[Richard iSparkle]

Hi,

I;m about to go VAT registered (were 95% domestic) and am trying to come up wth ideas to make more money out of our clients.

we already do gutter clearing and jet washing.

one idea i have heard of is offering customers annual services which they pay for monthly (added to their DD).

so for instance they might offer gold, silver, bronze services...

gold might be monthly window cleaning, 6 monthly inside windows cleaned, and fascias and gutters cleared annually,

silver monthly windows, 6 monthly inside windows, annual gutter clear

bronze just windows outside and inside as above

and just add to their monthly payments to cover these services...

has anybody tried something similar with any success? or do you have any other ideas to get the regular spend up [easily]?

thanks for any comments

Richard

[Tom-01]

Hi,

I;m about to go VAT registered (were 95% domestic) and am trying to come up wth ideas to make more money out of our clients.

we already do gutter clearing and jet washing.

one idea i have heard of is offering customers annual services which they pay for monthly (added to their DD).

so for instance they might offer gold, silver, bronze services...

gold might be monthly window cleaning, 6 monthly inside windows cleaned, and fascias and gutters cleared annually,

silver monthly windows, 6 monthly inside windows, annual gutter clear

bronze just windows outside and inside as above

and just add to their monthly payments to cover these services...

has anybody tried something similar with any success? or do you have any other ideas to get the regular spend up [easily]?

thanks for any comments

Richard

Hi Richard

How many vans do you have and how many guys working for you? How long have they worked for you?

[Richard iSparkle]

Hi,

I;m about to go VAT registered (were 95% domestic) and am trying to come up wth ideas to make more money out of our clients.

we already do gutter clearing and jet washing.

one idea i have heard of is offering customers annual services which they pay for monthly (added to their DD).

so for instance they might offer gold, silver, bronze services...

gold might be monthly window cleaning, 6 monthly inside windows cleaned, and fascias and gutters cleared annually,

silver monthly windows, 6 monthly inside windows, annual gutter clear

bronze just windows outside and inside as above

and just add to their monthly payments to cover these services...

has anybody tried something similar with any success? or do you have any other ideas to get the regular spend up [easily]?

thanks for any comments

Richard

Hi Richard

How many vans do you have and how many guys working for you? How long have they worked for you?

Hi,

Just one van, two guys working 4 days a week. they've been working for me for 4 and 2 years.

van has spare capacity of 1 day a week extra and then of course weekends

[nathankaye]

It sounds a good idea but not for me.
I have some customers who pay upfron and some who pay for several mnths at a time. At the time of them paying its great and I know theyve already paid. But I really hate cleaning their windows it feels free. Like I said I kno its not but thats how I feel. So to do a gutter or gutter n fascia clean knowing its ben paid for throughout the yr, I would begrudge doing it and may be tempted to put it off.

[Richard iSparkle]

It sounds a good idea but not for me.
I have some customers who pay upfron and some who pay for several mnths at a time. At the time of them paying its great and I know theyve already paid. But I really hate cleaning their windows it feels free. Like I said I kno its not but thats how I feel. So to do a gutter or gutter n fascia clean knowing its ben paid for throughout the yr, I would begrudge doing it and may be tempted to put it off.

i don't think it would work for me if i didn't have staff either!

[robbo333]

If you are already doing pressure washing, then how about offering 'soft washing' (cleaning brickwork, render etc). That seems to be a fairly new topic at the moment in the 'General' section. Or maybe even roof washing?

[kempy]

Good idea .

[Richard iSparkle]

If you are already doing pressure washing, then how about offering 'soft washing' (cleaning brickwork, render etc). That seems to be a fairly new topic at the moment in the 'General' section. Or maybe even roof washing?

i'll have a look into soft washing... sounds like a possibility.

roof washing doesn't appeal though. i don't want any high level work or ladder work. i had a look into those long pressure lances at one point but was;t that impressed with that from a H&S point of view unfortunately

[Tosh]

On a fortnightly basis 'egg' your custards windows, hey presto, the phone'll start ringing, guaranteed. Charge them a  premium rate as egg is atrocious to get off. I hear it's popular in Lincoln.

[tonycarr]

have you considered baking cakes 

tony

[Bungle]

It sounds a good idea but not for me.
I have some customers who pay upfron and some who pay for several mnths at a time. At the time of them paying its great and I know theyve already paid. But I really hate cleaning their windows it feels free. Like I said I kno its not but thats how I feel. So to do a gutter or gutter n fascia clean knowing its ben paid for throughout the yr, I would begrudge doing it and may be tempted to put it off.

