[bobplum]

customers who say the following and the fact i have a heavy cold and cant sleep
a)leave it till next time( various excuses)
b)do it every other month now
c)as in b but expect to pay the monthly charge


these are the  three bug bears of my business i am seriously trying to come to some "plan" to deal with them and i suppose its about customer retention

so far i have come up with the following plan
i offer a monthly service and know other
i offer at the outset monthly and bi monthly,with the bi monthly charge being higher
i will give each new customer a "customer info pack" (something i have been trialing) stating the fact we do monthly/bi monthly and the option you have choosen we will adhere to and expect them to adhere too as well
i suppose we are getting into terms and condtions areas and then its all about enforcing them

any ways its 5.25am im starting to get tired any ideas and views welcome
bob

[Dave Anderson]

Some people seem to get a little 'twitchy' when Terms & Conditions are mentioned....

Ok so make your self some 'Customer Charter' guidelines...all they are is a simple and clear cut method of setting out your stall.

Don't be afraid of t&c's...as for enforcing them...well going to court is not really the idea...it's more about clarity for both parties about what will and will not be done.

If you want to be the cheeky chappy shiner then steer clear of t&c's but for a more business like approach there is nothing wrong with them...

A bit like dogs...they need boundaries without them all sorts of issues will occur.

Cheers
Dave.

[bobplum]

im amazed i got 5 views and two replies at 5.30 in the morning

[Ian101]

when I quoted a new customers I gave them the option of 1 monthly price and a 2 monthly price.

EG £10 or £12 but ........ now quote £10 or £15 as firmly beleive 50% uplift is more sustainable for my business.

Had 1 yesterday say can u leave it this time .. a bloke who up until now has been spot on ... no missus to be seen and no wifes car on drive and he seemed upset so might be more to it sometimes a genuine reason however told him "yes sure I can leave it this time but next clean will be your normal tenner plus a fiver cos will need extra work" ... no problem he said.

so from now on any "leave it today" will be told yes but 50% extra next clean ... if they dont like it then dropped.

repeat offenders will either learn or will sack me or will put themselves on the 2 monthly price rate

[Tom White]

If you want to be the cheeky chappy shiner then steer clear of t&c's but for a more business like approach there is nothing wrong with them...

For me, it's more of a case of not letting customers take the mickey out of you.  And let's not forget, once you're established, it's easier replacing a 'bad customer' than it is a customer finding a new window cleaner.

[Erithwc]

to be honest i only do six weekly regular cleans and the odd one off clean.

[groundhog]

I charge the same for a 2 monthly clean as I do for a monthly, I find it hardly takes any longer at all for 2 monthly and you have a happy customer!! end of problem 

[supernova77]

From the start I offered x8 weekly as standard... I don't get many saying "leave it this time" as they know it will be another 8 weeks until they see me again, although recently I have had a couple...

If they don't have a good "excuse" i.e. building work etc.. then I just drop them off the list, once they starting messing about they'll do it again and again - Drop and replace is what I do.

Andy

[dazmond]

i hardly have any customer who wants to go 8 weekly on my cheap compact work.probably because for £6-£10 it doesnt seem too much to pay.maybe some of you guys that are charging £15 + for 3 bedders it all seems a bit pricey every 4 weeks and to ask for more money for 8 weekly seems like your ripping them off!

my new work is priced higher outside my estate work and is put on 6 or 8 weekly so i dont have any problems generally with customers thinking im getting round too often.i find 6 or 8 weekly just right for better priced work.

i would love to double the price of my estate work and get round every 8 weeks so the customer is not paying anymore and im doing half the work!but its just not gonna happen!!

generally bigger accounts outside my normal work is priced better on longer frequencies.

talking about lying awake at night.im trying to not think of all the money im losing and all the work thats piling up because i cant work!!!

NOW THATS FRUSTRATING!!

[Craig Trevain]

Can't sleep thinking about these points, as happend yesterday;

Item 1:   An irate guy on the phone saying his DI trolley is not running keeps coming up as p5 on the controller, so one of my guys talks him through calibration etc, rings back even more abusive saying his loosing £100's,still not working, we spend quite a long time trouble shooting, THE REASON he decided he didnt need the inner cartridge so filled the 3 vessels up with resin (a tiny sorry) 1/2 hour waisted.

Item 2: An irate guy shouting down the phone regarding his backpack pump not delivering enough water, we ran him through air locks etc, it continued doing it, he told us he was loosing 100's, we asked him what he was plugging the hose into, he said a 10 meter extention, we said is this free of holes and crimps, he said OF COARSE IT IS, we invited him to come into the shop, as he was local, came in, in a huff, THE REASON there was a hole in the hose, (a tiny sorry) 3/4 hours waisted.

