[wrighty]

Dear All,

I came back today disappointed at the lack of business that I have brought in so my question is:

How do you decide what area to cold call ?

Thank you in advance.

Craig

[williamx]

Try to see what the state of the frames and glass are, if a lot are dirty knock the doors.

Also ask your customers to ask the family - friends - work collegues etc, same when you meet anyone, always bring the question up.

You will be surprised how many vacant areas there are.

[Duke]

ahh canvassing......it's a numbers game mate. We reckon that if you go out canvassing, you will get on average 2 new customers per hour. 2 hours per evening =20 customers per week. (Mon-Fri) It's taken us 13 months to put on 1600 customers, though I did bring about 60 with me when I merged with Squeegy Squad. We do have more than one canvasser though, some are better than others, but they all get paid for what they bring in.  

[pjulk]

Where do you get your canvassers from
How much do you pay them and how

The reason i ask is someone asked me a while back if i had any work and i said if they can knock doors i will pay them.

He lasted a week before he got fed up but did get me about 20 customers

I paid him 60% of the value of the job and he would get paid as soon as i cleaned them the reason for this is i don't get any bogus customers.
so if he picked up say 2 £10 jobs in an hour he would earn £12.

I am thinking about getting a canvasser again but this time i want to keep them and not have them packing it in after a week so any advise would be welcome

Paul

[Duke]

Ok, The way we work it is.....A canvasser will go and knock doors. Any customer they get for us is worth 10 pounds in the first year to them and 5 pounds every year thereafter, as long as the customer renews their yearly contract. This is paid by the customer agreeing a price (monthly) which includes £1.25 management fee. This is paid yearly in advance by Standing Order Mandate. (£15 per year) The canvasser gets £10 of that and the Company £5. Next year it's reversed, with the company getting the tenner and the canvasser £5. This is like the royalty system...canvassers keep getting paid for work they have already done.... after a year or so, imagine the money they keep making,with no extra work. Sometimes these canvassers are cleaner's too...sometimes they just canvass...whatever.

[pjulk]

Thankyou Duke

Will have to try it your way and see how i get on

Paul

[replacement]

Duke can you explain this contract and admin fee to me please as it sounds good. I take the contract is about the customer staying with you for a year?

Pm or on here would be great.

Justin

[poleman]

YES this sounds a good Indeed, I did clean windows on house for over 15 years, did think about taking some one on full time to can canvassing BUT never got round to it, did hear of a company that had a lot of pll canvassing and then sold on the work, they did this all over the country.

Andy  

[Duke]

OK, I suppose it does sound a bit complicated at first, but it's worked out well for over 1600 customers of ours so far.
The canvasser/cleaner, knocks on the door and asks if the customer has/wants a cleaner. Assuming they say yes (we have a structured pre-amble we go through when we approach them) then we walk around the property with them and using the price guide, we give them a price which includes £1.25. Assuming they like the price, we explain about our insurance cover, give them a customer charter...which is basically a copy of our promise to them (quality/reliability etc) and then explain to them that if you add up the £1.25 per month inclusive management fee, it comes to £15.00 per year, this we take by standing order the following month, and forms part of our contract.They can cancel at any time if they wish, and get a full refund. Some do, but the vast majority stick with us year after year, the £15.00 comes out of their account automatically once a year. If they move house...we simply move with them...we always guarrantee them a cleaner. (obviously not if they move to the Outer Hebrides..lol). So...out of that £15, once it's cleared, we give the canvasser a tenner, we keep £5. Next year, assuming the customer is still with us...we keep the tenner and the canvasser gets £5...and they get it every year thereafter assuming the customer stays with us. If a canvasser goes out for 2 hours every evening, we know that statistically they will get 4 new customers. That's £40 for 2 hours work. £200 a week for ten hours work...if they are a cleaner by day also....well, do the math !

[Duke]

...and as far as finding canvassers goes...we advertise and ask around, much we do ourselves....it can be hard to find good ones, but you only need a couple to start making some good dosh, but it really is a win win situation. The key is perseverance...you may get hundreds of no's as far as getting customers goes...but keep going and never give up...it WILL build. No just means next !

[andy]

hey! good speach, and it sounds like a well thought plan. Just one question. How do you set up the direct debate mandates? and do you take the monthly clean money by cash or bank every month? and are potential customers happy to sign for a yearly contract.

It would be very nice of you to answers the above questions.

thanks in advance.

[Duke]

the customer fills in one of our standing order mandates, that's then passed to the bank,the monthly clean money is paid direct to the cleaner by the customer in cash or cheque. (I personally leave a stamped addressed envelope with an invoice, then call at my PO Box daily to pick up and bank the cheques ! )

[gordons]

Why is an admin fee charged every year for cleaning windows