A Charity idea for your Window Cleaning Business…
Hey all:
Hope your week is going well so far. It’s monday…it’s a great day…and we’re window cleaners in our own window cleaning businesses. Can’t ask for anything more than that. 
Before posting the following email, I wanted to say that 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory is off to a rip roaring start. I just started promoting it about 10 days ago and in google if you search for "window cleaning directory" (without the quotes), it’s listed in the 21st position out of over 1.3 million results. 1.3 Million! I’m taking the search engine knowledge I’ve learned over the years and applying it directly to 3 Bears. What this means is that the window cleaners who are listed in the directory will benefit, plain and simple. So grab a free listing in 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory for your window cleaning business if you haven’t already. And with our recently introduced new feature, you can now display your company information in 3 different cities!
Ok, I received an email a couple of days with a pretty cool idea on working with charities. For you "out of the box" thinkers out there, this is right up your alley. Here is the email:
Hey Steve,
I have to tell you…you’re a stud. I recently quit my career to become a full-time student and I’m doing windows to make ends meet. Although I like telling my buddies I’m living off my wife…it is just too humbling. I’ve been off to as slow start by my own choice – school comes first. But now that finals are almost over I’ve been out placing bids and closing some deals. Here are my questions:
1) Hard Water Stain Remover – I closed a job on a home who has never had their windows cleaned in 13 years. They’re filthy. As I was looking at them I think they have some serious hard water stain. How do I use the A-1 stain remover? I’ve done it on a few other jobs and it takes forever! Any pointers?
2) Six Month Business – Both of my last two bids have asked me about being on a 6 month retainer. Do you suggest offering a discount to land that type of long term business? I was considering a 15-20% discount if they agreed to 6 month work.
3) Referral Discounts - I want to build my business completely from referrals. My past life thrived on networking and relationships and it created long-term business for me. So I was considering a discount for referrals. For example if I got 4 new jobs from a customer then I would give that customer X% discount on their next window cleaning. Have you come across referral programs that work well?
4) Charity Benefit - Quick idea for those with a charitable heart. Since I quit my job my wife and I are not able to support local causes like we used to. So we decided to place a 20 window credit in a local charity auction and valued it at $200. It went for $250! I just went to the donor’s home today and they have well over 20 windows so if I choose to charge them for the remaining windows I could profit around $200. But the customer said that three of her friends who she out bid at the auction would like my number too. So doing something good for a local cause could end up being very profitable. A win-win!
Thanks for what you’ve done for my family!
Nelson
My Response:
Hi Nelson:
Good morning. Haven’t been called a "stud" in awhile. 
) I appreciate it for sure.
Congrats on becoming a full time student and running a window cleaning business. That takes guts, so again, congratulations on doing that. I always admire folks who do the opposite of what most people do.
And now onto your questions.
1. The thing about A-1 is that it won’t work in all situations. And I can almost guarantee that it won’t work for the job you’re describing. I hate to say that, but it’s a fact that we can’t come in as magicians and give the homeowner factory new glass if their glass hasn’t been cleaned in 13 years. What happens is that calcium, iron, and other minerals from rainwater/sprinkler systems will settle within the pores of the glass. Once this happens, they can be very difficult to remove.
I did have one window cleaner call me very recently raving about a product called "mineral shock". You can read about it here. It’s not as acidic as some really harsh cleaners. I mean you could get Crystal Clear 550 from ABC, but it’s very acidic. And you need to wear gloves and eyewear when using it. So you can imagine how harsh it is. So again…it’s not possible in all situations to remove all stains. It really just depends on the severity of the stains.
2. Even if a window cleaning customer doesn’t ask you, you should definitely be asking them how often they would like your service. This is a must. I asked at the end of the job when folks were most excited about their clean glass. I didn’t offer a discount though. My window cleaning business was never built on price. That’s not saying offering discounts is wrong. I just didn’t work with discounts. One of the reasons could be because of the exact situation you’re describing. I tried a test where I offered customers a 10% discount at the door if they agreed to have me come back every 6 months. The prob though was that when I called them in 6 months, I’d get delayed. They might say "call me in a couple weeks". Or call me in a month. So I may have ended up actually doing my "six month customer" 7 to 9 months later.
