Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: James Styles on May 17, 2019, 08:35:28 pm
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Had a really rude person today while canvassing.
I was giving a guy a quote for front & back, he seemed pleasant then out of nowhere his gf/wife came to the door, she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5, I laughed and said no chance, she got all defensive and started saying that was for front I said well front would be £6, she then went quiet the husband then carried on talking to me while she gave a constant death stare, I seen her doing it and she didn’t stop, he said he would have a think then get back to me I said thanks and she gave me deep evil stare and slammed door in my face, nastiest evil bitch I’ve seen in a while.
I don’t think they will call and to be honest I don’t want them to, he seemed ok but noway I would want to deal with her.
I notice these rude people really get under my skin, how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
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Don't canvass ;D ;D
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When dealing with the general public you have to occasionally expect that you will come in to contact with such people.
I call it the 1%.
In reality it's probably a bit less than that but through experience I've found that for every 100 customers you deal with 1 will be rude/weird/difficult/bonkers.
When you expect it will happen from time to time you tend to just brush it off.
I spoke to a customer of mine once who runs her own business and she has had similar experiences and she tended to agree with my outlook.
My advice would be if you spot the signs in the beginning then try and avoid taking them on as a customer.
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Sometimes you get a recommend from an existing customer and the prospective customer is "trouble".
I do a family that live across four properties.
The Mum is great and she pays me on the day or within a couple of days at most.
Daughter one is similar.
Daughter two is OK - ish and a slow payer (usually after two weeks) who I have tolerated thus far.
Daughter in Law didn't get out of the starting block ...
I turned up on Mum-in-Law's request, met the husband who was showing me round and I quoted £40.00 for a large detached farmhouse type property every 8 weeks. He says it's fine but he will just check with his wife on the phone.
Wife says to him (while I'm there) "last time he did inside and outside for £40.00" which he relayed to me. I informed him and her listening in that i had never been to their place in my life before.
She (on speaker phone) says if I'll "do it for £40.00 inside and out "I've "got the deal". ::)roll
I said I'm only here because your mother in law asked me to swing by and give you a quote, not to be beaten down on price.
She said "£50.00 inside and out, final offer."
I replied "No thanks, good-bye - final word!" and left him there with the phone as his wife yammered away as I walked off.
I still do all the others and not a word has been said.
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she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5
Vote for The Brexit Party on the 23rd May.
That'll teach her.
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I do a few houses in my own street. A few weeks ago after cleaning one, a woman came running out (who I assumed was the mother of the bloke who lives in the house) saying that I'd 'only sprayed the windows with water' and that she 'has a window cleaner who does them properly'.
I explained that I've done her little boys windows for several years now, he's never had a problem, but if there is one, just to give me a knock 'cos I live at the end of the street.
A few days later I bumped into him and told him about his mum. He said "Ignore her, she's mad!"
;D
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I find it easier not to help wind people up, ie laughing in their face can only antagonise the situation.
Be polite and respectful back if at all possible and in this case, as I'm sure you will start to do as you spend more time canvassing, thank them for their time rather than start to barter on price.
In this case, I would have ended it by simply saying, thank you for your time, as I can see you are not happy with the price and start to walk away.
This way, you have the last word, and don't waste any time getting mad about it and on with the next door
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I find it easier not to help wind people up, ie laughing in their face can only antagonise the situation.
Be polite and respectful back if at all possible and in this case, as I'm sure you will start to do as you spend more time canvassing, thank them for their time rather than start to barter on price.
In this case, I would have ended it by simply saying, thank you for your time, as I can see you are not happy with the price and start to walk away.
This way, you have the last word, and don't waste any time getting mad about it and on with the next door
I was more than polite, she was very rude way before I laughed and it wasn’t in her face, it wasn’t a rude big laugh either more just a smile and slight laugh saying I won’t match £5. She was angry from the start.
I did say thank you before I left all I got back was a look that wanted me to drop dead followed by the door slamming.
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Here’s a valuable tip:
Win over the lady of the house.
The husband will nearly always defer to her on matters of household management (such as window cleaning).
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Sometimes you get a recommend from an existing customer and the prospective customer is "trouble".
I do a family that live across four properties.
The Mum is great and she pays me on the day or within a couple of days at most.
Daughter one is similar.
