Posts tagged "window cleaning directory"

A Mighty Cool Story…

Hi Steve,

Got to tell you a story and I’ll keep it as short as I can. I had a good friend come in the store yesterday. We both had limo companies and were doing good when things were good. Then he sold his business and got into concrete pumping. Now as there is zero construction in this area he’s hurting. Anyway he came by the store and we shot the s… for a while putting the world to rights.

He’s obviously concerned like me that at his age, 51, who would employ him. He was late on his mortgage and he was very
scared. Here’s a guy who is a great role model for any kid, extremely professional, has a great family, is a really nice guy and terrified about what is going to happen next. I had to tell him my tale and my plan to start a window cleaning business. I showed him your course, that I have in a very nice binder, and he was impressed. Like me I think he thought window
cleaning meant throwing some water on the window and squeegeeing it off. I now know it is quite a science.

Stewart

Limited Time To Work It…

Hey All,

Received an email below from a window cleaner who faces a time crunch like most window cleaners do when they first get started in the window cleaning business. I thought other window cleaners may benefit from it. Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your email. I did receive all your information and have been reading through it very diligently. I have some business cards on order from PS print and hope to get those in the next few days.

I am really excited about starting my window cleaning business but right now have a bit of a dillema. The company I am working for just switched my schedule from not working weekends to working every other saturday in addition to working monday through friday. With my wife also working on saturday it only leaves me 1 free saturday to pursue my window cleaning business. I was hoping you could provide me with some strategies for this type of situation as tough as it seems.

As much as I would love to walk away from my current job and focus my 100% attention on building my window cleaning business, I do depend on the income to pay my bills at the moment. I would appreciate any ideas you might have or any words of encouragment you have to offer.

Thanks again for putting together such an awesome business package, you truly are a pioneer for this industry and I am sure many others have you to thank for changing their lives for the better through your knowledge and your willingness to help. Hope to hear from you soon and if you dont mind I would love to give you a call in the next couple of days to talk to you for a bit.

Thanks,
Christiaan Marais

My Response:

Hi Christiaan,

Good morning and it’s good to hear from you.  Um…that is a tough schedule to try and also build a window cleaning business.  It can be done, but since there are only 24 hours in a day, it may take some sacrificing on your part to see it all come together.  So at some point, you do plan on taking window cleaning full time, right?

If I understand correctly, you have 2 free saturdays each month?  Do you have any time after work at your full time job?  Or is that an all day thing?  I’m trying to figure out if you have any small chunks of time that would allow you to actively market your business (flyers/postcards/door hangers), and then that would free you up to do window cleaning jobs only (no marketing) on saturday.

If not, and you only have saturday to market and perform your window cleaning service, I would consider hiring a part time person who wants to make a few bucks on the weekend.  Your focus should always be on the marketing side of things.  Without that, you’ll never get any calls.  So I would focus your 2 free saturdays on flyer distribution.  It’s inexpensive and generates almost immediate responses/calls. 

The reason for a part time helper is because some jobs are lengthy.  If you market from let’s say 9am to 12pm on saturday, and then do a job after that, you might run out of daylight.  Plus when you really get going, after 2 or 3 saturdays of continued marketing, you may start filling up your schedule nicely.  But since you only have the two saturdays per month to do jobs, you might find yourself needing to knock out 2 jobs after your marketing time (9am to 12pm). 

So a parttime helper will really be a must almost from the beginning of your business.  Just be willing to not as make as much per hour for each job you do.  The goal during this time is to not necessarily to make a financial killing, but to build a customer base that’ll cushion your business when you walk away from your full time job.   

These are just some thoughts above.  And when you feel like you have some consistent calls coming in and the jobs are starting to stack up, at that point, it might be good to walk away from your full time job.  I really am not in a position to say when you should do it though because I don’t know your current finances and debt load, but I do know that if you market your window cleaning business actively (9am to 12pm every other saturday), you’ll eventually have a really nice customer base that’ll continue to grow due to your continued marketing and the referrals coming in from satisfied customers. 

I hope the above helps.  Thanks a bunch for your comments also.  And feel free to call anytime at 256-546-2446.  Take care for now and I’ll talk to you soon.

Regards,

Steve

Happy 2009!

Hi All,

Happy New Year to all of you in window cleaning land! Let’s make 2009 a year to remember. Even though the so called experts are giving the economy low marks, window cleaners overall are cleaning up literally. Although clean glass might not be as high of a priority to homeowners as some other home type services, if we go after the right prospects, you will get business…and plenty of it. So try and avoid the constant blah blah that you hear all around you every day. I know it can be hard, but there is no question that the business, jobs, and profits are there. We just need to go after it.

