[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Why do window cleaners think they are so special that they can lay down all the rules and still earn £50 an hour, work 4 days a week and if a customer DARE complain about cleaning in the rain be dumped then replaced with 2 more?
Can this attitude support rapid business growth?
If you where starting from a fresh, would you include this attitude in your business plan if you where looking for finance or investment?
 

[MWC]

It's called forum BS

My pole is huge and my van was 50k new with mud flaps

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

MWC. Your on the same wave length as me.

[dazmond]

for us established guys with many years of window cleaning under our belts with a solid core of good reliable customers then the attitude above is fine!

PROVIDING YOU ALWAYS DO A GOOD JOB!

i can pick and choose what work i take on to a certain degree.


regards


dazmond

[Perfect Windows]

Why do window cleaners think they are so special that they can lay down all the rules and still earn £50 an hour, work 4 days a week and if a customer DARE complain about cleaning in the rain be dumped then replaced with 2 more?
Can this attitude support rapid business growth?
If you where starting from a fresh, would you include this attitude in your business plan if you where looking for finance or investment?
 

Assuming there's a genuine question behind the aggression, let me ask you a few:

When you go to McDonalds, do you buy food on your terms or theirs?

When you hire a car do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When you get on a train do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When (insert 500,000 other examples here)...

When you hire a window cleaner, do you do it on your terms or theirs?

I'm all for dealing with complaints in a timely and honest manner and being reasonably flexible but allowing customers to dictate their terms of doing business with you isn't something practised by a single business I can name.  Can you name me a business that allows you to deal with it on your own terms?

Vin

[PoleKing]

Why do window cleaners think they are so special that they can lay down all the rules and still earn £50 an hour, work 4 days a week and if a customer DARE complain about cleaning in the rain be dumped then replaced with 2 more?
Can this attitude support rapid business growth?
If you where starting from a fresh, would you include this attitude in your business plan if you where looking for finance or investment?
 

Assuming there's a genuine question behind the aggression, let me ask you a few:

When you go to McDonalds, do you buy food on your terms or theirs?

When you hire a car do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When you get on a train do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When (insert 500,000 other examples here)...

When you hire a window cleaner, do you do it on your terms or theirs?

I'm all for dealing with complaints in a timely and honest manner and being reasonably flexible but allowing customers to dictate their terms of doing business with you isn't something practised by a single business I can name.  Can you name me a business that allows you to deal with it on your own terms?

Vin

Genius reply vin.
And completely pointless topic to start as a window cleaner. 

[Clever Forum Name]

Why do window cleaners think they are so special that they can lay down all the rules and still earn £50 an hour, work 4 days a week and if a customer DARE complain about cleaning in the rain be dumped then replaced with 2 more?
Can this attitude support rapid business growth?
If you where starting from a fresh, would you include this attitude in your business plan if you where looking for finance or investment?
 

Assuming there's a genuine question behind the aggression, let me ask you a few:

When you go to McDonalds, do you buy food on your terms or theirs?

When you hire a car do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When you get on a train do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When (insert 500,000 other examples here)...

When you hire a window cleaner, do you do it on your terms or theirs?

I'm all for dealing with complaints in a timely and honest manner and being reasonably flexible but allowing customers to dictate their terms of doing business with you isn't something practised by a single business I can name.  Can you name me a business that allows you to deal with it on your own terms?

Vin

Funeral directors.

[dazmond]

it all comes down to experience.

we ve all been messed around by customers but i nip them in the bud quickly these days.

as vin says i give a bit of leeway and can be a bit flexible but if they pee me off and are not fair with me i drop them.luckily i dont have much aggro from problem customers  as they ve all been dropped years ago(most of em!)

[Perfect Windows]

Why do window cleaners think they are so special that they can lay down all the rules and still earn £50 an hour, work 4 days a week and if a customer DARE complain about cleaning in the rain be dumped then replaced with 2 more?
Can this attitude support rapid business growth?
If you where starting from a fresh, would you include this attitude in your business plan if you where looking for finance or investment?
 

Assuming there's a genuine question behind the aggression, let me ask you a few:

When you go to McDonalds, do you buy food on your terms or theirs?

When you hire a car do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When you get on a train do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When (insert 500,000 other examples here)...

When you hire a window cleaner, do you do it on your terms or theirs?

I'm all for dealing with complaints in a timely and honest manner and being reasonably flexible but allowing customers to dictate their terms of doing business with you isn't something practised by a single business I can name.  Can you name me a business that allows you to deal with it on your own terms?

Vin

Funeral directors.

Funny that you should choose that.  The other week I was doing the funeral director I somehow picked up despite doing no commercial work (long story).  Anyroadup, I mentioned that when I croak it, I want to be launched in a steel coffin out of a trebuchet into the middle of the Solent.  He told me they couldn't do it.

What kind of a business are they running, dictating terms like that to me?

[rosskesava]

It's called forum BS

My pole is huge and my van was 50k new with mud flaps

+1

[rosskesava]

Assuming there's a genuine question behind the aggression, let me ask you a few:

When you go to McDonalds, do you buy food on your terms or theirs?

When you hire a car do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When you get on a train do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When (insert 500,000 other examples here)...

When you hire a window cleaner, do you do it on your terms or theirs?