Daughter two is OK - ish and a slow payer (usually after two weeks) who I have tolerated thus far.
Daughter in Law didn't get out of the starting block ...
I turned up on Mum-in-Law's request, met the husband who was showing me round and I quoted £40.00 for a large detached farmhouse type property every 8 weeks. He says it's fine but he will just check with his wife on the phone.
Wife says to him (while I'm there) "last time he did inside and outside for £40.00" which he relayed to me. I informed him and her listening in that i had never been to their place in my life before.
She (on speaker phone) says if I'll "do it for £40.00 inside and out "I've "got the deal". ::)roll
I said I'm only here because your mother in law asked me to swing by and give you a quote, not to be beaten down on price.
She said "£50.00 inside and out, final offer."
I replied "No thanks, good-bye - final word!" and left him there with the phone as his wife yammered away as I walked off.
I still do all the others and not a word has been said.
Custards don't negotiate with their hairdressers or chiropodists - you don't go to the dentist and say how much is a filling? OK give me a discount of £10 and you've got a deal.
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James I know your building but really, £15 with a small conservatory. It’s Solihull right?
As for anyone who you think is rude, just thank them for their time and move on. Do you really want her as a customer even if he was ok?
Tony
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Had a really rude person today while canvassing.
I was giving a guy a quote for front & back, he seemed pleasant then out of nowhere his gf/wife came to the door, she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5, I laughed and said no chance, she got all defensive and started saying that was for front I said well front would be £6, she then went quiet the husband then carried on talking to me while she gave a constant death stare, I seen her doing it and she didn’t stop, he said he would have a think then get back to me I said thanks and she gave me deep evil stare and slammed door in my face, nastiest evil bitch I’ve seen in a while.
I don’t think they will call and to be honest I don’t want them to, he seemed ok but noway I would want to deal with her.
I notice these rude people really get under my skin, how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
I'm going with Nathan and a couple of other posters on this one. Even if they come out with the most ridiculous statement and your first reaction is to gasp at the stupidity of it, you have to keep your composure and treat the statement as a perfectly viable one. Even if its not and he/she is lying.
You just have to say that you are very sorry but you can't do the job for £5. You have to show you are apologetic, thank them for asking for a price and bid them a good day. The way I look at it is that if it was the Queen of England you were talking, how would you have responded? I'm sure Ma'am would have come into the answer and a bow would also. ;D
Its all part of gaining experience which takes time. This experience will be in your memory bank and hopefully will help you to find a different approach if you encounter a similar situation again.
This lady had issues at that particular time. She may be a very nice person but you caught her at the wrong time. There has been a bit in the paper ( about Ulrika Jonsson ) recently how some women can become a totally different person when the menopause starts. Maybe this woman is a husband abuser, a control freek, who knows. As Tony says, would you want her as a customer even if she accepted your quote?
I always think you have to be like an undertaker when canvassing and show very little emotion but plenty of empathy. We heard that one of the lads at one of the local undertakers was fired for bringing the company into disrepute. A member of the public saw him laughing in a hearse that was carrying a coffin to a funeral.
Don't take it personally, wipe the dust off your feet and move on.
We live in the North East and there are areas locally where £5 for a 3 bed semi is still the perceived price for a window clean (£2.50 fronts and £2.50 backs). But the customer won't tell you that that's every 2 weeks. If you are cleaning every 8 weeks, your clean at £15 is already saving them money on their window cleaning bill. A shiner off ladders will do 3 x £5 houses an hour and that's good money when compared to earning the minimum wage. It costs me around £4 to park my van outside each of my customers in running costs with wfp. That's before I pay myself a wage. So I now stay away from those areas.
BTW, I've not altogether mastered talking to customers with respect as I have a smart mouth which has often run off into the distance before my brain realised where it had gone. I found that saying "I would love to be able to clean your windows for £5 but the price of diesel isn't 25p a liter anymore" doesn't win them over.
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she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5
Vote for The Brexit Party on the 23rd May.
That'll teach her.
(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1558159821_anigif_sub-buzz-2676-1494010402-7.gif)
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Sometimes you get a recommend from an existing customer and the prospective customer is "trouble".
I do a family that live across four properties.
The Mum is great and she pays me on the day or within a couple of days at most.
Daughter one is similar.
