[Sir Squeaky]

I'm only 60% full, and half of that is chaff.

Trouble is, I rarely get any new work, so I can't drop them

Then you are doing something wrong m8, very wrong

What am I doing wrong?

A good job?
A reliable service?
A polite service?
Time for the customer?
Reasonable prices?

I'm doing nothing wrong.

[[GQC] Tim]

Maybe it's time to go actively canvassing again then?

[windowwashers]

I'm only 60% full, and half of that is chaff.

Trouble is, I rarely get any new work, so I can't drop them

Then you are doing something wrong m8, very wrong

What am I doing wrong?

A good job?
A reliable service?
A polite service?
Time for the customer?
Reasonable prices?

I'm doing nothing wrong.

I'm only 60% full, and half of that is chaff.

Trouble is, I rarely get any new work, so I can't drop them

this tells me there is something wrong m8, i am not having a dif at you, if you are 60% full offer every customer 50% off there next clean if they recommend you they will find new customer for you. (I would not give that % but then I have loads of work but it does work).

if you only are 60% FULL WHY ARE YOU 2 WEEKS BEHIND? ARE YOU LAZY ?

[Village Gleam]

To make this a bit more general, and to save picking on the same slackers time and time again one thing I have noticed on this thread, from Roy Harding down  is the level of complacency.

And some of the comments tonight... I'm going to increase my customer base by 50%, but no mention of how this is to be achieved.

[jonah]

Agree with that too ! reading posts like these can make you think you are doing something wrong . You know who are good customers and if they pay on time make you a brew and are 20p underpriced who cares its there custom you value .

[NWH]

If you can acheive a 50% increase in work in 12 months then you`ve done really well,it is acheivable but it would take hard work.The thing is the new work that you take on has to be as good as existing work or what`s the point,an increase of quality work of 50% would be more difficult to find.

[Village Gleam]

If they said I have a strategy.eg.
1. I'm designing a brilliant leaflet A5 glossy both sides and 10.000 of the blighters. It will have a picture of me and my van because I have already built a level of brand awareness about myself in the areas I intend to target. It will have example pictures of the sort of work I do, and simple benefit points explaining my uniique selling propostion.
2. I intend to canvass, but I am only targeting certain areas and properties.

But just to make statements is a bit lame.

[scud]

  I have increased my customer base by 34% this week - I bought a round of the guy who does the other houses in two estates that I work.
  He wanted 4x the monthly takings, but I got him down to 2x plus an agreement to pass on any future enquiries to me.

  The only problem I have now is getting all the work done as I was just about full anyway, but you can't look a gift horse in the mouth especially as his prices were higher than mine too.

  Best be sorting out some chaff to put the prices up by a good amount to either scare them away or make them into wheat!

[Sir Squeaky]

if you only are 60% FULL WHY ARE YOU 2 WEEKS BEHIND? ARE YOU LAZY ?

Week and a half off at Christmas and p*ssed down since.

Anyway, I never said I was 2 weeks behind, I said I might be.
I might not be either, who cares as long as there's work to do it doesn't matter how soon I do it.

If I was on time I'd have nothing to do would I?

...and yes I have been lazy lately.
I'm just fed up with this crappy job, and can't find the enthusiasm.
When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

[Tim Rose]

if you only are 60% FULL WHY ARE YOU 2 WEEKS BEHIND? ARE YOU LAZY ?

Week and a half off at Christmas and p*ssed down since.

Anyway, I never said I was 2 weeks behind, I said I might be.
I might not be either, who cares as long as there's work to do it doesn't matter how soon I do it.

If I was on time I'd have nothing to do would I?

...and yes I have been lazy lately.
I'm just fed up with this crappy job, and can't find the enthusiasm.
When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

Why not set up in another business altogether?  Get out of w/c if I were you.

[matt]

if you only are 60% FULL WHY ARE YOU 2 WEEKS BEHIND? ARE YOU LAZY ?

Week and a half off at Christmas and p*ssed down since.

Anyway, I never said I was 2 weeks behind, I said I might be.
I might not be either, who cares as long as there's work to do it doesn't matter how soon I do it.

If I was on time I'd have nothing to do would I?

...and yes I have been lazy lately.
I'm just fed up with this crappy job, and can't find the enthusiasm.
When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

rog, dont let them get you down,

you know sooner or later you wil be earning 500 quid a day and home by lunchtime on good days

stick at it

[Sir Squeaky]

I can always rely on Matt to make me laugh anyway.

[Dean Aspects]

I think at this time of year the enthusiasm is lacking in most of us its things like this that separate the full time window cleaners from the twobob window cleaners

Dean

[matt]

I can always rely on Matt to make me laugh anyway.

ok ok, i over did it, 400 quid

[macmac]

if you only are 60% FULL WHY ARE YOU 2 WEEKS BEHIND? ARE YOU LAZY ?

Week and a half off at Christmas and p*ssed down since.

Anyway, I never said I was 2 weeks behind, I said I might be.
I might not be either, who cares as long as there's work to do it doesn't matter how soon I do it.

If I was on time I'd have nothing to do would I?

