[mickeybok]

I had a 'good' customer contact me today to say that he didn't want me to clean his windows on a regular basis anymore but would just call me 'adhoc' to clean them.
As I say he has been a good customer for at least 8 years,  but it isn't my policy to do adhoc work, should I just tell him straight or should I try to accommodate him?
I'd be interested to find out what you would do. 

[Slacky]

He might have been a good customer but he isn't now.

Thats it, move on.

[Splash & dash]

I would just say the agreement we had was for regular 4-8 weekly or what ever ,Ime afrade I cannot do them as and when ,I need regular work and predicted income , thanks for your previous custom I wish you all the best 👋

[G Griffin]

If you want the job give him an ad hoc price.

[NWH]

1 thing I never do is work like this the most I’ll do if it won’t inconvenience me is push it back to every other time,imagine having all customers like this you’d be working from April-August then hibernating again till spring.

[NWH]

1 offs or working like this is desperation imo,if all your customers knew you offered this they’d all apart from a few take this option and then it wouldn’t even be part time you’d need 1000s of customers.

[Crystal-clear]

Welcome it with a smile.
It will go up to four times the clean (when ever you want it) feel free to contact us whenever you like after that it will go down one clean price if you stay regular

No need to knock the work back just explain its much cheaper if it's regular as the windows are always generally clean.
Otherwise we're more than happy to service your property whenever you like
Simples 

[deeege]

I do a few bigger country house type places like this.  They pay well so I don’t see the problem really, they were also never regular customers in the first place, rather contacted me from the outset to ask for an ‘as and when’ service.

[wayne m]

Depends how busy you are and if you have a full round or will you need the work when he calls you back again but if it was me it would be a simple reply of I’m sorry I don’t do one offs or as and when’s as I’m far to busy with my regular customers to spend time doing ones off etc. The first thing I ask if someone wants a quote is do you want a regular clean or a one off and if the reply is one off I simply reply the same as above.

[markymark]

Personally I'd only do ad hoc work if all my work and home bills were ad hoc. I'm afraid Mr Nationwide et al insist on monthly payments.

[Jay Le Huray]

I did one yesterday, she has never been a regular customer but rings every 3 months or so to ask if I can fit her in
to me it's not a problem and it's near my home so I tell her I will do it on my way home.

it takes me about 12 mins for £24 so as I see it a bonus at the end of the day

[G Griffin]

1 offs or working like this is desperation imo,if all your customers knew you offered this they’d all apart from a few take this option and then it wouldn’t even be part time you’d need 1000s of customers.

It works in America.
I can see it happening more and more. Let the customer determine the frequency, we determine the price and make some kind of agreement.
Lots of people do want a regular service but the regularity will differ. People will always 'sign up' if it means that they get and keep a window cleaner that they can trust.

[Spruce]

I had a 'good' customer contact me today to say that he didn't want me to clean his windows on a regular basis anymore but would just call me 'adhoc' to clean them.
As I say he has been a good customer for at least 8 years,  but it isn't my policy to do adhoc work, should I just tell him straight or should I try to accommodate him?
I'd be interested to find out what you would do.

I'm tending to agree with Slacky but its your round and up to you.

If you still have gaps in your schedule then you might try to accommodate him on three conditions;

1. There is a price adjustment to compensate for irregularity - this could be the point he cancels because he probably won't have considered this.

2. You will accommodate him when you are in his area doing regular work - in other words, if you cleaned that area last week then he would wait until the houses in that area are due again. (If you are on a 8 weekly schedule and its 12 weeks since the last clean  you need to account for this gap between extended cleans price wise. A this point he will more than likely not agree with this.)

3. You will not accept door step cancellations or a schedule change because the day you arrive suddenly isn't convenient. Suggest you phone ahead.

Personally I believe this is going to go sour at some point in the future should he agree to your conditions now. I would thank him for his custom and find a replacement. Its not worth the aggro from a business perspective.  BUT, this is my opinion based on my full round schedule. In my books this customer has now slipped into the category of a messer even although he was a good customer to begin with.
 
Sometimes you have to help the customer make a firm decision one way or the other. 

