[pylofm]

scenario....You have been going for 3 years all is running along tickty boo ....many newcomers have started and finished where you work.....do you find that you have lost a lot of work because of underpricing newcomers (whether malicious or not)?

Cheers
Dave.

[pjulk]

No

Most people will stick with there current window cleaner if they are happy with him.

Its only the odd one that will change but if they are the sort to change for a cheaper quote there not the sort you want anyway.

Paul

[Tosh]

Most people will stick with there current window cleaner if they are happy with him.

Definately.  A year or two ago Leeksons (a member here) canvassed many of my accounts and I didn't lose one to him.

Obviously, I'm better looking that him, so that may have played a major deciding factor in this also.

But to be honest, I think customers stick with the 'Devil they know'.

[Londoner]

Thats only true up to a point. I have had no problems so far but I have this nagging feeling that we are going to come up against it in the future.
Here in London the window cleaning game is turning much more "professional" and I think the old fashioner shiner is going to come under attack.

I am seeing a lot more signwritten vans around, they were unheard of even a couple of years ago. And a lot of them appear to be cleaning contractors who have added window cleaning to their range of services. Part of this is because of WfP technology making it easier to break into the business.

I also blame these cleaning shows where people from other sections of the cleaning industry can wander round and see loads of window cleaning systems being demonstrated. Although it wasn't the reason they went to the show they come back with a head full of ideas.

The same is probably true of the various franchise outfits that are popping up. Nobody already in the trade would be mug enough to pay their prices. So they must be drawing people from outside the trade with the promise of big profits.

Where are all these newcomers going to get their customers from?

[simon knight]

I'm just waiting for the East Europeans to try and muscle in on the market. Certainly where I live and work 90% of the building work(residential and commercial) is carried out by them. I think that they've wised-up to pricing in that they don't have to be 50% cheaper to get the job. And I shouldn't imagine that undercutting is an issue for them.

WFP is not an option in Putney so I'm not worried on that front. But I think there could be some tricky times ahead. Guess I'll find out how faithful my customers are.

[niceandclean]

I'm just waiting for the East Europeans to try and muscle in on the market. Certainly where I live and work 90% of the building work(residential and commercial) is carried out by them. I think that they've wised-up to pricing in that they don't have to be 50% cheaper to get the job. And I shouldn't imagine that undercutting is an issue for them.

WFP is not an option in Putney so I'm not worried on that front. But I think there could be some tricky times ahead. Guess I'll find out how faithful my customers are.

Ive had East Europeans canvassing on my jobs. Customers have all said no, one because they are more than happy with the service they recieve from us, and two because they are from another country!

[cybersye]

I've had a couple of cancellations this year, definately one of them was a chancer before xmas, wanted clean windows and sent cheque the next clean this year with a note explaining my services werent required.
I think there is loyalty to a point. If you were to be dumped because you were too expensive, well you were too expensive then! I would'nt continue to buy resin for example from a supplier out of blind loyalty if I could get it cheaper elsewhere, and cheaper does'nt always mean poor quality, however those that are too cheap I doubt they stick at it for too long or are'nt legit. I just try to give a competitive price, not to undersell myself but to ensure an attractive price that I hope keeps people to a monthly contract.

[simbo]

the one thing that will deter people from switching to eastern europeans is the trust aspect, not they  are all untrustworthy but pople don't like to take risks so will stick with what they know
simbo

[Sir Squeaky]

Wouldn't worry.

I do about 30 housesin a straightforward estate at £7-8 a house, and some guy put leaflets around offering £4, or £6 with a conservatory.
How cheap?

Needless to say, I didn't lose one.

[petski2]

Had a leaflet through door yesterday (cheeky git  my van was on drive )
Reliable honest window cleaner now in your area.
Any house cleaned from £3 to  £6.
Please call  blah blah blah :

[tonylee]

once lost a £12. account  to a local drunk because he was £2. cheaper. when i aked her what she was going to do with the £26. a year she was going to save she did not answer.
four months  later when he had done her once she rang me!
i took her back at £14 quid but still exspect to loose to the next idiot or maybe she has learnt that reliability comes with a price.