...and yes I have been lazy lately.
I'm just fed up with this crappy job, and can't find the enthusiasm.
When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

What about a mixture of wfp & trad squeeks, thats what i do. although mine arn't wfp moaners but propertys where wfp is not suitable or is simply quicker trad, i still don't mind doing trad at all. infact, many of my best paying jobs are trad!
Two tools= more options & may keep everyone happy, just charge more for the trad jobs. set of roofbars on with rear-roller bar & you're away.


Tony

[supernova77]

Squeaky,

I just can't understand why you don't actively go and try to pick up some new work?

I know you say there is none left in your area... But whats wrong with traveling a little bit further to find some better work?

Andy

[Wayne Thomas]

ive often thought of getting rid of the " chaff"

BUT

as my round has been built up for more than 20 years ( im the 3rd window cleaner to take on the round ) its VERY compact, on most of my round i do 90% of the houses in that road, thus i dont move the van once all day ( and time spent in the van is time not earning )

i guess my best bet is to increase the price of the chaff till they are wheat ( its not far off to be honest )

then again, im happy with what i earn and i do, so why risk what i have

I see where you're coming from and it sounds like your round is a lot more compact than mine - though I do have patches of decent, compact work.  To be honest, I prefer to have my work more scattered and to charge higher for it rather than compact but lower priced.  This achieves several things

1) I can earn as much on a scattered round as I could on a lower priced compact round.  This sort of means that I'm being paid for short driving hops instead of cleaning windows - a good opportunity to take a little rest.

2) In a compact round there is often one awkward customer who detracts a little from profitability.  OK, so they can be dropped but it can get tricky bumping into them month after month.  In one way it's good because it forces me to be assertive and tell them why I will no longer clean their windows rather than just not going back.  But it can be a PITA if they are the sort of person who won't accept the decision and keep pestering.  Even more awkward if they are very friendly with their neighbours and there is a risk of them leaving.

One thing I've learned over the years is not to give a reduced rate because there is plenty of other work in the road.  I price as if each job is on its own because one day, it might be.  I have had this happen before if people move away, die, cancel etc.

Shiner

You & I think very similar when it comes to work issues. I share a lot of your working practices too apart from I try to concentrate mainly on picking up large blocks of flats under caretaker management and aim for large rural, residential homes as my main priority. I'm happiest driving 5-15 mins between rural places and parked up all day in one spot doing one block after another

[mark dew]

When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

squeaky, i don't want to teach you how to suck eggs 'cos for all your amusing tales of woe you obviously know what needs to be done. But why don't you drop the customer who gets you down the most and do the next biggest one the next month? And so on.
It won't be that much of a loss financially if you do it gradually 'cos i bet your  biggest moaners are the ones that pay the least. Or put the price up a quid or so. A sort of moaning tax if you like and let them drop you if they don't go for it.
Go driving 1/2 an hour away and canvasss some rural areas with bigger houses and don't forget to add on a little premium that will cover the travelling time. Go visiting a few churches and look on the sign who the vicar is and get in touch with him and ask who produces the parish magazine in that area and advertise in there.
You give the impression that you have lost sight of all those little canvassing skills you learnt when you started up on your own.
Try and remember how you picked up your own work originally and do the same thing again out of town.
And don't say ian giles gave you all your work. 

[Sir Squeaky]

if you only are 60% FULL WHY ARE YOU 2 WEEKS BEHIND? ARE YOU LAZY ?

Week and a half off at Christmas and p*ssed down since.

Anyway, I never said I was 2 weeks behind, I said I might be.
I might not be either, who cares as long as there's work to do it doesn't matter how soon I do it.

If I was on time I'd have nothing to do would I?

...and yes I have been lazy lately.
I'm just fed up with this crappy job, and can't find the enthusiasm.
When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

What about a mixture of wfp & trad squeeks, thats what i do. although mine arn't wfp moaners but propertys where wfp is not suitable or is simply quicker trad, i still don't mind doing trad at all. infact, many of my best paying jobs are trad!
Two tools= more options & may keep everyone happy, just charge more for the trad jobs. set of roofbars on with rear-roller bar & you're away.


Tony

That's exactly what I already do Tony!

[Sir Squeaky]

When I do get going in a good mood some customer moaning about wfp soon puts me off again.

squeaky, i don't want to teach you how to suck eggs 'cos for all your amusing tales of woe you obviously know what needs to be done. But why don't you drop the customer who gets you down the most and do the next biggest one the next month? And so on.
It won't be that much of a loss financially if you do it gradually 'cos i bet your  biggest moaners are the ones that pay the least. Or put the price up a quid or so. A sort of moaning tax if you like and let them drop you if they don't go for it.
Go driving 1/2 an hour away and canvasss some rural areas with bigger houses and don't forget to add on a little premium that will cover the travelling time. Go visiting a few churches and look on the sign who the vicar is and get in touch with him and ask who produces the parish magazine in that area and advertise in there.
You give the impression that you have lost sight of all those little canvassing skills you learnt when you started up on your own.
Try and remember how you picked up your own work originally and do the same thing again out of town.
And don't say ian giles gave you all your work. 

Cheers Mark, some good ideas there.
Apart from dropping the ones I don't want.
Can't afford it, all work is extra money.

I'm already in rural areas too, I don't do estates around town.