Hi All,

I hope you are all having a fine day today. I thought I’d post an email below that I received recently. I hope it helps you in your window cleaning business.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

Steve,

Today I replayed in my mind all the things I must do for a successful launch. (At least the things I know, and I have many lessons to learn.) I’ve identified my biggest weakness as Quoting and estimating. My solution is to wash all my families homes, recording the quantity of windows, floor levels, time required, etc. I am also washing the bank where Debbie works next Sunday for bigger glass practice. I guess practice practice practice.

I know you cover this and I have read it many times. I am concerned that some competition may be chopping prices to stay in business and we both know that is a death spiral in any business. I must be better, more confident in my pricing, learn what the competition charges, and be ready.

I can not believe anyone can stay in business over the long haul by pricing less than $40 per hour, once they are experienced. Perhaps you can coach me sometime if you have anything beyond what you have written in your guide. I am like a sponge trying to soak up everything in sight.

Thanks,
Doug

My Response:

Hi Doug,

You will find a few competitors out there who try and undercut.  There is a well known window cleaning franchise out there that is famous for this.  Their entire business model is to get the account by any means possible.  And this usually includes the willingness to be cheaper than any other window cleaner bidding on whatever job they’re bidding on.

But you’ll find these sorts of businesses in any industry.  The trick is to not adopt their mindset.  You’ll never be able to compete head to head with these businesses because it turns into a “my price is cheaper” game and you never ultimately win that game.  You may get some jobs that way, but  making $20 to $25 an hour isn’t the way to be successful in the window cleaning business.

So my suggestion as I discuss in my manual is to craft a company image that puts you in another league. But keep in mind that regardless how good your image may be, you’ll always run into the few prospects who want you to spend all day at their house for chump change. That’s just the way it is.  So you’ll never close everybody.  Just shoot for an 80 to 85% closing ratio at your pricing levels.  This is what will make you profitable. So it’s necessary to stick to your guns on pricing.

I did want to mention though that you will have prospects tell you that they decided to use your services because of your presentation.  Most window cleaners simply won’t present estimates the way that you will.  They don’t have an estimate “package”, they don’t have references with phone numbers, etc. etc. I get calls regularly from window cleaners telling me exactly that.  And of course I experienced it personally.  What I mean is that customers will pay $20, $30, and even $40 more based on your presentation alone.  And once you get in the door with a high quality image/presentation and then back it up with a quality job where the customer is super satisfied, they’ll be tickled pink and glad they didn’t choose the cheaper window cleaner.

Here’s a really good saying that you should build your business around:

“The  bitter taste of poor quality and service remains long after the sweetness of low price has faded away.”

Anyway…I really wouldn’t focus or worry about competition.  They’ll get some jobs, you’ll get more jobs.  And the jobs you get will be more profitable, so your business is the winner.  They’ll be just a “commodity” and those types of businesses are a dime a dozen.

On a different note, when you do your practice jobs, try not to focus too much on the time it takes you to do each job.  Early on in the biz, you’ll be a bit slow.  But as you get a few jobs under your belt, your speed will pick up nicely.  You’ll eventually iron out any sticking points that were initially slowing you down plus the confidence in your squeegee stroke will increase which means you’ll be spending less time on “touch up”.  When you get to this stage, that’s when you’ll bring in window cleaning pay between $40 to $50 per hour, sometimes more.

Hope this helps.  Take care for now and have a great day.

Regards,

Steve

Filed under: All Blog Posts

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