[Jason Atwell]

Forecast for today was bad, woke up to see the rain, so had a couple of hours helping the missus with the kids.

Got to about 10.45 and the rain which was not much more than drizzle in the first place had stopped, so i thought  i would go give it a go.

Got to first job at about 11, got ladders off, got gear out walked into front garden, said hello to the old dear next door doing her own downstairs windows, and then my customer came out and said 'your keen arent ya, its raining' I said, 'its not its stopped' he said 'Can you call back another time' to which i said 'What when its not been raining'.

I do regret being sarcastic with him now, not because i desperately need his money, it is the only house in this street that i do, and they are not prompt payers, only after i started cleaning this house did i find out another forum member had dumped them for being bad payers, but because i gave a bad impression of myself as a gobby lout.

Anyway put gear and ladders away then wroteand  put through a note saying,

I try to give a reliable service to all my customers, which means when it is not raining i must be out cleaning, this is the only way that everyones windows will be cleaned on a 2/4 weekly cycle, so in future i will be cleaning in all but heavy rain, if you are not happy with this, please call to cancel.


Now i dont usually clean in rain, but wanted to get my point across.

So the question is why has it ped me off all day, when im not bothered if they cancel??

What would you have said/done!!

[Clear Vision]

Can't fault what you said and did in this situation! Well done

I would have done the same.

They just dont get it sometimes!!! If we have a week of heavy rain, that = no money!!! And then they expect to have there windows cleaned on a "regular" basis.

The only way we can provide a regular clean is if we "sometimes" clean in the rain in order to keep on top of our workload and provide continuity to "all" our customers.

If they cant understand that, there not worth knowing.

Stand up and never be afraid of speaking your mind or loosing a customer.

Matthew
Clear Vision

[Jason Atwell]

Cheers for the reasurrance, think i worry too much, and really dont like losing customers, but like you all say there are alot more windows than window cleaners!

[Tosh]

What would you have said/done!!

About a year ago, Wor Lass had something similar to this happen and she was surprisingly good.

She smiled and politely asked, 'So you don't want a window cleaner anymore then?'

The lady reconsidered and said, 'Oh, go on then', and we've had no trouble from her since.

I think you've got to devise a way to be polite, but let the customer know that you won't get messed around; otherwise you'll end up with a round full of 'chancers'.

Remember, for the general run-of-the-mill domestic account; the people who live there who want a regular window cleaner know (or should know) they'll have difficulty getting another good one.

You've got the 'Aces'; the customer doesn't.  

A bad customer is easily replaced but a good window cleaner isn't.

Drop anyone who messes you around.

[Jason Atwell]

What percentage of the jobs you have on your round now, have been there right from the start, in other words as your round has grown and evolved, how many have you dropped?

[24-7 S C Services]

Hi Jase

I clean in all weathers unless it is really raining hard. I also make all my customers aware of this fact from the outset.

Unfortunately, especially in the domestic sector, people assume the window cleaner is still a part time job and they will come and go as they please. A lot of damage is done to this industry when the part time summer window cleaners come out, undercut prices and stay for 4 or 5 months before they disappear.

Your clients need to realise, this is your full time job, you have bills to pay and you cannot come and go as you like or they like. After all, how would they like it if they drove into work and their boss said, sorry not today, it’s raining, then they loose a days pay. Just put that scenario to them, it’s worked for me.

I do not hesitate to drop clients like that and in November I dropped a £69.00 a month client because she only wanted her windows cleaned in the summer.

Andrew

[Jason Atwell]

Cheers for the advice, i suppose this is all a learning curve, which thanks to you guys on this forum is easier to deal with.

The point you make about the part time summer window cleaner can also be put onto the window cleaner who only cleans on the good days, which obviously is his choice and depends on your circumstances and wether you want a wage or want to build a profitable business.

[Paul Coleman]

Forecast for today was bad, woke up to see the rain, so had a couple of hours helping the missus with the kids.

Got to about 10.45 and the rain which was not much more than drizzle in the first place had stopped, so i thought  i would go give it a go.

Got to first job at about 11, got ladders off, got gear out walked into front garden, said hello to the old dear next door doing her own downstairs windows, and then my customer came out and said 'your keen arent ya, its raining' I said, 'its not its stopped' he said 'Can you call back another time' to which i said 'What when its not been raining'.

I do regret being sarcastic with him now, not because i desperately need his money, it is the only house in this street that i do, and they are not prompt payers, only after i started cleaning this house did i find out another forum member had dumped them for being bad payers, but because i gave a bad impression of myself as a gobby lout.

Anyway put gear and ladders away then wroteand  put through a note saying,

I try to give a reliable service to all my customers, which means when it is not raining i must be out cleaning, this is the only way that everyones windows will be cleaned on a 2/4 weekly cycle, so in future i will be cleaning in all but heavy rain, if you are not happy with this, please call to cancel.


Now i dont usually clean in rain, but wanted to get my point across.

So the question is why has it ped me off all day, when im not bothered if they cancel??

What would you have said/done!!

You probably did more than I would have.  If I had bothered at all, I would have written them a letter of cancellation.  I may or may not have explained why depending on my mood of the day.

