[DJC Clean]

have part time medium sized domestic round and i`m thinking of going full time into window cleaning is commercial work the way too go, and if so is under cutting prices acceptable in the more business driven side of window cleaning.

 Not sayin i would do this but how can u start getting commercial work from scratch, and are commercial customers loyal ?

I know a lot of questions

[Clear Vision]

  and are commercial customers loyal ?

NO NO NO!!!!!!!

[NWH]

No they are not loyal,get a half desent domestic round before you even start looking down the commercial route.My round is half commercial half domestic but i`ve priced my domestics so well these days that losing the odd commercial isn`t a major issue.

[Clear Vision]

Personally I don't see why anyone needs commercial work.

You can make more than enough money only cleaning domestics.

And you get a load of tips at x mas

Domestics are far the best.

They usually pay you there and then whereas some commercials will take as long as 3 months or in some cases even longer to pay.

[NWH]

I agree with clear vision,on the payment front nearly all my commercial customers pay by BACS straight into the bank every time they recieve an invoice from me so it cuts out the hassle.Commercial work is good for the time you can start in the morning but you can earn just as good money doing domestics if priced correctly like clear vision says.

[Clear Vision]

Dont get me wrong. Im not being narrow minded on this subject.

I actually have 2 commercial jobs and they both usually pay within 14 days.

I dont think I would like to take on any more.

[paul mather]

No they are not loyal,get a half desent domestic round before you even start looking down the commercial route.My round is half commercial half domestic but i`ve priced my domestics so well these days that losing the odd commercial isn`t a major issue.

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more. In 15 years of cleaning windows for commercial enterprises I have never lost a single customer through being undercut.
Businesses that really rely on a regular WCer would in my experience prefer to pay slightly more for a good, reliable WCer. If you can clean their windows for 6 months  or as long as it takes for them to realise you are reliable, then you will have the contract for as long as you want it.
The only times I have lost commercial jobs is through businesses ceasing trading, relocating or being told from head office that their cleaning budget is being slashed. But you can lose domestic customers just as easy through selling up.

As for the original question as to how you get into the commercial sector, that is less easy to answer. Firstly you must advertise, even if it's only a free line advert in the Thomson Local. I have tried to canvass commercial work but with little success. In my experience you have to wait for them to come to you.

But don't be put off by negative comments on this forum, if I had my way my whole round would be commercial work and as for late payers, sure you get the odd one or two but on the whole I never wait more than 30 days for any money.