Totally agree!

[Smurf]

I've heard of firms doing simular splitting the cost down to monthly payments over the year for multiple services . Haven't got a clue if it works or not  but might be worth a shot for you to trial it and see how you get on.

[Tom-01]

It's a good idea, and one I played around with. I do think people are happy to pay for their regular window cleaning, and even setup direct debits as that's how we pay for most things. However, I think you would struggle to get enough people to commit to other services over the course of a year. I had a chat with my accountant about the same thing a while ago, he said he would be fine to do it and pay monthly for all his GFS cleans, windows etc. But then he said if it was his wife's decision he knows she wouldn't. I never did it, so if you do I'd be keen to know how you get on.

[Tom-01]

Hi,

I;m about to go VAT registered (were 95% domestic) and am trying to come up wth ideas to make more money out of our clients.

we already do gutter clearing and jet washing.

one idea i have heard of is offering customers annual services which they pay for monthly (added to their DD).

so for instance they might offer gold, silver, bronze services...

gold might be monthly window cleaning, 6 monthly inside windows cleaned, and fascias and gutters cleared annually,

silver monthly windows, 6 monthly inside windows, annual gutter clear

bronze just windows outside and inside as above

and just add to their monthly payments to cover these services...

has anybody tried something similar with any success? or do you have any other ideas to get the regular spend up [easily]?

thanks for any comments

Richard

Have you thought about setting your guys up as franchisees?

[Richard iSparkle]

Hi,

I;m about to go VAT registered (were 95% domestic) and am trying to come up wth ideas to make more money out of our clients.

we already do gutter clearing and jet washing.

one idea i have heard of is offering customers annual services which they pay for monthly (added to their DD).

so for instance they might offer gold, silver, bronze services...

gold might be monthly window cleaning, 6 monthly inside windows cleaned, and fascias and gutters cleared annually,

silver monthly windows, 6 monthly inside windows, annual gutter clear

bronze just windows outside and inside as above

and just add to their monthly payments to cover these services...

has anybody tried something similar with any success? or do you have any other ideas to get the regular spend up [easily]?

thanks for any comments

Richard

Have you thought about setting your guys up as franchisees?

i don't really see the advantage of setting them up as franchisees. it would be different if they were in some different area and setting up a new business. is it something you've done Tom?

[dazmond]

It sounds a good idea but not for me.
I have some customers who pay upfron and some who pay for several mnths at a time. At the time of them paying its great and I know theyve already paid. But I really hate cleaning their windows it feels free. Like I said I kno its not but thats how I feel. So to do a gutter or gutter n fascia clean knowing its ben paid for throughout the yr, I would begrudge doing it and may be tempted to put it off.

i have a customer who pays a year in advance.i dont begrudge cleaning his house every time it comes round though at all.same for customers who pay a few months in advance.they ve already paid me so it doesnt feel "free" as you put it.

so your saying you d take the money but might be tempted to not provide the add on service if they paid you extra spread throughout the month?

to the OP your idea could work for a few customers but dont bank on loads of customers signing up.some add on jobs might not need doing for a couple of years.

[Tosh]

You should target old biddies on your round as they're the ones who'll take this up, no-one else is likely to IMO. They may have a few bob in the bank, well no-one else will, probably like the thought of a 'plan' for the year ahead and it'll help them feel that all is taken care of. Personally I wouldn't like the idea of it.

[8weekly]

The obvious question is why not find more window cleaning customers?

[Richard iSparkle]

The obvious question is why not find more window cleaning customers?

I'm doing that too, all the time.

the game is to get as many customers as possible, and then get each one paying me as much money as possible by providing services for them they want.

 

[Mick Kent]

Plan should be to get as many compact customers as you can for solely window cleaning at a good price. Addons are ok if your desperate or havnt the work to keep  busy but run of the mill regular well priced compact customers will never fail and always pay best overall. Thats what i find anyway i like doing regular 4 weekly as its getting paid to clean already clean glass....bliss, i have a gutter vac,pressure washer,carpet machine which all hqve there place and sometimes it is worthwhile but nothing earns what windows can when all close and compact or big scale commercial, if your going VAT reg then that will open up a lot of commercial doors for you to enter. Keeping things simple is the best way to add more income to your round. Better the Devil you know springs to mind.