[craig jwc]

I've just started today fulltime and found today a message on my answer machine from another w/c telling me i have put leaflets in his area. As he does most of the area would i try and find my own patch and hopes this message gets through.
I didn't think people looked at it like that anymore.
I went door knocking the other week and left leaflets at the houses where people weren't in. I got told by the ones that were in that either that they do it themselves or they had a w/c. I only managed to get a couple down this street which obviously he didn't do as they said thay have never seen a w/c.
He withheld his phone number so i can't phone him back but it really did pee me off someone telling me to stay away and find my work elsewhere.
Has anyone else had this and what did you do?? 

[andypandy]

NO SUCH THING AS SOMEONES PATCH

[Central Window Cleaners]

I agree there are lots of house in the streets that other window cleaners already have jobs on that are looking for window cleaners.

I find that alot of new customers I get have asked the current cleaner in the area to do their window and he has told them he has to much work and doesn't want to take on any new customers.

I knocked in one street where someone had called for a quote and got 5 other jobs from it.

[andypandy]

GOOD FOR YOU, THERE ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH OF US OUT THERE.

[24-7 S C Services]

Hi Everyone,

Craig, don't worry about that window cleaner that phoned you up. No one owns any area or patch; it is a free business out there.

If he phones again when you are there and you speak to him, Just say, 'Sorry, I didn't realise I called on some of your customers, however, you obviously do not have every house in every street, so there is opportunity there for me. Besides, if you are giving your clients a good service, surely they will not want to leave your services!? I will not be undercutting any prices intentionally and I do not ask customers what they are currently cleaning. Unfortunately, I do not know your customers or their houses, if I did; I would not intentionally leaflet them. I will carry on leaflet dropping and code calling in areas I choose to in order to build my legitimate business. I don’t wish to upset you or aggravate you, but this is my livelihood too. I will try not to canvass your clients, but as I have said, if you offer a good service, you have nothing to worry about'.

Try something along those lines. If he doesn’t like it, it is his tough luck, if he gives you hassle, ignore it.

Andrew

[windows_chepstow]

I've was threatend twice by local window cleaners for leafletting 'thier' patches.

Both window cleaners were thick as the two probverial planks and my advice is not to worry about it. 

Craig, other window cleaners may 'perceive' you to be stepping on their toes, but if you canvass ethically - NOT UNDERCUTTING - then don't worry mate.  Everytime you bump into a local window cleaner, introduce yourself, be pleasant and tell him you're not after taking anyones work.

However, with regards to the window cleaners who threatened me - I have taken much work from them, with great delight too, over the past two years (although one's now a taxi-driver).  And I've never lost an account I know of to them.

So it shows you the calibre of person you're dealing with.

[Rick]

i love these posts....


i have had similar experiences my self on a few occasions, not on the phone mind you mostly in the street ...

tosh gave great advice in his above post i go out my way to speak with other window cleaners, and you never know what you may pick up from them....

i met this window cleaner in a street i do about 6 houses not many but big houses, i had seen up the top of the road a few times but never got the chance to speak with him... one day he spoted me about 4 houses away from the one he was cleaning after eyeing me up for 10 mins he come stroling up the road and starts "asking questions" i got taliing with him and once he know i was not the flyby night sort and i had been doing it for some years he calmed down and we started chatting a little more, NOW i get disapointed if i do that street and we dont meet up, we are pretty good "passing" friends now and the only problem we have is that it costs us maybe a bit to much time/money while we chat the clock round .....

when your in such a situation i try and think what they are thinking, now i have had a few flyby nights come ibnto the area's were i work, and iv only ever lost 2 jobs down to BIG indercutting and that was a new street on my books (2 months old" and i get them back a few cleans latter, so if this other window cleaner is seing you he doesnt know you from adam and there are lot of WC out there that like to undercut, wich he is probably worried about loosing a lot of work, get to know em put em at rest and 99% of the time they are good blokes....

or a shotgun works well if all else fails 

[Moderator David@stives]

i have never lost 1 job ever to undercutting.
some customers have been approached by other w/c and have told me they have been quoted cheaper and they have said they are happy with me,even though i am dearer . it takes a lot to lose a good customer.
it is a case of better the devil you know

[Sir Squeaky]

(although one's now a taxi-driver).

He didn't have a go at you did he Tosh?

Surprised at that. I know he looks like a thug, and sometimes acts like it too, but I didn't think he cared enough about the job to do that.

To be fair he was always fine with me.
I don't use his taxis though!

Roger.

[windows_chepstow]

(although one's now a taxi-driver).

He didn't have a go at you did he Tosh?

Surprised at that. I know he looks like a thug, and sometimes acts like it too, but I didn't think he cared enough about the job to do that.

To be fair he was always fine with me.
I don't use his taxis though!

Roger.

Roger,

He's a heavy drug user (cocaine so I'm told) and got upset that I'd leafletted Sommerset Way (which isn't exactly a top-end residential area).

He collared me outside the Kings Head, after I'd just cleaned it, and mentioned a baseball bat if I took any of his customers.

But his whole body-language said something totally different when I mentioned my fists then and there; then he took a slightly different tack.  I used to clean his council house just prior to him moving in, when the previous elderly lady died owing me £6.00.

