[cottonbud10]

things are getting bad or is it just me,lost another 3 customers in  the last couple of days,i would guess that i,m about £250 down a month,it,s getting worrying for me as i,m not getting the new customers at the same rate,i was getting about 3-4 new ones every month, but i havent had any for the last 3 months,am i the only one or are there window cleaners out there prepared to tell the real truth about how things realy are

[niceandclean]

Lost a 12 and 8 weekly the week before last, well going to wait to resume in the spring. Picked up 3 x 8 weeklys last week. Always a lttle dubious before xmas, so book them in for Jan. Will have to wait and see if i have still got them then.

[L.J.Thorpe]

truth for me is this
back end of august i started reading about impending recession
many said it would not happen and was media hype
just in case i started canvassing again
something i have not done for over 2 year at least
so far i have picked up enough to replace all i have lost and a bit more on top
but after xmas.........who knows

[Chris Galloway]

Not yet, gaining say 4 a week.

Been asked about gutter/fascia & cons roof cleans seems lots want it done for xmas, so i might be working Sundays.. as im fully booked this Sat.

I can see Jan & Feb being slow...

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I must have lost £150 - £200 in the last 6 months, very few new customers coming in, emails and letters saying "you do a sterling job but due to market conditions (I haven't got the money any more) we'll have to cancel".  However I have brought a little commercial to replace what I've lost.

Last week I lost a car dealer, did his house.  The wife told me that they have to sell 13 cars a month to break even, last month he sold 3.  See what happens in the new year, I don't think things will get any better for a while though.

Simon.

[Clive McDonald]

I'm not getting much new work

[ronnie paton]

over the last year im about 30% up last 3 about evens i lose some i gain some but im ok

[Rob.Hall]

Not picking up much work down here.

To many new boys around. Will have to see how many stick the course especially in this weather! 

[Roy Harding]

December is the busiest month of the whole year for me, about 1.5k more than any other month. And you have the Christmas break as well. Plus my Son is going to France for a holiday the week before the break.

So I will be going into the New Year with a huge back log of work.

Roy

[simonwonder]

picking up another 6-10 this week
been bad for months so a little gain is better than no gain at all 
only time will tell

[RO-Sheen]

I am losing about 2 or 3 a week at the moment but so far I'm picking up the same! Im hoping that new year will be better and start gaining more than Im losing   

[dave0123]

Think ive only lost 2 so far touch wood! and one changed to every 6 weeks, but new houses i am getting seem to be going for the 2monthly option now more than monthly.

[Sir Squeaky]

December is the busiest month of the whole year for me, about 1.5k more than any other month.

1.5k "more"
Alright for some isn't it.

[AJ]

Do you make any offers on the back of someone cancelling?
Some suggestions-
Change the frequency. Make monthly job 2 monthly. Helps out customer, you only lost half a job.
Make a monthly job 2 monthly but pay over 12 months. Cuts payments by half for the customer.
Everybody else is doing 0% finance, why not wc's.
You should try something like this as when times are better they will come back to you.
If you had a £200 job you would try anything to keep it, do the same with 20x£10 jobs.

[cottonbud10]

thanks aj,,,i,ll look in to that, lost another one today,only £4.50 a month ,but they all mount up don,t  they,i have tried dropping loads of leaflets over the last 2 months ,but as of yet nothing back. After reading all you replys i realy feel like crap now,,,Lets hope next year is better...

[Jeff Brimble]

Cottonbud, sorry to hearv of your woes, could I ask if you are trad or wfp- how long ?  Full or Part time ? Where are you based and what sort of work you have ?
Just wondering why your losing work more than others. What do you think you have done wrong , if anything.

[pingu]

I have lost a few customers this year and each year we do lose customers and then again we replace them as well....

Just see it like cow farming....you get your cow....periodically attend to it clean it and then milk it! and repeat...after a while your cow will stop producing and you need to be aware of this and have a on goingfarming type plan to replace and cull.

From now on if anyone asks me...what I do for a living then " I'm a farmer"....

I have not been in this game long but I do not think that I will keep the customers I have at this time..until I am 65..(now 40)...I believe that I will continue to have a 'turn-over of stock' and each year will see new in and the tired/old & lame turned out.

Nothing is forever...nor are custy's.

This economic downturn has made more of us think about our business's and how we operate..if you can, see it as a good wake up call.

Dave.

[William Tyndale]

Spot on Pingu!

Expect turnover, replace the old knackered cows.

I've lost no more this year than usual, my problem has been that I havn't taken on new customers due to having to work "part time" as my wife and son have been seriously ill for 2-3 years. now that they are stable, and I can work "full time", I run out of work too quickly.

We are picking up some but not as much as usual.

[kenaltobelli]

pingu i am all ears to your phillosophy/ philosophei/philosophie its always been like that.
for me mix and match try to get as much as you can in the summer to lose a few over winter
at the mo i can not get the time or weather to make enough

[cottonbud10]

hi jeff,i,m full-time windowcleaner been at it 5 years last 3 wfp, live in southend-on-sea,always telling customers if there not happy please let me know and i,ll do my best to resolve problem.,,what more can i say....??,,work to high standard always polite,never miss windows out always on time,,,what more can i offer