[chris@c.m.s]

                                                  CMS WINDOW CLEANING

Dear customer

Due to the recent weather conditions and an ever-increasing workload we have found it almost impossible to provide the regular and reliable service we had hoped to.

With the Water Fed Pole system becoming increasingly popular it is now widely accepted that the cleaning results are largely unaffected by light/moderate or even heavy rain, this is due to the absence of soap residue and the fact that rain is almost as pure as the water that we use to rinse your windows.

We therefore have made the decision that we will work in light or moderate rain in the future; you can be assured that we would not turn up in extreme conditions or if we feel your clean would be affected in any way.

Of course it is your choice in the end and if you against our proposals then please let us know on the number below or when we visit, It may unfortunately mean that your property may be missed until your next scheduled clean though.

Please also note that in the unlikely event that there is a problem due to us cleaning in the rain we will happily return to re-clean any affected windows.
 
Yours sincerely,
                   
                                Chris.                                             Tel …………

[gewindows]

Cheers, looks good enough for me, I shall be implementing that shortly.

Thankyou.

Matt

[michael papworth]

How about this one?

*************************************************************
Dear Customer,

As you know, we use a pure water system to clean your windows.
 There are very many advantages to this system. Amongst them
are safety and quality of the results.

There's another great advantage as well. It means that we can
continue to work in light to moderate rain without any compromise
to the quality. That's because rain water is almost as pure as the
water we use.

So you will get your windows cleaned to the same high quality
and get them done on time no matter what the weather.

See you soon

Don Kidick - Window Cleaner
*************************************************************

Just an idea.

[paul rulton]

nice 1 thanks chris, im so gonna use that.

[paul rulton]

its good..... but... chris gets my vote on this 1 ..... sorry

[rg1]

I like Chris's letter, but I wouldnt give custy the option of cancelling in the rain.

[elfords]

I think its a mistake to be highlighting this in such a way. I have it as a mention in my terms & conditions that we work in all weathers unless deemed unsafe by us. But to make such an issue out of it by handing out a letter is just gonna make a rod for your own back, its almost like saying we know its unacceptable but were gonna do it anyway!

Whats wrong is that customers expect you to not work in the rain in this country, train your customers that it is acceptable if they expect a regular/reliable maintenance service if not drop them.

[John Walker]

One other thought is that by telling the customer that rain water is almost the same as our pure water it might give some of them the idea that they can clean there own windows by collecting rain water.

[dazmond]

are terms and conditions really necessary?if i came out with it my custys would laugh in my face.its not worth the paper its written on IMO!

what i do is when i take on a new custy i just explain to them i clean in light/moderate rain sometimes as i do this job as a business and i will fall too far behind with my work if i dont.i very rarely get turned away!

i think if you explain properly from the start then you dont get many problems.being honest,straightforward and professional with customers really does work for me without this terms and conditions crap which i think could sour relations IMO.

regards

dazmond

[ccmids]

same here its not worth it

[elfords]

I think simple one page terms and conditions on the back of your quotes are certainly not crap, quite the opposite, very professional, and sets out how you do business. Horses for courses I suppose, but if you want good reliable customers that appreciate a professional set up, most would expect such an approach. Its worked for me these last 18 years, anyways.

This is what I currently use, if you still think its crap, fair enough, but I don`t ;-)

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=89346.0

[gewindows]

its almost like saying we know its unacceptable but were gonna do it anyway!

No its not, its saying WFP is fine in inclement weather whatever old wives tales you choose to believe.

[gewindows]

I think simple one page terms and conditions on the back of your quotes are certainly not crap, quite the opposite, very professional, and sets out how you do business. Horses for courses I suppose, but if you want good reliable customers that appreciate a professional set up, most would expect such an approach. Its worked for me these last 18 years, anyways.

This is what I currently use, if you still think its crap, fair enough, but I don`t ;-)

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=89346.0

Like that, very good.

[elfords]

its almost like saying we know its unacceptable but were gonna do it anyway!

No its not, its saying WFP is fine in inclement weather whatever old wives tales you choose to believe.

That was my point, it is acceptable so why make it sound like it possibly is`nt  :

[gewindows]

Because most punters believe cleaning windows in the wet is unacceptable, they just need steering in the right direction.

[matt]

i carried on today, had a bit of a late start, so started the first house just as the rain started, i cracked on and she said " oh, you are cleaning in the rain "

i explained that with the snow and ice i am so far behind its a case of needs must

she accepted it and said, oh ok mate, if you think they will still be clean

a few houses were out, no probs with them

i get to a house in the middle of the close, the guy comes out " your not going to do them in this rain "

i joked, this is rain, its just light drizzle

he said, your mad, they will look crap tomorrow

i explain with the snow / ice i am so far behind, he said, no probs mate

most on here know my views on working in the rain, the customers ( who pay you ) DO NOT LIKE IT, they might accpet it, but they are not over the moon about it


so my take on it, this time these 2 were happy with it, as Im behind because of the snow, if i turned up and did them another time in the rain, i would have been 2 customers down today, this was out of 11 houses ( and most than half of them were out )

[elfords]

most on here know my views on working in the rain, the customers ( who pay you ) DO NOT LIKE IT, they might accpet it, but they are not over the moon about it

Matt with respect you are clearly unwittingly letting your customers dictate how you work. See my responses above about how I overcome this objection. You need to bite the bullet & start training them. I have never lost a customer due to working in the rain. If you wre to walk away and it rained 1/2 hour after you have been, whats the difference, sorry my friend but I think you need to man up over this 

[dazmond]

some of you guys make me laugh!going on about terms and conditions and that you work in the rain etc.then why are you not working today then?

i worked yesterday in ice/snow on the ground but its been raining ALL day in the north west heavish mostly today so ill try again tommorrow.and thurs/fri/sat........!

im with matt on this one.custys do not like you working in the rain esp if its heavy and their paying £20 for a clean.i do occasionally but i try and do my lower priced crap instead that day!also it gets miserable working in the rain so i usually only do a few hours in it before it hacks me off! :

as i said before t&c are not necessary on domestics at all IMO

REGARDS

DAZMOND

if i had a window cleaner who gave me a contract id tellhim to bugger off!its only window cleaning!i think some of you overcomplicate the job!i really do!

[elfords]

im with matt on this one.custys do not like you working in the rain esp if its heavy and their paying £20 for a clean.i do occasionally but i try and do my lower priced crap instead that day!also it gets miserable working in the rain so i usually only do a few hours in it before it hacks me off! :

As is often the case its more a case of some don`t like to work in the rain, and they are quite happy to use the excuse that its unnacceptable to work in the rain - such a rediculous approach, if you want to make the most of this service/business you have to work in the rain end of, if your happy to accept that you will never reach your full earning potential then you don`t work in the rain, your choice, but believe me all customers that happily let you work in the rain are the ones to have and there are many more of them than a few on here seem to think. I would say at least 90% of all domestic customers have readily accepted this once it is explained why you do work in all but the heaviest horizontal rain, as set out in your terms & conditions!!!

[dazmond]

well how come your not working today then gary?or are you just another part timer?