I've never had any trouble from him since, although I hear he's wanting to get back into window cleaning since the failure of his marraige which was only a few months ago.  I was told that his drug-abuse had caused his marraige breakdown.

The guy is a numpty!

Sorry, if I've ranted.

 

[Sir Squeaky]

Don't take any cr*p do you mate?

He's a big lad too...

I think window cleaning may be on the agenda because the taxis aren't the moneyspinner they were when he started them.
Since then a few others have sprung up, so he hasn't got the monoploly any more.

Funny thing is, he told me those two new cars were 25 grand!

Nice debt!

[Moderator David@stives]

I myself personally would not canvass an area already being cleaned that is why i bought my rounds .
i would not like to go on an estate and just get 3 or 4 jobs .then have to move on again and waiting for the next  five years before i get another on that street .on some streets i go on if i see more than 2 other W/c on there i will  give them what i have got and stop wasting my time earning in dribs and drabs all day .

most work i have got is estates where i have about 90% of the customers and only have to move my car about 3 times a day.
i would hate to get my ladders on and off 20 times a day .

compaction is the best earner.

dave

[windows_chepstow]

He's a big lad too...

Only round his belly!

[thewindowcleaner1]

Bin there had that, my response was to drop more leaflets in the area's that I though he worked,
 Yuo'll find that this other window cleaner has got himself in the rut of thinking that he is the best thing since sliced bread, and his customers will never leave him.

My thoughts are that canvassing (leaflet dropping) is one of the fastest ways to find people that need window cleaners normally you only pick up people that no one else wants or they have been let down by another, sometimes though you will pick up work from another w/c as long as you are not undercutting the other w/c (ask Gaza) then the other must be doing somthing wrong.

I had a sim phone and e-mail debate recently and my reply was if he could mark the doors of his customers with a red cross then I would not put his leaflets though his customers doors.

[gaza]

the window cleaner: stared that scumbag out today,his work mate rode of on his bmx,found out hes working shifts and has this young lad working for him,while he spouts his mouth off how much cocaine he can snort. so tell me how they can make 8 windows 2 doors pay at £3.50p if something aint dodgy?I knew I should have knocked him out but my MRS and you good people on here perswaded me not to. Still picking up the pieces ,anyone with to much work out there

 GAZA

[P @ F]

This happened to me a while ago , i was up my ladder when i saw a guy posting leaflets , he could not have not seen me or the van , i guessed who he was and when he got to where i was i saw the name on the leaflet , i said hi and said in the nicest possible way that i had all but 4 houses in the street and he really was wasting his leaflets , he grunted and went on his way continuing to do his drop, i saw red and thought you ignorant git.
The following week i saw the car that the 4 guys work from , i decided to get even , i took a pile of my leaflets and went on my way , it wasnt long till i got shouted at , i just said good morning and carried on , the boss man came up and said its my patch get out , i said but you can come to my areas and do it , is that right , he didnt take any of my customers but i ended up taking 6 of his , it wasnt due to undercutting , it was down to his workers shoddy practice .
Every time i see him now he waves , and he does not intetionaly leaflet my customers anymore !

Rich   P@F   

[Paul Coleman]

This happened to me a while ago , i was up my ladder when i saw a guy posting leaflets , he could not have not seen me or the van , i guessed who he was and when he got to where i was i saw the name on the leaflet , i said hi and said in the nicest possible way that i had all but 4 houses in the street and he really was wasting his leaflets , he grunted and went on his way continuing to do his drop, i saw red and thought you ignorant git.
The following week i saw the car that the 4 guys work from , i decided to get even , i took a pile of my leaflets and went on my way , it wasnt long till i got shouted at , i just said good morning and carried on , the boss man came up and said its my patch get out , i said but you can come to my areas and do it , is that right , he didnt take any of my customers but i ended up taking 6 of his , it wasnt due to undercutting , it was down to his workers shoddy practice .
Every time i see him now he waves , and he does not intetionaly leaflet my customers anymore !

Rich   P@F   

A few years ago, some guy had been leafletting an area where I did a lot of window cleaning.  One of my customers showed the leaflet to me.  Anyway, I phoned the guy up with the idea of passing on my less desirable work to him (poor access etc).  I thought that everyone would be a winner that way.  I ditch some work that I don't want.  He gets a bit of work that, althopugh not good quality, at least it was better than NO work.  Anyway, it turned out that he was a fireman only cleaning part-time and, by the time I phoned him, he already had enough work.  Also, he told me about a company that did window cleaning items by mail order.  I saved myself a packet on my supplies.  Ironically, a lot of the jobs I didn't want ended up ditching me when I was too ill to work for a while.  It was quite funny being happy about losing work like that.

[dai]

I have 6/7 working days on one estate. I guess I do about 85% of the houses on it. It doesn't bother me at all if I see another cleaner, some people bring their WC's with them when they move in. Just one word of caution though. You may easily pick up the dross that the regular guy has sacked. Bad payers love to see new WC's. Dai

[Moderator David@stives]

Just one word of caution though. You may easily pick up the dross that the regular guy has sacked. Bad payers love to see new WC's. Dai

could`nt agree more   

[mustafa]

dai you re right  %75 of them i get millions of them