Dial-a-clean

chocsessential

I turned down a regular window cleaning round because I did not want to commit to having to pay someone to clean windows that did not really need doing. The window cleaner got moody and said he could not come unless I signed up to a regular commitment. I think your idea is good and I would prefer to ring someone on an ad hoc basis as and when needed. Perhaps you could do ad hoc gutter clearing or bin cleaning too.

jamesy

Chocsessential, my plan is to introduce this to window cleaning to start with and as you say gutter cleaning and bin cleaning

chocsessential

I'm just wondering if it is worth making enquiries with local estate agents. Surely people with properties on the market would like to present them for sale with nice clean shiny windows, clean gutters, garden paths, bins, etc. Could you run up a few fliers offering this service at a "special" rate to homesellers?

jamesy

Some of you guys just don`t get it, the window cleaning business model is stuck in a time worp.

Some of you have a window cleaning round, and some have a window cleaning business

For years anybody starting a window cleaning round are told build up a steady round of regular customers, this is all very well but how many on a yearly basis want you to do extras like gutters, facias,paths etc.

I was talking to a domestic cleaner yesterday who i know very well and was asking her how her business model was set up,

Well they have there regulars, one off`s and are always getting referals,

this person has in the past,has past on about 60 customers to me customers who only wanted them done now and again and i still do them now customers understand ther is a premium for one off`s it dont stop them calling you,

Now as i said talking to this cleaner made up my mind window cleaning can run in a simular way,

When she first started up her target was for regular customers she then got one off`s and referals it got to the stage she was getting to much work and turing it down,

not now because she has took on extra staff,

Thing is she used to pass the window cleaning side on to me but she now takes this on herself because it is becoming a big add on to her business,

I keep hearing window cleaners moaning about customers that look down on window cleaners,

Why is that! they don`t look down at any other cleaning service house cleaners etc do they so why window cleaners could it be the way our business model is run

I mean any other sevice customers require they phone for they don`t with window cleaners because they have there regular cleaner some customers want this some don`t but keep them on incase they can`t get an other,

Well what if customers wanted a window cleaning service where they could just phone up like every other cleaning service and not be tied to service they don`t really want

Now i have about 240 customers of which about 50 want extras like gutters, facias etc

If i have customers phone me up for a one off clean and i can get gutter cleaning, facias as well its more work in what i would have had,

I see some window cleaners are saying you won`t get this and you won`t get that in my area, this is rubbish i work in an area with the £4/5 mob i have a few £10 houses

Thing is some run a window cleaning round and some run a window cleaning business,

What you have to realise window cleaning as we know it is changing its not just about wfp that is just a new way of cleaning a new tool,

Now i know a lot of people have new sign written vans company t-shirts the lot they only thing that has not changed is the business model this has to, some customers will always look down on window cleaners until we bring it into the 21st centuary

Customers should have the right to phone a window cleaner of ther choice and window cleaners should have the right to work where they want,

if a customer phones me to have a service done at there house i will do it, i as in the past have turned this work down because am told that a certain person owned that area, not now this is the only cleaning service that this applies to no other service runs this way,
Can you imagine if a customer phones a domestic cleaner only to be told she can`t do her because someone owns her area get real we have to bring window cleaning into the 21st centuary

jamesy

So what about it people if you had a window cleaning service where you could just phone up to have your winows cleaned when you require to have them cleaned, would this service appeal to you!

chocsessential

It would appeal to me, yes. My upstairs windows are too difficult to access from the inside so I would need someone to come and do them for me if I got bird mess or bits of moss on the glass. It's something I would only need once or twice a year probably. Why pay someone to come every month when I really only need them to come twice in a whole year?

jangor_2

I would love to have a window cleaner I could contact to clean my windows when I wanted them done not when the window cleaner decided I should have them done. Good luck.

geordie_joe

jamesy wrote: »

So what about it people if you had a window cleaning service where you could just phone up to have your winows cleaned when you require to have them cleaned, would this service appeal to you!

I have already said I am in favour of this, and think there is a market for it. But you're post #15 got me thinking.

Why do window cleaners use a business model that you describe as being stuck in a time warp?

Because it works, and it is the only model that guarantees a weeks work and earnings.

If you think about it........If you have a full round you are busy every day and you know you have customers every day and how much you will earn.

If you rely on one off jobs you will never know if you will be earning money tomorrow or not.

If you don't have enough customers to keep you busy for a full week/fortnight, then there is nothing wrong with offering one off's during the time you haven't got regular customers.

After thinking about it, I reckon many window cleaners have started this way, a small number of regular customers and offering one off's. But every time they get a new regular customer it reduces the time available for one off jobs. Until the time comes when they have a full round and just don't have the time for one off jobs.

Then when they lose a customer, they want to replace them with a regular customer. Because they have learned that one regular customer is worth more to them than a hundred one off jobs. And also, there is little point in offering a one off service that is only available during the time you would have been cleaning the windows of the customer you have just lost.

Imagine number 15 The High Street cancels their window cleaning.

Imagine the advert, "One Off Window Cleaning available, but only between 1 and 1.30pm every other Monday. And as we are doing number14 the high street at 12.30 - 1.00pm, you have to be close enough for us to get to you, do your windows, then get back to the high street to do number 16's windows at 1.30pm."

Any window cleaner is going to want a regular customer to replace number 15, and one close enough to fit in that day just by shuffling the time around a bit.

pingua

I don't bother with window cleaners either. Our old house we had a bloke with a bucket I used to fill for him. He cleaned the windows but not very well. He came as and when but always asked if I wanted them done.
Our house we are in now. The bloke has a fancy thing with fancy water i.e not normal tap water he says - that does not leave smudges or ruin the windows??. He too turns up as and when but in all the 3 yrs we have been here I have used him once. After he did them, I saw him doing the rounds a few weeks later -it was summer! -anyway, I sort of asked the neighbour if he would automatically do mine - the answer - yes - so I had to ask him to ask the man not to do mine - I felt really bad but I did not want to pay again. I thought he charged alot too for the time it took.

A lady down the road asked about a window cleaner as she could not find one - well she could but the amount he was charging was like in the hundreds and more! Yes they live in a big huge place - probably awkward windows too - but perhaps these would be the best one off properties to be looking for?

I do think the idea of someone you can ring as and when you need your windows doing is a good one. But there were alot of good points in pitkins post to bear in mind.

Kirri

I think it's a good idea, I can't afford to pay out for a window cleaner but there are a few times a year, more often if the sun is shining and I have the blinds up that I really want the windows cleaned and if I could get a one off done for a reasonable price it would be good, even better if bookable online which is the way I do most things. I can't stand trying to get through to 'workmen' on phones and they don't answer or don't ring back etc.

We are in the age of getting things done when we as customers want them, so for those window cleaners that get moody when people won't commit regularly are going to probably see a drop off in customers over time as people won't put up with that (maybe some of the older generation would but not the one behind...).