[AuRavelling79]

If you haven't trained all your customers to expect you whatever the weather you can use this to your advantage while culling your round.

I used to be a completely fair weather window cleaner - but although I don't generally work in persistent rain I now work if it's drizzly or showery, so the other wet/showery day I thought - stuff it I'm going to work today and the first little bungalow I went to (underpriced) the lady says leave it because of the weather, not worth it etc. So I said - I'm sorry I don't work on that basis and she got uppity and dropped me (so she thinks - but all according to my dastardly plan).

I mean - do I really want to keep a bungalow and conservatory and porch (that needs the side gate unlocking) for £7? - no!

Next two houses sweet as pie - next house - can you leave it? I can but I won't be back if I do, I'm afraid sir. I'll get my wallet he says.

Result. (I know it's not professional PJ but I can only be perfect 99% of the time and then I go off on one  )

[matt]

i wasted today

forecast was for rain, got up and out ready at 9, it was fine rain, so i went inside, i looked at some of my comercail, all back upto date, so i looked at comercail insides i do, i cleaned them, it was dry, not a drop of rain

 then drove to the area i should have been, did 1 houses and it lashed down

so now home

a waste of the day BECAUSE once again i followed the forecast

[xxmattyxx]

I do an old peoples home. EVERY time I turn the bint on the desk says 'its always raining when you come'

My response now is, 'so, when did it last not rain in any given week since november?'

I must admit I do use that place as a bit of a hospital job in dodgy weather mind 

Cant see what difference it makes to her, its not her winodws, she only works there.

On one occassion I was cleaning some ol' crows  windows and she asked me to stop as the forecast was rain IN 2 DAYS TIME !!! I asked her, just so I didnt get it wrong  but did she want me to stop then and there, right now? She said yes, so the suds stayed on the windows and I went round the back to make sure i hadnt left anything, I mopped her downstairs windows whilst I was round there and left. Needless to say, I never returned.

[simon knight]

Do you remember last summer when we had that really hot spell? I had a woman come out to send me away because "you shouldn't be working in this heat!"

Naturally I assured her that I had loads of factor 50 on and would be perfectly OK.

I actually found her attitude quite touching

[Paul Coleman]

i wasted today

forecast was for rain, got up and out ready at 9, it was fine rain, so i went inside, i looked at some of my comercail, all back upto date, so i looked at comercail insides i do, i cleaned them, it was dry, not a drop of rain

 then drove to the area i should have been, did 1 houses and it lashed down

so now home

a waste of the day BECAUSE once again i followed the forecast

I've wasted days on wrong forecasts too.  Not any more though.  I'm only home today as I have a heavy cold and didn't feel like it.  I have gaps in my workload anyway so if I get a bit behind it's easy enough to catch up.

[Paul Coleman]

I do an old peoples home. EVERY time I turn the bint on the desk says 'its always raining when you come'

My response now is, 'so, when did it last not rain in any given week since november?'

I must admit I do use that place as a bit of a hospital job in dodgy weather mind 

Cant see what difference it makes to her, its not her winodws, she only works there.

On one occassion I was cleaning some ol' crows  windows and she asked me to stop as the forecast was rain IN 2 DAYS TIME !!! I asked her, just so I didnt get it wrong  but did she want me to stop then and there, right now? She said yes, so the suds stayed on the windows and I went round the back to make sure i hadnt left anything, I mopped her downstairs windows whilst I was round there and left. Needless to say, I never returned.

That's another problem with WFP.  You can't do that to them   

Confession time now.  If the weather is a bit flakey, I do tend to target the ones I'm not so bothered about losing.

[Bonzer]

I had the same today, and it really annoyed me too.

I pulled up at a house in a rural area. This is the only house I do trad (not suitable for wfp - leaky leads). I started on the first window which was quite wet from where it had been raining earlier. This made it difficult to scrim but I kept going and then the guy comes out and says 'it's not really worth it is it?'. I explain that it's not raining at the moment and whatever day I do it, it could rain after I've been. He says 'it's not worth it, the forecast is rain for the next couple of days'. I pack up with a not very happy look on my face, whilst mainaining a polite manner (hard in the circumstances). I drove off and decided that that was the last time I do that job anymore. I know I've kissed goodbye to £15 but that attitude of not doing it because it's likely to rain today or tomorrow really naffed me off!

[Majestic]

Just tell them you dont charge for the final rinse

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

Look at this way Bonzer, it one less ladder job.  Yippie.   And who needs customers that will turn you away as it might rain later you'll replace that £15 in a jiffy.

Simon

[Bonzer]

Definitely. I'm glad to be rid of the last 100% ladder job I have. The £15 was underpriced anyway.

[EasyClean]

First 2 hours dry-ish today, out I went and cleaned some houses and a nursing home, then the weather changed for the worse, heavy rain, should have gone home really but I thought sod it, and just stayed out all day today. At least I've earn't a days wage to pay the bills. Once I'm wet thru with the sneaky rain (drizzle slows turns to heavy rain) I just stay out until the end of the day sometimes!

[RO-Sheen]

Surely the point of us cleaning the windows is to clean the build up of dirt that has developed since the last time we cleaned it!! So what if it is raining/due to rain... It still cleans the window when we wash it!