Posts tagged "how to start a window cleaning business"

A couple of Emails recently received…

Hey Everyone:

I get a lot of emails, so I like to post ‘em here on occasion so that other folks can benefit from them. 2 are posted below.

Have a profitable weekend!

Steve

Hi Steve

Thanks
Ted

My Response

Hi Ted,

Good morning.  If you owned my window cleaning software, The Customer Factor, it would only be a matter of clicking on one link on the home page.    Boom…all the customers would be right in front of you. 

But anyway…the only way I know of to get it done manually is to use index cards. At the end of every customer job, I used to ask my customers when they would like me to come back. I then made a note on the index card.  This went into my index card box which was broken down by month from January to December.  So let’s say for example, I did some windows for someone on April 1, and they were a six-month customer.  I created an index card for them and made a note to call them back on December 1, so as I’m browsing through my index cards for the month of December looking for callbacks, I would run across their card and give him a call. 

As a side note though, depending on your schedule, it’s best to call them in advance of dec 1 (using above example).  I used to call 4 to 5 weeks in advance of a customer’s tentative repeat appointment so that I had time to schedule it properly. 

As far as what to say when you call, it’s real simple. You can say something like: "Hi Mrs. Jones. Ted here with xyz window cleaning service.  We cleaned your windows last year on august 9th, and it’s that time again to bring the shine back to your glass.  I’m setting up my schedule now for the week of march 9th to the 14th.  Which day within that week would be good for you?"

And that’s all there is to it.  A little psychological ploy, but when you call, try not to schedule an appt. for the next day or "right away".  People are busy and if cornered into making an appointment for "tomorrow", they’ll more than likely put you off and delay.  I learned this in the insurance biz that no matter how bad I may have wanted to make an appt. "tomorrow", I always scheduled stuff for "next week" or "next month".  Because these time periods seem so far away.  It’s kind of like they’ll never arrive.  But they do.  So it’s easier for a customer to say "yes" to scheduling a job "next week" or "next month".  Make sense?

And if you’ve applied any of the other techniques I discuss in my manual and on this blog, then the follow up call is so easy to make because you will have already established a relationship with them.  For example…have you mailed them a greeting card two or 3 times in the last 6 months?  Have you sent them any personalized correspondence?  If not, then making these follow up calls is a bit more like a cold call because they have not heard from you in 6 months.  So be willing to invest both time and some money (it doesn’t cost much to send greeting cards) in working the relationships.  If you don’t, sure you’ll make repeat appointments when you make your follow up call.  But it’s not near as effective as if you had a relationship "established".  Customers need to know you care about ‘em for more than just the money you’ll make from ‘em on those repeat jobs.  So work those relationships to the max.  Believe me when I say that your business will grow at a much better clip if you do.         

Hope this helps.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

Another Email:

Hi Steve,

Thanks,
Aaron.

My Response:

Hi Aaron:

Good morning and it’s good to hear from you.  So you ready to move up from the "occasional help"?  Let’s expand outward and really start seeing the fruit of your efforts. 

I appreciate your comments on The Customer Factor.  And just wait ’til you see what is in store.  Whew…the features coming up will be really cool and extremely powerful.

It’ll really be easy to track for you now using The Customer Factor. I used to use index cards as I mentioned in my manual and it was a royal pain and very cumbersome.  Now it’s just a matter of logging into The Customer Factor.  You will see immediately on the home page who needs to be called/contacted.  Same thing with prospects. It can’t get much easier than that.  Just remember to always set a frequency period for each customer.  The Customer Factor will then calculate the "last job date" along with their frequency period, and give you the information you need for tracking/follow up.

Having 2 to 3 crews is easy.  There are the usual challenges in finding quality people, but once you iron out those kinks, it smooths itself out.  We all had to go through the usual employee hiccups. Focus on local colleges (student resource centers) vs putting a general ad in the newspaper.  And be willing to step back from making "all" the profits.  Be willing to free up your time so you can spend it on 3 things-marketing, estimating, and customer service. Think more like an owner and let your subs/employees be the technicians.  This is what’ll take you to the next level.     

