[Clear Vision]

Just thinking of leaving self addressed envelopes for my customers who are not In, as I'm having a job collecting money when I go back at nights

What size of envelopes do you all use and where do you buy them from?

I don't want to spend too much!

Cheers

Matthew
Clear Vision

[glimmer man]

You can get some pretty decent envelopes in your local pound shop. I bet there is probably 50 per pack.£2 and you got 100 at least.Cheaper than the petrol driving round to two hundred homes me thinks
TONY

[Clear Vision]

Will have a look! Cheers

[mark6765]

asda do packs of 50 for 80 pence.

[Clear Vision]

Does anyone use those little square brown envelopes?

There like what some wage slips come In. I was thinking along the lines of these?

[petski2]

http://www.euroffice.co.uk/itm_show.asp?G14316=5-Star-DL-White-Envelopes-90-gsm-Press-Seal
This is where I get mine from.
Works out at just over £15 for 1000 including vat and delivery.
0.015p per envelope.

[shammy davis jnr]

clear im with you here im ready to do this on my round aswell its just getting to much ,i was thinking of just loading a load of envelopes in my printer and trying this new download stamp thing from the  royal mail where it prints your adress and stamp and you dont even need to lick stamps sounds ok
but its actualy taking the plunge do u think you will lose any doors through this ?
lets start nxt month then we  can compare  you up for it
yours shammy davis jnr
just as the dark nights creep in   

[reah]

Hey
I tried this last year.
Eventualy i went back to collecting.
The reason being everyone got used to me collecting.
People are lazy as well and forgetfull i hate writing cheques so can sympathise with the clients.
If you are prepared to wait a couple of weeks even a month for payment then ok.
When i collect i get almost 100%.
Alot leave the money somewhere for me if they are going out they generaly phone to let me know.
I clean £4000 a month and like it in my bank not being owed.
I do hope it goes well for you and works out it seems to work for most but how much are they owed each week.
Reah

[jamieharwood]

get mine from the closest place to me when i start running low. usually asdas or sainsburys. i also keep a stamp in the van with address on it, looks better than writing on the envelope and saves printer ink. vistaprint are doing them fairly cheap at the moment i think.

[steveaqua]

We use DL size self adhesive from staples. Use the ones with the flap that folds upwards so we can print outstanding amounts on the flap. once there stuck down mr postie can't see it

[Helen]

staples - £10.99 per 1000/ on your payment slip ask for payment to be made within 7 days, then you should not get too far behind with payments due, also remind people not to post cash. It may take a while for people to get used to this. but the majority will appreciate the fact that they are not being disturbed of an eveing/weekend!

[s.hughes]

Make sure its a brown envelope just in case the customer sends money and not a cheque. Its happened to me and the money was ripped from the white envelope. It could only have been the postman.

Steve

[sunshine windows]

I've been using this method of payment since starting my round up. I couldn't be a****d with going round collecting in the evenings. I mean, who wants to be out doing an extra couple of hours work and not getting paid any extra for it. Plus the amount of petrol you're using. I think it definately makes sense when you way up the pros and cons.

To answer the original question. I bought my last batch of envelopes (or rather my mum did. She's got an eagle eye for a bargain) from Lidl's. They were on special offer @ 69p per 100. Got myself 1000 envelopes for £6.90. Good on ya mum.

For the application side of things, I just buy myself a pack of 100 2nd class stamps about once a month. These come in a book which are self adhesive. Just peel them off and stick them on. Also i use address labels from the pc - 14 labels per A4 sheet.

I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this method of payment. You do get the odd problem customer but in general most people are good as gold when it comes to sending the cheques.

Lance

[petski2]

Whilst on this topic guys.
I currently have a stamper which has my business name and address on.
So once a month or so I have to go through the pain in the ass of stamping and putting a stamp on 100 envelopes.
I have been looking at the Smartstamp from the post office.
It costs £4.99 per month plus the cost of your postage.
Simple,you get your credits,print the envelopes on your printer and the envelope has all your info on it.
Best of all you can add your logo or any message.
Mine would have as address, business name and address,my message will be,we also do UPVC cleaning,gutter cleaning,conservatory roof cleaning and inside cleaning.
Has anyone used it and if so any probs.
With the extra advertising on the envelope in my oppinion it would be worth the £4.99.

[pjulk]

I looked into the smart stamp and can't see it working for us.

This was taken from the royal mail website

once you’ve printed your SmartStamp®, you have 24 hours to post your mail. The ‘post by’ date is printed on your envelope to remind you. Mail posted after the ‘post by’ date will not be valid.

So you need to post the envelope the same day or its invalid.
I got customers send it weeks later so this would not work

Paul

[rosskesava]

I'm a bit suprised by this topic  but not in some ways. When we started we followed the advice of another window cleaner who said to spend as little as possible and just put through the customers letter box a little tiny bit of paper that said ' windows cleaned'  and then just call back for the money.

It never worked quite right.

Then we tried just a photo copied A5 letter that said 'windows cleaned' 'please send cheque to.........'

That was ok for a few customer but still some customers didn't pay.

Then I got fed up and tried the 'class' approach.

The cost of semi decent envelopes is not much. The cost of a decently printed letter is under a penny.

We print our name and address on the envelope and put a 1st class stamp on it.

I am now always surpised that window cleaners charge a reasonable price then cut corners when it comes to getting paid. Just as we did.

1st rule is make it as friendly and easiest as possible for the customer to send payment.

2nd rule is have a bit of class.

Sorry, that is how I see it but cheap little brown envelopes, from our experience,  a big NO.

[keith b]

The other option is to use `pre-paid postage` from royal mail.

Basically you pay a license fee of about £110 per year, plus the postage/replies you recieve from your customer, (in other words you only pay when the customer posts the pre-paid envelope to your address).

You save your own wear & tear on your home printer, and there is no licking stamps or printing off stamps from the royal mail website!

You can have your company designs/logos on the envelope, this is also a opportunity to advertise & offer other cleaning services for different times of the year to supplement your incomes.

These envelopes could also be posted through other houses letter boxes while your window cleaning in the same street, just add some litriture offering your service, if they reply using your envelope then you know thay are serious and have a good chance to get more business.

I don`t know if this financially benificial to window cleaners, but it worth a investigation.

[rosskesava]

What's wrong with buying stamps?

Sorry but that is so simple.

The services you offer can be printed on the letter asking for payment inside the envelope.

Cheers

[petski2]

Thanks for that Paul I didnt read that bit.

[dougster]

I have been dropping envelopes through all my monthly customers doors from day one, and seven years on it is still fine.I post the envelope with the cost written inside and all the customer has to do is pop a cheque in and a stamp on and hey im paid. The only thing is when they start sending you cheques in other surnames that you dont know.

I would like to swap over to a direct debit system, has anyone else done this, and whats the pros and cons, cheers dougster