[Paddy Woods]

well my first month at pushing standing orders as new payment...65% agree (of that about 50% thought great idea and the other 15%were pushed reluctantly) the rest are undecided & just 2 said NO they dont do direct debits !so not a bad hit rate.i gave people the option of setting the date themselves in the month also the promise the prices will remain same for 2012.
I gave most of custy's a print out for them  to sign and send to bank & tryed to explain im now doing it monthly as opposed to 4wks which most didnt get (as they thought it was monthly anyway!)

what reason do you mostly find/think some people dont want to do standing orders??.......

[Window Washers]

well my first month at pushing standing orders as new payment...65% agree (of that about 50% thought great idea and the other 15%were pushed reluctantly) the rest are undecided & just 2 said NO they dont do direct debits !so not a bad hit rate.i gave people the option of setting the date themselves in the month also the promise the prices will remain same for 2012.
I gave most of custy's a print out for them  to sign and send to bank & tryed to explain im now doing it monthly as opposed to 4wks which most didnt get (as they thought it was monthly anyway!)

what reason do you mostly find/think some people dont want to do standing orders??.......

My thoughts why they dont:

To much hassle
Can't be bothered
online banking is the devil
don't trust you with thier bank account details (I know we don't need them) ( no customer has ever said it to me, but my guess is this is a reason for it
prefer paying by cheque
don't have a bank account
like paying cash when it's done.
don't like change

these are some I have come up against

pod how did you come to these stats, what did you do to get them, what did you say, I like to try and find ways to streamline my business all the time and if this helps even convert another few it is worth trying, good on you for pushing this, I have been trying this for couple of years and it is hard going so far.

[stuart mc]

that is actually encouraging that 65% agreed, I might give this some thought, thanks

[Window Washers]

that is actually encouraging that 65% agreed, I might give this some thought, thanks

did 65% do it though is my question and the reason I ask this is because a lot say its good and never sign it/set it up online.

am defo watching this post 

[stuart mc]

that is actually encouraging that 65% agreed, I might give this some thought, thanks

did 65% do it though is my question and the reason I ask this is because a lot say its good and never sign it/set it up online.

am defo watching this post 

true I asked lots when I set up paypal and lots agreed but never bothered paying by paypal, I think about 10 to 15% of my customers pay online by standing order, paypal or direct internet banking

[Paddy Woods]

Well some handed back form filled out with their details for me to forward others said they will forward it to bank r ring them with details....once they set it up it's done!
It's certainly caused a stir with custy's chatting about it,1 said 'I've never thought it with windows its certainly a first'!......think I've shocked a few with it but so many said grt as I'm always looking for cash wen u arrive to clean r collect

I think the main reservation is that it's change & official or mayb a little of their power is been taken away 

I've been really positive about it mayb that's helped,as I said to one woman u r paying anyway just a different method!

[daniel worgan]

What happens if you fall behind on your round,miss a month,go on holiday?

[Window Washers]

What happens if you fall behind on your round,miss a month,go on holiday?

you get rich silly 

[daniel worgan]

What happens if you fall behind on your round,miss a month,go on holiday?

you get rich silly 

Arrhhh that's where i am going wrong...

[Paddy Woods]

well dw thats been the most popular Q and my reply is that ive been doing it 4 wkly and will continue to do so but some months ill b few days late or week off hols etc but will still b in the month you will get 12 cleans (not 13 which i dont think really any window cleaner honestly manages to get !!)

[stuart mc]

well dw thats been the most popular Q and my reply is that ive been doing it 4 wkly and will continue to do so but some months ill b few days late or week off hols etc but will still b in the month you will get 12 cleans (not 13 which i dont think really any window cleaner honestly manages to get !!)

must admit the few I have on standing order asked pretty much the same, they asked if they should set it 4 weekly or monthly, I said best make it monthly as I am sure I will be late at some point, on a downside I did two free gutter cleans last year as I had missed the windows after a very harsh winter so I offered it as a goodwill gesture or there overpaid money back

[Inside Out]

I have been offering this since New year. Mixed.bag of results. One lady, bad payer, said yes and signed all paperwork, I even took to bank myself. No debit gone out on agreed date. Royal mail have posession of her cancelation letter as I write here.

