[Neil_A]

why leaflet where other window cleaners are already working???

How can you be sure there are no window cleaners in some towns/streeets.... you would have to sit in your car for a month untill they come??  ... then when u see them what do you do??? rule that street out ? lol  would take years to build a round

Putting leaflets about is free... if ur customer is happy with the work you do they will not get a new cleaner even if it was half price

[andyp]

if somebody else was offering a service at half the price and looked pro i think it would make a few people think twice.

not been funny here but if i seen someone on my work areas etc i would go over and say something to them(nice warning first)and if there did get any and i seen them its gameover no more window cleaning for them.why sould we build a good business/living for someone to come in and try to take money out of my pocket.

thats my point of veiw tho,i just hate people coming in trying to get customers off another windowcleaner   

[nat]

if you do a good enough job then you have nothing to worry about! if they take them off you then its something you've done not them! and if they are undercutting and your custy goes for it then they ain't worth having anyway

[niceandclean]

if you do a good enough job then you have nothing to worry about! if they take them off you then its something you've done not them! and if they are undercutting and your custy goes for it then they ain't worth having anyway

Totally agree with you!

[dazza]

I beginning to think twice now about trying to get customers via posting business cards  

[Dale Smith]

Dazza
Don't be put off mate, there is loads of work out there for all, so fill your boots.
If you see another w/c go & speak to them & have a chat, that's what I do and it always goes well, they always appreciate you talking to them, and you get lots of info about areas they don't bother with & stuff like that.
Go for it.

Cheers

[david wood]

iam sick of hearing this is my patch cr.p if a house holder has sacked there previous window cleaner for what ever reason they have the right to choose another cleaner.i dont belive in undercutting though trouble can start then

[Sanity]

not been funny here but if i seen someone on my work areas etc i would go over and say something to them(nice warning first)and if there did get any and i seen them its gameover no more window cleaning for them.why sould we build a good business/living for someone to come in and try to take money out of my pocket.

thats my point of veiw tho,i just hate people coming in trying to get customers off another windowcleaner

I assume you have sent a map of your area to everybody thinking of starting up, and / or other window cleaners in your town?

At the end of the day, until the government install a licensing system which gives you a specific area in which you can ply your trade I will continue to canvass wherever I please.  Saying this, I would not actively recruit people who state that they have a WC already.  I would simply say 'ok, thanks for your time' and go to the next house.

As I have said before, competition is good for the customer.  Those who do not like competition are insecure of their ability to keep their customers.  This may say a lot about either their prices or their quality.

Today a WC came up to me as I did a clean on 'his' patch.  He was very pleasant and just asked me about how long I had been running and where I might be looking to do my work.  I explained that I was actually out of area and that I had been asked by the householder to do the job when I was cleaning for a regular customer.

He normally cleans this house and sasked what I was charging.  I told him 12.50 for the first clean and 10 for the normal clean.  He nearly fell over!!  He was charging them a fiver.

He then asked if I wanted to buy his round!  (so there is a round for sale in Leicester if anyone wants it Ill put you in touch with him...)

If a WC is providing a better quality of work, he will get the customer more often than the cheap, shoddy WC.

If you feel you need to give 'friendly' warnings to others on 'your' patch, maybe you should try pleasing your customers with your work, with your prices or with your customer service then they would be happy to say ' No thanx, I have a window cleaner...' to any competition.

How childish to suggest that you would end the cleaning career of anybody who ignores your 'warnings'. 

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen...



Sorry if this sounds harsh, but ffs we all have to put food on the table, not just you established guys...

[sgibsoncleaning]

i once got told by a window cleaner that "he owned this street"
i looked at him and said "all these house, what the hell are you window cleaning for then"
he just walked away desperatly trying to work it all out.
i ended up picking up most of them due to the fact he was rubbish

[Wrekin C S]

First of all fair play to you david I hate telephone tough guys - I would have lost my rag same as you did, threatening is out of order! and like others have said on here how are you supposed to know who cleans who's thats just madness - im setting up myself and am doing leaflet drops myself, im not into undercutting or stealing work just looking for new business and building a decent round.

[williamx]

not been funny here but if i seen someone on my work areas etc i would go over and say something to them(nice warning first)and if there did get any and i seen them its gameover no more window cleaning for them.why sould we build a good business/living for someone to come in and try to take money out of my pocket.

thats my point of veiw tho,i just hate people coming in trying to get customers off another windowcleaner   

You sound like a bully.