So it’s possible to secure semiannual customers at full price w/o the discount. At least that’s what my test proved. But feel free to try it yourself in your area and just monitor the results. It may work for you there.
3. Referrals are the lifeblood of any business and are really fun to get, not to mention free since referrals are usually coming from satisfied customers. Similar to above, I didn’t provide a discount to folks who gave me referrals. Again though…I need to stress that that doesn’t mean it won’t work. I just didn’t do it in my business. I will say that it can be kind of tough to manage a "pay for referral" program. It would create a bunch of paperwork for you trying to keep track of who referred who. I have something I’ll be posting to the blog soon from a guy who did offer discounts for referrals, but he did it with a twist. This’ll be posted to the blog soon. So check back regularly.
4. Excellent, excellent idea on the charity. Ah…you’re an "out of the box" thinker. That’s a perfect way to get business exposure. Do you mind if I post this idea on the blog? Great idea. Some window cleaners would look at this situation and think of "lost profits". But it should be thought of as great company/service exposure and great PR. A definite win-win as you mentioned.
Thanks for your comments once again and I hope the above helps. Take care for now. And talk soon.
Regards,
Steve
Leaving Signs Behind…
Hey All:
Received an email and I thought I’d share it.
Hey Steve! How are you doing? I hope all is well. I have a quick question,,, I notice that one of our competitors sometimes leaves his yard sign in the front lawn of a clients house for days . I’ll notice the sign, and 4 days later it’s still there. Do you recommend this technique? I thought maybe he knows the people well so they let him use their lawn for advertising…I can’t imagine asking strangers to let us do that? Personally I feel that through proper marketing and great referrals we should not have to leave the sign behind. Any thoughts?
Also how do you handle windows that seem a little too dangerous to get to? Like the ones obscured by huge trees, or the little ones that are usually attic windows and are just a few feet too high, or the ones that you simply can’t get to without climbing on a roof! You get the picture! Are there times when you just can’t do a particular window and are people usually ok with that?
Thanks!
Beth
My Response:
Hi Beth:
It’s good to hear from you.
I’m not a big fan of the "leave yard sign in customer’s yard for days" technique because if you’re in the right target market, how many customers will allow you to leave a sign in their yard? I know my customers wouldn’t have liked that. They wanted clean windows and when I left, they didn’t want any reference that I was even there. Plus homeowners associations would surely frown on that too.
There is one technique that works fine when using signs, but it involves placing signs around the entrance/exit ways to nice subdevelopments. They can be put up on friday night and taken down sunday night. It’ll give you some good exposure (and get you some calls) over the weekend without upsetting your current customer base. Anyway…I would not do what this competitor is doing.
There are absolutely times when a window just can’t be reached safely. In that case, you really have no choice but to whip out your trusty pole. It won’t do as good of a job obviously as if you were right on top of the glass, but it’s better than nothing. I don’t see any other options except to not do the window at all. And I don’t know if that is really an option.
Hope this helps. Take care for now and have a super weekend.
Regards,
Steve
Beth’s reply:
Steve
Thanks for the reply! I agree with you on both counts. It’s funny how you learn to trust your instincts as you become more confident with the business. My first reaction to seeing his signs was " if I were the homeowner I wouldn’t want that thing on my lawn!" It’s like he’s pimping out the property! That’s why I thought he must know them or something because who would agree to that! I knew it would not be a technique that we plan to use.
I also figured a pole was the way to go for the hard to reach windows. But here’s another situation.. as you know houses come in all shapes and sizes and most houses around us are one or two story houses, some a bit bigger. What do you do if you get to an estimate and the house terrifies you!! What I mean is for whatever reason i.e it’s on a crazy hill or it’s so big that your 24 foot ladder isn’t getting near half the windows…how do you deal with that? Should I just price it so high that they either pass or it makes it worth it? Basically what I’m asking is ..is there a time where you just say no to a job? And if so..how do you do so professionally? I hope I never have to do it but if I do , I don’t want to sound like an idiot. Have you ever not taken a job?
