[duncan h]

I have had loads this year.
problem with dropping flyers, you get the trash also.
Had one last month. Text me saying they were still dirty. Went back within 5mins. She took me round to cony. Well they looked bad inside..ya right what ever. Then she points to a dangly wet cobweb. I then knew she was taking the P. Asked if she was paying online. As you guess, never got it
Eggs at the ready
First thing I say is " is it a 1 off " if they say yes, I tell them prices start at £20. Gets rid of loads.
Had one other day. Her number came up as previous text. So I remembered cleaning them last time for £20. 5 min job. I asked her how much I charged her last time "er £10 I think " I text back! lol don't think so. £20 as always been my min charge. " that's ok" I did it 5 moths ago, so not that bad

[Oliver James]

I've found that there are a couple of slightly tricky answers you when you say: "Is it a one off that you want?"

a) "Depends on the price"
b) "One off initially then wait and see"

Sometimes, I just can't tell if they are going to be "one clean wonders" when I'm talking over the phone.

The solution I've found with this type of potential customer is to tell them that we only accept payment by direct debit and that I'll send the a link (to the Go Cardless page on my website) so they can set up payment.

What happens is that only committed customers do this. The ones who aren't that serious disappear.

The other thing that has made life easier is compiling a list of other cleaners who do one off work. These are sent to customers who call me wanting one off's and who then "change their mind" to wanting regular after they discover we don't do one off's.

Before I had this list of local guys who do do one off works there was sometimes a bit of aggro when I turned these customers down.

If you just come straight out with other options for these types of leads then it means you've given them something and they walk away with options for themselves.

[windowswashed]

If the window frames are really bad then it's double the price or even treble for the first clean with no exceptions, harsh maybe but only the regular customers go for it and the die hard desperate end of tenancy ones who get charged treble, why not
Days of honest customers are slowly diminishing with the younger generation

[Ian Lancaster]

My first question to a new enquirer is: "Would you like a one off or a regular job?"  Put like that it sounds as though I'm offering a choice.  There is no reason for them to try to cheat by asking for regular when really they only want a one off.  If they say "One off please", I have a couple of local cleaners who are happy to take them on, I pass the number to the enquirer, tell them to give the other chap a ring and thank them for calling.

Problem solved

[Smurf]

Some peeps do tell porkies too so thats a good reason why you should charge the same as a one-off  for a so say first clean.
It also weeds out the messers too.

[nathankaye]

Thankfully i have plentybof regular work so any new enquiries are simply nice for expanding. All first customers get the same speil, i dont offer options. I simply explain all my work is four weekly, the first clean is x amount and then regular cleans are x amount from then on. If i have time to fit it in that day/wk excellent if not its next time im in area. Either way, always charge more for first clean to get windows upto your standards. Forget trying to work out if the custy is a messer or not, its proving that your not!! If they cancel after first clean, your still walking away with x amount extra you didnt a moment before. If you dont need the money give it to charity    n stop moaning. Me, that ten min extra clean or whatever has paid for my petrol that day or my cooked breakfast or something, that would have come from my usual days wage.