Daughter two is OK - ish and a slow payer (usually after two weeks) who I have tolerated thus far.
Daughter in Law didn't get out of the starting block ...
I turned up on Mum-in-Law's request, met the husband who was showing me round and I quoted £40.00 for a large detached farmhouse type property every 8 weeks. He says it's fine but he will just check with his wife on the phone.
Wife says to him (while I'm there) "last time he did inside and outside for £40.00" which he relayed to me. I informed him and her listening in that i had never been to their place in my life before.
She (on speaker phone) says if I'll "do it for £40.00 inside and out "I've "got the deal". ::)roll
I said I'm only here because your mother in law asked me to swing by and give you a quote, not to be beaten down on price.
She said "£50.00 inside and out, final offer."
I replied "No thanks, good-bye - final word!" and left him there with the phone as his wife yammered away as I walked off.
I still do all the others and not a word has been said.
Custards don't negotiate with their hairdressers or chiropodists - you don't go to the dentist and say how much is a filling? OK give me a discount of £10 and you've got a deal.
Or Asda. No they don't, but we won't be the only service industry they will try price haggling with. It will be the plumber, electrician, roofer etc. as they don't see their prices as 'set in stone.'
One of our customers is a joiner and customers also try to haggle with him. His customer's aren't of the race that is known to price haggle. Mobile hairdressers also experience customers wanting added extras for nothing just like happens to us.
Will you just quickly put the brush over the gutters whilst you are here is a favourite one. "Yes, but it will cost you £......" "What? Don't bother then. I expected you to do it occassionally as part of the price you charge me for my windows. You aren't exactly cheap you know." Expect then to loose the job at some point in the future.
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Had a really rude person today while canvassing.
I was giving a guy a quote for front & back, he seemed pleasant then out of nowhere his gf/wife came to the door, she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5, I laughed and said no chance, she got all defensive and started saying that was for front I said well front would be £6, she then went quiet the husband then carried on talking to me while she gave a constant death stare, I seen her doing it and she didn’t stop, he said he would have a think then get back to me I said thanks and she gave me deep evil stare and slammed door in my face, nastiest evil bitch I’ve seen in a while.
I don’t think they will call and to be honest I don’t want them to, he seemed ok but noway I would want to deal with her.
I notice these rude people really get under my skin, how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
I'm going with Nathan and a couple of other posters on this one. Even if they come out with the most ridiculous statement and your first reaction is to gasp at the stupidity of it, you have to keep your composure and treat the statement as a perfectly viable one. Even if its not and he/she is lying.
You just have to say that you are very sorry but you can't do the job for £5. You have to show you are apologetic, thank them for asking for a price and bid them a good day. The way I look at it is that if it was the Queen of England you were talking, how would you have responded? I'm sure Ma'am would have come into the answer and a bow would also. ;D
Its all part of gaining experience which takes time. This experience will be in your memory bank and hopefully will help you to find a different approach if you encounter a similar situation again.
This lady had issues at that particular time. She may be a very nice person but you caught her at the wrong time. There has been a bit in the paper ( about Ulrika Jonsson ) recently how some women can become a totally different person when the menopause starts. Maybe this woman is a husband abuser, a control freek, who knows. As Tony says, would you want her as a customer even if she accepted your quote?
I always think you have to be like an undertaker when canvassing and show very little emotion but plenty of empathy. We heard that one of the lads at one of the local undertakers was fired for bringing the company into disrepute. A member of the public saw him laughing in a hearse that was carrying a coffin to a funeral.
Don't take it personally, wipe the dust off your feet and move on.
We live in the North East and there are areas locally where £5 for a 3 bed semi is still the perceived price for a window clean (£2.50 fronts and £2.50 backs). But the customer won't tell you that that's every 2 weeks. If you are cleaning every 8 weeks, your clean at £15 is already saving them money on their window cleaning bill. A shiner off ladders will do 3 x £5 houses an hour and that's good money when compared to earning the minimum wage. It costs me around £4 to park my van outside each of my customers in running costs with wfp. That's before I pay myself a wage. So I now stay away from those areas.
BTW, I've not altogether mastered talking to customers with respect as I have a smart mouth which has often run off into the distance before my brain realised where it had gone. I found that saying "I would love to be able to clean your windows for £5 but the price of diesel isn't 25p a liter anymore" doesn't win them over.
