[GWCS]

First of all can I say I am sorry to hear of the loss of your son, having never experienced it I can't say I understand, but my heart goes out to you and your family.

Second well done with the last 6 months, it has been a difficult time to start window cleaning but you do seem to have done well to have the customers you do have in that time.

Now to your situation. I would say there may be a problem if you have lost as many as 25 in 1 month. Your regular so its not that. I will presume you do a good job! And I will presume you are not a flake!! Why would I, I don't know you well enough.

It could just be that as a Newbie you have uneducated customers, or customers that others have dropped because of being unreliable. It takes time to sift through these type.

As for giving customers a "terms of business", my personal view is that it can come across as a big stick to beat the customer with. I tried one myself some time back and my relationship with the customer changed for the worse, I didn't secure better customers as a result of it (in fact it put some off) and it created a lot of paperwork, as to be effective you need people to sign something and keep a record of it.

If they break the agreement ask yourself what would you do. If they said "Not today" and you drop them for good you have lost not only this months money but the next few as well.
If they fail to unlock the back gate and you charge them full price you risk isolating them. Remember their window cleaner dose not figure high on their table of important things.
Plus, you have to keep to YOUR terms of business. "We offer a monthly service" great. But what happens when you take 2 weeks off in the summer, they then get a late clean or you have to do a months work in 2 1/2 weeks. You then are not keeping your side of the bargain.

My advice would be to find out specifically why you have lost 25 in a month, even go and ask them. Ask them to be honest, be polite and tell them that they are welcome to call you whenever they wish to resume. Then work out how to keep customers. I have customers who will not have anyone else clean their windows, even if they charged half the price. Hitting them with a page of T & C isn't really the way forward. There is an excellent example in a book I have, I will dig it out. it's about behavioural economics.

There are 2 ways to deal with customers. Secular and Familiar. With Secular you would have T&C. You dont get to close, Surname not first name terms, if you say you call every first Tuesday of the month then you do. If you are away then your staff call. This can work well, but you would not expect a cup of tea or a chat. You give an ultra proffesional service, they recieve the same.

With familiar things are the opposite, you are on first name terms, you have a chat, you almost become a friend. You make yourself unreplacable by giving agreat service and by being so nice that they don't have the heart to stop you calling. They may need you to skip a visit every now and then, but hey your their friend you will understand. You reply to this with "No problem" then ask them to think of a friend they can refer to you to to help your business grow. 9 times out of 10 they will give you a reference and not skip a month in future as they don't want to be "replaced".
The benefit of Familiar is that when you do go away for 2 weeks or when you do have a bad day and make a bad job, they are more likely not to complain.

We all run our businesses slightly differently. Whatever approch you take, you have to be consistant. You cant mix secular with familiar very well.

I hope things pick up for you. Keep at it!!

Nice post! 

[dazmond]

most of my customers r monthly and ive cleaned the majority for years.i always tell my custys when im going away and that ill b 2wks late next time.ive just got back from 12 days in new york.never have a problem really.if i get a not today i just miss out til next time.if they keep doing it and r badpayers them they get politely dumped.t and c on domestics?your having a laugh arnt u? .i never clean more than twice without getting paid,i say to new custys im round every 4-5 wks and dont give a set day.this allows for bad weather etc.most custys dont even care as long as u dont leave them too long.charm and kindness go a long way.NEVER be rude to a custy even if there being a pain.just b firm and fair and always do what u say ur gona do and dont forget to humour ur custys at times.AND KEEP IT SIMPLE FOLKS ;Dbest wishes to u all

[mark dew]

I'm really sorry to hear about your son jp.

This month I've had £250 less to take my kids out with. We had planned trips which I couldn't take them on and it not only makes them sad, but me too (try telling a 5 & 8 year old that you can't take them to alton towers for the day - its heart breaking to see there faces)

But this has nothing to do with your customers. They haven't made promises.

As you are building your round up, you obviously have plenty of time to work. It is a mistake to dump customers when you cannot afford to.
I think introducing existing customers to conditions will alienate them. If you are going to do it, give it to new ones.
And i'm sorry to ask this as i don't mean it harshly, but do you wonder if you might be a bit too severe with customers and they are cancelling in reaction to it. You are still grieving.
The reason i ask is that the quote above is a blame quote. Your kids sadness is your customers fault, etc.
Do they pick up this vibe off you when working?
I hope it doesn't sound too harsh,cos it's not meant to be.
I lost my bro then my mum within a few months, 4 years ago. I was too down to keep work in perspective. But i gave off a bad vibe to some customers who i considered troublesome. It was only when i became happier, did people tell me i was easier to avoid.   
Maybe you are doing the same. 

[Blue Frog Systems]

Thanks for the honest replys.

Few things to say.....

My customers have agreed to regular window cleans. They are offered 4/8 weekly or one off cleans. I dont mind if they change from one to the other (4 weekly to 8 weekly)

Yes i still grieve, but i dont let it affect my work

I dont make decisions without speaking to my wife first

Im never rude in any way to my customers

I take a positive approach to every day and leave the house smiling

I dont share any of my concerns with my customers. They get the happy whistling me.

[leapstallbuildings]

Hi all,

After loosing around 25 jobs this month to people not wanting there windows cleaned because of holidays and many other reasons, I have decided to introduce terms of business to all my customers.

I've been financially affected this month and can't operate a business on the hope that people want there windows cleaned.

I'm sure some won't like it, but part of my plan is to get rid of the flakey customers and replace them with good ones.

Has anyone done this before and how did it go ?