Right..it’s all about creating a "system".  It always amazes me how mcdonalds can spit out a big mac the same way in florida as they can in russia.  They’ve developed a unique system so customers know what they’re going to get regardless which mcdonalds they go to.  Customers certainly don’t frequent mcdonalds because their food is 5 stars. )  They go back again and again because there are no surprises.  They know what they’re going to get.  So what i’m saying is that if you can create a similar system (on a much smaller scale obviously) where your customers know they are going to get the same quality job whether you do it, joe does it, harry does it, or carol does it, then you’ve just won the battle.  This will allow you to work "on" the business and not "in" the business.  It appears for the last 4 years based on what you’ve said that you’ve worked "in". Now let’s focus on working "on".  Sound cool?

As far as quickbooks. I did use it at the time in my biz, and it allowed me to print invoices, keep track of sales, and keep a customer database.  I’m a bit biased now obviously. But I personally would use only The Customer Factor if I were you. I will say though that quickbooks allows you to do things with your bank that The Customer Factor does not.  But as far as sales, invoices, customer db, etc, etc, The Customer Factor does all that.  And you definitely want your customers in The Customer Factor so the software can search and track ‘em.

So i think it’s your call really.  Do you need the banking functions that quickbooks provides?  If so, then it may be best to fire up quickbooks too.  If not, then quickbooks isn’t necessary at all. I created The Customer Factor to operate independently of any other software.

Thanks again for your comments.  If you have any other questions, please let me know.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve     

Economic News…

Hey Everyone:

Nope…no negative economic woes here. We get enough of that in the newspapers and on tv.  I did want to mention though that I wrote an article called The Economy and Your Window Cleaning Business. You can click on the link at the right to read it. Hope you enjoy!

On other news…the 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory launch went off smooth last week. Thanks to all the window cleaners who listed their businesses. There are still others out there though who I know can benefit, so feel free to register and create a free listing. You have nothing to lose and a whole bunch to gain. Remember…it’s free!

One thing that I noticed is that there was a little confusion between the standard and premium listing. So I’ll be making that a bit simpler to understand. But one thing that really stood out to me is that I don’t think people realize what a huge benefit having a premium listing is. It is hard to explain because it has to do with a lot of search engine stuff, but the bottom line is that we made the premium listing in such a way so that you can create your own search engine friendly webpage on the directory. This means that prospective customers will find your web page online and in the search engines. More online exposure = more customers.

We will be making some minor adjustments like allowing for folks to apply their listing in 3 Bears to different cities. So if you create one listing with one main address, you’ll be able to assign that same listing to different cities in which you do business. Again…this is all designed to get you more exposure.

Hop on over to 3 Bears and create  yourself a listing if you haven’t already. Everyone should have one. There’s no reason not to unless you don’t want any more customers. And for the cynics out there who are wondering what the catch is, sorry to disappoint. There is none. 

Oh…and I just uploaded a short 6 minute video for The Customer Factor that I thought you might enjoy. We’ll be reopening in about 2 weeks, so we’ll be releasing a few short videos leading up to our reopening that’ll give folks a peek inside the software that has many window cleaners pretty excited. This particular vid talks about how customers and prospects just "appear" on the home screen so that they can be easily contacted and scheduled. I also give you the script I used when asking my customers when they would like to be serviced again. So enjoy the vid.

See ya soon!

Steve

3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory is Live!

Hey Guys and Gals:

A quick blog post to let you know that we just launched 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory. So head on over and create your free listing for your window cleaning business. It’s a great way to advertise your business online regardless whether you have a website already or not. As you’ll be able to read when you visit 3 Bears, we’ve created the directory packed with a whole lot of benefits designed to get you results. And if you know of any other window cleaners, please let them know they can list their window cleaning businesses for free too! The webaddress to give them is: http://www.3bearswindowcleaningdirectory.com"

Have a profitable day!

Steve
 

Missing in Action…

Hey Folks:

Sorry for not updating the blog more often in the last couple of weeks, but between The Customer Factor and the new soon to be released window cleaning directory, I just haven’t had the time. The directory hopefully will be announced monday or tuesday. We’ve had a couple of delays, but that’s normal when it comes to programming. This isn’t your typical directory, so it’s a bit more involved. Anyway…please stay tuned. As soon as it’s launched, then I can get back in the groove of updating the blog and writing a newsletter. I have a good newsletter planned out. I just need to write it all down.

Below are a couple of emails I received recently. Maybe they’ll help your groove. 

Steve,

Dale

My Response:

Hi Dale:

Ah…good ‘ole pollen.  I know what you mean. It’s annoying. And it will put a little dent in the business because some people will want to wait until it’s over.  Makes sense too.  I faced that issue, but overall, it really didn’t affect the biz that much because of the activity and customers that were on the books.  This ensured that not everyone was going to wait until pollen season was over.  There were always going to be folks who said "come on over" when I called ‘em for their semiannual or annual follow up call. 

