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Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #20 on: February 24, 2008, 08:24:40 am »
"Cracking" advert that, well you hope not! Does your insurance premium go up with a hot system to cover any cracked panes? That would be a worry to me, even Mr Sol has done one already. When you get it all set up, do you think you will use it on every job or just the filthy ones or just in the winter?

Nathanael Jones

  • Posts: 5596
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #21 on: February 24, 2008, 09:54:23 am »
I'll be using cold on all my regular work,.. I honestly don't see the need for hot on most of it. But I get a huge amount of "one off" cleans and irregular commercial work that would benefit from hot water.
I've asked the insurance company,... and to be honest they didn't seem to know or appreciate the difference, so the premium stays the same.
One thing that I'm fitting to my system that I don't think Mr Sol has, is a thermostatic mixing valve. That way I'm not relying only on the temp adjustment on the heater, I've an extra safety feature to make sure I NEVER get water going down the hose too hot. I'm told 40 deg C on double glazing in summer and 20 deg C in winter are safe,.. above that you're always taking a risk. Cold only on single glazing!
I've also got an inline thermometer with an overheat alarm (For showers in old folks homes!) which I'll have at the base of the pole hose.

Paul Coleman

Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #22 on: February 24, 2008, 09:57:49 am »
What's to be positive about?

Customers don't like wfp.
I don't get hardly any new work, even after spending £300 on signwriting,
New work I do get is 8 weekly and they don't like wfp.
New work is always £10 semis and crap.
(Other cleaners get asked by people which are £50+ jobs.)
My biggest job is £25.

I need some good jobs, but don't get any.
And I'm bloody good at my job too.

Try being me mate, it's poo.

Roger.  My first year of WFP was a bit like that.  Lost a few customers over it.  Gained a few elsewhere.  It can take a while for the moaners to be filtered out of your business.  Ironically, some of my best work had had nothing to do with signwriting or with advertising.  It's been about being in the right place at the right time - even when I've not actually been working.  For instance, shortly before switching to WFP, I was getting a tyre changed after a puncture.  I got chatting with a guy who was also getting a tyre changed (I had no signwriting at this stage).  We had a bit of a laugh - the mutual "what do you do for a living" stuff.  Ended up with two reasonable houses out of that exchange (a £30 and a £16).  Nothing special but £46 x 8 cleans a year is £368 a year extra on the turnover.  I even picked up a job in the dentist waiting room too.  No, I don't bump into people in the street and ask if they want their windows cleaned either.
I really think you need a "heads up" and get out their to do a bit of canvassing.  I know it can be difficult to feel positive at times.  I've had enough of that in my own journey.  But people do sense if someone is not feeling positive and it does repel them or encourage them to tread on the person who is not feeling so great about his lot.

Paul Coleman

Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #23 on: February 24, 2008, 10:02:10 am »
Getting back to the original topic,... I've just changed my van and I'm hoping to get the signwriting done next week,...................... but I'm running short on idea's!

Any chance you guys could post pics of your vans so I can "borrow" the best bits from each??  ;D ;D

BTW,.. I'm working on a logo to advertise my (soon to be delivered) hot system,... this is only an early draft, but I'd appreciate your comments:

Can't say there's anything special about mine.  White text on a black van.  No logos.  Prominent phone numbers and what I do.  Less prominent business name and web and email.  I wanted to keep it simple as I reckon the van might be moving when some people see it.

Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #24 on: February 24, 2008, 12:55:17 pm »
I'll be using cold on all my regular work,.. I honestly don't see the need for hot on most of it. But I get a huge amount of "one off" cleans and irregular commercial work that would benefit from hot water.
I've asked the insurance company,... and to be honest they didn't seem to know or appreciate the difference, so the premium stays the same.
One thing that I'm fitting to my system that I don't think Mr Sol has, is a thermostatic mixing valve. That way I'm not relying only on the temp adjustment on the heater, I've an extra safety feature to make sure I NEVER get water going down the hose too hot. I'm told 40 deg C on double glazing in summer and 20 deg C in winter are safe,.. above that you're always taking a risk. Cold only on single glazing!
I've also got an inline thermometer with an overheat alarm (For showers in old folks homes!) which I'll have at the base of the pole hose.
Sounds good!

mark dew

  • Posts: 2901
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #25 on: February 24, 2008, 10:53:34 pm »
Getting back to the original topic,... I've just changed my van and I'm hoping to get the signwriting done next week,...................... but I'm running short on idea's!