You may not have mastered what to say to customers, but every post you write is superb. 😁
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Knock knock
Who's there?
Window cleaner
Window cleaner who?
Window cleaner who is going to laugh in your face when you try to negotiate on price.
Sorry, there's nobody home.
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Try to bring them down to size; have something on them; even if it's just imaginary.
If it's the man of the house, tell yourself he likes to dress in women's underwear. If it's the lady, tell yourself that she's rude because her husband is having an affair and she knows it (but not before you did and you also know about the underwear fetish which she doesn't ;)).
I don't canvass but I've picked up enough customers over the years and some of them I have sort of looked up to. Good job, nice house, flash car etc but then I realise just what they are.
They're both miserable, the bins full of 'empties' and the grass needs a cut etc.
It's easier to look them in the eye when you 'know' and you realise why they are so rude. And you empathise, thank them and walk away (feeling a bit better about yourself).
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Welcome to Real life.
Not everyone is like the Waltons.
Good night Jimbob ;D
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Sometimes, if it wasn't for rude people, idiots and twats, I'd have no-one to talk to! :'(
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There is a general hate for cold callers. Either door to door or unsolicited phone calls. There are people out there that will deliberately try and waste your time and attempt to wind you up.
There is no getting away from it when cold calling. Just smile and walk away, forget about it and move to the next.
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Yeh forget the canvassing. ;D
I hate it as you do get people like this and it puts me off.
I don't blame them who like people knocking on the door I know I dont.
Personally I'd rather pay others to canvass or pay for other forms of marketing rather than do it myself.
Yes it's more expensive but I would rather not have the stress.
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Spot on I think Gomo.
You're on my territory. You came to me. I didn't ask you to knock. No thanks go away. And certainly don't smirk at me.
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I notice these rude people really get under my skin, how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
He asked this though.
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how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
Dont take it personally. If it wasn't you knocking it'd be someone else and they'd get the same treatment.
It says more about her than about you. Thats what I think about people like this.
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Had a really rude person today while canvassing.
I was giving a guy a quote for front & back, he seemed pleasant then out of nowhere his gf/wife came to the door, she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5, I laughed and said no chance, she got all defensive and started saying that was for front I said well front would be £6, she then went quiet the husband then carried on talking to me while she gave a constant death stare, I seen her doing it and she didn’t stop, he said he would have a think then get back to me I said thanks and she gave me deep evil stare and slammed door in my face, nastiest evil bitch I’ve seen in a while.
I don’t think they will call and to be honest I don’t want them to, he seemed ok but noway I would want to deal with her.
I notice these rude people really get under my skin, how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
When a prospective customer tries to haggle, they may genuinely feel that the price they had in mind was reasonable, because very few of them will realize what overheads or business expenses we incur. So instead of laughing in their face, why not try to see it from their side and, without explaining that running your business costs this or that, just politely, firmly but in a gentle way, repeat your price and say that you will leave it with them. Thank them for their time, bid them good day and walk away. You will have been polite, professional, but not pushy, all qualities which will not have failed to create a good first impression. You may get a call from them, you may not, but you'll feel good about how you handled the situation which will help you keep positive when you knock the next door.
John
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Had a really rude person today while canvassing.
I was giving a guy a quote for front & back, he seemed pleasant then out of nowhere his gf/wife came to the door, she was polish, she just interrupted and starting saying to him “what?” In a rude manner he replied to her saying “it’s about window cleaning” she turned to me and said in an aggressive manner “how much?” I told her £15 (which is cheap as they had small conservatory) she just shook her head and said I had it done before for £5, I laughed and said no chance, she got all defensive and started saying that was for front I said well front would be £6, she then went quiet the husband then carried on talking to me while she gave a constant death stare, I seen her doing it and she didn’t stop, he said he would have a think then get back to me I said thanks and she gave me deep evil stare and slammed door in my face, nastiest evil bitch I’ve seen in a while.
I don’t think they will call and to be honest I don’t want them to, he seemed ok but noway I would want to deal with her.
I notice these rude people really get under my skin, how can I deal with this better?
It did annoy me a lot.
Don't worry about it.
Just move on.
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Some will, some won’t, so what. Just move on.......