[Dave66]

Hi guys, just wondering the best way to claim a new estate that's been built next to our work before anyone else gets in.. I know it's a free country but I want em lol

[M & C Window Cleaning]

Get in there early with your canvassing and leafleting and follow up.

I did this recently with a group of houses that went up near me. The day the gates came down and the new owners started moving in I went in early afternoon after work and it turned out I was the fourth or fifth windy to drop his cards in that day. Got two of the five new builds though. Seems like two of the other three brought their windies with them. The other one seems to have got the services of one of the other windies who dropped their cards in or are doing them themselves as their windows look clean

[Shane sharples]

You need to grow up , you can't claim estates . It's upto the property owner who cleans their windows, yeah you can leaflet and canvass but at the end of the day , there will be several windys working there

[Smurf]

Every man as his dog targets new estates.
I don't know why as a good few end up being messers.

[Shane sharples]

If one of my custys moved to a new build estate down the road , and they ask me to carry on cleaning, then I'm not going to stop just because you want to claim the estate

[dave the rave]

In the past i have offer the sales person a bottle of wine .If they put me forward as the local window cleaner.This method has worked well on 3 new estates over the last 16 years.

[Smurf]

In the past i have offer the sales person a bottle of wine .If they put me forward as the local window cleaner.This method has worked well on 3 new estates over the last 16 years.

Nice idea but what happens if they don't drink? 

[KS Cleaning]

Once you get your first couple of houses clean them on a saturday when more people from the surrounding properties are likely to be at home, a visible presence is better than any leaflet IMO

[NWH]

You need to approach the site foreman but 10 times out of 10 you'll be doing the builders cleans,if you go in at the show house stage you'll be leaflet dropping with every other windy in the area.

[SeanK]

Like has already been said, every windy in the area will have dropped a leaflet so the only way is to do what KS suggested
and door knock/canvass while your there.

[chris turner]

I wouldn't bother.
There's 3800 houses being built just down the road from me, about 15 have moved in.
I clean the sales suite, showhomes and sparkle each plot the day before the move in.
I know all the move in dates for the next 8 weeks in advance and could quite easily be picking up all these houses as the customers move in.
I don't because as stated, every window cleaner in town will be jumping at the bit to pick up these houses, leading to a price war. These houses will be canvassed the sh!t out of over the next few months, you can guarantee that.
Also being on site the windows will get dirty very quickly. In dry weather windows on site can look dirty just a few hours after being cleaned with all the dust.
Another thing to remember is that alot of the 'new' windows will probably have scratches on, left over bits of cement or silicone. Your better off letting some other mug either take the blame for the scratches or get the windows up to a decent standard, before you jump in and offer your services at a later date.

[slap bash]

Get four red flags on poles and knock  them in a each corner of this estate. This should drive away other window cleaners.

[Spruce]

Every man as his dog targets new estates.
I don't know why as a good few end up being messers.

I agree ^^^^

It doesn't take long before they realise that owning a new house costs money.

We canvassed one new estate and got there at exactly the right moment. Within a short time most had been dumped/lost/written off etc.
Haven't bothered with new estates since. One of our existing customers moved into a new estate and we have done them from day one. A neighbour asked but when her husband found out he very rudely cancelled the service.

I wouldn't bother.
There's 3800 houses being built just down the road from me, about 15 have moved in.
I clean the sales suite, showhomes and sparkle each plot the day before the move in.
I know all the move in dates for the next 8 weeks in advance and could quite easily be picking up all these houses as the customers move in.
I don't because as stated, every window cleaner in town will be jumping at the bit to pick up these houses, leading to a price war. These houses will be canvassed the sh!t out of over the next few months, you can guarantee that.
Also being on site the windows will get dirty very quickly. In dry weather windows on site can look dirty just a few hours after being cleaned with all the dust.
Another thing to remember is that alot of the 'new' windows will probably have scratches on, left over bits of cement or silicone. Your better off letting some other mug either take the blame for the scratches or get the windows up to a decent standard, before you jump in and offer your services at a later date.

 

Funnily enough we found that the second or third occupants are usually the ones who are reliable ones.

I think what cleaners liked and what we liked is that the windows are small and easy to clean quickly. Unfortunately we were always chasing money. We have found the old established estates are the best as the older ones are usually in, pay on the day and will also pay for their neighbours as well.

[M & C Window Cleaning]

We have found the old established estates are the best as the older ones are usually in, pay on the day and will also pay for their neighbours as well.

I've got a couple of well established customers like this. Each time I call they ask me for who hasn't paid among their neighbors and then pay for them. It can sometime save me from having to call on up to four customers.

[deeege]

We do the initial builders clean and sparkle clean on a big 1200 site near us, I know when every person moves in down to the hour. Not interested though.

There's 2 local window cleaners that are battling over picking up every customer. They both park up on site on Friday mornings to see which plots are being moved into. Unbelievably desperate.

I've been asked loads of times to start cleaning on this site but I'm not interested in matching their prices of £8 for a 4 bed detached. These are £400,000 houses too.

Also they both are always giving the sales girl bottles of wine/vodka even though she has no influence on the customer whatsoever! 

[stan stansfield]

Hi guys, just wondering the best way to claim a new estate that's been built next to our work before anyone else gets in.. I know it's a free country but I want em lol

p on the front doors

[windowswashed]

new guys are welcome to new builds, .........bad payers, undercutting, messers,.........no thank you

[dazmond]

We do the initial builders clean and sparkle clean on a big 1200 site near us, I know when every person moves in down to the hour. Not interested though.

There's 2 local window cleaners that are battling over picking up every customer. They both park up on site on Friday mornings to see which plots are being moved into. Unbelievably desperate.

I've been asked loads of times to start cleaning on this site but I'm not interested in matching their prices of £8 for a 4 bed detached. These are £400,000 houses too.

Also they both are always giving the sales girl bottles of wine/vodka even though she has no influence on the customer whatsoever! 

I think I know what site you mean Danny! Chapelford by any chance?I canvassed on there a while back and guys were charging £8 for  4-5 bedders with 3 storey windows they thought I was ripping them off at £25!

[jk999]

I don't bother with them either i  just wait for them to come to me if they don't then It doesn't matter got enough customers anyway

[AuRavelling79]

I find that generally people who move into new estates are strapped for cash. I have one custy near Bristol who I do because I do his office windows he is one of these unusual blokes who likes things to be clean and smart. You know - artificial lawn, plastic water features and solar lights.

He has a detached house on a newish estate which I clean for £25 every 4 weeks. His neighbours around seem more strapped for cash and the next door house has tenants. So there seems little expansion possibility and it has been like this for three years.

The house with tenants gets dirtier and dirtier windows. I suspect the other side has a go themselves every so often.

Modern estates? No thanks.