As you post, some really glad, some not wanting to part with details, but willl pay me by cheque!!!??? On which can be found, account name, sort, account number.....

Frustrating.

[sunshine windows]

The only thing that bugs me about standing order vs direct debit is that you get no notification from the bank when someone cancels it. It's a pain for me continually checking my bank statements to ensure everyone is paying as they should be.

I asked santander about starting direct debits but they only allow very large companies to use this facility with their customers.

Well done for getting so many customers to convert though, if it's a payment method you prefer and it works for you then good on you.

[Paddy Woods]

[quote  if it's a payment method you prefer and it works for you
[/quote]

I hope so sunshine
The thing is the main reason I'm doing it is time,I don't want to collect anymore r chasing customers payments
Also if sky came to my door each month for £50 I'd soon tell them to be off !!
So hopefully once they commit themselves they won't worry too much of the £10 etc each month they hand over....it hurts more when u hand it out of the pocket!!....u know the face eh 

[sunshine windows]

I've never collected so can only imagine how frustrating it must be trying to get the money of some custies.

I prefer to receive payment by cheque in the post. When I receive the cheque it's marked as paid on my spreadsheat. Job done.

I do have a few on standing order but find it a pain in the ass if i'm brutally honest. Having to cross reference my bank statements with work records. I don't do it regularly enough and have had people in the past cancel without informing me, meaning i've continued with the cleaning without being paid.

In an ideal world it would be great to set them all up on standing order and just let the cash flow into the bank but in my experience people will try and get away without paying if they think they can.

 

[Richard iSparkle]

I asked santander about starting direct debits but they only allow very large companies to use this facility with their customers.

you can use another company to set up standing orders, rather than going thru your bank.

problem with DDs is they charge you to set them up, and if a client ever cancels them and you have to set it up again, you get charged again.

other than this DDs are definately better as you get notification of any non payments, and also you can do a price rise very easily every year.  SOs are a pain for price rises

[Richard iSparkle]

well my first month at pushing standing orders as new payment...65% agree (of that about 50% thought great idea and the other 15%were pushed reluctantly) the rest are undecided & just 2 said NO they dont do direct debits !so not a bad hit rate.i gave people the option of setting the date themselves in the month also the promise the prices will remain same for 2012.
I gave most of custy's a print out for them  to sign and send to bank & tryed to explain im now doing it monthly as opposed to 4wks which most didnt get (as they thought it was monthly anyway!)

what reason do you mostly find/think some people dont want to do standing orders??.......

to get 65% on first asking is about right.  if you ask the others every 3 months or so, eventually you will get the rest of them.  you'll only be left with a couple of hardcore refusers.

also if you tell new customers its your only payment option from word go, you will get over 90% on SOs immediately.

[Richard iSparkle]

(not 13 which i dont think really any window cleaner honestly manages to get !!)

we get 13 cleans a year as standard.  we dont miss a clean unless the client insists on us missing one for a good reason.  it is hard sometimes, but that extra 1 clean a year off all your clients is worth thousands every year.

[sunshine windows]

Phoned a couple of middle man companies regarding direct debit as opposed to standing orders and they charge a fortune for their services.

[Window Washers]

well my first month at pushing standing orders as new payment...65% agree (of that about 50% thought great idea and the other 15%were pushed reluctantly) the rest are undecided & just 2 said NO they dont do direct debits !so not a bad hit rate.i gave people the option of setting the date themselves in the month also the promise the prices will remain same for 2012.
I gave most of custy's a print out for them  to sign and send to bank & tryed to explain im now doing it monthly as opposed to 4wks which most didnt get (as they thought it was monthly anyway!)

what reason do you mostly find/think some people dont want to do standing orders??.......

to get 65% on first asking is about right.  if you ask the others every 3 months or so, eventually you will get the rest of them.  you'll only be left with a couple of hardcore refusers.

also if you tell new customers its your only payment option from word go, you will get over 90% on SOs immediately.

How do you know 65% is about right ? I would say that bloody good going and way above normal.