I realize you might not read this until the weekend so I understand if you don’t reply right away!
Have a great weekend!
Beth
My Response:
Hi Beth:
Right…houses are all different for sure. Absolutely there were jobs I didn’t want to do. I remember early on I did this 3 story house. I had to rent a 40′ extension ladder to do it. Whew…that was the scariest thing I ever did. So I vowed right then and there to never do 3 story homes again. I also mention in my book a story about this one lady who called me to do her windows, but the screens were all screwed in. So it would have taken me forever to remove the screens just to get to the windows. When I saw this I politely declined to do the job.
I really think if it’s done right, it won’t sound bad to the homeowner. One way to not get a job is to simply way overprice the job keeping your fingers crossed that they don’t say "yes". That’s the easiest way out. But you need to be careful here too. Because that homeowner could mention to other people that you’re too unreasonable in your pricing. I personally preferred to tell them that I don’t have the equipment to get to this particular window or that particular level so it may best to call another company who does. I think that sounds professional and you ended up politely declining a job for a very good reason. For example, when I received a call for a 3 story home, I told them I don’t have the ladders to get up that high which in fact I didn’t. Of course I could have bought one if I was interested in doing 3 stories, but they don’t need to know that. )
Hope this helps. Have a super weekend.
Regards,
Steve
Too Old for Success…Nah!
Happy Weekend to Everyone:
A quick post…
If you haven’t registered with 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory yet so that you can create a free listing and take advantage of some free advertising and online exposure for your window cleaning business, here’s an email I recently received that might motivate you to get it done (Actually if you need motivation to get free advertising for your business, then give me a call because we need to talk. 
):
Steve, Thanks for the Free Directory Listing on 3 Bears. I took you up on it, and last Friday got my first call, because of the listing, which I did on Saturday morning. Also today I listed the 2 other cities I work regularly so now my chances are even greater for work.
I plan to join The Customer Factor as soon as we can raise the money to start it. Have been following your blogs for the last 3 weeks, and it has helped tremendously to get my business on track Your pricing was really helpfull becuase I was always so low on my rates, I realise now that not only was I hurting myself, but I was hurting other window cleaners who were trying to earn a living.
Now I hope to turn this around and become a success even though I am 67 !!! I want to get positioned to hire others who will do the labor I’m getting too old to do.
Niel
My Response:
Hi Niel:
Good morning. That is really great. I appreciate you letting me know this. Would you mind if I share this with other folks? I plan on doing some serious promotion of 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory in a week or two, so you received a call and we haven’t even started promoting it yet. Super duper.
It’s never too late to become a success. Right…expand, bring on help/crews, and grow the biz with you on the sidelines. It’s definitely doable because I have many folks who are doing that exact same thing. It doesn’t happen overnight obviously because it’s necessary to build a solid customer base first, but it will happen.
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions on The Customer Factor. We just started accepting new members again. Take care for now. Have a great day.
Regards,
Steve
A reply from niel:
Hi Steve,
Yes by all means feel free to use it to encourage others. You have a wonderfull program to help others and I commend you for your dedication in this regard. Thanks for all you are doing and i look forward to becoming more involved in your programs as time goes on. Best of luck to you!
Niel
Recession…what recession?