Us suppliers have these issues too!

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

play by your own rules mate the price goes up.

[CLEANCARE WC]

I charge the same for a 2 monthly clean as I do for a monthly, I find it hardly takes any longer at all for 2 monthly and you have a happy customer!! end of problem 

the thing is mate if you let one go 8 wkly you could have sa load of customers trying to jump on the band wagonthen before you know it you have lost half your monthly income. I have been thinking about this lately and have come to the same conclusion as IAN101. I am giving two prices at the initial quote the 8 wkly being 50% more. which i think is enough of an increase to make the majority of customers wanting to switch to 8 wks think again. any new customers opting for 4 wkly will have the point driven home by me once more that if they switch to 8 wkly in future the price is 50% more.

[Crystal-clear]

i dont see what the problem is with 8 weekly work it will hammer your income but you can charge more ,say if you did charge 50% more thats 50% more per hour ,

your hourly rate goes up. your profit goes up you just need to canvass a bit more depending on your round.

you wont get alot of leave it this time and that customer will stick,

personally i dont really charge more for 8 weekly its all the same

[bobplum]

when I quoted a new customers I gave them the option of 1 monthly price and a 2 monthly price.

EG £10 or £12 but ........ now quote £10 or £15 as firmly beleive 50% uplift is more sustainable for my business.

Had 1 yesterday say can u leave it this time .. a bloke who up until now has been spot on ... no missus to be seen and no wifes car on drive and he seemed upset so might be more to it sometimes a genuine reason however told him "yes sure I can leave it this time but next clean will be your normal tenner plus a fiver cos will need extra work" ... no problem he said.

so from now on any "leave it today" will be told yes but 50% extra next clean ... if they dont like it then dropped.

repeat offenders will either learn or will sack me or will put themselves on the 2 monthly price rate

i remember when you were like putty,soft and squashy

[groundhog]

I charge the same for a 2 monthly clean as I do for a monthly, I find it hardly takes any longer at all for 2 monthly and you have a happy customer!! end of problem 

the thing is mate if you let one go 8 wkly you could have sa load of customers trying to jump on the band wagonthen before you know it you have lost half your monthly income. I have been thinking about this lately and have come to the same conclusion as IAN101. I am giving two prices at the initial quote the 8 wkly being 50% more. which i think is enough of an increase to make the majority of customers wanting to switch to 8 wks think again. any new customers opting for 4 wkly will have the point driven home by me once more that if they switch to 8 wkly in future the price is 50% more.

I like to have happy customers, if they want to go 8 weekly then thats fine by me (times are hard you know!!) and I'm not going to take the pee and charge them 50% extra for doing what is basically the same job, and in any case it gives me the chance to have more customers on my round, which is better for business and gives me more of a safety net if people start to cancel due to the economy etc.

[Ian101]

when I quoted a new customers I gave them the option of 1 monthly price and a 2 monthly price.

EG £10 or £12 but ........ now quote £10 or £15 as firmly beleive 50% uplift is more sustainable for my business.

Had 1 yesterday say can u leave it this time .. a bloke who up until now has been spot on ... no missus to be seen and no wifes car on drive and he seemed upset so might be more to it sometimes a genuine reason however told him "yes sure I can leave it this time but next clean will be your normal tenner plus a fiver cos will need extra work" ... no problem he said.

so from now on any "leave it today" will be told yes but 50% extra next clean ... if they dont like it then dropped.

repeat offenders will either learn or will sack me or will put themselves on the 2 monthly price rate

i remember when you were like putty,soft and squashy

 : yes me too but changed attitude to wasters as cant build a good business if foundations (customers) are build on shifting sands.

[Ian101]

i dont see what the problem is with 8 weekly work it will hammer your income but you can charge more ,say if you did charge 50% more thats 50% more per hour ,

your hourly rate goes up. your profit goes up you just need to canvass a bit more depending on your round.

you wont get alot of leave it this time and that customer will stick,

personally i dont really charge more for 8 weekly its all the same

quite agree with this ... 80% of mine monthly but when im jam packed full which will be May / June going to start offering on a gradual basis customers the option to go 2 monthly at a 50% increase.

Any new customers I take on always gets offered a monthly and a 2monthly price ... 25% ish still go for the monthly but at least they know the 2monthly rate up front.

[chopsie]

I charge the same for 2 monthly, takes no longer and it gives people the choice. I have had more than i expected change from bi-monthly to monthly.