[supernova77]

Got a cheque through from a customer this morning with a sticky note on it simply saying "please cancel all future cleans"...

I've been cleaning the customers house for 5 years, the price was £30 every 8 weeks, but since the last clean I had put it up to £32 every 8 weeks.

Anyway I called her to ask if there was a problem with the last clean.

Her - "No problems, I just think your too expensive"
Me - "Since I put the price up by £2?"
Her - "No, I thought you were expensive before that"
Me - "I've been cleaning your house for 5 years and the price has never been an issue?"
Her - "Yeah, er urm, well thank you anywaY"
Me - "No problem, bye!"

Deleted from George forever! 

Andy

[cozy]

Could be other reasons Andy. Her old man ran off, lost her job, got a better offer from someone. As long as it
s not a quality issue, just run her over in your van when you see her on the street. Always carry a set of pliers, good for removing their finger nails etc.

[supernova77]

Could be other reasons Andy. Her old man ran off, lost her job, got a better offer from someone. As long as it
s not a quality issue, just run her over in your van when you see her on the street. Always carry a set of pliers, good for removing their finger nails etc. Cool

I picked up a new £35 every 8 weeks job yesterday anyway, so I've already more than replaced them! 

Andy

[cozy]

Yes mate, but you could still run them over if you get the chance.

[EWCServices]

surely its not just me whos losing customers because of the economic climate,i will eat my hat if theres not a surge in posts about losing customers when the interest rates go up,you heard it here first.

[bobby p]

30 pounds,surely a big gaff then

[cozy]

surely its not just me whos losing customers because of the economic climate,i will eat my hat if theres not a surge in posts about losing customers when the interest rates go up,you heard it here first.

Look mate, I'm in Germany, and about half of my work is for British Forces here. They have just had their overseas alowance cut by 80%. In most cases, this means a loss of over 700 quid a MONTH to my custies. I've had one cancel in the last 3 months because of this.

When interest rates rise, as they do now and again, it wont make a bit of difference. Your custies may be different, or they tell you it's because of the Bank of England Base rate, If that's what happens to you, just hope that's the real reason.

I'd worry if it were my custies.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Cozy!  Know where your coming from.

[mci services]

surely its not just me whos losing customers because of the economic climate,i will eat my hat if theres not a surge in posts about losing customers when the interest rates go up,you heard it here first.

nope picking up work regular and I am 25 miles from you, I can't remember the last cancellation but I have dropped a few off the list that messed me about

[davids3511]

surely its not just me whos losing customers because of the economic climate,i will eat my hat if theres not a surge in posts about losing customers when the interest rates go up,you heard it here first.

I've lost 2 this year to the economic climate. I've picked up about 30 without even trying though at prices about 20% higher than this time last year.

[supernova77]

I've lost 2 this year to the economic climate. I've picked up about 30 without even trying though at prices about 20% higher than this time last year.

Yeah, I'm not worried at all, I've been picking up loads of work recently... Just made me laugh that all of a sudden after 5 years I'm too expensive!  They've obviously had a cheaper quote.

Andy

[Steve CM]

people are people. just move on. Nothing surprizes me with customers anymore

[EWCServices]

surely its not just me whos losing customers because of the economic climate,i will eat my hat if theres not a surge in posts about losing customers when the interest rates go up,you heard it here first.

Look mate, I'm in Germany, and about half of my work is for British Forces here. They have just had their overseas alowance cut by 80%. In most cases, this means a loss of over 700 quid a MONTH to my custies. I've had one cancel in the last 3 months because of this.

When interest rates rise, as they do now and again, it wont make a bit of difference. Your custies may be different, or they tell you it's because of the Bank of England Base rate, If that's what happens to you, just hope that's the real reason.

I'd worry if it were my custies.

I know what your inferring but i can assure you ive been cleaning windows on my m8s round for 10 yrs before i started on my own 2 yrs ago and i lost less customers in 11 yrs than i have in the past year ok ive only lost  5 so far but im of the opinion that people will have less to spend in the next 2 years and that was the whole reason the banks lowered the interest rate was to stimulate the economy(give people more money to spend)but with inflation this year to hit 5% they are saying the interest rates are to rise towards the end of the year and i bet the base rate will hit 3% within 2 and a half years.
You cant keep putting the squeeze on ppl with tax rises,fuel,energy,food price rises and continuing to rise and then mortgage payment rises something has got to give be an ostrich all you want but cameron himself said that he doesnt think the middle classes fully realise whats ahead of them.

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

thats the way to do it mate i know it narks the hell out of us but theres always more customers out there. they just dont get it do they.

[ian1972]

Times are hard and when finanees hit low u cut bk on what is not absolutely needed and to b fair no1 going die if there windows ain't cleaned

[Paul Golding]

Glad you've covered the price. it's normally quite easy to pick up something to replace a loss.

It's only happened a couple of times but I have had someone undercut me.

as I worked the rest of that day I picked up an equivalent priced house.

Made me laugh. Yes it hassled me a bit but I'm no worse off. However, the scumbag that undercut me is now earning a lot less !! ha ha . . He might as well have canvassed the house that I picked up at the price I got it for.

