[CraigDowney]

Looking for people's feedback on canvassing companies... yes I know I could do it myself, but I'm hoping to build a round quickly, get a half decent customer base to get me going then build it over the years from there. I have been looking for rounds for sale In  my area but as yet haven't found any, and would guess anything half decent would be out of my price range anyway.

I have spoken briefly to a company who say 3x the clean as cost. So if I want £500 of work they will charge £1500. I dont suppose that's a bad price, and forgetting the time and cost of doing the jobs after 3 months it's profit.

So just looking for your experience using such companies. Were the job they got you any good, would you use them again etc etc

[Ooooooog]

I’ve used a couple. Expect to lose or dump maybe 40% of your canvassed work in a year.
If you canvass yourself, you can make your own judgements and crucially build a relationship with the customer.

Good luck!

[Crystal-clear]

There is a reason why this topic is going to be extremely quiet lol. Or you might get one person saying these people are great use them most likely a window cleaner friend character of the canvassers

Listen canvassing works but not if you're paying three times the clean plus you're running costs and your wages which people tremendously underestimate. It never works out like that you will lose 50% of the work and it will probably end up like paying 6 cleans.

Most times canvasers up sell themselves with clean guarantee. Which is not worth the paper it's written on. Most stipulate a quick call to the customer to confirm that there was nothing wrong with the job is basically a get out of jail free card for the canvasser " oh Mrs Jones were you happy with the clean? " and what's the first thing customers say to get out of something they didn't really want" no I wasn't happy " sorry window cleaner we can't refund that one for you.
A few things I would confirm with whoever you are considering to use.

1) Most importantly get them to sign something which confirms a non payer or a cancellation purely is considered a refund to you. Most window cleaners who use canvassers are green. Therefore they have very little experience about one offs and what customers say to get what they want so a quick call to check with the customer that your work is good of course your work is good why on earth would a customer say it's not?. And that's how you don't get refunded.

2) you have to be in complete control. From when you clean the customer to getting paid do not part with any money until you have at least been paid from everyone and spoke to them yourself. Why do you think they want to be paid quickly ? Because they know problems will occur. They don't want you not paying for 50% of the work. They want to control that aspect And if you settle for it it could be costly.

Have common sense around you understand that if this really worked there is a number of people on the forum which have a number amount of vans.
Are ambitious and have the cash flow These companies would not never need to advertise again and be contracted full time by them.
If it really works they wouldn't be selling it

So £30,000 3 cleans would mean it will get you £10,000 per clean potentially 120000 per year
Easy as that right  everyone agrees to 3 clean guarantee in the space of maybe 2 years you can have a business bigger than Lee's .

That old saying if something is too good to be true...

Cannvass yourself or pay someone a sensible rate to do it similar to what you would pay someone to work for you on the glass except you have expectations and targets to meet per day. Work it out in the way that you break even on the first clean which is already a loss by the way don't forget your wages your vehicle....

[Craig downey]

Thanks Crystal-clear, that has confirmed a lot of the concerns i had to start with.  I was thinking if it works that well, why wouldn't i have them out constantly....

i do intend to go out door knocking myself, ( not an excuse, but i am waiting for my business cards and leaflets to arrive, that way i have something to leave with them)  i was just considering using these to give me a helping had starting, and then when i got busier and had less time to door knock, use them more then, however i might re consider that option now! thanks for taking the time to reply

[Stoots]

I've used 4 companies

And spent probably over 10k on canvassers.

On average half of what you get will be gone within 6 months.

In my experience the cost is more like 6x in reality.

Non payers, cancels, one offs, poor access, it's a whole poopstorm of dross.

Still there is no better way to get compact work than canvassing,

[Crystal-clear]

I've used 4 companies

And spent probably over 10k on canvassers.

On average half of what you get will be gone within 6 months.

In my experience the cost is more like 6x in reality.

Non payers, cancels, one offs, poor access, it's a whole poopstorm of dross.

Still there is no better way to get compact work than canvassing,

Totally correct remember we are saying canvassing definitely works 100% and it's basically in my opinion one of the best methods. The only onion is when you're paying 300% of a clean.
You have to do it yourself or get someone that is prepared to work for a more sensible wage.

Preferably with no guarantees and you breaking even after the first clean.

[Stoots]

I've used 4 companies

And spent probably over 10k on canvassers.

On average half of what you get will be gone within 6 months.

In my experience the cost is more like 6x in reality.

Non payers, cancels, one offs, poor access, it's a whole poopstorm of dross.

Still there is no better way to get compact work than canvassing,

Totally correct remember we are saying canvassing definitely works 100% and it's basically in my opinion one of the best methods. The only onion is when you're paying 300% of a clean.
You have to do it yourself or get someone that is prepared to work for a more sensible wage.

Preferably with no guarantees and you breaking even after the first clean.

Canvassing works.

There's no doubt it produces the most compact work than any other method.

Eventually it will be worth it it's just that the payback is more like 6 months than 3 cleans. After 6 months you have probably broken even, the round has settled down and you are left with some good work.

The question is can you get a better r.o.i using another method, if so then you would be mad to pay a canvasser.

I paid canvassers when starting out because I hated canvassing that much I was prepared to sacrifice a few months of money for the long term gains.

Now I can say I'm glad I did, it was really hard work dealing with the raft of first cleans and Messer's but all of my most profitable days work is stuff that's been canvassed.

