My other half has a hairdressing salon established 22 years,there has been a shift in the frequency of visits amongst the customer base in the last 2 years which was absorbed but the most recent 3 months shows a further decline with the same customers stretching there visits longer.
I have always maintained that an established hairdressers is a barometer of the economy and currently it reveals there is a fear behind peoples spending.Older,financially stable couples are finding more and more that they are bailing out their offspring.
Anyone cutting back reduces the non-essentials and clean windows on a house thats mainly populated after dark falls into this category. I am in the process of just getting going and am giving considerable thought as to where i am going canvassing next. Bungalows populated by the older generation at £6-£8 a time seem ideal if i could get them . My current strategy is every 6 weeks as i am hoping this will reduce the "not this time " households.
Easy for me to say rather than do but how about a "sales patter" on the not this time brigade along the lines of "due to the present economic climate we are finding many customers are choosing to extend the time betwwen cleans and we can offer this though obviously we would like to clean as normal this time and then we can facilitate cleaning at X number of weeks thereafter. However a 6 week from 4 week strategy needs 50% more customers.
1 in 3 currently wanting to skip a clean might well be a sign that ought to be acted on,involving hard work extending a customer base,keeping things tight whilst the transformation occurs(reduced hours for staff) but it might be the way to adapt to the future. Only surmising of course and i give a little sales patter now to explain 6 week frequency along the lines of " Is that bloody window cleaner here again".
If you have 6 weekly`s and they are saying not this time at a rate of 1 in 3 then i am a bit more concerned about where my future income might be coming from.