Speaking of "going after it", what many business owners will do during tough times is scale back their promotional efforts and dilute their marketing strategies. I can’t speak for other businesses, but in window cleaning, this is what you don’t want to do. The last thing you want to cut back on is your investment in your marketing. This is actually the time to pour it on. The reason? Because most window cleaners have cut back. They’ve followed the crowd and they believe the sky is falling. So this opens up tremendous opportunities for the window cleaners who are aggressive in their efforts. By the time the economy straightens up and they get back on their horse, it’ll be too late because you’ll have all their customers.   Just kidding of course since there’s plenty of customers for us all.  But you will have put a serious dent into their potential prospect base because you’ve already "been there, done that". 

It’s simply necessary to think out of the box in a major way and do the exact opposite of what most window cleaners are doing currently. I love what warren buffett said recently. I’m not sure I remember the exact phrase, but it went something like this:  "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful." So as most investors are sitting on the sideline afraid to invest, he’s going on a stock buying rampage and buying, buying, buying.  He’s a smart cookie because he knows that most people are herd followers and just do what everyone else is doing.

Anyway…I wish you all the very best in 2009. If you have any questions or need assistance, please let  me know. My number is 256-546-2446.

Sincerely,

St eve

5 Marketing Rules for 2009

Hey All,

I hope you all had a mighty fine Christmas and are ready for the New Year. Here are some marketing rules that will assist your business in 2009 and beyond. Enjoy!

1. Get lots of exposure and do it repeatedly. Obviously telling a few people or having some customers talk about you is great, but it’s not enough. You have to get your message out into your target market in a BIG way using leverage whenever possible. When I’m referring to leverage, I’m referring to having fellow service business owners talking about your business to THEIR customer base. It’s a lot easier than you as just one person having to do all the talking. So get other business to talk it up. The jobs you’ll gain from this talk will put you on the map. Some people don’t realize how much power there is in numbers. Imagine having 10, 20, 30, or more businesses out there spreading the word about you. Powerful!

2. Be Memorable – If your marketing doesn’t wake someone up and make ‘em remember you, then you did it wrong. It absolutely needs to be memorable. So tweak it until it is. The good news is that there are loads of average joes out there just following the crowd, so it’s not too hard to stand out and be noticed.

3. Be Meaningful – Today more than ever it is important to provide consumers with REAL value. The importance of providing value in your marketing and in the jobs you do will get the wheels turning quickly. Many people don’t know this, but I do zero advertising for my window cleaning software product The Customer Factor. And the reason is because I don’t have to. Other software users do my advertising for me. So again, be meaningful, provide value, and then get out of the way and watch your business grow.

4. Fear of Loss, Social Proof, and Testimonials are the reason why I was able to charge what I did for window cleaning. Using my window cleaning service wasn’t cheap. But by using a combination of these tactics (fear of loss included reverse psychology of giving the prospect an estimate and then walking away…social proof and testimonials came from word of mouth advertising from satisfied customers and lots of references in each estimate package) it worked. Of course it all has to be backed up with a quality job which relates back to point 3 (be meaningful and provide value).

5. Reinvest a good portion of your profits back into marketing. The percentage to reinvest depends on where you are in the business and what your ultimate goal is for your business. If you’re just starting out and you want to eventually go full time, then a 30% reinvestment is good. If you’ve been in the window cleaning business for a year and you’ve got the ‘ole marketing machine producing results for you, then 15 to 20% may be a good reinvestment. But always, always reinvest a portion back into your business.

Lets make 2009 YOUR Best Year Ever!!!

Take care for now.

Steve

Merry Christmas To All…

Hey Folks,

I just wanted to make a quick post to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy holiday season. I hope you all have a great time with family and friends during this time.

In the week between Christmas and new years is also a great time to make plans for 2009. So with that said, I have some good information and tips that I’ll be sending you over the next week or so which will be really beneficial to you and your business next year. This info. will be sent out to you via email and also posted to this blog. So stay tuned over the next few days. 

Well…my wife is calling me to open presents, so it’s time to scoot. Again, have a great holiday and a super duper Christmas day. Ho Ho Ho.

Sincerely,

Steve

Postcards, Addresses, and Demographics

Steve,

I was wondering if you might know the answer to a question. I live in a small affluent area maybe 10,000 people living here.
Do I have to purchase a mailing list in order to direct mail out postcards? Would it be possible to drive around writing down addresses and simply compile my own list of addresses of specific homes I think would meet my criteria as far as target market goes?

Maybe a program that you type them into that can be submitted when you go to mail them? I have some friends in the real estate business maybe they have some sort of access they could pull some strings on to get addresses based on certain demographic factors like home value?? I am gonna probably try and get a batch of postcards printed up soon and shipped out
very soon. I am gonna sit down and try modifying one of the postcards that you included and using that.Talk to you soon.

