(Click the above headline to read full post)

Hey all:

Wow…I can’t believe it’s been 10 days since my last post. Time sure does fly on by lately. One of the reasons for the delay is that we’re revising 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory. This directory is setting the search engines on fire which means that window cleaners who are listed are getting calls.  But  it’s about to get even better. For those of you registered with 3 Bears, I’ll notify you soon with an update notice. You’ll love it!

Ok…I’m going to reach into my grab bag of emails that I’ve received recently along with my responses. And here we go:

Hi Steve,

Good morning and hello again. I hope you are having a great week and all is well. I just wanted to say thank you for the e-mails and advice. I have a quick question for you in regards to my business should it be Window Washing Service or Window Cleaning Service??? I read this article about that topic and this is what they said. What are your thoughts???

Is there a difference between window cleaning and window washing?

"Most definitely. Window washing, I mean, to a professional window cleaner, is almost borderline insulting. Window cleaners already have a slightly bad reputation in terms of people kind of associate window cleaners with, you know, the guys who jump on your windshield at a stop light and try to clean you with a newspaper. That’s not us. Or they associate you with the bums walking around downtown offering to clean your windows with a squeegee and a bucket for $1.50 or whatever. It’s not what we do, especially with the way I perceive my company and I project the image of we’re a professional service company. We clean windows. Anybody can wash a window, but we clean it. It’s not carpet washing, it’s carpet cleaning. Same thing with us, it’s window cleaning, not window washing".

What is your take on this? Thanks again!

Take care,
Matt

My Response:

Hi Matt:

Good morning.

I personally believe it makes no difference.  I know there are window cleaners out there who feel differently.  But putting yourself in a customers shoes, will they really be asking themselves "Well…his company name has "washing" in it so therefore he must not do a good job. I need a "window cleaner".  Um, probably not.

I think this is a case of applying a little political correctness to the window washing business.  As long as we present ourselves with a solid image from the first marketing effort through to closing the job, it won’t matter a hill of beans whether our company is named "Washing" or "Cleaning".  The proof is in the pudding.  My company name was "Clearview Window Washing Service" and I built it to just under 1000 residential customers who used my services over and over again year after year.  I bet they weren’t saying "oh…he’s just "washing".  :o )

So just present yourself well in all aspects of your business and you’ll secure jobs regardless whether you have "Washing" or "Cleaning" in the company name.  Again…this isn’t just theory or a guess I’m talking about as far as whether I feel "Washing" is the better term or "Cleaning" is the better term.  I think they’re both equal.  My company name had "Washing" in it and I had 3 crews running around cleaning glass for me each and every day.  So I would choose a company name based on what sounds good to you.   

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Steve

Another email received on a totally different subject (follow-up):

Steve,

A question about follow up I’d like to run by you.  After leaving an initial estimate we call prospective customers back to try and schedule jobs.  On occassion we’ll call repeated times without having the opportunity to speak to the prospective customer.  In these cases we do not leave messages.  Our thinking is that we don’t want to leave a message and "leave the ball in their court" to call us back.  We prefer to speak with a real live person. 

Did you have a guideline that if you hadn’t spoken to the prospective customer after x calls over x period of time you would go ahead and leave a message? Or did you leave a message each time you tried to contact someone?  We’d be interested to know how you handled these situations. Thanks.

Dale

My Response:

Hi Dale:

Good morning.

When I called prospects back the first couple of times, I generally left a message each time.  It helped me gauge their interest in my service, or whether they were trying to avoid my call.  Some folks don’t have the courage to just say "no, i’m not interested", so they try and let you down easy by avoiding the call.  That’s one thing that used to drive me crazy in window cleaning and when selling insurance.  If someone didn’t have any interest, all they had to do was tell me.  No biggie.  There’s lots other fish in the sea.  :o )  And at least we can stop wasting our time "chasing people".

Quick true story.  I had an insurance client of mine bounce a bank draft one time.  So I went by her house to collect.  I rang the bell and I heard all this commotion.  Finally a little girl comes to the door and says: "My mommy told me to tell you that she’s not home right now".  Ha ha ha.  I laughed for hours on that one.

Anyway…I’d leave a couple of messages the first two times.  If you don’t hear back, then still call ‘em back but don’t treat ‘em with a real sense of urgency.  In other words, call ‘em every 5 to 7 days and don’t leave a message this time.  After another few times of this, it’s time to move on.  Maybe you might want to drop a personalized letter in the mail to ‘em letting them know you’ll be around when they’re ready. Since you’re a member of The Customer Factor, as you know, you can do this real easy. Either "archive" ‘em or check the "they’ll call me" checkbox in the callback window.   

Hope this helps.  Have a super weekend.

Regards,

Steve

Tagged with: • • •

Filed under: All Blog Posts

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!