[Clearview]

Its the time of year that some uninformed customers who think your doing it for beer money ask you to leave the windows till the spring. It drives me mental, like i can afford to only work 8 months out of the year! This tends to occur with new customers who i pick up in the summer but every now & again a regular comes out with it. Whats your response to this? Just drop them or try to accommodate them?

[Simon Trapani]

Up to you. Personally I'd drop them.

[Lee Pryor]

I tell them we wont be taking them back on in the spring, Then I tell them that if everyone did that they would be cleaning their own windows as there would be no window cleaners!

[Phil J]

I personally don't mind a few drop off's. Shorter days, bad weather. Just increase the price if and when they come back on board.

[Clearview]

I tell them we wont be taking them back on in the spring, Then I tell them that if everyone did that they would be cleaning their own windows as there would be no window cleaners!

I've said something similar, its not that i particularly mind loosing the business but its the fact that they don't consider that i need regular year round work... 

[Clearview]

I'm considering issuing new customers with a list of ground rules, working through winter, in rain etc etc. Anyone else do that?

[The Jester of Wibbly]

Just tell them to get in touch with you in spring to see if you have any spare slots left.  Let them know you have a full round so can't guarantee their slot will be still be available.

[Splash & dash]

Instantly dumped and we won’t go back at any price as when quoting originally I stress that we work all year round , time wasters , we have plenty of good customers that want us all year round

[Crystal-clear]

I tell them we wont be taking them back on in the spring, Then I tell them that if everyone did that they would be cleaning their own windows as there would be no window cleaners!

Ha its true tho if everyone did that we wouldn't exist! but more importantly Lee your likes were at 666 thought id get you out of there before you had the Damien of all customers next week you never know

[P @ F]

Its not the custie to blame , its the w/c's that let them do it who are to blame , if we all said no can do then we would all be better off  by irradicating  this element of messer from the market 
I just say "Yeah sure " and never go back , if they ring I drag the initial reclean date out until they either give up on you or find a new target , this could take months .
And some cleaners are shocked when the custie tells them the previous cleaner never came back , this is probably the reason , just remember that when you are told this in the Spring chaps 

[paul alan]

If I can't rely on you for the work.. not interested!

[Shrek]

I would drop them and never let them back on the books! Regular work is what we need

[nathankaye]

I'm considering issuing new customers with a list of ground rules, working through winter, in rain etc etc. Anyone else do that?

I do have a welcome pack which I give to new customers. It confirms the payment terms, ie direct debit and how to set that up via a link on my website. It also explains how I work in the rain and again refers them to my website for further details as to why.
It explains locked gates after a message from me night before and how I will charge 75% of full price for only half the work done.
I've not had any negatives from it.

Quite the opposite, as these two review I got today shows.

[Dry Clean]

I tell them we wont be taking them back on in the spring, Then I tell them that if everyone did that they would be cleaning their own windows as there would be no window cleaners!

Ha its true tho if everyone did that we wouldn't exist! but more importantly Lee your likes were at 666 thought id get you out of there before you had the Damien of all customers next week you never know

Not really, its what you charge per clean that counts, in other words as long as you get the same money per customer per year then it doesnt matter how many cleans they get.

[Arnold Palmer]

Customer: can I leave it till spring?

Me: Sure, see you in March.

[P @ F]

Customer: can I leave it till spring?

Me: Sure, see you in March.

Do you clean those windows in March or is it the staff ?

[P @ F]

And more to the point , what is the mark up on the March clean ?

[Arnold Palmer]

And more to the point , what is the mark up on the March clean ?

There's no mark up on the March clean. I don't clean windows anymore, but I did do, for many years. I honestly have no problem with it.

[Arnold Palmer]

If you're running at capacity in July, you can't expect to service the same volume of customers in January without further investment and extra staff. Not reliably and to a decent standard anyway. Especially up here.

[Walter Mitty]

As usual, it depends.
If it's a job that I'm not bothered about losing, I will simply say to contact me when they're ready and I'll see if I have any gaps.  I don't hear from them again.  Sometimes I simply don't bother going back.
If it's a job I really want to keep, I tell them that from the spring, I will start charging at about one-third higher price as I consider that it's a similar level of cleaning to my 12-weekly customers.