I'd still be doing my original house and he'd be earning more. Everyone's a winner !!

So, moral of the story . . if someone undercuts you then cheer yourself up with the knowledge that they're earning less than you for the same work !! he he 

[cozy]

EWCServices, That's just the way it is mate. Seems you will lose custies left, right and center. Cameron and his mates will do nothing to stop it. Seems from this thread that you are one of the few that is effected, but that's life mate.
I try not to second guess my custies motives and just pick up new ones if and when I lose one. You can call me what you like and say I have my head in the sand. Since 2009 when the shyte hit the fan, I've noticed nothing of this resession.
I'm not sitting at home watching the Bank of Englands lending rate index to decide whether to go and get new custies or not.
In other words, I think you're worrying about stuff that has no, or very little effect on if Mrs Smith can afford to have a window cleaner or not. Up to you, but I'll stick to the "Head in the sand" system of getting custies.

[davids3511]

I've lost 2 this year to the economic climate. I've picked up about 30 without even trying though at prices about 20% higher than this time last year.

Yeah, I'm not worried at all, I've been picking up loads of work recently... Just made me laugh that all of a sudden after 5 years I'm too expensive!  They've obviously had a cheaper quote.

Andy

It could be anything Andy, once you are happy it isn't a quality of work issue you're best forgetting and moving on. Anything could be happening, hubby/wife could be moving out, they might be paying sons deposit on a house, their business might be going tits up. You'll probably never know.

I take it very persoanlly when I loose a decent paying customer so I do know how you feel. I like Cozy's idea though. If they are ever crossing the road....

[davids3511]

surely its not just me whos losing customers because of the economic climate,i will eat my hat if theres not a surge in posts about losing customers when the interest rates go up,you heard it here first.

Look mate, I'm in Germany, and about half of my work is for British Forces here. They have just had their overseas alowance cut by 80%. In most cases, this means a loss of over 700 quid a MONTH to my custies. I've had one cancel in the last 3 months because of this.

When interest rates rise, as they do now and again, it wont make a bit of difference. Your custies may be different, or they tell you it's because of the Bank of England Base rate, If that's what happens to you, just hope that's the real reason.

I'd worry if it were my custies.

I know what your inferring but i can assure you ive been cleaning windows on my m8s round for 10 yrs before i started on my own 2 yrs ago and i lost less customers in 11 yrs than i have in the past year ok ive only lost  5 so far but im of the opinion that people will have less to spend in the next 2 years and that was the whole reason the banks lowered the interest rate was to stimulate the economy(give people more money to spend)but with inflation this year to hit 5% they are saying the interest rates are to rise towards the end of the year and i bet the base rate will hit 3% within 2 and a half years.
You cant keep putting the squeeze on ppl with tax rises,fuel,energy,food price rises and continuing to rise and then mortgage payment rises something has got to give be an ostrich all you want but cameron himself said that he doesnt think the middle classes fully realise whats ahead of them.

If you only have your own customers for two years then you will be losing customers at a higher rate then an established cleaner. Over the first two years of my business I lost nearly 150 customers ( I just checked on George). That has slowed down to a dribble now in my 4th year. The losses this year are me dumping PIA customers, not them dumping me.

I think you are confusing natural wasteage as you build a business with economic climate problems. My very good friend in Ireland started window cleaning 2.5 years ago when his bricklaying job bit the dust. He now has nearly 300 6 weekly custies and turned over over 4k last month. Ireland is in the poope compared to us and until he starts having problems I am not going to worry.

[Spruce]

In some areas replacement work is harder to find than in others.

We would ask if they weren't happy with our service, but would you get an honest answer?

We would have thanked them for their business and left the way open for them to contact us if they decided on our services again in the future. Its not personal, its business. Even if it was personal, you give them the 'power' by taking it personally.

Most of our work is in a small town and everyone knows everyone elses business, including ours.

Even those who were rude and cancelled due to a previous price increase, were always greeted and polite conversation made. (A whole estate we do have over the years grouped together and cancelled the window cleaners on mass when they tried to raise prices - this was their way of using blackmail as a way to keep their window cleaning prices down.) Whilst they suceeded with the guy we brought the round from, we rode it out and slowly got most of them back on our terms.

We have started to raise prices again, and it has mostly been accepted, but most of our customers are aware we are raising prices before we tell them.

Whilst we don't want to be seen as a soft touch and easily manipulated, everything we do is calculated and justified so we don't give them an excuse to damage our reputation. If we get a remark like, "I see you aren't doing so and so's windows anymore," we will confirm they are right we aren't cleaning them any longer. We add that the reason is between them and us and that it would be wrong to discuss those reasons with a third party, but that it had nothing to do with the quality or frequency of the service we provided and leave it for them to draw their own conclusions.

Sometimes I wish we could tell some of them to go to hell and replace them with others, but we are the 'outsiders'. They wait in on a Thursday evening until the milkman has arrived to collect his debts (most seem to be 'scared' of him,) but some of them don't see prompt payment of the window cleaners as a similar priority.
Saying that, the majority we have got to know over the years are good customers.

Spruce.