A Window Cleaning Plan…

An email recently received:

Hi Steve,

Man, you make this sooo easy, im going to have to start counting how many thank you's a day I have for all this great info and help.

A couple new questions…

I think I'm going to just go right ahead and get your design reworked from Barbara, she seems really reasonably priced, and better to use my time to Market and do jobs and develop the system. changing the caricature doesn't seem like a priority though? at least upfront.

Hell though, I'm on a tight budget till spring cash-flow starts rolling in, maybe i will just go ahead and go the "Whole Hog plus the Postage", as Gerber says…

1. Send Out Cards …  I'm seriously considering signing up soon when I get the money raised for the wholesale account.   I have an existing customer list that until now I havent worked very well, even allowing a year or more time lapsing because I wasn't following up.  Currently as im loging them all to the Customer Factor, it looks like I have a list of at least 200+.

My plan is to start calling them soon to set up appointments for spring,  my sense is to just wait until I do the job again and then send out the cards,  and then if they are not ready to book, have a card to send them thanking them for there past business, saying something like…

Hi John and Judy:  

Just a quick note from your friendly neighborhood window cleaner hoping that you are having a fine spring so far. 

Thank you once again for using our service,  we look forward to speaking to you soon, when you are ready once again to make your windows sparkle and shine.

Thanks to all our wonderful customers such as yourselves, our business continues to grow in leaps and bounds due to the many referrals we receive, so thank you for spreading the word! It's much appreciated.

We'll see you at your next window cleaning.

Take care for now! 

Best Wishes,

Aaron Swanson
Clear Vision Window Cleaning

And then doing a campaign from that point on once in the summer say early July? and then a month before thanksgiving,  and then sending out a gutter cleaning reminder (big profits for me) around that time too (probably by postcard…)

Does that sound like a good plan and frequency (use of the card system) to you?  Any tweaking ideas from the expert would be appreciated!  Thanks.

Man, I'm going to have SO much work flow if I do this all, its a little scary in a Really good way.

I'm going to need to hire guys pronto for April.  and get a Job Manager. You recommend using all Subs to start out huh? Paying for everyones individual insurance premiums Vs. going Workmans comp? It does seem easier but do you find it to be most cost effective?

Technically my understanding is that they would have to have there own ladders as well as equipment. I guess it would be smart for me to buy the equipment and the insurance and ask for a commitment for the summer.  And then just only allow Subs on ladders who have there own Ladders?  Otherwise they are the official ground and inside crew.? At what point do you break down and get workers comp.?

Thanks again, with you, your system and my friend I'm working with who is an ex E-myth business coach,   this year is going to Rock!

Regards,
Aaron

My Response:

Hi Aaron:

Good morning to you.

This is what I'm here for sure. I truly enjoy seeing folks start off with no business, and then a few months later they have a business where customers are beating down their door to use their window cleaning services.  It just takes a little push by you at the beginning, but then it's off to the races.  :o)  Thanks much for your comments though.  I appreciate 'em.

Yeah…I use barb for most everything I do.  So she is good with graphic design stuff.  It is better to focus on marketing. But here's the thing though…don't go "whole hog" if you don't have the dough.  It's much better in my opinion to perhaps get a couple of folks to distribute a good amount of flyers.  The reasons are: 1) you can generate calls immedediately and 2) flyers are cheap so you can do a lot of 'em (think numbers).

Postcards have proven very, very effective over the years. I mailed out thousands of them, so they definitely work for sure. But the thing with them is that in order for you to see the best results, it'll require 3, 4, 5 mailings to one area.  So it takes a few bucks to get postcards going the right way.  People need to see your message over and over again.  So if you have some extra bucks, then postcards is the answer. If you'd rather wait and work your way into the postcards, then flyers is the ticket initially.  Just an idea.

Note: Even though I mailed postcards, I still did flyer distributions within the same areas I mailed postcards too. It gives you a double whammy.

Sorry for you needing to manually log your customers into The Customer Factor.  :o)  We are working on an import feature.  The good news though is that as soon as your customers are in the software, you'll be able to do so many things with them, including exporting them directly into Send out cards and sending 'em greeting cards regularly.  I can't stress this enough.  What this does is not only trigger referrals coming your way, but it also lowers that resistance wall that people have when you first call them for a follow up/repeat appt.  Who are they going to feel more comfortable with?  Someone who cleaned their windows last year, made their money, and now they're back a year later looking for more money?  Or the person who cleaned their windows last year, made their money, but they kept in touch over the months with correspondence/cards? Nothing fancy. Just "Hey, how are you doing Nancy. Hope your summer is going well." Things like that. I can assure you the resistance walls disappear quick when you "keep in touch".  Consequently you make more money.

There is an investment in Send out cards for sure. But I personally think about the benefits from that investment (or any investment). Ever play monopoly when you were younger? If you were the one who payed more attention to controlling properties instead of hording your cash, then chances are you ultimately would be the winner. Because the cash would eventually come back to you in the form of rent when your opponents landed on your properties. So your opponents might have more cash initially, but eventually they'll lose it to you.  Similar analogy here. Be willing to invest in the proper tools/material for your window cleaning business. If you do, you'll regularly be filling your window cleaning business with quality, repeat customers. I'll tell you a secret.  Most window cleaners are not willing to make this commitment.  I don't mean to pick on window cleaners because actually most service type individuals don't know how to invest in their business properly. This makes 'em "average".  So if you're willing to invest a few bucks in the things that they are not doing, you and your business will be rewarded handsomely.

Anyway..I got off on a tangent.  I do that sometimes. Good thing I can type fast. :o) 

But good plan on sending cards after you set appts. for the spring. Good idea.

If you do a customer let's say in april, send them an immediate thank you letter (on your letterhead w/magnetic card included) and then sending 'em a card in july is great. A few months before thanksgiving is excellent too. Gutter cleaning: perfect. I spoke to a window cleaner in north carolina who gave me the low down on gutter cleaning in terms of what's involved and the profit potential. I'll be posting that on this blog in a couple of days. Excellent service to provide homeowners.

So to answer your question, you have got a perfect plan. Just be consistent with it. There will be an overflow coming your way for sure. So it looks like it might be time soon to get a couple of part-timers on board. Yeah..I would go with subs to start to see if they fit into your company.  Any local colleges up there?  I found some real gems at colleges. 

I'm not sure what the work comp laws are in your area, so it's best to talk to a commercial insurance broker about that. In my area, I could exempt myself and up to 3 employees from work comp.  But I know other areas are a bit different. 

Right….getting the equipment ready is a good idea.  All you really need though is the bucket on a belt, maybe some extra towels, an extra scraper, etc.  Not much.  Reread the part in my manual about some of the extra items needed when you hire a 2nd or 3rd person. 

And again, the work comp is something that you need to discuss with an insurance agent. If you live in an area where you can exempt up to 3 employees like I could in my area, then that'll be great. No work comp needed.

Excellent, excellent, excellent on working with someone who is an emyth coach.  I'm a huge fan of michael gerber.  Every couple of months, I'll break out my emyth tapes and listen to them again.  Good stuff and the information is solid.

So have fun rocking. :o)  Take care for now and we'll talk soon.

Regards,

Steve

(Note on "Emyth" mentioned above: It was created by michael gerber and he's an advocate on working "on" the business, not "in" the business. He talks about creating systems so that your business can run on autopilot without the business being dependent on you. You can pick up an audio copy of his program at Nightingale Conant. )