Hey All:

Whew…what a couple of two weeks. Lots of folks getting into the window cleaning biz. It’s a blast helping ‘em get off the ground but it’s a bit time consuming, so I’ve been "missing in action" from the blog for the last 2 week. I’m also working on cranking up a window cleaning forum which I’ll let you know more about later. Plus The Customer Factor is getting some serious behind the scenes enhancements and upgrades.  Cool stuff.  

Anyway…one subject that seems to pop up time and time again is "competition". I have a hard time understanding why anyone would be bothered by it. Here’s an email that I received the other day (my notes are after the email correspondence).

Steve,

I am a recently graduated business student. I was really encouraged by everything you had to say in your manual, everything looked good and I was really motivated to go forward with the business. UNTIL I looked into your directory at 3 Bears to check out my "could-be-competitors" It turns out someone else already has your program and is executing it perfectly in my area.

The website is designed exactly as you would have it. It has your reference letter on it and is copied to a "T". But i don’t see how I am to offer a competitive advantage when someone already has the program in my area offering the same thing? Any thoughts or ideas? My confidence in the program has dwindled :(

Kolby

My Response:

Hi Kolby:

Good morning. As far as competition, I really don’t understand why that would affect your mindset towards the window cleaning business.  Any idea how much glass there is out there?  There could be 4 or 5 of my system owners in your area and there would still be plenty of glass out there to clean.  So don’t be discouraged by "competition". 

Some more notes on this subject:

1.  By having another company in your area who happens to be using my "look" and "image" is a plus to you.  What this does is give the prospects in your area a feeling that your company is part of a franchise which means the company is bigger than one person.  Prospects feel much more secure knowing they’re being taken care of by a franchise vs "Joe’s window cleaning service" for example.  Two of my most successful system owners are within 25 miles of each other.  Their businesses ends up piggybacking off of each other and really provides prospects in their area a sense of security.

2.  And competition is a good thing.  I should probably do a class on this subject because of the misconception that some people have that competition is bad.  It’s not bad.  And if you follow my program, it won’t affect you at all.  There are many reasons.  Two I already explained earlier (lots of windows/glass and a look of "bigness"), but another one relates to how some prospects will call you thinking that you’re the other guy.  Now the reverse may happen as well.  So it all evens out and therefore won’t affect you in a negative way.  Keep this in mind.  To explain further…assuming he is using my "look/image", and you decide to go with the same "look/image", each time he sends out his marketing message (mails a postcard, distributes a flyer, etc. etc), he’s helping you.   

Finally…are you sure he follows my program step by step?  Unfortunately many people try and reinvent the wheel, so not everyone will follow my manual as it’s presented. 

And it really isn’t realistic to expect to be the only type of service in any town.  I’m sure there are quality carpet cleaning franchises in town.  Does this mean one gets all the business and the others don’t?  How many maid services are in town?  I’m sure there are dozens.  So similar to these types of service businesses where there are plenty of carpets and plenty of homes to clean, there are sooooo many windows out there. 

All you have to do is apply some of what I talk about in chapter 7 to make prospects aware of you.  And that’s another thing.  This other gentleman may be using postcards to market his business but not doing any other type of marketing.  See what I mean?  Between the amt. of windows out there and the myriad of marketing methods available to you, there are so many different ways to get it done in the window cleaning business.  If you just apply what I talk about in chapter 7, you’ll build a successful business regardless what the other gentleman is doing (or not doing).   

Hope this helps and get the confidence back.  If you were a bird on my shoulder and listened in on my phone conversations or read some of my emails, you would know how profitable this business (yes…even with competition) is.  Take care for now. Talk soon. 

Regards,

Steve

Kolby’s Reply

Steve
 
Wow… I must say thank you for the very detailed and thorough response you sent back… I really appreciate that and it goes along way to back up your customer service!! His message and "about us" section is identical. I am definitely not afraid of competition. :) There are a lot of windows here in this area and it looks like he just got going in March. But his customers do seem to Love him, according to Kudzu.. so he must be following your steps. 
 
But here is another question.. can you tell me a little more about the car situation? With gas prices the way they are, I really am not wanting to buy a company truck unless i have to, i like you blurb about making your car into a traveling window service vehicle,  I have a nice gas friendly vehicle… 2000 Nissan Sentra  But i was a little Leary of making it the estimate vehicle and the work vehicle.. cause it wasn’t a high caliber vehicle…is it a conversation starter with the car? or what are your major reasons for going with the car instead of a small pick-up? what are your thoughts on this?

I noticed in your pics that your vehicle wasn’t a super "high dollar" vehicle, any reason for this? i would think you would by a company truck or two?? Just curious as I am headed down that route I hope.
 
Thanks again!! 
 
Kolby

My Response

Hi Kolby:

Good morning.  Thanks much for your comments.

There is no need to buy a truck at all.  As you’ll see in the manual, I used my car.  I then stripped it of the work "look" and it made a nice estimating vehicle on my Friday "estimate day".  No specific reason for me not using a light truck, but if I already had a vehicle in place, there is no sense buying something I don’t need.  My focus throughout my business was to spend money on what mattered, and that was all the various marketing tools I used. I’d rather spend a few hundred dollars on getting a few postcard campaigns out to prospects vs me buying something that won’t directly put profits in my pocket.

Now that’s not saying buying a truck is wrong.  I have a number of system owners who have branched up and out by buying a truck or two along with hiring the people to run ‘em.  There’s nothing wrong with that at all.  But again, I already had my car in place and when it was stripped down, it really made the perfect estimate vehicle in my opinion.

So I would start with what you have.  You can build up over time.  The biggest mistake I see new window cleaners make is that they want to have it all from day one.  The main focus should be on bringing in that first customer.  And the next one and the next one.  The vehicle is secondary.  Put your money where it will give you the biggest return on investment.  A truck won’t do that. 

Take care for now and have yourself a great day. 

Regards,

Steve
 

Some notes: Specifically about competition. As mentioned above, I don’t understand why any person in any business would feel threatened by competition. I’ll never forget when I first started selling my window washing program back in April 2003. As soon as my product was online, I received a series of really nasty emails from a "competitor" who shall remain nameless.  No sense embarrassing them. But instead of embracing the competition and striving to make his program better, he lashed out.  Maybe he thought he could scare me so that I’d pull my product offline. Sure…like that really worked.

Another thing that competition does is it makes you better. Or at least it should. Being the only business in any town makes us fat and lazy. We develop the mindset that we’re the only game in town so therefore prospects have to come to us whenever they want their windows cleaned. But by having competitors out there, we work harder and we develop better systems. This ultimately will make us a better company and therefore a more profitable company. 

What I liked to do when a window cleaning competitor came to town is to call ‘em up. Contrary to popular belief, they’re not the enemy. So I called ‘em and arranged a place for us to meet. I let him/her know that if they have any jobs they can’t handle or if they need any help as far as information and/supplies, let me know. I’d be glad to help. And I also let ‘em know that if there are jobs I can’t handle or prospects I can’t squeeze into my schedule, then I’ll point them in his/her direction. So we both ended up winning in our respective businesses.

And finally…

The worst thing that we can do with competition is bad mouth them to prospects. It just makes us look bad and causes the prospect to think twice about your business. I never use any service business that trashes their competitors. I can’t trust a company that seems like they have a case of sour grapes. So if you run into a prospect that may have received a window cleaning estimate from a "competitor", just say "great…they’re a good company". Then proceed to explain what your window cleaning service is all about and wrap it up with…"good luck on your decision". 

Have a profitable day.

Steve 

 

Tagged with: • • •

Filed under: All Blog Posts

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