As far as suggestions, I don’t know of any way to motivate someone to use your service now if they want to wait.  Are they bringing up the pollen issue or are you?  I mean I can’t think of one good comeback if they happen to say "Call me in 2 weeks when pollen is over". But I would however try and secure the appt. on the phone for when the pollen is estimated to be over.  You have ‘em on the phone so you may as well try and set the appointment at least.  Other than that though, I don’t know of any other way to motivate someone to act now before pollen is over if they’re concerned about it.  I definitely wouldn’t motivate with a cheaper price.  That’s the normal motivational method, but it would be a bad idea in our business.

Um…I’m not sure if the above helped much, but I don’t have any clearcut answer on the "motivation" question. If someone is intent on waiting, I can’t think of any way to change their mind. Even if you were successful though in changing their mind, they’d probably get mad at you once pollen makes the rounds and dirties their windows again.    So it’s probably best to not attempt to motivate ‘em too much.      

Take care for now and have a great weekend.

Regards,

Steve   

His reply

Steve,

Dale

My Response:

Hi Dale:

Good morning.  Hope your weekend is going well.  Right…exactly, I would also wait until pollen is over.  But schedule as much as you can now for sure.  It’ll set your schedule up nicely for when the yellow blows over.

Flyers will work best when folks are ready for your services.  Sure…you’ll get a percentage hold on to the flyer and call you when pollen is over.  But I would personally hit it hard and heavy when pollen is over. 

You know what I would do now?  I don’t know if you’ve made this attempt yet, but I’m hearing from lots of window cleaners about what kind of results they’re getting from joining forces with maid services.  Spoke to a window cleaner yesterday and he said he just joined up with a cleaning service run by a lady who hates doing windows.  She has 160 customers who need their windows cleaned in addition to their house cleaned.  Bingo.  Nothing quite like walking into a ready made customer base.  Even if only 20% (I’m staying really, really conservative) say "yes", it’s not bad securing 32 regular customers in one fell swoop.  This can be really lucrative.

There are other service businesses out there also that’ll work well as far as us joining forces with them.  In another blog post, I wrote about a window cleaner who connected with a window treatment company. 

So this would be a great time to work on some of these relationships. 

Hope this helps.  Take care for now. 

Regards,

Steve 

Networking opportunities…

Hey Guys and Gals:

Some talk about different networking groups…

Hi Steve-

Regards,
Patrick

My Response:

Hi Patrick:

Good to hear from you.  Sounds good going day by day.  )

My own personal view point as mentioned in chapter 7 is to skip the chamber and join forces with a group like bni or letip.  In my town I was part of an organization called the breakfast club which resulted in a lot of business coming my way.  I much preferred being part of a group that was dedicated to helping/supporting other business owners in the group.  I didn’t feel the chamber did that. 

And I can’t really see the advantage of the bbb.  If you have the extra money, it certainly can’t hurt.  But if you’re watching your money, I feel the best groups to invest in are bni and letip. I know the bni prices vary from chapter to chapter, but it’s probably close to or a little over  $300, right?  So that would be a wise investment for sure. 

Hope this helps.  Take care for now and please keep in touch. 

Regards,

Steve

Needing Some Quick Cash…

An email recently received:

Yes I went to Calgary today (I live about an hour south) to see if I can find a job fast and even the skilled positions like plumbers etc are only commanding $30 to $40 and hour and thats after 3 years experience and certificates etc.
 
At my "unskilled" level its crazyness, I dont know how anyone can live on $15 and $20 an hour with a wife and son + mortgae etc to support. No wonder mum and dad has to work these days. Sad.
 
Anyway, the point is I REALLY REALLY need to make this work fast. Tomorrow I’m getting some flyers done, and I’m going to try to put out 1000 with the help of my wife. We’ll see on that one. If you can suggest any other tips that could put some work my way fast, I’m all ears.
 
I will keep you posted.
 
- Mark

My Response:

Hi Mark:

Good morning and that sounds great that you’re hooked up.  Right…I did see your name come through as being in my database now.  So we’re good to go.

I know what you mean about needing experience for many trades and jobs.  That’s where window cleaning will come in and save the day.  )  No certificates, essentially no training, and good profits from day one.

