[AuRavelling79]

I have a rule that cleaning is "all year round" not seasonal. When people ask/tell me not to come back until spring they are "explained to" and if necessary, dumped if they don't comply with said rule.

However two things have come together recently in that I am trying to trim my round a little and have recently passed off about £250 of my poorer work and am now quite happy to do a bit less during winter too and so while I hold to my rule I am thinking of letting this one have their way without making them go through my explanation as "it suits me, thanks."

It's nothing major - just a £22, 3 bed semi with conservatory which takes about 25 minutes every 8 weeks but the guy also owns a set of four flats which I do quarterly at £65.00 for less than an hours work which DO get done in the winter.

So I am going to graciously accept the request to stop until March "as it suits me thanks."

My lesson? Don't stick to a rule just for the sake of making a point. If it fits my plan even when it comes up by chance I'll think about it before reacting.

Have you any rules that you occasionally allow to be broken? And if so, why?

[NWH]

That is different all together though tbh,you say you do a block of flats that keeps you going all year and is because of this customer,that’s no where near the same as saying to ok I’ll see you in the spring to a regular job you can’t compare it.
I know what you are saying and I’d do the same but what about if most of you’re customers did the same you’d have no work to do for 6 months,I’ve had them before and I’ve simply said if you don’t want them done just a couple or a few times to keep us both going over the winter months I won’t be coming back when the weather suits you.
Some customers try and treat you like a hedgehog m8 I’ll see you in the spring lol,no you won’t pal.
It’s a slippery slope when customers start to hear you offer these terms.

[PHILIP HARDY]

As with every question on CIU, this cannot be answered in a Black & White manner, No-one can say "Dump em all" and its also wrong to say, let em dictate when and how they want to work, In certain circumstances (and I would think this is one of them),  its right to give them leeway, tomorrow a £15 stand alone job will say leave em until Spring and you will walk away and forget they exist, We all have to be flexible as there are always circumstances to take into consideration with every decision.
There are many more than 50 shades of grey in this business.

[NWH]

You obviously run your business differently to me and many others it’s your right to be your customers bitch,I’m not.
You are not being flexible you are being mugged off because they want a fair weather window cleaner and you are willing to run along till it suits THEM,what I’ve said to them many years ago is yeah that’s fine I’ll call the bank and ask if they can wait 6 months for me to continue paying my mortgage,do you think they’d be ok with that yeah 😉

[NWH]

This is exactly why Window Cleaners get no respect even to this day,bit like the bloke that turns up at your door and asks if you need any tools sharpening this spring 😂.
If they think you are that flexible you’ll have plenty of time on your hands for the next 4-5 months m8.

[Smudger]

You obviously run your business differently to me and many others it’s your right to be your customers bitch,I’m not.
You are not being flexible you are being mugged off because they want a fair weather window cleaner and you are willing to run along till it suits THEM,what I’ve said to them many years ago is yeah that’s fine I’ll call the bank and ask if they can wait 6 months for me to continue paying my mortgage,do you think they’d be ok with that yeah 😉

you are a real card Nigel !!

a great answer by Phil - yes we ALL run differently and each case needs to be taken into account - by your response I should tell by multi millionaire customer to shove it as he doest want his house cleaned from November to March while he's away in his homeland (New Zealand) and in doing soon longer gutter clear his portfolio of factory units that bring in £8k per year ?

personally, it's best for each person to judge their business and what way they want to run it... I would NOT take notice of those who flippantly say just dump, get rid blah blah,  ( because I bet in the real world they wouldn't have the balls to it themselves )  also these VERY same posters them wings about spending a quid or two on a new brush, flyers, postage etc....

A good opening post to this thread Mr Gold

Darran

[KS Cleaning]

The customer in question quite obviously isn’t the sharpest tool in the box....cancels the window cleaning on his own personal property but continues to pay for the cleaning of 4 other properties that he rents out? I would think that you will shortly be getting a phone call to suspend cleaning on the 4 flats as well.....unless the guy is a complete berk!

[NWH]

Obviously if it’s a domestic that brings in 2-3k a year then yes you would accommodate that makes perfect sense and I do that,what my point was is that if you start letting small jobs start telling you to come back in April or May or I’ll skip this month,how can you run or survive like that.
IMO they are crap customers to have on your books.

[P @ F]

If there is something  in it for me they get told no problem , If not I just tell them to ring me when a re start is wanted , if they call sorry I’m full , I have not dumped them so should be no hard feeling !

[NWH]

My philosophy has always been have more work than you can handle I don’t care when people text me and say where are you they need cleaning badly,having more than enough you are putting yourself into a position of choice. If you are banging there door down every 4 weeks- month you will get not today thanks it seems like you’ve only just done em.
A lot of my work is 6-8 weekly but I have a lot also at 3-4 months,it’s knowing your customers and what they’ll put up with,using your head like not turning up when it’s ping with rain and being bang on time when 20 minutes work gets you a quick 50 lol.
It’s not all about using cleaner planner software and go cardless,it’s called using your head and looking after the ones that look after you.
Dump the dross of 10-15quid when they say not today thanks.
👍

[dazmond]

i only have one £20 job thats goes to 8 weekly from 4 weekly in the winter...thats it...every other job gets cleaned as normal all year round....

some window cleaners are happy to lose a few in the winter months because of the shorter days but i only work short days all year round so it makes no difference to me....in fact my highest earning month this year has been january!

