[Sean Dyer]

I was thinking the other day anyone tried to get customers to sign up

ie, if they are a 4 weekly custy to sign up to pay on 1st of every month standing order and you guarantee 12 clean per year ,
any not done you just refund or throw in a free clean or something , theres obviously issues but it is alot better than constantly chasing payments

Anyone tried it??

[rg1]

It would definitely be a better option but at the end of the day, it's all about educating customers.

[Ian101]

Bob Plum was looking into it a while back but not sure how he went with it ??

[darren clarke]

what if you lose time becasue of the weather, holidays, can u guarantee 12 cleans a year

[Perfect Windows]

what if you lose time becasue of the weather, holidays, can u guarantee 12 cleans a year

I've been investigating this and the way I'm thinking is that you agree an amount based on current cost per clean.

Standing order is arranged so that they are always just in arrears for customer confidence reasons (therefore needs to be phased in for cashflow's sake).

At end of year or when they stop being a customer, they get a statement of account (you made x payments of £y and received z cleans) and a cheque if one's due.

Not sure about all being on same date in month, as that causes cashflow headaches as well.

Still in the thinking out stage so keen to hear any thoughts.

Vin

[Sean Dyer]

what if you lose time becasue of the weather, holidays, can u guarantee 12 cleans a year

i reckon so , it would definitely be an incentive to make sure you did, having the money there every week/month!

even if i just had 50% it at least guarantees a steady income , you can defintely guarantee 1/2 your custys!

but lets say you miss one clean, just refund, it was never your money to start with

[Sean Dyer]

what if you lose time becasue of the weather, holidays, can u guarantee 12 cleans a year

I've been investigating this and the way I'm thinking is that you agree an amount based on current cost per clean.

Standing order is arranged so that they are always just in arrears for customer confidence reasons (therefore needs to be phased in for cashflow's sake).

At end of year or when they stop being a customer, they get a statement of account (you made x payments of £y and received z cleans) and a cheque if one's due.

Not sure about all being on same date in month, as that causes cashflow headaches as well.

Still in the thinking out stage so keen to hear any thoughts.

Vin

I was thinking it would have to be a week in arrears too, as then they can cancel without owing etc and have to give notice etc

should stop the not today crowd too!

it defintely needs thinking through and given a go as it beats the hell out of waiting for money , gonna implement it in some way in the new year i think

[darren clarke]

u might as well set up a service plan,  x amount per month in return for x window cleaners and a gutter cleaner a year

u have got to make the custy think there is something in it for them and why they should go on to something to make ur life easier

[Perfect Windows]

I was thinking it would have to be a week in arrears too, as then they can cancel without owing etc and have to give notice etc

should stop the not today crowd too!

it defintely needs thinking through and given a go as it beats the hell out of waiting for money , gonna implement it in some way in the new year i think

I think one of the big benefits would be that it stops the custy seeing the cash go out every time you visit.  Write a cheque every six weeks and you begin to notice it stacking up. Ditto handing over cash.  I think it makes them much less likely to stop you.

Also, once the admin is set up, you're not messing about banking and accounting for cash and cheques all the time.

I investigated Direct Debits but gave up - the banks may be phasing out cheques but they are not keen on making it easy to get cash in other ways...

Vin

[Perfect Windows]

u might as well set up a service plan,  x amount per month in return for x window cleaners and a gutter cleaner a year

u have got to make the custy think there is something in it for them and why they should go on to something to make ur life easier

I like that.

One benefit might be "No price increases for two years if you sign up".  "No more fishing for cash/cheque book every time we visit" might be another.

Vin

[rg1]

u might as well set up a service plan,  x amount per month in return for x window cleaners and a gutter cleaner a year

u have got to make the custy think there is something in it for them and why they should go on to something to make ur life easier

I like that.

One benefit might be "No price increases for two years if you sign up".  "No more fishing for cash/cheque book every time we visit" might be another.

Vin

You could also offer a small discount for signing-up.

[darren clarke]

i was looking at moving to 6 weeks cleans  do 8 a year then

8 x £10 per clean = 80  80/12 = 6.66 a month,  so custy thinks the wc only cost 6/7 per month,   it might not sound like a lot, but if you get say 300 custy to sign up on the monthly then it could be 300 x 6.66 = 1998  going in to your bank every month,  with no collecting

thats the idea anyway

[rg1]

i was looking at moving to 6 weeks cleans  do 8 a year then

8 x £10 per clean = 80  80/12 = 6.66 a month,  so custy thinks the wc only cost 6/7 per month,   it might not sound like a lot, but if you get say 300 custy to sign up on the monthly then it could be 300 x 6.66 = 1998  going in to your bank every month,  with no collecting

thats the idea anyway

If you move from 4 weekly to 6 you would be out of pocket. From 8 to 6 ok.

[darren clarke]

true, but i was just trying to give examples

if my wc wanted me to go on standing order,  i would want a set day per month and a free clean a year

so it could work out like

£10 x 11 cleans a year £110/12 =  9 a month  300 x 9 =  2700 a month

£8 x 11 cleans a year £88/12 = 7 a month 300 x 9 =  2100

[Sean Dyer]

exactly doesnt make sense

i will get 12 cleans in a year i wil have 4 full days so easy done, and 4 weeks to play with

why free cleans, they just get to make easier payment, i dont understand why theyd be bothered but depends on your customers, mine arnt all skint, council then no way but decent people can afford a 10 - 15 a month payment

[rg1]

If you give a discount of say 10% on a 4 weekly £10 clean then it would equate to roughly a free clean every year.

[darren clarke]

i find that the council have more cash down here than the private houses,  but that might just be cornwall

if i was a custy and the wc said i want u to go on standing orders to make my life easier,  i would want to know what was in it for me,  as in my mind i would be thinking  what if he doesnt turn up he is getting money for nothing,  plus if i dont want it dont that  month, then i can say not this month mate,  

[Sean Dyer]

then theyre rubbish custys, i am hoping to get 50 % min on board, but i cant see why people wouldnt want too, everything else is, mobile, tele, broadband, load of other services, window cleaning shouldnt be any different unless you let em

I will prob combine it with price rise and those that dont want it will get extra rise for added ball ache of collecting / leaving saes, and stricter on late payments.. time to weed the pitas and make life easier!

sick of seeing bigger balances on my debt list than bank...

[darren clarke]

how many custy you hoping to get on it,

[bobplum]

I was thinking the other day anyone tried to get customers to sign up

ie, if they are a 4 weekly custy to sign up to pay on 1st of every month standing order and you guarantee 12 clean per year ,
any not done you just refund or throw in a free clean or something , theres obviously issues but it is alot better than constantly chasing payments

Anyone tried it??

sean  just do it pick a area or a days work and concentrate on that give them your bank account details etc tell them the reason your not collecting is to keep the cost down
i  do the refund/free clean bit ive got roughly 60% doing it  its saved a lot of collecting
bob