two days in the last six
weeks both were this week
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A window cleaner cleaning in the pouring rain is a desperate man in serious need of a few quid,clean finish that job and wait for it to stop but to turn up and start when it`s raining hard is taking the mickey in not just my opinion.I`ve said before you shouldn`t need to do it in the rain you should have either done enough when it`s fine or get off your lazy A*** when the suns out,has anyone heard the saying make hay while the sun shines.My oldman used to say things to me like that whilst at work window cleaning and i used to think he was mad but as someone once said with age comes wisdom,it`s no good trying to convince yourself that customers like it they more than likely would feel sorry for you.
desperate LMFAO! ;D ;D
depends on your set up. if i was a one man band i could probably only work in good weather. When you employ you have overheads to pay its called the rough with the smooth, the guys don't moan when they finish at 2.30pm on a sunny afternoon so to be out in rainy weather is part and parcel. no customer complains unless we haven't done our job properly. thats not down to the weather normally new custies one way or another
I have 2 staff in a different area of the business but i have had 2 window cleaners with me in the past and i never worked in the heavy rain,my jobs a good enough to make up for it later on in the week.You should have enough coming in money wise daily to keep you going and then some.
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lost time = lost money. i do this to make money, not to watch the world go by when a little rain is in the air 8) or heavy rain at that ;)
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lost time = lost money. i do this to make money, not to watch the world go by when a little rain is in the air 8) or heavy rain at that ;)
I make enough cheers,enough not to have to worry about getting wet lol. ;)
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lost time = lost money. i do this to make money, not to watch the world go by when a little rain is in the air 8) or heavy rain at that ;)
I make enough cheers,enough not to have to worry about getting wet lol. ;)
Agreed
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lost time = lost money. i do this to make money, not to watch the world go by when a little rain is in the air 8) or heavy rain at that ;)
I make enough cheers,enough not to have to worry about getting wet lol. ;)
Agreed
double agreed getting wet is for fools ;D
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The point is its not like it rain is completely unexpected. This is Britain after all.
I think that what SteveCM is saying is he had blokes working for him and he's not going to pay their wages to sit in the cafe.
This isn't then a do you / don't you clean in the rain question. Its about the relative cost issues regarding employing people. The one man bands don't clean in the rain, the crews do.
Thats one of the many reasons why I won't employ people, I have more than enough work and most of it is well priced. When you have people working for you they tie you down.
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Fair point. I see what you mean.
I thought a lot of employees were paid on percentages though to how much work they've done. Which due to the weather in this country wouldn't be a lot some weeks. This is why personally I don't think I'd want to employ although this would obviously restrict growth. 'Peanuts' and 'monkeys' spring to mind.
But as for convincing customers about cleaning in the rain, I gave up on that years ago. At the end of the day they pay their money so I guess it's up to them but I never put up with any 'not today' rubbish not unless they have a valid reason. i.e. having building work done etc
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lost time = lost money. i do this to make money, not to watch the world go by when a little rain is in the air 8) or heavy rain at that ;)
I make enough cheers,enough not to have to worry about getting wet lol. ;)
so do i and i hardly pick up a pole in any weather ;)
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So to summarise this, before I go out and do a full day in the dry, the general consensus is, from the one man band perspective, we dont like working in the rain, mainly & most importantly because in the main the customer doesn't like or want it, and secondly cos many don't like getting wet.
Personally speaking I would carry on regardless if it was OK by customers,but I know damn well it is not, so I don't.
If you employ understanably you have to pay your guys irrespective of the weather and therefore can't afford for them to sit around, as you dont earn from it, and are in effect out of pocket.
It sure is a predicament. But this doesn't alter the fact that most people don't want it done in the rain, and I can only imagine you loose quite a bit of custom because of this, I am sure I would if I persisted.
Customer Satisfaction is paramount to me , and to most of us I'm sure, and in my experience they aren't satisfied if we clean their windows in heavy or persistent moderate rain. Hence no, or certainly reduced, Customer Satisfaction
Commercial might be a totally different animal.
To me the saying "make hay whilst the sun shines" is spot on. And incidentally I've never seen another WC cleaning in anything but very light rain, all I ever see is us running for cover, and laughing at each other, Trad and WFP alike.