Hey All:
One of the challenges I face sometimes is getting window cleaners to not get dragged down by all the negative news that we hear every single day. It’s dangerous and can really impact our businesses negatively if we’re not careful. Because what it does is paralyze us into inaction. We say to ourselves "What’s the point…the economy is bad so who’s going to want their windows cleaned?" And guess what? We stop marketing which results in no one wanting their windows cleaned. )
So we need to put our head down, ignore the naysayers and plow forward. It has nothing to do with being in denial or sticking our heads in the sand. We know the economy is going south. But we CANNOT let this affect the action we need to take. I wrote about this subject in a recent newsletter. So I won’t expand on it in this blog post. All I really want to do in this blog post is copy an email below that I received the other day from a gentleman who just spent his first week in the window cleaning business. As the title of this blog post states: "Recession…what recession?" Here’s the email:
Hi Steve well I passed out about 1300 postcards in baggy’s started last sunday and had my first job on tues in which i earned $215.00 for 6 hrs work and he paid me cash! i took longer then i should have because i also cleaned the mold on several of his windows, they were a mess,
next time i’ll charge more, but how do you figure that in ? for future reference, i had , so far
10 calls for estimates and today i booked 3 more jobs for about $500.00 worth of work
i still have to call back the rest of the people i left estimates with, how long do you wait until you call back people? i’m pretty exicted right now and i still have about 3700 post cards to get out.
i had the magnetic car signs made too, and i was at my bank friday and i guy walks up to me and says i saw your truck , please call my wife we are selling our house and need the windows cleaned , so i have another estimate to do, cool huh? i also ordered a couple of tee shirts and my supplies , its pretty amazing how the numbers worked out, just about how you said it would , you know your stuff! and most of the people who called me loved the post card in the baggie they thought it was great and a very unique delivery system, which i took credit for ! so thats it for now , all in all a great first week in the business.
Oh just one more thing as i was driving around last Monday getting the baggies out , i raised the pass window for a while , it was little cool, but when i got to my target market, i forgot to lower it and threw the baggie w/rock through my own window smashing it into a million pieces , what an idiot i said to myself , my girlfriend couldn’t stop laughing, so a lesson learned , check your window before you throw, i wonder if anybody else has done this?
Thanks again Bill
My Response:
Hi Bill:
Good morning.
Cool…$215 cash is great. Keep in mind, as I tell everyone, don’t focus so much on the "time" at the beginning of your career. Because you will be slower when doing the first few jobs. It takes a bit of time to streamline your operation. So I would keep your pricing the same and not worry about it. In a couple of months, that 6 hours would be knocked down to 4 to 4 1/2, so then your pricing would be accurate.
It seems like you’re moving in a great direction. Excellent. I would call folks back in 3 to 4 days. You’re presenting a nice looking estimate package, right? Cover letter, reference page, estimate sheet, business card? I always wanted to give my prospects a good 3 or 4 days to look that over.
Yeah…the magnetic sign will draw attention to your business, but wait ’til you see what happens with the yard sign. Make sure you pop that in every yard of every customer you do a job for, and you’ll be amazed at the folks who will be walking by, see your sign, and either ask you for a business card or for an estimate. It all works out. Thanks much for your comments. I appreciate them.
And I’m sorry to hear about your window. I haven’t heard about anyone else doing this, but I’ll keep you posted. Has your girlfriend stopped laughing yet? )
Take care for now and have a great weekend.
Regards,
Steve
Teams of Two or Three?
Hi Steve,
How are you? This is Sergio in Canada. Is it better to have teams of two or three? If two washers can do the job in lets say three hours, can three washers do it in two, therefore more profit. What are your thoughts..
Best Regards,
Sergio
My Response:
Hi Sergio:
Good to hear from you. Doing fine over here. And how are you?
I preferred teams of two, but I know some window cleaners have teams of 3. I just thought that with the responsibilities for each job, two could handle it best. More than 2 people and we’re bumping into each other at times.
Ex: Assuming me and one other guy. We arrive at the job. The other guy immediately removes all equipment from car while I say hello to the homeowner, enter their home, and start removing screens. Once the other guy has the equipment set up and ready to go, he goes around the house and collects the screens that I’m removing from the inside. He then focuses on cleaning all screens while I get set up to start cleaning the outside windows. As soon as he finishes the screens, he joins me cleaning the outside windows and we hopscotch around the house together. We then repeat the process inside. When done, the other guy places the now dry screens next to proper window to be put back in and then he would start cleaning up and putting equipment back in car/ladders on roof, etc. I would put the screens back, present invoice, collect money, and say goodbye to homeowner.