If they are middle aged then one of them could have lost their job or been/going to be made redundant. The fear of the unknown income wise will start people to think about how they can reduce household bills.  Retirement is another factor. Not many enter retirement without worrying how they are going to pay the bills. I know. I'm still working because I wouldn't know how we would pay the bills on our pensions alone.

Over the years we have had numerous customers go into a 'wobble' when facing retirement. Some cancelled and a few have asked us back later and have become model customers again after a break of a couple of years.

[Spruce]

1 offs or working like this is desperation imo,if all your customers knew you offered this they’d all apart from a few take this option and then it wouldn’t even be part time you’d need 1000s of customers.

It works in America.
I can see it happening more and more. Let the customer determine the frequency, we determine the price and make some kind of agreement.
Lots of people do want a regular service but the regularity will differ. People will always 'sign up' if it means that they get and keep a window cleaner that they can trust.

I think it works in America because of the weather. A school friend used to live in Connecticut and they had a window cleaner come in and do inside and outside including outside screens twice a year - in Spring and The Fall. I seem to remember him saying that that cost him just short of $300 a time and was there for 1/2 a day.  They had a garden service tend to the gardens in summer and they then reverted to clearing their driveway and front door path of snow during winter. (It was a fixed winter rate whether there was snow or little to no snow over winter.) During  winter their window cleaner moved to Florida  and returned the following Spring.
They now live in Sydney and they have a window cleaner working thought out the year. They live in the treed area of Manly overlooking the bay so their issue is leaves blocking gutters. Having gutters cleared regularly is more important than window cleaning. 

Johnny B is on the forum and moved to Ireland many years ago. The only way he could earn a living was by doing one offs window cleans. Its only been over the years that he has trained the majority of his customers to have a regular scheduled clean.

[mickeybok]

Thanks for all your excellent comments on this question,  really interesting and insightful.
They are all very much appreciated and have made my decision much easier,
thanks again. 

[NWH]

1 offs or working like this is desperation imo,if all your customers knew you offered this they’d all apart from a few take this option and then it wouldn’t even be part time you’d need 1000s of customers.

It works in America.
I can see it happening more and more. Let the customer determine the frequency, we determine the price and make some kind of agreement.
Lots of people do want a regular service but the regularity will differ. People will always 'sign up' if it means that they get and keep a window cleaner that they can trust.

Do you know how much they charge for window cleaning in America,the work that’s regular over there is shop fronts and restaurants that kind of work is daily.
If they do a house we might clean for £150 they charge about 700-1000 dollars for,they do have people that want it done at different times of the year but nearly all of there work is scheduled with the customer first,no just turn up and clean.

[G Griffin]

1 offs or working like this is desperation imo,if all your customers knew you offered this they’d all apart from a few take this option and then it wouldn’t even be part time you’d need 1000s of customers.

It works in America.
I can see it happening more and more. Let the customer determine the frequency, we determine the price and make some kind of agreement.
Lots of people do want a regular service but the regularity will differ. People will always 'sign up' if it means that they get and keep a window cleaner that they can trust.

Do you know how much they charge for window cleaning in America,the work that’s regular over there is shop fronts and restaurants that kind of work is daily.
If they do a house we might clean for £150 they charge about 700-1000 dollars for,they do have people that want it done at different times of the year but nearly all of there work is scheduled with the customer first,no just turn up and clean.

I agree with you and that's why I said charge a ad hoc price.
If a customer is fixated on price rather than value then they're probably not worth having. An 'as and when' clean is a premium service and requires a premium price.
Not that I've got any because, as you say, most don't want to pay those prices.

[dazmond]

personally i cant be arsed with ad hoc work most of the time.......the only time ive done this sort of work  is if i get a walk up while im out cleaning and the property is next door and its cash up front and i have a light workday.....i always charge double too......this is usually a landlord who is getting the property ready again for rental....

i had a customer last year(large house) that said "we ll ring you when they need doing again" and wouldnt accept a 12 weekly frequency (this is my longest frequency i offer for large domestics)so i just walked away.......

[Stoots]

I don't generally take on one off or ad hoc work however if he's been a custy for 8 years I would probably say no problem let me know when you want them doing and I will do them when im next  in the area. And the price would be X amount.

[jay moley]

Go with your gut.

You dont really want to do it so don't.