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I can only imagine you loose quite a bit of custom because of this, I am sure I would if I persisted.
Customer Satisfaction is paramount to me , and to most of us I'm sure, and in my experience they aren't satisfied if we clean their windows in heavy or persistent moderate rain. Hence no, or certainly reduced, Customer Satisfaction
you were going well until this point ;D
i don't lose any due to the fact of cleaning through the rain. We are paid to keep customers windows clean thats what we do regardless and thats why they don't mind us cleaning in the rain, because they are still clean!
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Regardless of the results being just as good, many customers still feel a bit ripped off if you clean in the rain, simply because of old prejudices. I did try working in the rain, it makes good business sense in some ways, but its not something I doo too often anymore
One day eventually ppl will begin to accept it more, as they accepted WFP, but until then I clean the ones I know won't be home on rainy days, because customer satisfaction is important to my business.
Personally though, I don't think its worth it. Getting soaked to the skin, possibly getting cold/flu from it,... no thankyou! I work in light rain if I'm behind, but mostly I earn enough and keep up to date enough not to have to work in the rain. I'm happier that way and so are my customers.
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you lot would make terrible employees ;D ;D
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Thats why theyre self-employed.
But then again, if you were employed and on the cards I bet you'd think twice about getting soaked for a few pounds an hour. Its easy enough to say that stuff when you are the employer sat in the dry.
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Matt working in the rain doesnt bother me, I have a set of good quality hi vis padded water proofs. ;D ;D
The only thing that annoys me is the fact I have to wipe my glasses regularly. lol
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This time of year working in the rain is great as its never cold, winter is pretty miserable, but with decent w'proofs its fine any time, if your cold you aint working fast enough!!!!
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Thats why theyre self-employed.
wow your sharp! nothing gets past you does it? ;D
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Lowest form of wit.
Still, youve done me a favour, youve reminded me why I dont come on here so much.
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no problem. I share the same thoughts ;)
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This time of year working in the rain is great as its never cold, winter is pretty miserable, but with decent w'proofs its fine any time, if your cold you aint working fast enough!!!!
yes they are. the waterproofs i bought for the guys are about 60 quid a set i think. they keep them bone dry in most weathers
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Weirdest thing happened today, my oldest and one of my best custies, came home from shopping, and as it was raining on and off again {So much for my dry day comments} I was sitting in my van ,parked on their drive,after having doing their fronts in dry conditions.
They said come and have a coffee and some biscuits, which they normally do.
I'm sitting their talking about our family stuff and it starts peeing down again. The lady said do you want to do the backs[ 3/4 of the bunce on this job} and I said yeah if your happy with this, they said "you might as well as your here now and we don@t mind as long as you are OK getting wet!" !!!!!
I WFP it all in heavy rain, can't see a bloody thing, but assume its all gonna turn out good. They thank me and I drive off thinking I'm now totally confused by peoples reactions.
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Weirdest thing happened today, my oldest and one of my best custies, came home from shopping, and as it was raining on and off again {So much for my dry day comments} I was sitting in my van ,parked on their drive,after having doing their fronts in dry conditions.
They said come and have a coffee and some biscuits, which they normally do.
I'm sitting their talking about our family stuff and it starts peeing down again. The lady said do you want to do the backs[ 3/4 of the bunce on this job} and I said yeah if your happy with this, they said "you might as well as your here now and we don@t mind as long as you are OK getting wet!" !!!!!
I WFP it all in heavy rain, can't see a bloody thing, but assume its all gonna turn out good. They thank me and I drive off thinking I'm now totally confused by peoples reactions.
nothing confusing about it. they want clean windows. if you tell them the way you work they accept it if they like you cleaning their windows. How many customers would say not today if you let them if they were on your 4/6/8 week rota? lots of them, but becuase you set it out that this is how you work they abide by it. Its the same with working in rain.
I was hesitant at first as i never worked through the rain. When i made the move to do it i thought there would be a backlash. there wern't! They all got a letter explaining it and all new sign ups are made clear. It works, customers accept it, they still have a reliable and regular service, they still have clean windows all year round, i make more bunce, the employees still hit their targets so they get their bonuses, everyones a winner 8)