Any chance you guys could post pics of your vans so I can "borrow" the best bits from each??  ;D ;D

BTW,.. I'm working on a logo to advertise my (soon to be delivered) hot system,... this is only an early draft, but I'd appreciate your comments:

do you do all types of cleaning nat? Cos if i wasn't in the game and came on here i wouldn't understand from your sign that you were a window cleaner.

Nathanael Jones

  • Posts: 5596
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #26 on: February 25, 2008, 12:00:33 am »
Getting back to the original topic,... I've just changed my van and I'm hoping to get the signwriting done next week,...................... but I'm running short on idea's!

Any chance you guys could post pics of your vans so I can "borrow" the best bits from each??  ;D ;D

BTW,.. I'm working on a logo to advertise my (soon to be delivered) hot system,... this is only an early draft, but I'd appreciate your comments:

do you do all types of cleaning nat? Cos if i wasn't in the game and came on here i wouldn't understand from your sign that you were a window cleaner.


That logo is meant to be only a secondary one, lower down on the sides of the van below all the "Window Cleaning" blurb and contact details, in much the same way as many ppl would use the "reach and wash" or "thermopure" logo. I don't want the "HOT" wfp to become my main selling point, because I think most custies don't know the difference or simply don't care,... but I don't want to leave it out of my advertising entirely either!

Ian_Giles

  • Posts: 2997
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #27 on: February 25, 2008, 06:44:54 am »
Well for me, having my van sign  written was a first rate move, it has without doubt paid for itself several times over.
I get very few phone calls as a result of it, but I regularly have people come over to the van as a result of it.
Often when sat in a supermarket car park!

I have no idea why Squeaky after 10 years only has enough work to just about fill up 4 days a week.
In all of my years window cleaning I have always picked up work without having to canvas for it (apart from when first building my round up of course) and there is not a week goes by without someone wanting a price.
Four years ago I had wound my round right down, was totally disenchanted with window cleaning, had just enough work to get by on, was barely turning over 15k a year.
Changed to WFP, regained my enthusiasm and now (without any active canvassing whatsoever) have so much work I can't get around it all in a month (domestic that is, not the commercial stuff).

I have no real complaints about WFP, far from it in fact, most of the comments I get are very positive, I even have one account that squeaks once had - who in Squeaks time utterly loathed WFP - who now loves WFP, and pays me a great deal more than she was paying Squeaky.

Perhaps my customers like WFP because I have total belief in it (and a full awareness of its negative points too I might add) and somehow project that in my demeanor.

Oh well, I'm late now, time to get my backside into work!

Ian
Ian. ISM CLEANING SERVICES

Davo

  • Posts: 412
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #28 on: February 25, 2008, 07:38:26 am »
.............I don't want the "HOT" wfp to become my main selling point, because I think most custies don't know the difference or simply don't care,... but I don't want to leave it out of my advertising entirely either!

Think you underestimate your customers, they dont know the difference between hot or cold? If given a choice they wouldnt choose hot cleaning over cold????..



Mark

groundhog

Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #29 on: February 25, 2008, 09:23:16 am »
I had my last van sign written and got a lot of enquiries from it, but I have not had my new van sign written as I like to target just the type of houses that I want to clean, which I do with high quality flyers. That way I only get enquiries from the type of jobs that I want to do, and not high numbers of enquiries that I don't want.  ;)

Nathanael Jones

  • Posts: 5596
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #30 on: February 25, 2008, 02:54:05 pm »
I've seen a few guys that got a blank image of their van from a signwriter so they could photoshop a mockup of the desired result,..... anyone know where I can get a blank pic of a Pug Boxer from?

Alex Gardiner

  • Posts: 7744
Re: GET YOUR VAN SIGN WRITTEN!!!!!!
« Reply #31 on: February 25, 2008, 02:57:50 pm »
Peugeot should have this on their website.