I'm all for dealing with complaints in a timely and honest manner and being reasonably flexible but allowing customers to dictate their terms of doing business with you isn't something practised by a single business I can name.  Can you name me a business that allows you to deal with it on your own terms?

Vin

I have a choice which fast food outlet I use.

I have a choice as to which car hire company I use.

I have a choice as to how I travel to an extent.

Etc.

It's not always about having it on your terms as that's only a part of the story, it's also about the customer deciding to use you or not. If they choose not to, then you can have it all on your terms to any extent to you want, it still won't get their money into your pocket.

[AuRavelling79]

>Ross

I am a reliable regular honest window cleaner that offers a good quality job and I aim for and successfully attract reliable regular honest customers who want a good quality job.

If any customer doesn't wan't to be regular and reliable and honest (as in sticking to our agreed terms) then they are welcome to find another window cleaner.

I'll keep the ones that do.

The flexible window cleaners can have the flexible customers.

Simple.

 

[dazmond]

ive noticed how the window cleaners that are agreeing with the OP are the ones that seem to be always moaning about the weather.miles behind with work and probably scratching a living together barely paying their bills!

i know what thats like.i too was just like that in attitude for years and my business suffered and a barely earned enough money to get by esp during spells of bad weather.

i also never had the balls to up my prices.i didnt have the confidence or the business acumen.

now i know im no "alan sugar"

........but its amazing what a change of attitude can do for you.

im harder in a business sense these days and im proud of my little business which is just going from strength to strength.

i dont lack confidence anymore as ive really upped my game over the last 5 years or so and provide a very reliable professional service.

ive never had it so good even with the bad weather of late.


very best wishes to you all


dazmond

[MWC]

It has nothing to do with terms and being choosey. It's the drivel that floats about on this forum how some regard themselves to be all and mighty.

Yep we've all been messed around and most of us would like to say things to customers, just like car sales, supermarket, bank staff! Nobody really like to deal with the public!

What we don't need is this attitude of "I make ££££per hour in the lashing rain and if the customer doesn't like it they can do one and I'll replace them with 10 more" and te poking of fun at other for doing courses or use of cones etc

Reality is we all would like to make big £££ per hour, who wouldn't, but unfortunately we have to deal with the weather at times and the business model of dump and replace with more is not always practical / possible and not always the right thing to do for the business.

Sometimes you just got to sweat it out and doing this will see you trading for a long time and you'll still be around when half the one time bandits have moved on to something else.

[dazmond]

i agree MWC  to a certain degree!

i never thought it possible at one time but you can still hit a good hourly rate even in peeing down rain AND get paid  without the customers cancelling!

ive been doing it for years!

only when its really gale force winds do i sack it off!

[MWC]

i agree MWC  to a certain degree!

i never thought it possible at one time but you can still hit a good hourly rate even in peeing down rain AND get paid  without the customers cancelling!

ive been doing it for years!

only when its really gale force winds do i sack it off!

Fully agree, I don't think I've had one day cancelled off this month too, few late starts but out everyday.

[Marc Stock]

Im with dazmond on that. if its raining, so what..... suck it up.... stick on your waterproofs and get on with it.

although the latest weather hasn't been easy, with the high winds etc... but if you don't like it stop window cleaning and do something else.

[SeanK]

Iv missed a few weeks in total from Christmas due to high winds and rain.
Its nothing I cant pull back by working a few Saturdays and extra hours in the better months.
I wouldn't blame any customer who complains if their windows are being cleaned in stormy
weather.
It does amaze me at what customers will put up with at times in this game.
I actually know a guy who cleans windows with unfiltered tap water 210 ppm and is making
a living, you want to see the state of the windows when he finished.
I'm not joking.

[Tom-01]

Assuming there's a genuine question behind the aggression, let me ask you a few:

When you go to McDonalds, do you buy food on your terms or theirs?

When you hire a car do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When you get on a train do you do it on your terms or theirs?

When (insert 500,000 other examples here)...

When you hire a window cleaner, do you do it on your terms or theirs?

I'm all for dealing with complaints in a timely and honest manner and being reasonably flexible but allowing customers to dictate their terms of doing business with you isn't something practised by a single business I can name.  Can you name me a business that allows you to deal with it on your own terms?

Vin

I have a choice which fast food outlet I use.

I have a choice as to which car hire company I use.

I have a choice as to how I travel to an extent.

Etc.

It's not always about having it on your terms as that's only a part of the story, it's also about the customer deciding to use you or not. If they choose not to, then you can have it all on your terms to any extent to you want, it still won't get their money into your pocket.

Yes you do have a choice of what hire car company to use etc, but the one you choose to use you have to abide by their terms.

We run businesses not charities. Bit of a pointless thread I think to be honest.

[Jonny 87]

Iv missed a few weeks in total from Christmas due to high winds and rain.
Its nothing I cant pull back by working a few Saturdays and extra hours in the better months.
I wouldn't blame any customer who complains if their windows are being cleaned in stormy
weather.
It does amaze me at what customers will put up with at times in this game.
I actually know a guy who cleans windows with unfiltered tap water 210 ppm and is making
a living, you want to see the state of the windows when he finished.
I'm not joking.

Let's not bring gary999 into this!