Hey All,

Ok…back with you today to talk about domains, websites, and online related stuff. Actually I think today I’ll just finish up talking about the process that needs to be completed after you purchase your domain name and I’d also like to add some information that I forgot to mention in the last blog post.

What I forgot to mention last time is that when you purchase a domain name, do it from an independent registrar like godaddy.com. NEVER get a domain name as part of a hosting plan that you might sign up for.

To back up for a minute and explain, if you’ve researched different web hosting and hosting plans, you’ll notice that many of them offer you a free domain name with purchase of any of their hosting plans. Sounds good, right? Um…not so fast. In this case, “free” could wind up biting you in the butt.

Keep in mind that a hosting company has to buy a domain name just like you would.  They buy it from a registrar. But when they buy it for you, they generally buy it in their name. This makes you indebted to them forever.

What happens if you ever want to leave their hosting company for any reason? You could lose your domain name. They know this of course and that’s why they don’t mind buying your domain name for you (thereby providing it to your for “free”) because they know you’re probably not going to go anywhere.
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Hey All,

I hope your weekend is going well. Before posting today’s blog post, I’d like to mention that I have a special 30+ page report that’ll be released free to all buyers* of How To Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business.

It’s entitled "Discover the 20 Different Business Mindsets That Will Set You Apart From The Average Window Cleaner And Shorten Your Road To Success". I’ve been working hard on it, so when it’s completed, you’ll be sent an email with information on how to download it. If you haven’t purchased How To Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business yet, now’s the time to do so. This report will really break it down for you as far as what it truly takes to succeed in the window cleaning business. There are hordes of "average" window cleaners out there. But being average isn’t any fun and it certainly isn’t very profitable.

*Some readers of this blog find the blog in the search engines, so they may not have purchased my program yet.

Ok…here’s a recent email I received asking about a previous window cleaner situation.

Hi Steve,
 
Just wanted to share an interesting problem we have here.  There are lots of big houses with huge panes of glass on them, some of which are potentially good jobs, and I’ve got a few of them as my customers.  Too often however, I go to do estimates and find they called me because they lost their other window cleaner who used to give them this ‘fantastic deal’, which is really true since after estimating it becomes apparent that the other window cleaner was willing to earn about fifteen or twenty dollars per hour. 

Now whenever someone tells me they had another window cleaner I realize I’m probably just wasting my time with them, as I usually try to earn at least forty five an hour.  Is this a common problem?  Are there any effective ways to screen people before putting in all the effort to give them a good estimate?
 
Any input is greatly appreciated!
 
Eric

My Response:

Hi Eric,

Good morning.  I understand the situation for sure.  And it’s tough dealing with a prospect whose main interest is in looking at a price comparison.  If a prospect ever said to me for example…"whew…the previous window cleaner was $50 less", I’d respond with:

That’s great, but where is he now? Most of the time a window cleaner who is willing to do jobs real cheap is a one hit wonder looking for immediate dollars with no interest in establishing a real relationship with their customers.  We on the other hand are professionals who will be here for you all the time, this year, next year, and 10 years from now.  We have all the proper tools, we have all the proper licenses, and we’re fully insured and bonded.  These cheap window cleaners usually don’t have any of that.  So you’re putting your home and your valuables at risk in order to save a few bucks.  Is it really worth it?

So Eric I really wouldn’t consider it a waste of time in presenting them an estimate if they had a previous window cleaner do their windows.  As long you present an outstanding image (uniform/company polo shirt and a quality estimate package w/references), you’ll close deals that are higher priced than the previous cheap window cleaner. 

Remember that story I mentioned in my manual where I talked about how this prospect was willing to pay me $168 vs the $105 her previous window cleaner charged her?  I happened to know her previous window cleaner.  He was the one I mentioned in the manual who never returned phone calls and always used poles when window cleaning instead of getting on top of each window which really provides the best result. 

So the bottom line is that I was able to snag many customers from him due to his overall business approach.  Prospects were willing to pay my higher pricing so that they could be handled by more of a professional team.

Anyway…to answer your question as far as "screening", I wouldn’t bother with attempting to screen anyone on the phone or to try and make a judgement call on the phone whether it’s worth visiting the prospect and presenting an estimate to them.  But know going in that you do need to be flexible a little bit with your pricing at times. 

For example…although I never played the price game, I knew that if a yellow page caller contacted me, then I’d have to be a little lower (not much) than my normal pricing.  This usually meant that I didn’t bump up the price like I normally did because she probably called 2 or 3 other window cleaners in the phone book also. 

I still had a great chance to close the job even though my pricing would be a bit higher than theirs simply because their overall estimate presentation (or lack of it) wasn’t that good.  Now if I was presenting an estimate to a referral (vs a yellow page caller), then I knew my pricing could be a bit higher because there was close to a 100% chance they were going to use my service regardless of price (as long as it’s not way out of line).  The reason of course is because they were referred to me by a satisfied customer.  Needless to say, referrals can be very profitable as you’ll soon find out. )

Hope this helps.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve