[Ian101]

Swapped over to WFP on Tuesday ... didnt know how customers were going to react.

However no problems at all apart from 1 bloke who requested that we blade his front room window and rear patio doors which is not a problem.

Also this week was one of those where nearly everyone was at home (great for being paid though) so lost a lot of time explaining and showing how the system works but at least only have to do that the once.

Went down route of Elf & Safety ..... on spot fines (Jeremy Vine Radio 2) ... safer for me ... and icing on the cake told them I can do a better job with WFP.

One of my customers when I started telling her about the new system and H&S says hang on I will go and get my husband hes a HSE Officer !!!!!!!!! ..... no problem with this customer then 

Overall am I faster ?? no not yet as all the talking and minging tops on upstairs frames  slowed us down but once out of the way will be a lot faster.

[chris sloan]

i would still blade off the first time downstairs, just if it speckles they wont have to look at it till your next clean. and microfibre ground floor sills just less grime on the brushes.

[Lee GLS]

Glad it's going well for you, I swapped over 3 weeks ago and it's the same story with me, everybody is ok with it some are a little sceptical because windows are left wet and can't see how they can dry clean but are ok, it's taking me double the time at the moment but in a couple of months it should be great,

[Ian101]

everybody is ok with it some are a little sceptical

yup had one or two like that but managed to convince them ... helps that I personally beleive in the method and that I looked em in the eyes when telling them about it .... few people liked it because constant supply of clean water on their glass ... think they have ideas that when trad you never change yer water which is wrong of course ... I used rainwater and changed the bucket 4 times a day 

[Londoner]

You chose a bad week to change over but just keep going. Think of it as an evolution rather than a change over. And if I were you I would still blade the eyeball windows, you will be suprised how many spots you will still get if you don't. It only takes a second and it reassures you as much as the customer.

Onwards and upwards!

[craigR]

Swapped over to WFP on Tuesday ... didnt know how customers were going to react.

However no problems at all apart from 1 bloke who requested that we blade his front room window and rear patio doors which is not a problem.

Also this week was one of those where nearly everyone was at home (great for being paid though) so lost a lot of time explaining and showing how the system works but at least only have to do that the once.

Went down route of Elf & Safety ..... on spot fines (Jeremy Vine Radio 2) ... safer for me ... and icing on the cake told them I can do a better job with WFP.

One of my customers when I started telling her about the new system and H&S says hang on I will go and get my husband hes a HSE Officer !!!!!!!!! ..... no problem with this customer then 

Overall am I faster ?? no not yet as all the talking and minging tops on upstairs frames  slowed us down but once out of the way will be a lot faster.

I've just started a round and it's building ok doing it all trad as of yet but can already see the possible advantages of wfp. only 2 of my new customers have asked how the will be cleaned trad or wfp. I don't know if this is because they don't know of wfp or don't care. If they don't care the swap over should be ok.
I'm too slow at present even tradding so it's difficult to assess if wfp would eventually be quicker with  possible access, trailing hoses issues etc but it's something I,m considering for the new year.
Do you think you,ll be alot quicker once you're used to wfp?

Ps. Would there have been any advantage to have manually cleaned the frame tops on your last trad outing. I ask this as I'm thinking ahead if I go wfp in the new year.

[clearlyclean]

I'm about 30% quicker wfp and I don't rush around at all.I still trad some windows.

[craigR]

Which windows to you trad and why?

[clearlyclean]

some bungalows and I have a couple with stained wooden frames top windows only 3.5meters always seem to spot when wfp so i trad them with a pole and I have balcony doors quicker to trad than drag a hose.But Generally I pole everything else and all new customers get pole like it or lump it.Eventually I will weed out the trad customers and pole everything.

[Mike55]

Ian/ Lee

Did you give your customers a letter before switching over or just explain if they asked?

I have just implemented WFP on selected customers (generally bigger houses) and haven't done letters but when I go fully WFP I was going to give explanation letters to customers.  Save time on all the questions if nothing else.

[Lee GLS]

Ian/ Lee

Did you give your customers a letter before switching over or just explain if they asked?

I have just implemented WFP on selected customers (generally bigger houses) and haven't done letters but when I go fully WFP I was going to give explanation letters to customers.  Save time on all the questions if nothing else.

I didnt bother with letters, the reason being is that on a first clean the chances are the windows wont be perfect, so if you give them a letter it gives them a reason to have a really close look at the glass to see the results and spot any imperfections that you may have left. So if the customer isnt in and you do get the odd run/spotting, the chances are they wont notice it. I do knock on each house before i clean the windows on the first clean just to explain incase they are in, a little bit time consuming, but i think its better than leaving a letter because you will get questions from anyone that is home even if you give the a letter explaining it.

