[windowwashers]

Yes, at least I'm not in the army anymore, they're the ones I feel sorry for and their families. I've had to seal someone up in a coffin so they could be put on a plane and passed through customs back to the UK and watched my mates crying like little boys carrying the coffin, very upsetting. I block it all out but I I sympathise for the young lads joining today

I sympathise with you also on that wayne as you know what it is like.

set yourself some goals for this week, will give you something to work to. Keep your chin up mate we all get down at some point and it's not nice but does pass 

[Wayne Thomas]

I know it will pass, when I don't know, Life sucks at the moment but as long as I keep forcing myself to get up and go to work, the easier it will get and something good will emerge with positive thinking and time. I'm an optimistic person with a happy go lucky and very determined attitude. Just fallen on bad times but I remind myself it won't last forever. Thanks for your conerns, I'm picking myself up, I'm not a quitter. Failure cannot live with persistency and I'm persisting. Worked too hard to let it slide.

[Clive McDonald]

My figures are pretty bad too Wayne, i'll run george and put them up. As a a fairly new (not two years yet) wc I think that we attract all the other peoples rejects. Some customers (serial complainers) are not worth having, some only wanted the intial clean to bring the frames up, and moan when cleans two and three don't have the same before and after visual impact.

I picked up on something Trevor Knight said ( yes the mod who also gets blue), he said take yourself seriously because if you don't the customers pick up on it and get sloppy about payment etc.

These days selling anything is about the experience you provide. It's not just that you clean their windows but they have a pro doing it who values their business and wants to do a good job.

If it's any consolation Starbucks are shutting 600 of their 11,000 US stores.

[Wayne Thomas]

I know customers pick up on our attitude, I'm well aware of that. Bad payers get slapped with a late payment fee. New customers with filthy windows and frames get charged double with a note on George marking them up as good or dodgy until time proves otherwise.

Clive (Discount Window Cleaning), do you charge double or at least 1 and a half times the value for initial cleans to cover the time spent getting the extra dirt off to bring windows up to a maintenance clean standard? I find charging double stops a few 'time wasters' wanting a 'one off' clean pretending to want a regular clean does the trick but not always.

My lowest priced work I use for experimenting on. Trying to see how quick I can go and still leave a satisfactory result. I'll never improve on speed if I overclean and I like to find out what the limitations are

[Clive McDonald]

I'm one of those do as I say not as i do people, so I don't charge double and often get caught out. It's easy to take things personaly when someone is rude or takes you for an idiot, but I try and remember this is a business.

This forum can be the same, you can't win every argument. It's most annoying for me when you are trying be geniunely helpfull (telling people they need a van, or half wits breaking windows and then posting about it but not taking the advice or the info they need).

The experimenting for me is now over, I am now on the money making phase. The George figures are;

Active jobs 290, suspended 42, completed 36. I had to estimate the completed because it wouldn't give a figure for this. Some of the completed are people who told me they wanted a one off. Some , say 20,are sackings.


so 20 plus 42 is 62, which as a perentage of 290 is 21.3%. So in effect I lose over twenty percent of all work that I get.


Over 20% of my customers sack me for one reason or another.

[Oakley Windows]

Got to find new ways to motivate myself....any suggestions?

Leave the women alone?

[poleman]

I know the chap that is up for sale! and some of the work he has I sold to him! its a lot of money to pay, but I know it will sell around here, I know one company around here( poole and bournemouth) went for 90k!