[windows_chepstow]

[
Do you not think there's more to keeping customers than purely producing a high-standard of work?  I think that building up a good rapport with the customer is Number 1 priority.

A window cleaner I know was told by one of his cutomers that his neighbor no longer wanted his window cleaning services, but kept him on anyway; because he seemed such a 'nice guy'.

Sales training manuals usually say, "25% Product, 75% Personality" is what people buy.

PJ,

Exactly what I was thinking!

An old adage is 'work smarter; not harder'.

You've hit the nail on the head!

[simbo]

I'm with pj
 i clean windows not just glass and get good prices for this too, come on, it takes no time at all to wipe frame over and keeps them looking good. I i actually do this first so i have already wiped any edge water away making cleaning the glass quicker
cheers simb0

[Sir Squeaky]

To be fair that's true about it being a small job doing the frames, but I'd still want something for it.
It only takes seconds to do it after the first clean.

I've got a bunch of houses I do at £7 in a village estate.
They take roughly 15 mins each.

One of them asked for frames and said an extra £1.50.
Now most people will ask a lot more, but there's no need to rip customers off...

Instead of 15 mins, this house takes about 17 (neither here nor there),
so it's the best earner in the bunch.

[simbo]

squeeky
i charge £10 for average semi have right from the start this time last year and only look at doing 2 per hour more if closer together but that takes time, i do other work also but windows grow on thier own slowly get less work but better price you won't end up resenting it
cheers simb0

[MNWC]

Tosh,

I always clean glass, frames and sills.
a lot of window cleaners dont but it makes all the difference and gets noticed 

Are we all missing something here its called taking pride in your work !

[chris@c.m.s]

I think the more we try to please customers the more they will expect, when I first started window cleaning  as far as I was concerned nobody was doing any detailing it was glass and sill only, if anyone said anything about the lines down the side we would just say cant be helped with upvc which was excepted, I never lost any customers except my very first job. This time around everyone expects you to detail, and now theres talk of whether the frames should be cleaned as well seems like some are trying to do more than whats required around here people expect the glass to be cleaned and some are fussy about the sill but I always do them anyway If I do get a customer who asks about the frames then its always made clear that its an extra at extra cost. brings me to the question shoud I offer to clean the frames at extra cost before I switch to WFP           

[dai]

when I was trad, I cleaned pvc frames whenever they looked grotty. That was for my own satisfaction. If they were prepared to pay for it I would detail with a cotton bud dipped in meths. But most of them don't want to pay do they? If I take my car to a car wash I don't expect it to be valeted.
I knew a bloke who was too mean to buy scrim, he use bar towels. I used to think how the hell does he get away with his poor standard of work. He got away with it because he had customers that would accept it. I don't know how many he lost along the way, but he ended up with a round full of non fussy customers.
Ive been WFP since last August. If the frames look clean I leave them and just do the glass. I am not getting any complaints about WFP cleans, I'm not going up the ladder to check on them either. I'm waiting for the day when someone starts complaining, when they do I'll slow down a bit and review my technique. Till then, Tallyho. Dai

[preston powerblast]

I did some tinted windows on a factory on saturday, unlike normal windows these show up all the dirt and bits of dust that is still left on and believe it or not I have realised that I have not been spending enough time on the windows, so now I have since purchased a more powerful pump and do rinse of a lot more

[brett walker]

I spent years being too fussy having said that it got me a good reputation and a lot of work

The last year and a half i have cut down on detailing but i always make sure i do the sills i find its that,  that keeps the customer happy.   

Its also down to how fussy your customer is i have had them come out to complain about a little speck on the glass some will just try it on :

I know of some window cleaners that dont wipe sills and miss toilet windows they are the ones that get us a bad name

Brett

[petetaylor56]

 :)i only do glass and cills frames are extra never lost customer through not cleaning frames tell them if they want done will be extra one lady not my customer told me her w c charged her £50 for frames i charge double the clean also if they have had painting done charge for cleaning of paint spots

[JohnL]

Dai

  .  .  .  If I take my car to a car wash I don't expect it to be valeted.   .  .

but would you feel you had value if the car washer didnt clean your windscreen or rear window as a lot of old sloppy car washers dont?

