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lucymulligan

  • Posts: 84
should i poach it ?
« on: March 15, 2007, 06:32:04 am »
poaching seems to be a frequent topic on here ...so here is my dillemma
a small village near me is BEGGING me to do there windows as they say there old guy had been doing it for years and has a bad attitude ,is expensive and does a bad job .....
A do i do it
B what is the best way to approach evrything
C what is the going price for ssmall shop fronts ( 1 door i1big window)

really appreciate feedback
better to risk my neck for myself than break my back for some one else !!

craig jwc

  • Posts: 1076
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2007, 07:06:23 am »
If the people in this village have already approached you then just do it.

No one owns an area. It's business.

Craig

Trevor Knight

  • Posts: 1825
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2007, 07:13:36 am »
Canvass, ask if they want a window cleaner, those who say yes = take them on, those who say no =  leave your card.

Just don't deliberately undercut him.

All you are doing is asking a question, its up to the customer who they use, lets face it, if he is doing a good job then he has nothing to worry about?

p.s. its not my lads is it ? lol
Covering Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Berkshire

bluesteve

  • Posts: 153
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2007, 07:24:27 am »
ditto everything above.
which village in hants , i hope you dont mean me! ;D
 
"Soldier an' Sailor too" !

Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2007, 07:29:47 am »
Business is business!!
Recently I canvassed down a street and picked up 8 new customers all of them saying there current WC had a bad attitude and he never did a good job!!
When I got round the corner I saw a huge house with 3 wc vans it ended up he lived in the street I canvassed.
When he saw drove past and saw me cleaning them he stopped and walked over.
He asked me how much I was charging and I was nearly double what he charged!!!
We ended up chatting for ages and he agreed business is business!!
So just canvass and if they want a decent wc'er they will give you a try

ac_cleaning

  • Posts: 114
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2007, 07:41:00 am »
If they asked you do clean their windows I would just do it at the end of the day business is business.
al

AuRavelling79

  • Posts: 25223
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2007, 07:53:14 am »
I'm sure you can look after yourself Lucy, but if the current w/c does make an "ungentlemanly approach" then have your reply prepared.

E.g. "Hi, pleased to meet you - I'm LM and my husband's a sergeant in the  commando's, 6ft 6" tall, built like a brick "outhouse" and has a mean protective streak about me and the kids  soldier!"

 ;D
It's a game of three halves!

lucymulligan

  • Posts: 84
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2007, 08:04:56 am »
ha ha .... my hubby already got protestive when we realised the local competition keeps taking my ads down in the shop and putting his up...

 what do you recon is a fair price for a shop front £5 ??
better to risk my neck for myself than break my back for some one else !!

AuRavelling79

  • Posts: 25223
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2007, 08:11:41 am »
Hi Lucy - I don't do shop fronts (too much of a daily/weekly tie for me) I'm afraid but when Ian Giles gets back from The Show I'm sure he'll help if you start a new thread.
It's a game of three halves!

Biscute

  • Posts: 467
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2007, 08:13:59 am »
Lucy its easy for everyone to say go for it, but think about it seriously first. Al is good and well if you a stuck for work and could realy do with the work, but also be awear just that they say that they arnt happy with him dosent meen that they will be happy with you. You sould know by now people like to moan and it dosent realy matter how good of a job you do you will still get people that will complain. Also you will have the unhappy window cleaner that you took the round off to deal with, I know people dont condone patches and other things like that but we are just a handfull of people and ther is many more people that do, specialy on domestic work.  Just thought id put my opinion to you as you always get a few yes men just for the sake of it, but good luck in wich ever you decide.
Dont argue with a retard, they will just pull you down to their level and beat you with experience.

lucymulligan

  • Posts: 84
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2007, 08:18:24 am »
all opinions considered  :D
anyway need to get up to date with my books / flyers/ stationary this week ....
anyway hubby didnt win the 600,000 euros in dortmund last week , i guess ill just have to do it myself .
PS i wish i could of cleaned the windows at our hotel , they were terrible ....ha ha ( read a previous post on phantom window cleaners )
better to risk my neck for myself than break my back for some one else !!