Luke

My Response:

Hi Luke:

Good morning.  I would follow what I talk about in chapter 7 as far as using the "carrier route" method. The problem with driving all over the place copying down addresses is that it’s way too time consuming. It would take a long time to come up with a decent list and then have to write each address on a postcard. If you look at my postcard file that I sent you (the "pdf" version), you’ll see it says "Attn Postal Patron". So every homeowner within a carrier route will get one. This is much easier than having to address each postcard.

And the problem with mailing lists sometimes is that yes…you can target the lists by income, by home value, etc. but the homeowners may be spread out all over your town.  You want to use laser focus and target specific areas of people that are close together.  That’s what carrier route mailings do.  Each route consists of a group of homes (usually in the same subdivision).  So this works to your advantage because once you start getting jobs in an area, other folks in that area will see you, they’ll be receiving postcards from you, and you’ll be getting more exposure vs if you bounced from one area to another area to another area to another area, etc. etc.  Make sense?  So I personally focused on few areas and spread out from there. 

If you have any questions on this, let me know.  And I’d recommend going back and rereading chapter 7 also to catch up on what I’m talking about as far as carrier route mailings.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

Talking to Prospects…

Hey Steve,

This is Nathan. How are you?  I had a question or two for you.  I had my door hangers and business cards printed up, and delivered them to some higher end homes in my community around a golf course.  It would have been better to have flyers but I didn’t have them yet so if the people were home I gave them a business card and explained who I was and if they weren’t home I left the door hanger.  I got lots of people that seemed interested, but unfortunately I did not take a record of which people I talked to and which ones got a door hanger.  My question is: do I go again and deliver flyers or hangers again, some of which to people I’ve already talked to or should I get postcards made and sent?  Also, can postcards just be sent to the golf course area or not?
 
Also, I was in town the other day in my truck with my lettering on it and I knew there was one other window cleaner in this community that walked down the streets doing store fronts and some houses.  Anyway, I have never met him but when I parked my truck on the street he was doing the store fronts right there.  He came up to me and wanted to meet me.  It was a little akward I must admit. 

Anyway he was polite, gave me his card and wanted mine, and was more than willing to tell me how successful he was.  In my opinion, he also hinted that he was the "Window Guy" in the area and surrounding areas, but tried to be encouraging.  I couldn’t quite tell what he was saying except that he said he is 70 (I’m only 26 so you can see it was a little akward) and going to be significantly reducing or quitting the business in a couple of years and when he does, he’s not selling it he’s just letting it go.  I obviously want those jobs but I also don’t want to wait 2 years.  I don’t know all of his customers  and I’m not going to take his, but what is my best option for now without stepping on his toes for the possible future jobs.  I need to build my business and yet it appears maintain a good relationship with the other guy. 
 
My last question is that I’ve gone to the fast food places to inquire about window cleaning.  I think I need those kinds of jobs to keep going in the winter.  Most of them say that their employees do it.  Is there a tactic in getting them to accept being put on a weekly or bi-weekly route?

Sorry so long but I love hearing your suggestions.  Thanks
Nathan 

My Response:

Hi Nathan:

How are ya?  It’s good to hear from you.

I can appreciate what you did as far as business cards, door hangers, and "if people were home", but there are a few probs with this kind of marketing attack.

1- I assume you’re saying that you knocked on doors since you mentioned "if people were home".  This is really, really time consuming to do, so I recommend window cleaners not knock on doors.  The goal is to get out as many marketing pieces as you can in the quickest amount of time.  Knocking on doors simply takes too long.

2- Using a business card as a marketing piece to tell your prospect a story about your company/service isn’t going to work.  There isn’t enough room on the card.  A nice 8 1/2 by 11 flyer is an excellent size and can tell a complete story.  Flyers are inexpensive to print up.  Much cheaper than business cards as a matter of fact if you have the slightly more expensive quality business cards printed up (recommended). 

Anyway…I would absolutely distribute again to the same area. Makes no difference if you talked to them, gave them a door hanger/business card or whatever.  But this time go in with inexpensive flyers and go in quick. Just swoop in and swoop out.  )  Don’t talk to anyone at all because it’ll slow down the process.  Just distribute as quick as you can or better yet get a couple of kids to help you out.  

Postcards can absolutely be distributed in golf course areas.  I had a number of different postcard campaigns I conducted which happened to be in golf course communities.  When you’re cleaning the windows at a home on a golf course, make sure you have a yard sign in the front for street traffic and a sign in the backyard for the golfers going down the fairways.