I’m sure we could fit one other guy in the above procedure somewhere. Like maybe while me and guy #1 are outside cleaning, guy #2 could be inside cleaning. But I just thought it was more streamlined with 2 people total per crew. We’re not bumping into each other and there’s no wasted time. So overall your profits will be better because you can take this 3rd guy and place him on a new job with one other guy. Repeat the process at house #2 with guy #3 and guy #4 working it, and you’re all set.
Hope this helps. Take care for now.
Regards,
Steve
A follow up:
Thanks Steve,
I’m doing great. The business I bought is in full swing and keeping me busy. My market in Montreal is primarily homes that are like mansions. Three story homes. A team of two can take anywhere between 5-7 hours to complete a job. Some of the windows are old and difficult to remove and stained from the screens.
The weather in Montreal is harsh and we had a very long winter. My season is April until the end of October.
By the way, I registered my company on your listing in 3 Bears… Great job.
Sergio
My Response:
Hi Sergio:
Great…That sounds super. The system I described earlier worked for me in my area, but as you mentioned, with your homes being "mansions" and having "old windows", a team of 3 might fit you better. As long as each person knows what their responsibilities are and there is no overlap, then it’ll work for you. In my market with my homes, I would have had overlap which would have decreased my overall profits.
Thanks for your comments on 3 Bears Window Cleaning Directory. I’ll start doing some search engine optimization work soon to make 3 Bears rank high in the search engines. For folks like yourself who are listed, they will see results from prospective customers finding their window cleaning businesses in the directory. Take care for now.
Regards,
Steve
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
Quick question. How do u go about contacting last yeras customers over the phone and trying to get repeat service. I have 6 month customers coming due
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,
Ive been in business 4 years and have done it pretty half way, mostly by myself with occasional help.
I got your system and customer factor because its in line with how I want to set my business up more professionally this spring. Much of the basics i have down already but theres alot of really great refinements and Im excited with how easy the customer factor makes tracking clients and following up, etc etc.
following and implementing and keeping the pump primed in these ways is going to be so much easier now, as you make it so clear whats necessary thanks!
My goal is to have 2-3 crews going while I run around doing marketing and sales and honing the system so I can eventually sell my business for more profit than selling my client list, and ensuring happy customers with a well designed system I can pass on.
Im open to any advice now or in the future as specific questions come up.
Right now my 1st.
My Question is I purchase Quickbooks last year and I am about to learn it and set it up, but in your opinion is it worth it? will it be usefull for certain functions that the customer factor cant fulfill?
I already have the thing and i thought it make sense to set up because its the new year, but i see here in your manual that used it before…, did it serve a function for you the customer factor didn’t?
Im still poking around getting Customer Factor set up… looks great.
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
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,
It is pollen season here in North Carolina (late March – early May) when the pine trees drop a heavy dose of yellow pollen on everything. Many potential customers are understandably hesitating to go ahead and have their windows cleaned until after the pollen season ends. Did you experience the same booking "challenge?" If so, do you have any suggestions on how to encourage potential customers to go ahead and book window cleaning jobs?
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,
In fact, your response does help in that you confirmed my initial suspicion- i.e., there’s really not a viable response to someone who is inclined to wait until pollen season is over. As I’ve told several friends (not potiential customers), "If I were them, I’d wait until pollen season is over too." We just began our business last summer so I’m getting a little repeat business now but most are electing to wait for a month to 6 weeks until the "yellow rain" blows over. I like your idea, however, of going ahead and booking dates for these people in May when pollen season ends.
I’m even toying with the idea of holding off on passing out another round of flyers until mid- to late-April when the end of pollen season will be in sight. I don’t want to expend a lot of effort/time now that will yeild marginal results. I know this is a decision I’ll have to make for myself, but I’d be interested in your thoughts regarding this (i.e., holding off on
passing out flyers now)?
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