C Senor

  • Posts: 67
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2007, 08:24:14 am »
Personally i would find the window cleaner and tell him that some people have asked for you to do their windows and what does he think ? - It gives you a chance to 'suss' him out as well.

This helps to take the pressure off yourself as he will know that the customer has approached you.

Chances are that he will be fine with it, i think most wc's are, but biscute is right, even if it is a bit negative - you can get some 'right funny buggers'

Biscute

  • Posts: 467
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2007, 08:28:36 am »
Good point C go speek to him what harm can it do.
Dont argue with a retard, they will just pull you down to their level and beat you with experience.

007 or what

Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2007, 08:51:04 am »
Hi i clean some shop windows that used to be done by an old guy he still does clean one of them, i clean the rest, He's old and not very good  :-\

Anyway i charge £5 min outside same inside, i do two shops 1 is £10 in/out other is £12 every in/out every  monday takes half an hour and you can still do them when its piddleing down with rain  ;D

Sir Squeaky

  • Posts: 8341
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2007, 09:34:05 am »
One window and one door shops fronts aren't that price around here.

£2.50, £3 if you're lucky.

Ian does one or two for £3.00 I think, but most are less.

simon knight

Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2007, 11:43:45 am »

£5 is the going rate even here in affluent Putney....unless of course it's massive.

On the should I poach it front: I'd say that ok we all have the odd off day when our work isn't brilliant but if the guy is consistently doing a bad job then he's taking his customers for a ride and deserves to lose the biz. Also in some ways it's doing him a favour in that he'll not want to lose any more and sharpen up his act!

Sir Squeaky

  • Posts: 8341
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #16 on: March 15, 2007, 12:42:28 pm »
£5 for one window and a door? :o

Don't they question it when you do 2 minutes or so work, and ask for a fiver?

Ian_Giles

  • Posts: 2986
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #17 on: March 15, 2007, 01:29:12 pm »
Go for the work, you are not poaching, they have approached you, not the other way around.
Find out what he was charging, and then make sure you charge more though.

I wouldn't bother talking to him as that makes it more personal, if he then objects to you taking the work it becomes more difficult to do so, and you risk it becoming very acrimonious too.

Prices for shop fronts?

As Roger says, for a single big window (or maybe 2) and a door, then aim at a minimum charge of something like £2.50
If they have a window cleaner it is highly unlikely (particularly if it is in a village) that they will be paying much more than that.

If you can pick up a few shops, then even at a paltry £2.50 a go it works out as good money.

The thing is, shops are very often highly sought after and very competitively priced.

If you have a single large pane of glass and a door then it is no more than a minute and a half to do.

It's a catch 22 situation, they are a bind, you have to be as regular as clockwork, one or 2 shops are a nightmare as the travelling involved is a real pain.

To travel even a single mile to clean a single shop for just £2.50 is a dead loss, but getting more than that is not easy.

If these shops are done by the same window cleaner and they are unhappy with him, then with any luck you will be able to find out what he was charging, and base your own price accordingly, and if they are unhappy with him and his work, then you will be able to hike the price a little.

You may be lucky and the shops in that area are having to pay a decent rate

On Monday I cleaned 38 shops/pubs/offices etc. six of them were £2.50, Seven of them were £3.50, the most expensive being a building society for £18 and a large shop for £25
So as you can see, the spread of prices can be enourmous.

You really need to find out the kind of prices that are currently being charged in your area.

Ian
Ian. ISM CLEANING SERVICES

simon knight

Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #18 on: March 15, 2007, 03:13:35 pm »
£5 for one window and a door? :o

Don't they question it when you do 2 minutes or so work, and ask for a fiver?

No not really...you see I do it on the 1st monday of every month. Now it often happens that it's the only job in that part of Putney I have on that day. Parking is a complete nightmare (often a few streets from the shop...if I can get a parking spot at all!). It's £1.50 ph parking here as well >:( and the traffic wardens are mustard >:(. To be truthful I only do it because I do her house as well.

Trevor Knight

  • Posts: 1825
Re: should i poach it ?
« Reply #19 on: March 16, 2007, 03:31:51 pm »
£5 for one window and a door? :o

Don't they question it when you do 2 minutes or so work, and ask for a fiver?

If it took me 2 minutes I would want a £10 note lol!
Covering Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Berkshire