[paul alan]

Anyone do this with success?

Any hints and tips?

I'm going to canvass certain areas with lots of work in, but need a way to encourage potential customers to go with our service.

I have some work that is very compact and that's my best work, I need more like it.

[Cookie]

Yes... it can work.

Leaflet 2 or 3 doors either side of where you are cleaning. Then knock a couple of days later.

Also working on a Saturday can get you walk-ups from those who are out at work Monday to Friday.

[Stoots]

Canvass and leaflet the area every year.

Also I know this will go against all principles but even offer a cheaper price to get the job..

Compact is king, its what I'm working on

[paul alan]

Yeah for sure, I only want good prices though. Was thinking 25% off first 4 cleans (1 free clean) that way the price seems cheap, then when the 25% comes off it reveals the proper price and wont seem too bad.

[paul alan]

Now I have an employee I want more work.

I have been splitting Thursdays work in two and doing the other half on Friday, soon we'll be getting it all done Thursday.

Thats when I go canvassing, will be targeting windows that are straight forward to clean (for new guy). They take a bit less time and less chance of issues arising.

[Marc Stock]

Yeah for sure, I only want good prices though. Was thinking 25% off first 4 cleans (1 free clean) that way the price seems cheap, then when the 25% comes off it reveals the proper price and wont seem too bad.

I wouldn't go and reduce your prices right away.

It will backfire on you when your existing customers find out you are cleaning them for less than thiers.

[Shrek]

Canvass and leaflet the area every year.

Also I know this will go against all principles but even offer a cheaper price to get the job..

Compact is king, its what I'm working on

And then moan that you’ve got crap prices 

[lal]

Yeah for sure, I only want good prices though. Was thinking 25% off first 4 cleans (1 free clean) that way the price seems cheap, then when the 25% comes off it reveals the proper price and wont seem too bad.

Was thinking 25% off first 4 cleans (1 free clean)   
Why would you do this Paul, stick with your current prices, don't undervalue your business, if you start offering 25% off the
first 4 cleans on a new patch your hoping to break into, you will attract MESSERS and regret doing so.


         

[G Griffin]

Canvass and leaflet the area every year.

Also I know this will go against all principles but even offer a cheaper price to get the job..

Compact is king, its what I'm working on

And then moan that you’ve got crap prices 

Yeah, it's not a good idea.
I wouldn't want to attract customers that are price orientated either.  Get them on quality.
If you need work quickly maybe go for a longer frequency between cleans. That might appeal to the more thrifty.

[dazmond]

Anyone do this with success?

Any hints and tips?

I'm going to canvass certain areas with lots of work in, but need a way to encourage potential customers to go with our service.

I have some work that is very compact and that's my best work, I need more like it.

Nearly all my work is compact.....hardly any driving but it's took 25 yrs to get it this good!!!

[Stoots]

Canvass and leaflet the area every year.

Also I know this will go against all principles but even offer a cheaper price to get the job..

Compact is king, its what I'm working on

And then moan that you’ve got crap prices 

Its totally different building quality priced work for one man than it is to build compact work for 2 men.

for 2 men its about compact work, wages are wasted during travel

If it means going in a bit cheaper to get a full street of work then so be it.

Its all about profit,  when we work as a 2 man we fly through work but its the reeling in and driving that kills it

there is more than one way to skin a cat, most of my work is spread out decent priced work (for my area) that suits 1 man, add a second man and i need it more compact.

[John Mart]

The idea that compact is best is a myth. Compact is often just cheap and hard work. Give me a stop and a £25 house any day over three next to each other for £8 each. That’s not to say we don’t have pockets of well priced compact work in affluent areas but in general I would avoid seeing it as desirable.

[dazmond]

What I did was sell some work i had in other areas around 12 years ago now and concentrated all my efforts into a 5 mile stretch in an affluent area.....

I already had built up a fair bit of work in this area so canvassed and leafleted a bit more and tbh these days it's recommendations and word of mouth and being seen out on the street is where most new work comes from these days....

I'm so glad I got rid of the poorly priced work in the less affluent areas....

Most of the time its a joy to work in  the area I work(leafy suburbs/semi rural locations).....

[dazmond]

The idea that compact is best is a myth. Compact is often just cheap and hard work. Give me a stop and a £25 house any day over three next to each other for £8 each. That’s not to say we don’t have pockets of well priced compact work in affluent areas but in general I would avoid seeing it as desirable.

Just depends on what you class as compact....
Nearly all work in a 5 mile area is compact to me...

[Stoots]

The idea that compact is best is a myth. Compact is often just cheap and hard work. Give me a stop and a £25 house any day over three next to each other for £8 each. That’s not to say we don’t have pockets of well priced compact work in affluent areas but in general I would avoid seeing it as desirable.

this is all easily said when you working an area where 25 quid houses are the norm.

i only have 3 houses over 20 quid on my entire round, most of my jobs are 10-14 semis, detatched

[Lee Pryor]

Ask yourself if you want to do loads of work or do you want to earn loads of money? Dont be what I call a busy fool. It doesnt matter how many customers you have or how compact they are. The ONLY thing that matters is the money per day, per week, per month. Focus on that. Dont ever reduce your price to get work. Then you will be working hard for f...k all money each day. A busy fool. 

Think we better have that coffee soon Paul.......

[Stoots]

I agree, do what earns you the most money per day for the least work possible

i could have 40  £10 houses all in one estate

or 20 bigger houses spread about all over at £20

both would take the same amount of time

if i was working solo id prefer the 20

as a two man id prefer the 40 with minimal moving.

There is a difference between reducing your price to simpy do more work and be a busy fool than reducing your price to actually earn more profit.

An example i clean a row of 3 terraceds, the middle one (5 windows) never wanted it doing as she didnt want to pay a tenner

now since i am there anyway with pole in hand does it make more sense to clean her house at a slightly reduced say £7-8 or to leave it? of course its up to the individual, but for the sake of literally 5 mins extra work to me its worth doing that one.

its not cut and dry to me that you should always stick your nose in the air and say im not doing that out of principle, its ALL ABOUT THE PROFIT, of course you dont want work for the sake of work but judge each situation on its own merit. Plus when you work as a 2 man, its much easier to fly through 40 houses than it is on your own.

we can all do as we please, but i make more profit with 2 of us on compact work than i ever did working solo driving around all day, plus its a much easier day to boot.

[dazmond]

If all your work is in one area then theres hardly any driving about,less wear and tear on the van and lower fuel costs not to mention the time saved in not driving about.....it's common sense.....

[paul alan]

Yeah for sure, I only want good prices though. Was thinking 25% off first 4 cleans (1 free clean) that way the price seems cheap, then when the 25% comes off it reveals the proper price and wont seem too bad.

Was thinking 25% off first 4 cleans (1 free clean)   
Why would you do this Paul, stick with your current prices, don't undervalue your business, if you start offering 25% off the
first 4 cleans on a new patch your hoping to break into, you will attract MESSERS and regret doing so.


       

Yeah...rings true that.

[paul alan]

The idea that compact is best is a myth. Compact is often just cheap and hard work. Give me a stop and a £25 house any day over three next to each other for £8 each. That’s not to say we don’t have pockets of well priced compact work in affluent areas but in general I would avoid seeing it as desirable.

When I look through my work I can see I earn the most this way, in general.

I do have one round that is £40 on average and we earn around £360 which is probably our best day.