[stuart howes]

hi all
do you wfp guys stop when it starts to rain ? can you work in heavy rain, does it matter as the windows  have to be wet with the wfp do the people moan as a lot of my people moan if i do it in the rain(just trying to earn a days money) :

[genesis_windows]

hi stuart
the windows come up just as good when its raining, and sometimes better than a very hot day as the water gets burnt off the glass leaving the residue you trying to rinse off, unless you rinse alot.
the only problem with the rain on domestics are the actual customers, some of which run out screaming STOP! if there is so much a cloud in the sky! the other problem is you yourself get wet!
rain has no effect on wfp cleaning, it just doesnt feel to nice when your doing it!

[Ian_Giles]

I agree with Russell (It is Russell isn't it Genesis_windows?)

But if it is windy AND wet then call it a day, the wind will pick up muck from roads/trees/roofs and so on.

I never work in extreme weather though, heavy rain, heavy wind or a combination of both have me back at home and on the forum

Ian

[macc]

hi stuart. i just put on a light water proff jacket & carry on, get the odd comment. i wouldnt work if it were hamering it down all day cause i wouldnt want to,but if was light rain or on & off, i would work. havnt lost 1 day yet since i went wfp.

[martindrz400]

the only problem is the costomers if its raining sometimes they fill cheated when it rains i always pick my work where i think they will be out

[windows_chepstow]

About a week after I received my WFP I had an extremely rainy day, but I'd forked out all this dosh, not long before Christmas and was determined to earn it back.

So one afternoon when it was absolutely hammering down with rain and I cracked on working.  I only had one complaint from a 'robust' looking woman from Belfast.

She was adamant she didn't want them done.  I explained about my pure water system and how rain was generally very soft water; pure(ish) itself; and wouldn't affect the job, and that all the bird poo, cobwebs, dirt etc would be removed anyway; and if I didn't clean her house this month, she could 'drop' me if she wanted.

She didn't want to 'drop' me, so agreed to the clean.  When I finished I knocked and told her I'd call back for the money on Friday and only wanted paying if she was happy with the job I'd done (a tactic borrowed from Roy Harding).

I called on Friday evening and she said her windows looked 'really shiny' (they were leaded and came up great); coughed up and I've had no trouble from her since.

It does take a certain amount of 'guts' to clean in heavy rain, but you'll be surprised at how many customers just accept it without question.  Those that do question it, just be ready to explain how it all works.

My own policy is, if it's raining and I want the money, I'll work.  If I don't want the money; I'll take some time off and not have a day getting wet.  It really depends on how I feel and what day it is.  If it's a Monday; I'll definately work.  If it's a Thursday and I've had a good week; I may have the day off.

But don't you feel good when you've earnt a good days wage and it's been chucking down with rain all day?  You feel like a 'proper man' and have the right to take the 'mick' out of those window cleaners who haven't the gumption to clean windows in the rain; even though they know they can and want to, but are too frightened of what their customers might say.

My advice is just to get stuck in there.

[genesis_windows]

I agree with Russell (It is Russell isn't it Genesis_windows?)

But if it is windy AND wet then call it a day, the wind will pick up muck from roads/trees/roofs and so on.

I never work in extreme weather though, heavy rain, heavy wind or a combination of both have me back at home and on the forum

Ian

yes ian Russell or Russ
I agree, who the hell wants to be out when its persisting it down anyway.
plenty of crap day time telly to watch

[macc]

i aggree with what ur all saying, if im prepared to work in the rain, im working. its been prity wet this week, this was a long week when trad, no way would i have got it done working sat, finnihed today at 2.30, result. no real complaints, odd little moan, still got paid with a cup of tea.

[poleman]

Commercial window cleaning, put the waterproofs on and we work all-day only time we stop is in thunder and lighting.

Domestic customers have for years moan about us window cleaners working in the rain even when they are done they say going to rain now, best why is to educate them in the new ways of cleaning a window, like Tosh has said pure water and rain water are soft, one good piece of advice, when I was using ladders for many years and it rains they same day and the customer moaned, I would tell them you have had the months weather taken off the window, which would be the same when using a WFP

Andy                   

[windows_chepstow]

If we're talking about purely 'making money', think about this:

Hypothetically:

We may lose one customer in twenty if we clean in the rain, and let's say that customer's house is a £10 job.

So if we cleaned twenty houses in one rainy day and each one was £10, you would make £200 that day at a loss of one £10 customer.

Over the year that £10 customer you lost would cost you £120 - £130, but not really, because you'd pick up more work to cover the loss.

So you're actually earning more; and not losing.

I'm not sure if I've illustrated my point properly here.  What I'm trying to say is that you probably won't lose any business by cleaning in the rain, and if you do, it will only be a little.  And your turnover-gain will far excede any business loss you receive; therefore - from a purely financial point of view - working in the rain makes sense; business-wise.