JohnL

[Morph]

Yes, I must say, over the years, how many customers have said, as they come to the door to pay, "Oh It looks like rain!  O well at least the window sills will stay clean."

But I have discovered something new with wfp.
The glass stays clean after the rain.  I wouldn't know, I don't waste my time going back to check.  But they have started telling me this next time I'm round.

[AuRavelling79]

Always do the cills - it's more important than the glass!

[Paul Coleman]

you'll be surpised how many people will sack they window cleaner for not doing their frames.

I have to disagree here.  I've only had one customer in three years 'sack me' for not doing their frames.

Thinking about all the frames I haven't cleaned (pre-WFP); this loss of one customer was certainly worth it.

With trad methods, I always made it clear that a full frame clean was an extra charge.  However, I often wiped bad bits that were bugging me if it came off easily.  Anything I put there (such as liquid on the sills etc) I would wipe off. Obviously things are a bit different now I'm on WFP.

[jeff evans]

On all trad jobs i only ever clean the glass, anything else is an extra.

Only ever been sacked by 2 customers in 16 years for not doing cills and this was on a housing assosiaition estate where they had just replaced all the wooden frames with u.p.v.c frames.

Both customers asked that i start wiping there cills, i told them that i dident wipe them when they were wooden, so if they wanted them wiping they would have to pay for it, they dident want to pay. they wanted extra work for the same price, so we parted company.

Cheers Jeff

[Sir Squeaky]

With trad methods, I always made it clear that a full frame clean was an extra charge.  However, I often wiped bad bits that were bugging me if it came off easily.  Anything I put there (such as liquid on the sills etc) I would wipe off. Obviously things are a bit different now I'm on WFP.

That pretty much sums up what I was trying to say Shiner.
I will wipe a bit of muck off a frame if it detracts from the job I've done.

[windows_chepstow]

So what's the verdict?

The general feeling I get from this thread is that you don't have to be overly fussy to keep your customers happy with your services.

I also hear what Marcus said about taking pride in your work; but I think I'd rather take more money home.  I can't 'afford' too much pride at the moment; maybe later when I've paid a few things off.

Anyway, the feed-back I'm getting is that personality and service are major contributing factors to keeping your customers happy.  Just little things, but they count for a lot.  I'm not saying all my customers 'love' or even like me; some are neutral and stand-offish.  I turn up, clean their windows, pass pleasantries, get paid, and depart.

Others think I'm the best thing since sliced-bread.

So to conclude, before I start another 'WFP versus ladders thread' (not ladders versus squeegie; I use a squeegie every day on the majority of my accounts , would you generally agree that personality and service are major factors in keeping your customer's happy, and pristine windows and frames are important; but of secondary importance; as long as the standard of cleanliness is good; albiet not perfect?

[Sir Squeaky]

Yes I would agree with that Tosh.

You tend to get a lot of "They're fine, that's a lot better".
Even if you're not entirely happy with it yourself.

I wonder, if I wasn't so cheery-chatty, would I have had more complaints over the years?
I think my customers don't want to disappoint me!

[g_griffin]

I agree with Tosh`s summary but I also think some people will tolerate any window cleaner rather than have none at all. Especially in areas where they can`t get another one.

 Some are just not bothered at all and I can imagine their reaction to this site  .

                     Gerry.

[julianbiggs]

Ive only been window cleaning for a year but decided when i started that i would always quote a price including frames, sills and doors.  It costs people a bit more but they are really grateful when youve done the first clean and they see the difference with their  frames, sills and doors.  Not had any problems so far...only lost one customer... she was rubbish at paying anyway!!!!!!

BRING ON THE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!