[dave f]

commonsence

[gavinb]

If someone want to undercut my £3.50 a house they more than welcome .

[Mr Sparkle]

Price what your happy with.
I have a minimum charge of £10
If people want to work for pennys that's up to them.
Do a good job and customers wont dump you for an undercutter, If they do you don't want the muppets anyway 

[formb]

If he isn't charging enough he won't last long. If he is charging enough then you were charging too much, so you can't really complain.

Trust me you DO NOT want a licensing system. Not like ours anyway. Its a shambles.

[Smudger]

What was the idea behind a licence for window cleaners anyway?

[Ian101]

first and foremost DO A GOOD JOB,frames sills and doors as well as glass,price fair for you and the customer,be reliable.always ring customers back if theres a problem and fix it.

LOOK THE PART!nice clean tidy van,clean logo d polo shirts,decent business cards,slips and leaflets,offer different ways to pay(eg cheque SAE,BACS,cash)etc.

be flexible on frequency if they think monthly is too frequent.

offer add ons like cleaning their solar panels,conny roofs and full UPVC cleans.

be friendly and stay calm even if the customer(soon to be ex customer)is a pain/messer etc.

if you do all of the above you ll get a very good professional reputation and work will come to you throughout the year and you wont lose jobs to undercutters on domestics anyway.

commercial?i have some very good priced accounts and i do all of the above on these as well.never lost a customer yet.

if you do lose the odd account DONT TAKE IT PERSONALLY!there will always be another customer just around the corner.i have to reiterate IF YOU DO ALL OF THE ABOVE!!

never rest on your laurels,continue to work hard and offer the best service you can.

by the way i stay away from shops,chains etc as their always chopping and changing.most of my work is good solid reliable domestic work with mid size offices,childrens homes,nurseries etc on the commercial side.


best wishes to you all



dazmond

+1 ............. I do all this ................. alas apart from the bit about pia customers and staying nice to em  .... but im trying


had a situation this week when a chap who i had cleaned for for 4 months says thanks but going to do them myself from now on so started thinking a few things to say to him in my normal arsey way for messers and then he says yeah the doctor says it will do me good .....  so talks a little more and turns out that he had a major bleed on the brain about a year ago and basically nearly died  so couldnt do his own windows which he always had done before .... lesson learned

[formb]

What was the idea behind a licence for window cleaners anyway?

The intention behind the idea is a good one. You must apply for a licence to clean windows. In order to get one you must have public liability insurance and your application is passed to the chief constable for comment. Enforced correctly it should stop your dole claimers, moonlighting firemen, con men, etc. That's the idea anyway.

My main issues with it are:

Nobody knows it exists. Even most coppers are unaware of it. I have spoken to fellow window cleaners who have been in the game for years, I ask them if the have a licence, their usual response is "?"

It only really effects legitimate window cleaners as the law is rarely enforced. Two of my lads were arrested for filling in the form incorrectly a few years ago, other than that I know one other window cleaner who has been arrested for working without a licence (I know of at least 50 who operate without one i.e most people).

The process is painfully slow. I applied for a licence on April 11th. It is still not through and will take AT LEAST another month. During this time the applicant is NOT allowed to clean windows.

Makes the honest man's life more difficult is all it does.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

With regard to the above comment,
Is it not time for a 'proper' Federation or Governing Body for all the Professional Window Cleaners in the UK? One that works with and FOR its members on a PRO ACTIVE basis. If a licence system was introduced in England they could work/inform/communicate with Police community officers who patrol residential areas who seem too spend some of there time looking for people who leave there bins out on the wrong days, littering, etc etc. Surely catching illegal window cleaners would be high on there hit list! A feather in there cap so too speak.
Window Cleaning Trading Standards!
Just a thought!

[andyM]

With regard to the above comment,
Is it not time for a 'proper' Federation or Governing Body for all the Professional Window Cleaners in the UK? One that works with and FOR its members on a PRO ACTIVE basis. If a licence system was introduced in England they could work/inform/communicate with Police community officers who patrol residential areas who seem too spend some of there time looking for people who leave there bins out on the wrong days, littering, etc etc. Surely catching illegal window cleaners would be high on there hit list! A feather in there cap so too speak.
Window Cleaning Trading Standards!
Just a thought!

"Illegal Window Cleaners"!?
Have a word with yourself! 
Do bin men, gardeners, builders, carpenters, electricians, plasterers, pizza delivery drivers etc. need a license aswell?
So all customers should presume a tradesman is rogue before they can prove otherwise by having a "license"? 

[formb]

"Illegal Window Cleaners"!?

No need for the inverted commas. He was referring to my post and in Scotland you are indeed breaking the law if you clean windows without a licence (again no need for inverted commas, it exists)

[andyM]

"Illegal Window Cleaners"!?

No need for the inverted commas. He was referring to my post and in Scotland you are indeed breaking the law if you clean windows without a licence (again no need for inverted commas, it exists)

Ok. Point taken. 

[formb]

The licencing idea is a good one but it'll never work. The only people who give a monkey's arm pit are people like me. Honest window cleaners trying to abide by the rules  No one else cares, not the police, not 'community officers' not even customers.

In Scotland all they have done is taken the taxi licencing system and applied it to window cleaners. It doesn't work because if you want to employ you must get a licence for a potential employee BEFORE they start. This can take months. The system works for taxi drivers because they will tend to get a licence off their own back before they apply for a job. I have been employing for 15+ years, and I've done 100s of interviews. Only once have I interviewed someone that already held a licence

[vespawho]

On the subject of undercutters.....
My background is from the building trade, where you never think twice about being undercut or beaten on price. It happens!!
As others have said, ....you have an idea of what you want to earn, conduct your business. I have always found that in business if you are polite, do a good job and be consistent with prices (high or low) because friends do talk, then you will have a sound business.
Customers want a good price these days in all trades, most still want quality. Some will be swayed by price more than others. Dont get upset by it, it happens.
I know i will loose some customers as time goes by, it wont be for any other reason but price. If they cancel....i would just say, sorry to be loosing you, if you find their service is not up to much then please give me a call.
Not really because i want them back, but always better to leave on a good note with the door still open......Shows your business in a better light.


As for a licence......again in the building trade we have had these come and go over the last 30 years. It will NEVER stop the cowboy etc traders. So no thanks, more money, more hassle!

How many of you are breaking the law now....Have you got your waste carriers licence?.....Do you know if you clean someones gutters and have the bag of rubbish in the van you are supposed to have this licence?
Brought in about 17 years ago to stop fly tippers. It made it worse over night fact!

Licences, trade bodies, federations etc etc......they are only good for one thing....empting your pocket!!!!

[Scrimmer73]

Opened a can of worms here .
At the time of posting I was annoyed , that something I had put so much work into , with the Customer Service, a couple of years ago , when they had no money , and I looked after them .
 That they would mess ME , about, now things are improving financially, for them , anyway..
The Licence bit , well, that was borne from a Till lady , who noticed my shirt , apparently her friend is a
WC, as well in his spare time ?..Once he has done his 16 hours for Tesco, getting his benefits
Is he now ,free to tap up our customers, with a public liability certificate , until he gets caught ??.
From what she said , she is a Gardener , and both of them are doing well , with a F@+# YOU very much attitude to us WC's, and everybody else ...
No Malice , intended, just offering an explanation to why , Licences, Might be a good idea.