[CraigDowney]

As for going canvassing yourself, do you just post leaflets or door knock?. Just got my leaflets today so going out tomorrow.

[Ooooooog]

As for going canvassing yourself, do you just post leaflets or door knock?. Just got my leaflets today so going out tomorrow.

Knock on the door and say ‘hi, I have a window cleaning round in the area/street/village. Would you like a quote to have your windows cleaned?’
Or some such.

[colin bird]

When I started out,I went canvassing knocking doors,offering a reliable window cleaning service,if no one home I would leave a leaflet and call back
It is important to call back after leaving a leaflet as they may be looking for a window cleaner,but not the type of person to pick the phone up
I drew up a canvassing sheet with house numbers in one colum,then two other columns,one for a tick if in one for a cross if out you then have a record on who to call back on.
That's what I did and it worked for me

[Mr B shine]

It seems they are more expensive now.
 I used two diffrent people, Mark and also Paul.
 I don't think they do it anymore and they may have been on here at some point.
 They changed x2 for 4weeks and x1 for 8 weeks plus a % of the house clean quotes.

 You are going to get drop offs and messers if you do it or they do it. Thats how it is.
 On the upside though, for me anyway, once i was in an area they were replaced by walk ups and such.
 It is the best way to build a concentrated round especially if yiu canvas yourself.

 It is not a magic guaranteed way of building a super duper gold mine round but it gives you some solid building blocks if you manage it right.
 
  Hope that helps you.

[Mick Kent]

I still canvass at x2 but only the SE and Around the M25

[Clever Forum Name]

I'm doing some canvassing for a friend and averaging around 10 houses on a 4-5 hour stint.

He's cleaned them 4 or 5 times and it's only led to more customers not a single cancellation.....yet.

Because i'm not getting paid I don't take on any customers for him that have to be pushed into having a clean but then again hes been on the phone to me while knocking and he said i'm a natural 

[pdale]

It seems they are more expensive now.
 I used two diffrent people, Mark and also Paul.
 I don't think they do it anymore and they may have been on here at some point.
 They changed x2 for 4weeks and x1 for 8 weeks plus a % of the house clean quotes.

 You are going to get drop offs and messers if you do it or they do it. Thats how it is.
 On the upside though, for me anyway, once i was in an area they were replaced by walk ups and such.
 It is the best way to build a concentrated round especially if yiu canvas yourself.

 It is not a magic guaranteed way of building a super duper gold mine round but it gives you some solid building blocks if you manage it right.
 
  Hope that helps you.

I'm doing some canvassing for a friend and averaging around 10 houses on a 4-5 hour stint.

He's cleaned them 4 or 5 times and it's only led to more customers not a single cancellation.....yet.

Because i'm not getting paid I don't take on any customers for him that have to be pushed into having a clean but then again hes been on the phone to me while knocking and he said i'm a natural 

Oh, how I miss a Bedford curry night 
Good times

[david mark]

I'm in a dispute with  Company called Fresh  Canvessing will keep the forum informed

[Richard iSparkle]

i used a professional canvasser myself a couple of years back.

we agreed lots of ground rules regarding areas, prices, and basic T&Cs of our WC service

it was not a good expereince. within the first day he had moved straight to areas he wanted to canvass (terraced houses), which i had told him to avoid. he said what he liked to get the work and priced however he liked.

i paid up but it was not a good expereince and i would not repeat it.

i have had a lot better experience of recruiting my own canvassers and training them myself. if you dont want to do it yourself i think this is the better option

[Llaaww]

Canvassing is the bit that I enjoy.

 I have been on the tools for 30yrs and the aches and pains are starting to tell, so I need to find a way forward with less physical stuff. Canvassing may be a way forward for me.

I have always generated my own work, and I am good at it so never needed to buy any work or use a canvasser. I am aware that many find it hard to knock on strangers doors, but I enjoy it.

I doubt if I could do it for a full time income but passing around a few jobs or leads may be a handy income for me. I pick up work across the board, from small domestic window/ soft wash through retail commercial and industrial units etc.

If any of you are in Cornwall and want to have a chat txt 07974179720.



It's an interesting post for me to have a look at

[Crystal-clear]

i used a professional canvasser myself a couple of years back.

we agreed lots of ground rules regarding areas, prices, and basic T&Cs of our WC service

it was not a good expereince. within the first day he had moved straight to areas he wanted to canvass (terraced houses), which i had told him to avoid. he said what he liked to get the work and priced however he liked.

i paid up but it was not a good expereince and i would not repeat it.

i have had a lot better experience of recruiting my own canvassers and training them myself. if you dont want to do it yourself i think this is the better option

Oh dear! I don't want terraced houses not a problem here you go here's some terrace houses lol.. just ignore what the business owner wants because what he wants is too hard and I need to get paid and out of here lol.

It only works if you find someone that wants to earn some extra money (still good money) for a days work but not charge 2 or 3 cleans nowhere near that infact.

People need to stop being lazy your options are if you want to make it viable do it yourself or indeed get your own person train them up and give them realistic expectations of what they can earn.

[Crystal-clear]

I'm in a dispute with  Company called Fresh  Canvessing will keep the forum informed

Oh ... what happened the usual too many cancel before clean after? Hope you sort it.

[SB Cleaning]

I used several canvassers when I first started up most were half.

Only person  who I would recommend is Paul Dale he was a window cleaner himself and I held a very good retention rate of customers using him.
Unfortunately I dont think he does it anymore.