[matt]

i have had 2 phone calls today

both from the same area

a canvassing company have targeted the area, i guess its with the idea to build a round to sell, they are offering that the windows will be cleaned for 7.50, now these houses are normally 10 - 12.50 each

[pingu]

You have to admit this idea is scary...1 silver tongued salesman has the possiblity to really upset the apple cart.

[johnny_h]

matt do you expect to lose customers to this company? if you have a decent relationship with your customers you shouldnt lose any my round has been knocked by new guys recently ive lost none so if your doing nothing wrong dont worry plus if i bought a round to find out the local price for window cleaning was higher than i was charging i would put my prices up

[windymiller]

If the customer is happy with your cleaning then most customers will not go for the lower price. I ve had this before and never have lost many customers to the canvassers.
Most customers are loyal and would pay more to have the windows cleaned properly.
If you did lose the odd customer it usually the moaners who usually have nothing else to do but find something to moan aboat and then you usually find they want to come back after a few months.

If you clean the windows properly and clean them on a regular basis you shoulnt have nothing to worry about, You always pick up more than you lose.  

[Blue Frog Systems]

Sounds like your customers are keeping you informed. That's a good sign. If they change for the cheaper price then there not worth having.

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Peeps,

this is interesting post. Theres always a company cheaper - Better value. What ever you want to call it.

Its funny how people have different veiws, if they pay cheaper there not worth having which I find the most amusing but I understand the comment.

It all depends if you want the work at the end of the day. Its ok for people to say I dont get out of bed for less than a £££ but lets face it if you had no work I am sure you or even I would lower the price.

I know lots of people have lost jobs, work, had to lower the price in many industry. We have had to lower our prices to get the work or we dont eat!

They are not a threat, but they are an eye opener. Possibly they may get you to think of a new plan of attack. You need to adapt to the climate.

Dave

[Craig 72]

Having a good rapport with customers is a really good thing I find.I chat and get on well with the vast majority of my customers and I think they would all be loyal to me.There's a few who just pay me without too much said but I bet even these would at least tell me if somebody was trying to undercut me rather than just accepting the new price.

[Steve_c]

What part of the country are you in mate? I was out on a job today in hampshire and i ran to a team of canvassers selling window cleaning house cleaning grass cutting all in one service.

[Londoner]

There seem to be a lot of people canvassing and leafletting round here at the moment. Theres always going to be some but my impression is that its heavy compared to normal.

My instinct is its because a lot of people have lost their jobs and are now getting a bit desperate.

When the credit crunch started (a year ago now!)  window cleaners were posting on here within weeks saying "recession what recession?" It doesn't work like that.

Businesses loose trade but they don't go bust or start laying off workers straight away. Those workers don't start getting desperate until they have been out of work for a while.

What we will be seeing now are the effects of things that happened, or started to happen a year ago. It takes that long to wash through to us.

But there are a lot more people out there still in the pipeline. Job losses are greater now than they were a year ago.

[matt]

What part of the country are you in mate? I was out on a job today in hampshire and i ran to a team of canvassers selling window cleaning house cleaning grass cutting all in one service.

this work was in bridgewater

[wire1078]

it doesnt matter if they say they would do the windows for a fiver,if you do a good job and know your customers the customer will always rather pay extra just so they know that they can trust you to do the job right

[matt]

the point was

it cannot be good for these salesmen to tour the country building rounds to sell on

or can it ? ? ? ?

[ftp]

They've probably heard how an average round in St Helens sold for £30,000 so are minting it all over the country,

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

It really depends how established your business is. Personally if one of my customers left for a cheaper cleaner, I would be happy to see them go. I don't want price shoppers. I think they will set up gain work for the operator but whether they can keep the work long term is another matter. If they are so cheap they may only have the cleaner because of price. If it goes up to make a decent wage they will loose masses.