[james peters]

as above
Has this pandemic prompted you  to look at your business, and made you want to make any changes, or add new ideas to make thing run better, or increase your revenue?

I have not worked since last Monday, but the 2 weeks working before I finished I was looking at my customers , and trying to see how many I may loose as things start to get worse.
I was quite pleased, that I Realised that for the most part, my customers are retired or financially stable and unlikely to be affected by 6 months off work.
I do expect to have a few jobs put on hold … restaurant, cricket club, rugby club etc.

so when I start back I want to do a good leafletting stint in search for more of the retired type of customers. not only are these types financially stable , but they always pay promptly.

The other thing I am going to do is upsell more gutter and fascia jobs, to try and compensate for any losses I may have had. this will help as I rebuild my customer base.
 worrying times for everyone , so lets hear what positives you guys are hoping to get out of a bad situation ?

[James Styles]

I’ll be canvassing like crazy, my round is already small and will most likely be even smaller in a few months. My plan is to basically grow my customer base.

[Johnny B]

I will be posting updates on my Facebook page during the lockdown, and intend to text message all my customers who aren't followers but whose numbers I hold, to keep them informed.

I closed shop on Friday and have since had numerous calls from customers asking me to call when I can. Most of these are not 'regulars' per se, but they are on a list of calls to make along with the regulars. My customers are without exception extremely loyal, so I am confident that I won't be short of work when I resume trading.

John.

[AuRavelling79]

Getting all the phone numbers of my customers would be a good start. 

[Missing Link]

Getting all the phone numbers of my customers would be a good start. 

E-mail addresses or adds on faceache is even better too.

[dazmond]

i put 3/4 of my customers prices up last month so this week is the first week of the new higher priced work.....i stopped evening collecting (after 26 years!) a few months before xmas and  i started printing new slips on cleaner planner with my bank details on for BACS payments stipulating that online payment was my preferred method of payment...this has worked a treat...i reckon ive managed to get another 120 jobs to pay this way since then......i also started getting more contact numbers.....

now i dont take on any new work if they dont provide me their mobile number from the off.now i reckon my payments look like this.....

60% BACS
20% cash on the day
15% contactless card payments/chip and PIN
2% standing order
2% card payments over the phone
1% cheque

[Stoots]

Rebuild the round first, I'm sure quite a few will cancel any never come back.

Then I'll get back on with my plans to franchise, I spoke to Vin at length the other week about it all and was just about to hand over £1500 to Ian Lancaster for his package. A few days later this thing really kicked off and all plans abandoned.

Planned price increases will probably happen next April now.

I fancy a new van at some point in the near future as well, but I will buy it with cash not finance. I have a loan at the minute and wish I didn't with the current situation.

[Shrek]

So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!

[Jonny 87]

So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!

I think your right shrek.

That’s one thing that I’ve learned.

Although, to be fair my van was a good purchase.
It’s paid off in 12 months, and is only going to be 4 years old with 30,000 miles on the clock at that time, but still.

Events like this make You realise even more so than always that cash is king. 

[jo5hm4n]

Im thinking about Franchising, and also i may fulfill my lifelong dream of setting up a lead generation service for window cleaners and have Gomo as my partner in crime!   

[supernova77]

I’ll be canvassing like crazy, my round is already small and will most likely be even smaller in a few months. My plan is to basically grow my customer base.

James,

How long have you been window cleaning for?

Andy

[NWH]

So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!

Why will you pay in full it’s better to keep any money you have at hand in case you may need it.

[zesty]

Getting all the phone numbers of my customers would be a good start. 

Same!!!

[NWH]

I’m not sure about this lead generation thing they’ve only got to honour the leads they give you in numbers,you may have paid for 50 leads it’s potluck whether you’ll get any decent work from it.
If I wanted work I’d like to be able to target what kind of work I wanted- needed.

[James Styles]

I’ll be canvassing like crazy, my round is already small and will most likely be even smaller in a few months. My plan is to basically grow my customer base.

James,

How long have you been window cleaning for?

Andy

10 months mate, got a lot of rubbish in my round that needs replacing and also want to get a lot more (good) customers

[Stoots]

Im thinking about Franchising, and also i may fulfill my lifelong dream of setting up a lead generation service for window cleaners and have Gomo as my partner in crime!   

Dont forget who gave you the advice when you are a millionaire. 

Ive not done any lead gen for a while, I kind of started it and then neglected it. If we get locked down properly it's definitely something I would like to pursue further... Not just window cleaning either, digital marketing in general. What the virus has shown is that having fingers in more than one pie is a very good idea.

[Missing Link]

What the virus has shown is that having fingers in more than one pie is a very good idea.

I was growing quite a nice little photography business.  I did all the photography for two running event companies, was about to start with a third, and had some individual races to photograph for a couple of others; two of them quite big running companies.

That's all been kicked into the long grass for the moment.

You can't get more diversity than window cleaning and running race photography. 

[Stoots]

I’m not sure about this lead generation thing they’ve only got to honour the leads they give you in numbers,you may have paid for 50 leads it’s potluck whether you’ll get any decent work from it.
If I wanted work I’d like to be able to target what kind of work I wanted- needed.

Here's the thing, when you pay someone to put out say 10k leaflets that might cost you £500 all in. With a guarantee of 0 leads. You are guaranteed  nothing. Now in my experience you'll be lucky to get 2/3 calls per thousand. So 20 or 30 leads... Again, if you are lucky.. You might get more, you might get less but when you pay £500 for 50 leads you get 50 leads, ironed on without gamble.

If course you won't convert all the leads, nor would you convert all leaflet leads.

A canvasser might charge you £500 for £170 of work. Half will cancel in the fist 6 months.. Let's say £100 of it is any good.

Digital marketing pees all over any other form of paid marketing in terms of R. O. I

[dazmond]

So glad I didn’t sign up for a lease van! I will definitely pay in full for any large purchases in the future!

why?its only a problem if you cant afford the monthly payments........

[Richard iSparkle]

new leaflet being designed at the moment, should be ready in time for when we are free! new website is being finished off to work with the new leaflet