That sounds like a great guy you met.  This is the way I wish more window cleaners were.  For some reason, some window cleaners feel "threatened" by another window cleaner.  There’s no reason for it.  First, there’s plenty of glass to go around.  And second, you can really help each other. Maybe he needs help with a job. Or visa versa.  Or maybe he’s too busy and can’t get to a job for 3 weeks but the customer needs it done right away.  So it would be smart to maintain a relationship with this guy.     

You wouldn’t be stepping on his toes by simply marketing your business like I talk about in chapter 7.  Not at all.  In other words, I wouldn’t give much thought to his customers.  There’s not much you can do now since he’s "letting them go" in 2 years.  It’s definitely not worth waiting around for 2 years for them.  So continue to build your business.  And then in 2 years when you have your own solid customer base, you can maybe make him a deal where you pay him a small percentage for each job done.  Not a bad deal for him since he was planning on making nothing from his customers.  I would pay him this small percentage (10 to 15%) for 2 years or so.  So maintain the relationship for sure.  I would take him out to breakfast and pick his brain.  He may be able to impart some helpful tricks.  Be careful though…some window cleaners who are older and have been in the business for awhile are really set in their ways.  So they may not think out of the box too much when it comes to marketing.  As a matter of fact, they might not even be in the box because they might not be doing any marketing at all.  )   

As far as the fast food places, if they have their own people in place, there’s nothing you can do to make ‘em change their mind.  So no worries.  Just move on to other storefronts.  There’s lots of them out there.  Besides, having these fast food/franchise places as customers is not all it’s cracked up to be.  I spoke to someone yesterday who told me he knows a window cleaner in his area who had 37 Boston Market’s that he was doing.  And he lost them all.  Not sure of the reason.  Probably heavy competition and another window cleaner was willing to do it cheaper.  So fast food/franchises come and go.  Can you imagine losing 37 stores in one fell swoop? 

I hope the above helps.  Take care for now.

Regards,

Steve

Maps…Buying a Business…and more…

An email recently received:

Steve,

Is there some way to get a map of my area that denotes the price ranges of the houses. In other words, a map that will let me see where to focus my marketing by income? I can certainly see that some areas are better, but I don’t know all the different neighborhoods and how to get there. It would help to have some way to quickly identify where to flyer and place ads.

Todd

My Response:

Hi Todd:

Good morning.

A good place to go for maps of your target area would be the national association of realtors.  I’m sure they have an office in your area.  Just tell ‘em your target market and what you’re looking for.

I personally didn’t use maps. I just got in my car and drove around entering subdivisions and developments.  If the homes in the subdevelopment looked like they were ideal for my window cleaning service, then I made a note of them. 

Another way to identify target markets is to hook up with a direct mail company in your area.  They mail items for multiple companies day in and day out, so they would know the best areas for your service.  I’m not sure if they’ll reveal this info. to you though if you’re not going to spend any money with them.  So you may want to start the conversation off by mentioning you want to do some postcard mailings and you’re looking for the best areas to mail to.

If you really wanted to offer this prospective seller some dollars, I would offer her between $1500 and $2000.  But there needs to be some assurances that most, if not all, of that 9k will come to you from those customers.  And you need to have her sign a contract stating that she can’t start another window cleaning business in that area for a certain period, 2 years should work.  You can find these basic contracts at any office supply store.  Then pay a lawyer 100 bucks to personalize it for your company and add whatever legal verbage is needed for your State.

I advise folks to go through the manual quickly first and then go back over it slower a second time.  It may seem a bit overwhelming, but I urge you to just take it one step at a time. 

As far as advanced techniques, I believe in starting with the fundamentals, but you can certainly expand into different techniques if that’s what you want.  I personally wouldn’t advise it now though.  There is no need.  The primary thing we need to do now is to bring in customers.  The squeegee stroke is secondary.  One of the reasons i personally never spent the time learning these fancy strokes is because for the average residential window, they’re not needed.  The advanced strokes like the swirl or the snake are mostly beneficial on large commercial panes of glass, and these were accounts that I stayed away from.

Right…over time, you’ll get better when cleaning windows.  "Practice makes perfect" as they say.  Initially I wouldn’t worry about the time spent on a job or anything like that.  I would focus only on mastering the window cleaning process.  Once this starts falling in place, your time will improve tremendously.

As far as artwork costs, it’s best to contact barb directly on that.  She has her own graphic design firm that is independent of me, so I have no idea what her exact charges are for specific situations.  I do know though that her costs are lower than most graphic designers out there.  I’ve used many.  And Barb provides a quality service/job at good rates.  You can contact her here: barbara@ecoverdesigns.com.

Have a great day.

Regards,

Steve