With that said though, it does take a little time to gain the speed necessary for the average pay to reach the $40 to $50 per hour mark.  So I always tell window cleaners when they first start out not to worry so much about what they make per hour.  Just get your techniques right while you’re doing the first few jobs.  It’ll all fall into place. 

Speaking about time, I understand where you need this to work today.  And it will. I see it all the time.  But a word of advice though.  Some prospects will hold onto your marketing pieces for  weeks or months.  That’s just the way it is.  They’ll call when they’re ready.  It’d be nice to distribute 1000 flyers and get 10 calls within 24 hours, but that’s not the way it works unfortunately.  I talk about this in chapter 7 in my manual and how it important it is to keeping the pressure on and being consistent. 

With all this said above, you will most definitely get calls right away though.  Absolutely.  Just "do the numbers". It’s like I had a call the other day from someone who says he pops out 20 flyers a day.  That’s not even close to good numbers.  That equates to receiving a fraction of a phone call a day and that fraction may come today or it might come in 2 months.  So just get out enough numbers and the calls will come.  Whew..I sound like some new age philosopher. ) 

If I can say one more thing. I hope this is a business you can really sink your teeth into long term.  I know of course that you need cash now, but after that requirement has been fullfilled, I hope you stay with it.  It’s a profitable business as I see every day.  And there are so many other things you can do for your customers besides window cleaning. The potential is huge when you consider the variety of services you can offer!

As far as tips, I have a bunch. I would first recommend that you dig into all my newsletters.  And then tap into my blog. And reread chapter 7/chapter 8 a few times.  You’ll learn something new each time you go into the manual. 

Take care for now and please keep me posted.

Regards,

Steve

An Intro Letter and Directory News…

Hey Guys and Gals:

I was asked recently by a new window cleaner to put together a letter that he could send to his colleagues and acquantances announcing that he’s now in the window cleaning business. I put one together and emailed it to him, but I thought you would benefit from it, so I’ve posted it below.

One quick note first though…the window cleaning directory I’ve been working on for the past 4 months is almost complete. It should be ready next week. . This directory is the 300lb gorilla of directories. You’ve never seen anything like this. What makes it really powerful is the way we’ve made it so search engine friendly. Our goal is to have the window cleaners listed in the directory appear high in the search engines giving you more customers/jobs/profits. You’ll be able to read more about it when I launch it. So please stay tuned…

Ok, here’s the email with the intro letter that I sent to Bill…

Hi Bill:

Here’s the letter you asked about on the phone:

Dear John:

Making the transition to window cleaning was easy based on the fact that my research told me two things:

• People are looking for professional, trustworthy, customer oriented window cleaners who believe in doing quality work.
  
• And there aren’t too many of those kind of window cleaners around.
  

Please contact me if you’re interested in receiving a free window cleaning estimate. There’s no better feeling than being able to enjoy a crystal clear view again from your home or office.  

Steve Wright
Clearview Window Washing Service

I tried to visualize the person I was writing to, and the person I visualize is not really a close, close person to you.  So I suppose if you have a more chummy relationship, then the letter above might need to be "warmed up" a bit.

Take care for now. Have a great night.

Regards,

Steve

Don’t Overthink it!

An email recently received…thought you’d benefit from it. Have a super weekend.

Good morning Steve!
 
I really need your HELP in putting together a strategic marketing plan as I head out and tackle the world of window washing.  The problem is, I only have 2000 flyer’s … I honestly don’t know which neighborhoods to target first.  I can hear you now saying just jump right in and DO IT (smile).
 
I’m guesstimating that since I live in the a so called "Urban Community" with home prices ranging from 250k-350k that it’ll just be a waste of time for me to start here so, I’ve pinpointed many surrounding neighborhoods that range from say 450k and up.  But………
 
WHICH NEIGHBORHOODS DO I HIT UP FIRST?
SHOULD I GO TO ALL OF THE CHURCHES IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD FIRST?
DO I GO TO THE STOREFRONTS FIRST?
SO MANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND NOT ENOUGH FLYER’S?
 
I’m just unsure of myself and of those who would really be in need of my service now.  I have to make this set of flyer’s work for me.  WE need $$$$ Steve!! We ONLY have 2000 postcards (Couldn’t afford anymore flyer’s right now) and can’t afford mail marketing.  Any advise would be most appreciated!  PLEASE HELP!!

Cha

My Response:

Hi Cha:

Good morning to you.  Hope all is well.

