[dazmond]

anyone do it?i dont!

local trad window cleaner near me has just gone wfp with barrels, trolley and a van.he s picked up about 4 houses over the years that  i used to clean (who didnt like the pole.)

i had a chat with him and carried on with my work.he had to climb on 2 roofs(flat one at front and a sloping one at the back)id cleaned 3  similar houses all wfp by the time he d finished one.

i told him he s making a rod for his own back!he had to agree with me.

he also told me hes only converting a few customers because he s had a lot of moaning.

i told him just change the lot over(at least the tops for now)but he s still unsure.

what do you think he should do?

[Dave Willis]

follow you around and build his round up of discarded £40 jobs?

[chris turner]

follow you around and build his round up of discarded £40 jobs?

 

[Clearview]

Why give the customer the choice? Tell them that WFP is the way the business is going and if they want you to continue cleaning their windows they're going to have to get on board. I converted my entire round from Trad to WFP within a month, I prepared a letter for the customers explaining the benefits of the cleaning method & the advantages of not having accident risk on their property.  I probably lost a maximum of 10 customers... Picked up loads more than i lost.

[Smurf]

Ladders are now banned...Sorted 

[NWH]

Ladders banned are they that must have escaped my notice.

[Smurf]

Ladders banned are they that must have escaped my notice.

Apparently so   

[NWH]

I had one today said last time a little bit of water came in upstairs,I said close the windows then 🖕🖕

[Cookie]

Having only started in April last year I have been WFP all the time and until recently I had nobody question this.  One customer 'phoned me up a couple of weeks ago complaining that the windows were still wet after I had cleaned them.  A brief explanation of pure water resolved the issue.

I guess you're going to get more questions though if you're moving to WFP from trad....

[dazmond]

i reckon ive lost around 10 customers as a direct result of using wfp.i lost 3-4 when i first switched and the rest over the last few years.ive obviously picked up a lot more customers as well.

out of nearly 350 customers i use ladders for flat roof access about 5 times and wfp 90% of work top and bottoms with a small amount of ground floor squeegee work.

[Walter Mitty]

I know that I lost a few when I switched, and possibly lost some others who were less up front about it.  I've gained far more than that though due to being abe to access windows that can't be cleaned from a ladder.
I have three jobs left that I do trad - all ground floor.  One is a commercial job and there would be genuine issues about trailing hose and safety due to the layout.  It's better to squeegee that one.  The other two are bungalows where, without wanting to sound mean, they strugge to remember who I am when I turn up.  I just can't be bothered to explain WFP every time, so I don't use it.
On top of that I was recently given a load of mobile homes to clean and the layout means that it's far easier to do from a short point ladder.  I'd probably end up decapitating garden gnomes with my hoses otherwise.  This work is only worthwhile due to its very compact nature as they are mostly £8 and £10 jobs.  It's surprising what can be earned with a squeegee when the work is so close together.
I am considering a switch to WFP with these but it would mean a trolley and backpack for much of it.  I've not decided yet.  It's all new work for me so it might be better to get my feet under the table first.

[jonboywalton75]

Hate getting squeegee etc out.
I pole 99.9%

[ascjim]

Never give them a choice. If they want trad, they can find a trad cleaner.

[Micky Barber]

Can't get insured for ladder use.

[steve rix]

Can't get insured for ladder use.

?? Why? Have you tried Gleaming (They advertise on here if you look)

[dave f]

dump and replace with loads

[Plankton]

Theres a chap on Gumtree selling work in Ayrshire and stipulating that you must be a traditional cleaner not wfp! wtf!

[8weekly]

Theres a chap on Gumtree selling work in Ayrshire and stipulating that you must be a traditional cleaner not wfp! wtf!

He wants to make sure squeegeeing is preserved for future generations no doubt. 

[Plankton]

I remember a few years back seeing a window cleaner next to the very area he's selling. The police had stopped him on his bike carrying a ladder and bucket, wonder if it was him lol

[SeanK]

Theres a chap on Gumtree selling work in Ayrshire and stipulating that you must be a traditional cleaner not wfp! wtf!

If he's only selling part of his round then maybe he doesn't want wfp as competition, if he's selling up then maybe he has some
insider knowledge as I don't think he would care what way they where cleaned once the cash was in his account.