[Lee GLS]

oh, and in 3 weeks of doing it and not leaving letters, i have only had 1 phone call asking why there windows were left wet, i explained why and they were fine with it

[dazmond]

i changed virtually everything over to wfp 5 months ago(all tops anyway bar some granny flats which ive recently converted).


i was slower and i did make mistakes and i did lose 3 custies out of 340 due to them not liking the pole.i had a fair few complaints as well but luckily most custies gave me a chance as ive been cleaning some of them for 17 years.

now 5 months down the line most windows come up great and im 20%-40% faster than ladders and im loving it most days.ive also picked up quite a few due to me having the pole.


stick at it !its a learning curve!!but well worth it once you get through the first couple of months!!im 80% WFP/20% TRAD.

i find trad quicker on some ground floor windows esp if the space is restricted.i like the change as well rather than poling everything just because you can!!



dazmond

[Steven Ternent]

I sent out letters a month before the change over.  I highlighted the benefits and gave everyone the choice of;
Continuing service
Discontinuing service
Supplying a list of other window cleaners in the area.

I lost a couple.
But you soon speed up and end up faster than trad, people in general think it’s more professional than trad, so you pick up more customers anyway!
Swings & Round-a-bouts

[Alex Allen]

Swapped over to WFP on Tuesday ... didnt know how customers were going to react.

However no problems at all apart from 1 bloke who requested that we blade his front room window and rear patio doors which is not a problem.

Also this week was one of those where nearly everyone was at home (great for being paid though) so lost a lot of time explaining and showing how the system works but at least only have to do that the once.

Went down route of Elf & Safety ..... on spot fines (Jeremy Vine Radio 2) ... safer for me ... and icing on the cake told them I can do a better job with WFP.

One of my customers when I started telling her about the new system and H&S says hang on I will go and get my husband hes a HSE Officer !!!!!!!!! ..... no problem with this customer then 

Overall am I faster ?? no not yet as all the talking and minging tops on upstairs frames  slowed us down but once out of the way will be a lot faster.

dont worry going wfp is a bigger thing for you than your customers

[Ian101]

Swapped over to WFP on Tuesday ... didnt know how customers were going to react.

However no problems at all apart from 1 bloke who requested that we blade his front room window and rear patio doors which is not a problem.

Also this week was one of those where nearly everyone was at home (great for being paid though) so lost a lot of time explaining and showing how the system works but at least only have to do that the once.

Went down route of Elf & Safety ..... on spot fines (Jeremy Vine Radio 2) ... safer for me ... and icing on the cake told them I can do a better job with WFP.

One of my customers when I started telling her about the new system and H&S says hang on I will go and get my husband hes a HSE Officer !!!!!!!!! ..... no problem with this customer then 

Overall am I faster ?? no not yet as all the talking and minging tops on upstairs frames  slowed us down but once out of the way will be a lot faster.

I've just started a round and it's building ok doing it all trad as of yet but can already see the possible advantages of wfp. only 2 of my new customers have asked how the will be cleaned trad or wfp. I don't know if this is because they don't know of wfp or don't care. If they don't care the swap over should be ok.
I'm too slow at present even tradding so it's difficult to assess if wfp would eventually be quicker with  possible access, trailing hoses issues etc but it's something I,m considering for the new year.
Do you think you,ll be alot quicker once you're used to wfp?

Ps. Would there have been any advantage to have manually cleaned the frame tops on your last trad outing. I ask this as I'm thinking ahead if I go wfp in the new year.

quicker yes by about 30% I rekon and yup the top frames that I had minted last month gave me a quicker time

[Ian101]

Ian/ Lee

Did you give your customers a letter before switching over or just explain if they asked?

I have just implemented WFP on selected customers (generally bigger houses) and haven't done letters but when I go fully WFP I was going to give explanation letters to customers.  Save time on all the questions if nothing else.

Hi mike .... was going to do a letter but decided to do it face to face so any doubters I could spend a little time reassuring them and show them the system

[Ian101]

i changed virtually everything over to wfp 5 months ago(all tops anyway bar some granny flats which ive recently converted).


i was slower and i did make mistakes and i did lose 3 custies out of 340 due to them not liking the pole.i had a fair few complaints as well but luckily most custies gave me a chance as ive been cleaning some of them for 17 years.

now 5 months down the line most windows come up great and im 20%-40% faster than ladders and im loving it most days.ive also picked up quite a few due to me having the pole.


stick at it !its a learning curve!!but well worth it once you get through the first couple of months!!im 80% WFP/20% TRAD.

i find trad quicker on some ground floor windows esp if the space is restricted.i like the change as well rather than poling everything just because you can!!



dazmond

Hi Dazmond .... yup still doing bungerlows trad as defo quicker than pole

[ant french]

everybody is ok with it some are a little sceptical

I used rainwater and changed the bucket 4 times a day 

same as what i do. i have my rain water in a spray bottle hanging off my belt and i just spray the downstairs windows and give thema  good rubbing over to get sum birdy poop off. so far i got happy custys, a few said the last windy used a long pole and charged them 15 a month. i just said i havent upgraded yet untill spring lol 

[suds window service]

whats trad?