[Paul Coleman]

once lost a £12. account  to a local drunk because he was £2. cheaper. when i aked her what she was going to do with the £26. a year she was going to save she did not answer.
four months  later when he had done her once she rang me!
i took her back at £14 quid but still exspect to loose to the next idiot or maybe she has learnt that reliability comes with a price.

One customer who was dumping me because she had a cheaper quote informed me that as far as price was concerned, to her, employing a window cleaner was like buying a tin of beans.  I pointed out that you can have nice baked beans or awful baked beans and that with some brands, you can rely on the flavour more.  We had a laugh about it but she still went with the other guy.  No loss.  Just a bog standard semi.

[Londoner]

Competition takes many forms and it isn't as straight forward as just whether a customer decides to dump you or keep you.

Price cutters lower the price expectations of all customers. What happens when you want to put up prices? Or when you quote for a new job?

Plumbers can charge a fortune because people expect them to charge a fortune. Its all a matter of perception.

[Clive McDonald]

Vince, refering to your earlier post not the one above, everything you said was smack on and you gave a very good analasis from a strategy view point of how things have changed and why. Everything you said was correct.
However you ignored a few things that balance it out. Our industry is undergoing massive change and massive expansion.IE.
wfp- technological
internet banking- no need to call to collect
Desk top publishing= you can print your own leaflets payment slips stationery etc and appear more proffessional
computer round management- no need for a note book or briiliant memory, you can organise well
Consumer explosion- How many had conservatories twenty years ago?
Raised standards- in our affluent society everyone wants their windows cleaned

What I'm saying is there is an ongoing growth in competition. But the growth in the market and profitablilty outstrips this.All I see is oppurtunities.This time next year we'll all be millionaires

[captain lard]

Where I am not everyone wants their windows cleaned, I canvassed 4 streets twice when I started out last year with leaflets and doorknocking and I know I am the only WC working there and I only have 60% of the houses. I can remember approaching the door of one house and thought these people will definately hire me as the windows were black but I was turned down flat.

[Clive McDonald]

Not everyone has a colour telly, phone, broadband computer, two cars,UPVC windows, Laminate flooring, and go abroad for their holidays. But most people have and do. They also have a window cleaner.
In today's society this is the norm. We are not talking about rich or even middle class, just average british consumers.Everyone else is on the margins.

[AuRavelling79]

Where I am not everyone wants their windows cleaned, I canvassed 4 streets twice when I started out last year with leaflets and doorknocking and I know I am the only WC working there and I only have 60% of the houses. I can remember approaching the door of one house and thought these people will definately hire me as the windows were black but I was turned down flat.

60% is a very good amount Cap'n!

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I find when canvassing that if peoples windows are minging then they are unlikely to want a window cleaner.  I also find that I get treated better from my customers that are at a higher price (weird).  The ones I've been doing at a low price for a long time are more likely to skip a month on their windows or even drop me.  That's okay though because you can put the price up big time when they want you back.  And then they treat you better for some strange reason.

[captain lard]

Yip 60% is decent  and I was not complaining, my point was not everyone wants them cleaned. Or maybe by me!!! Maybe they are waiting for someone with a wfp system!

[Londoner]

There are other trends to be taken into account. Where I live the population is changing. Most noticably the increase in the asian population. I have a few asian customers but nowhere near a representative percentage of the population in the area.
They very rarely take up the option of having me clean their windows. As the asian population of the area increases my potental customer base will decrease pro rata.

Most of my customers are retired people, I have got some young families but the age range is definitely heavily loaded towards the oldies.

The trouble with that is they keep dying or selling up and moving elsewhere. The new people never want to carry on having their windows done.