Or has anyone got any advice for me

Tanks

JP

I've had the odd issue like this during the holiday season.  It has much less effect on me though because I have deliberately built my business to mostly avoid jobs that have no or poor access.  Therefore I can clean whether they are away or not.  Having said that, a couple notified me well in advance not to clean (no problem with that as I can plan around it).  However, there were three who decided to padlock their gates just for the time they were away.  This can be irritating because I try to plan my work loosely the night before and this can throw my plans.  Not such a problem if there is other work I can go to but a money loser if there isn't.  With the ones who padlocked suddenly without warning, I did the fronts and charged less.  They probably won't like it but I don't think it's my problem really.  As far as they are concerned, I started around the front before discovering the padlocks so figured that I might as well complete the fronts as the windows below were soaked anyway.  If they cancel over it, then maybe that's not such a bad thing really.

I did print out terms of business but realised that the overwhelming majority of my customers are good, reliable ones.  I didn't want to introduce such terms and risk p'ing them off.  So I decided to only introduce these terms only to (a) new customers (b) existing customers who were becoming a bit unreliable.

[Sean Dyer]

I got a basic contract in a package from the wcw.

It is brill because it explains everything to the custy.

Also if I sell or take someone on they can see each individual client and what they have done + any extras like inside cleans or gutters at certain times of the year etc.

It is a form of contract and seems to be respected by custies. No drop outs yet.

They like it and it makes you look professional.

Also they know you are serious about your biz.

<I have something similar but havent used it yet, was planning on signing on new custies with it, will give it a go tis weekend though

Canvassed up one new house and everything was great but as i was leaving the guy says by the way if im not in you dont do the back.... so i thought well when you are in if its been a long time the price wont be the same as my quote !!! These are the annoying things you will need to get written down really

I had a not this week of a good customer as well, but its because the garden was all locked up and she didnt like the idea of me climbing over it - which is fair enough, i got a weeks notice and she said come as soon as she is back if i want, so in those conditions i dont mind! But the others are usually annoying and i drop them asap if they keep it up

[Gleaming windows]

I think it rather depends on your personal circumstances to dump a customer so easily, as you really gave her no choice.

Was she a regular payer before?

If so, you have just lost a good customer over a one off, and many people overspend on their holidays, and who nows how long she would have remained a loyal customer?  Multiply the answer by the monthly value of the job, and it could turn out to be  a costly loss!

If your round is full, ok, otherwise, I personally woud have given her another chance.

My son is having many regulars skipping a month, if he ws to do what you did, he would only have half a round!

There is a recession, and money is tight for many people, but once over these people will be someone's loyal customers, and I think it's better to keep them than give them to someone else.

She had owed me for 2 visits but her partner paid for them whilst she was on holiday.

I havent lost her mate, if it was the case of a loss I wouldnt have given her the option.

My round is full enough, Im always looking for better and more lucrative/attractive work; but Im certainly not in a position to have to kowtow to every hormonal woman on the block thankyou very much. Ive been in this game plenty long enough mate to be able to read when a customer is trying to pull a fast one. Your side of the fence it might be different but my round invlves dumping to keep it efficient and operating as I want it to operate. I dont tolerate inefficient customers, if you want to I wont get in your way.


This is from another thread on here

I have found its a case of balancing up whether you want to be (and I dont mean this in an insulting sense) a busy fool or someone with a well trimmed round, which you are able to 'milk' efficiently and earn from it what its worth and has as a potential.

I have found you're likely to be able to earn at least the same if not more by having the well trimmed smaller but efficient round, WITHOUT the unwelcome need for the extra hassle caused by having a round which is simply a burden and overly large; causing you unwelcome pressure and unecessary grief.

Matt

[Sean Dyer]

I'm really sorry to hear about your son jp.

This month I've had £250 less to take my kids out with. We had planned trips which I couldn't take them on and it not only makes them sad, but me too (try telling a 5 & 8 year old that you can't take them to alton towers for the day - its heart breaking to see there faces)

But this has nothing to do with your customers. They haven't made promises.

As you are building your round up, you obviously have plenty of time to work. It is a mistake to dump customers when you cannot afford to.
I think introducing existing customers to conditions will alienate them. If you are going to do it, give it to new ones.
And i'm sorry to ask this as i don't mean it harshly, but do you wonder if you might be a bit too severe with customers and they are cancelling in reaction to it. You are still grieving.
The reason i ask is that the quote above is a blame quote. Your kids sadness is your customers fault, etc.
Do they pick up this vibe off you when working?
I hope it doesn't sound too harsh,cos it's not meant to be.
I lost my bro then my mum within a few months, 4 years ago. I was too down to keep work in perspective. But i gave off a bad vibe to some customers who i considered troublesome. It was only when i became happier, did people tell me i was easier to avoid.   
Maybe you are doing the same. 

I know what you mean there, ive lost customers on a day when i was in a bad mood for some reason, and later in the week regretted it as i was back to normal and wondered why i reacted like an idiot, pingus advice was good to go home before you make a decision like that and sleep on it/talk to someone about it...
I have a customer who does the not this time we are going away and its underpriced too so its annoying BUT  they pay as i clean, brew up, are really nice asking about family, and when my daughter was born they gave me a black bin liner full of new baby clothes there granddaughter didnt need so i think you need to weigh up whether 1 cleans income lost a year to holiday is worth knocking the other 11 months in your bank on the head!! If they are a miserable git then yes but 9/10 they just dont see things same as you and arent trying to annoy you

[mileslake]

If they say no twice I just don't go back unless they are having drive done, building work etc etc etc.  Except if a very good overpriced job etc.

[Pureandclean]

You mentioned that you only found out the night before. Does this mean that you are ringing your customers the night before you are cleaning them?

We have been cleaning for over 26 years and have never rung a customer yet to tell them when we are coming.
By ringing them before you go, you are giving them the opportunity to say don't do them this time, especially if the husband answers.