[Richard iSparkle]

we just say we are happy for them to come back in the spring but that we are getting booked up and there may not be space on the round for them because we have to prioritise customers who want cleaning all year around

[Johnny B]

My rule is to not have hard and fast rules. I have a variety of types of customers from weekly shop fronts, 6 weekly 'turn up and cleans', and others who ring me as and when they need me. I get a few 'not todays' from the regulars, and they tend to be the same ones who say it, but not all at the same time. I don't find that it restricts me as I have enough work to ride it. I could dump them, but I keep them on as long as they are making me money, and if they do it too often, I just put them into the 'ring me when needed' category.

In the winter I find it does me a favour for some to leave it for a couple of months. The days are shorter and I'm inundated with xmas cleans. In January the weather is poo and I'm wrecked after the xmas rush, so again, I am happy to take my foot off the gas and coast through, while still having enough to keep going through till March when things pick up in earnest again.

John

[nathankaye]

Im guilty of this and so many more on here are as well and thats is, we think we are more than what we are.
Yes we run our own business and can to a point offer our working conditions.
However, it is ultimately up to our employers to say YES or NO to what we have to offer.  The amount of people who throw their dummy out at this simple but truthful fact is unbelievable.  Hahah saying that someone can be their window cleaning bitch is ridiculous!   
On the flip side,  if the client/employer does not respect the outline roles of the offered service, then you can also decide to continue with the service or terminate it.  Yet so many times people are moaning because they dont like the character of the person............talk about cutting your nose of dispite your face!

I have 2 or 3 customers that have stopped for various reasons over winter and continue in the new year.  They are returning customers and so they like my service and Im happy for them to do so.  Yes, when it comes to price increases, these ones will be the first to go up.. but come the darker nights, im glad I have a couple less to clean.

[Stoots]

I am guilty of breaking a few of my self imposed rules.

But here's the thing I will only break them IF it suits ME.

A few examples.

As I rule I don't do "through the house jobs" . I don't take them on. But I do have 1 only like this because it's a well priced job that's worth the extra effort and she is always in. She is also on go cardless so never messing for payment and if not in its front only.


I only allow one clean without payment but on the odd occasion I will let it slide to 2 , if I particularly like the job I may put up with a slow payer as long as they are a payer eventually.

I also don't haggle on price, the quote is the quote....apart from last week when i quoted someone 12 and they said Could you do it for 10. I almost said no but then thought hey I can actually, it's right next to a few others  why not.

Sometimes your stubborn pride can shoot you in the foot. Nothing wrong with having exceptions to the rule as long as they suit you.

[Stoots]

My rule is to not have hard and fast rules. I have a variety of types of customers from weekly shop fronts, 6 weekly 'turn up and cleans', and others who ring me as and when they need me. I get a few 'not todays' from the regulars, and they tend to be the same ones who say it, but not all at the same time. I don't find that it restricts me as I have enough work to ride it. I could dump them, but I keep them on as long as they are making me money, and if they do it too often, I just put them into the 'ring me when needed' category.

In the winter I find it does me a favour for some to leave it for a couple of months. The days are shorter and I'm inundated with xmas cleans. In January the weather is poo and I'm wrecked after the xmas rush, so again, I am happy to take my foot off the gas and coast through, while still having enough to keep going through till March when things pick up in earnest again.

John

What's a Christmas clean ? You mean you take on a load of one offs at Christmas?

See that's another rule I have. No one offs. I want to be slowing down at Christmas not taking on a load of one off cleans.

[Smudger]

Ahhh the good old Christmas cleans.....

Yes madam, of course I can do you a special one off bespoke clean that will be £60 please

Darran

[Arnold Palmer]

I have a rule that cleaning is "all year round" not seasonal. When people ask/tell me not to come back until spring they are "explained to" and if necessary, dumped if they don't comply with said rule.

However two things have come together recently in that I am trying to trim my round a little and have recently passed off about £250 of my poorer work and am now quite happy to do a bit less during winter too and so while I hold to my rule I am thinking of letting this one have their way without making them go through my explanation as "it suits me, thanks."

It's nothing major - just a £22, 3 bed semi with conservatory which takes about 25 minutes every 8 weeks but the guy also owns a set of four flats which I do quarterly at £65.00 for less than an hours work which DO get done in the winter.

So I am going to graciously accept the request to stop until March "as it suits me thanks."

My lesson? Don't stick to a rule just for the sake of making a point. If it fits my plan even when it comes up by chance I'll think about it before reacting.

Have you any rules that you occasionally allow to be broken? And if so, why?

Especially when that rule is idiotic.

[Arnold Palmer]

Have you any rules that you occasionally allow to be broken? And if so, why?

My lads bend and break rules all the time.  People will always take the path of least resistance, it's human nature. As an example; if louping a gate stops a woman phoning up every month moaning, then that's what they tend to do, despite it being contrary to company policy.

[Crystal-clear]

Guys please remember we're here for one thing not to be emotional not to teach customers how we work not to buy £25,000 Van's we are here to make a PROFIT... if you have a commercial customer that's bringing you in a 3 or 4 figure sum but wants to cancel his house till March obviously that's totally fine.

Now If you have a customer that wants to cancel his house till march that's also fine but there will be a minimum 3x the clean extra charge and we'll book you in today.

Regarding Christmas I absolutely love it
In fact I can't wait During Christmas all cleans are minimum three times. No talking about regular in anyway we all know what they want.
So profit first no need to get customer upset if a customer's house wants to cancel but he brings in xxx-xxxx per year in commercial
It's a no brainer