Do I make sense?

[windows_chepstow]

PS.  I wish I did do 20 £10 jobs per day.

I was speaking hypothetically!

[genesis_windows]

PS.  I wish I did do 20 £10 jobs per day.

I was speaking hypothetically!

so do i, then i wouldnt have to do 40 houses at £10.00 a day :

[dai]

TOO late Tosh, the taxmans read your post. Dai

[neil100]

[quote author=Tosh link=topic=15496.msg111156#msg111156 date=113769

But don't you feel good when you've earnt a good days wage and it's been chucking down with rain all day?  You feel like a 'proper man' and have the right to take the 'mick' out of those window cleaners who haven't the gumption to clean windows in the rain; even though they know they can and want to, but are too frightened of what their customers might say.

Tosh my Boy.
Its not a case of haveing the gumption or being frightened of what customers say if I work in the rain.

I do not work in heavy rain. PERIOD. Because their is no enjoyment in getting wet through. If its showers, fine I will work.

My view is this, 52 weeks in a year. 6 great months of the year, If you work hard when its fine you will never need to work when its wet. I go at it hammer and tongs from April to Sept. I ease up in the winter knowing I have money to fall back on if the need arrises. I find w/c who have to work in the rain are very poor at organizeing their Financies. Even this Winter I have averaged on 13 weeks what I class as a good average summer wage without the need to work in the rain.

Nel.( A REAL MAN )

[s.hughes]

It was heavy drizzle the other day and I was thinking that I should pack up. I was doing leaded windows for customers that were fussy but paid well. But before I did I decided to do 1 last flat in and out. As I arrived I saw 2 other w/c working away who I have never met before and they said that they would never stop just for a bit of rain. That made me feel better so I cleaned the outside of the windows on the flat. As I knock to do the inside the old girl comes to the door and mentions the fact that it is raining, I mean you would almost laugh, it wasnt touching the windows at all and you had to look at something dark to see the drizzle in the air. She was ok but I think that people can be to fussy at times and it would do them good to have the windows cleaned in heavy rain. Any bit of rain after that wouldnt matter to them.
I am talking trad w/c not wfp.

Steve

[matt]

personally i dont mind a bit of LIGHT drizzle, anything more and im home

it was the same when i did my carpentry work, any rain and away i went 

who wants to work in the rain anyways

[s.hughes]

I hate it when I've been booked in and it rains. I still turn up cause it aint my fault that its raining I 've had to put aside the time and re-arrange things to be there for them. Then they want me to come back another time cause of the weather. No way.
What about the time you turn up and its lightly raining. They never forget it, you are always known as the rain man.Yes it was lightly raining when I turned up years ago but that was only once.

Steve

[marc al]

  If it starts raining after I have started work then I keepgoing, unless it gets heavy.

  If it is raining when I get up in the mornng that is a different matter.

[macc]

mine have got used to it, at least by turning up ur regular and reliable. how many do you hear moaning they havent seen their window cleaner 4 2 months."cant have it both ways".   

[windows_chepstow]

[quote author=Tosh link=topic=15496.msg111156#msg111156 date=113769

But don't you feel good when you've earnt a good days wage and it's been chucking down with rain all day?  You feel like a 'proper man' and have the right to take the 'mick' out of those window cleaners who haven't the gumption to clean windows in the rain; even though they know they can and want to, but are too frightened of what their customers might say.

Tosh my Boy.
Its not a case of haveing the gumption or being frightened of what customers say if I work in the rain.

I do not work in heavy rain. PERIOD. Because their is no enjoyment in getting wet through. If its showers, fine I will work.

My view is this, 52 weeks in a year. 6 great months of the year, If you work hard when its fine you will never need to work when its wet. I go at it hammer and tongs from April to Sept. I ease up in the winter knowing I have money to fall back on if the need arrises. I find w/c who have to work in the rain are very poor at organizeing their Financies. Even this Winter I have averaged on 13 weeks what I class as a good average summer wage without the need to work in the rain.

Nel.( A REAL MAN )

Sorry if I upset you Nel,

But remember, skin's waterproof!  And to be honest, I will use 'rain' to have a day off now and again.  But if I want to work; I do.

What it is, I've heard to many window cleaner's say, 'but my customer's wouldn't like it', and every time I hear that excuse, whether it's about working in the rain or using a WFP; the phrase, 'are you a man or a mouse?' pops into my head.

I think only a small number of customer's don't want their windows cleaned in the rain, because they don't want to pay that month, but they still want to keep a regular and trusted window cleaner.

They're just supplementing their own lifestyle at your expense, and that winds me up.

No offence intended.