2000 flyers is excellent.  That equates to at least 20 calls based on a 1% average.  Keep in mind though that they won’t necessarily come in within 24 to 48 hours.  So I liked to space my distributions out and attack the same neighborhoods with multiple mailings.  But the good news though is that 2000 flyers will turn into good profit where you can then easily get another 2000 flyers printed, distributed, and working for you.  Just continually reinvest a portion back into the biz, and you’ll continually keep the phone ringing and customers using your services. 

As far as the neighborhoods, definitely don’t do the middle income type homes.  You need to pack the most punch from those 2000 flyers. So pick any neighborhood/subdivision, drive into it, and what do you see?  Nice homes?  They don’t have to be mansions at all, but nice upper income type homes. The reason for this is not so much because of the size of the homes and us wanting to do "large" jobs. It’s because folks in these type of homes simply have the disposable income to pay us our professional window cleaning pay. Middle income folks generally don’t hire professionals to clean their glass.

In my area, 250 to 350k would be a nice price range of a home in my target market. But I know some areas around the country are a bit more high end and have a higher cost of living, so 250 to 350k homes would be on the low end of the pricing spectrum and would be considered more "middle income" type homes.  Based on what you said, 450k and up homes seem to be perfect in your area.

If you have this range of homes, it doesn’t matter which neighborhoods you hit up first.  As you said, just jump right in. )  I mean if the homes in these neighborhoods fit your target market, it doesn’t matter what neighborhood you go to first.  You’ll be hitting them all eventually, so just to distribute 2000 flyers, pick any neighborhood.  Again, as long as they contain your target homes, it really makes no difference which neighborhood you go into first.

I would not go after churches (not yet). And I would not go after storefronts.  Rights…lots of developments, not enough flyers.  Again though…as mentioned earlier, you "currently" have 2000 flyers, but they’ll lead to jobs which will allow you to then get another 2000.  And on and on and on.  Eventually you even might want to branch out into postcards.  And then perhaps getting folks to help you distribute flyers.  When you’re busy with window cleaning jobs, it’s hard to take time to distribute, so I had people do it for me and I recommend to other window cleaners that they do the same.  It’ll save you a bunch of time for a very small investment.

Some final thoughts.

I need you to understand that as much as we would like folks to rush to the phone after they receive a flyer, it doesn’t happen like that.  Sometimes it does of course, but other times they like to hang on to the flyer until they’re ready to get their windows cleaned.  So if there is snow, ice, and cold where you are right now, it might be better to wait until the weather breaks a bit.

The good news though is we are coming up on prime time window cleaning weather. Springtime is perfect for us window cleaners. Our prospects are looking to tidy up their homes and they need professional window cleaners.  But you’ll increase your response times if you distribute a bit closer to the nicer weather.  If you have more than 2000 flyers, I’d say go now and then go again in 2 to 3 weeks.  But you need to pack as much into this 2000 that you can since it’s all you have.  So you need to pick the absolute best time for distribution. Once you have the time/date chosen, then just do it.  )  There’s nothing left to think about.  The neighborhoods are picked.  The flyers are printed.  The only thing left to do is put the two together. 

Take care for now. Have a good weekend.

Regards,

Steve

Cha’s reply…

Steve,

Cha

My Response:

Hi Cha:

You’re welcome for sure.  Right…there can be a tendency to overthink it sometimes. So I like to sometimes cut to the chase and encourage folks to "just do it".  It’s an easy business.  2000 flyers = 20 calls = jobs/profits.  Then all you have to do is do it again.  Wash. Rinse. Repeat.  Just remember to reinvest ("repeat") a portion of your profits back into the marketing of your window cleaning service and you’ll grow your business the way it should be grown. 

I don’t know if you ever heard me talk about my buddy "chicago pete". Nice guy, but he was a serious overthinker.  He bought all this great equipment (he sent me pictures) and spent all this money on "preparing" and he never ventured out and did any proactive marketing like flyer distribution or postcard mailing. Not once. He would drive through all these neighborhoods to check ‘em out.  He did all kinds of research.  But he just wouldn’t venture out and take positive steps to attract customers.  I know you’re not like that of course.  Pete is one of those rare serious overthinkers where he thought himself right out of the business.  So just take action on what I talk about in chapter 7 in my manual, and you’ll build and grow your business just fine.  There’s a ton of glass out there, so there’s no doubt window cleaning services are needed. It’s just a matter of letting people know you’re around.   

Take care and have a great weekend.

Regards,

Steve