I would like to hear your "nice warning" because my reply would not be very nice or healthy.

I worked in the taxi trade and I have forgotton how many people wanted to give me a "nice warning" over the phone, somehow they changed their mind when I was knocking on their front door 15 mins later.

My mother told me to respect people but she would knock the crap out of me if I let a bully get his way over me or the family.

[dai]

The other window cleaners I know are mostly really nice guys, in fact I spend too much time talking to them. If I see another guy working near me, I will often go over for a chat, moan about the weather as you do. Plenty of work for us all and if I can point a newbie in the right direction, I will. Guess you mellow with age. Dai

[Neil_A]

iam sick of hearing this is my patch cr.p if a house holder has sacked there previous window cleaner for what ever reason they have the right to choose another cleaner.i dont belive in undercutting though trouble can start then

I agree.. I had a customer ring me 2day asking for me to clean her winodws... The guy she got rid of is a cleaner i know and he does nearly all the house's in the street.... now im going there to do 1 of them..

[rugby]

if somebody else was offering a service at half the price and looked pro i think it would make a few people think twice.

not been funny here but if i seen someone on my work areas etc i would go over and say something to them(nice warning first)and if there did get any and i seen them its gameover no more window cleaning for them.why sould we build a good business/living for someone to come in and try to take money out of my pocket.

thats my point of veiw tho,i just hate people coming in trying to get customers off another windowcleaner   

i see on your profile you give your age as 1, sounds about right (profile now changed to 22)

[Nameless Drudge]

heres me a newbie trying to build a round and be professional,listening to this crap you had all better pull your socks up,and i am not a spring chicken,nearly enough listening to these posts to make me feel ashamed of calling myself a window cleaner.

[mark dew]

yep you're right. So much more can be gained from working together rather than against.
What amazes me is that you stick a squeegee in someones hand for a few months, and people think they can throw their weight around cos they've gaine a bit of "muscle!" :
It's shameful that people can think they have a right to an area. How deluded is that?
Which reminds me i must delete my post before andyp wakes up!

[Neil_A]

heres me a newbie trying to build a round and be professional,listening to this crap you had all better pull your socks up,and i am not a spring chicken,nearly enough listening to these posts to make me feel ashamed of calling myself a window cleaner.

This is a FORUM what do you expect.. The forum is here for everyone to post there views.. :

If we wasnot posting it would be dead

[davids3511]

Update on yesterday.

Spoke to the guy yesterday at about 6.30, and had the usual back and forth argument for about 10 minutes. He kept saying it wasn't anything to do with him and that if he had been in the position of wanting a word with me, he would never have spoken to my wife, never mind threatened her. He did pretty much have an answer for everything I put to him. In the end I believed him, after we both calmed down we met up and in the end laughed about it.

He did however tell me who he suspected was behind it. He said there was only one in the town who would do that and he was pretty disliked by everyone including his customers which is probably why he is so insecure.

However, I don't see that I can do anything more or I will just make the situation worse and get myself in trouble. I can't go to have a word with this guy because I am only going on gossip and hearsay and I don't really want the trouble. I just want to get on with earning some money and be left alone.

However, I suspect yesterday will not be a complete loss. I would imagine word will get out that you either leave me alone and we can all be friends or if you threaten big trouble, I will might just come looking for you.

I know it isn't very professional and doesn't sound good but unfortunately sometimes it needs to be known you have an edge to you, otherwise people (especially when they think there personal patch is under threat) will see if they can take advantage of a perceived weakness.

[davids3511]

I beginning to think twice now about trying to get customers via posting business cards  

Hi Dazza

Don't let my experience put you off. From reading this forum I think I am just unlucky to be getting so much hassle. You also need to remember, if it was easy, everyone would do it. I don't just mean window cleaning, I mean anything worthwhile will have its demands but will have its rewards if you stick at it.

You would also be playing right into the hands of the fools who make this type of phone call and would be letting them win.

One thing that I haven't done is put my address on my leaflet. I know most will think that is a mistake but I think when you are new to an area and maybe going to get some trouble, it is easier to relax after getting a call like that if you are secure that they at least do not know where you live. An address on a leaflet can come later after I have got established and the other cleaners know me.

David

[andyp]

good reply Sanity and windowwashers.

the bottom line is a hate people on the dole trying to go round getting beer money by cleaning windows at a cheap price "undercutting" why should i make a really good round for someone to offer cheap prices and kill the trade

in the newcastle area it happen all the time thats why this topic got to me.normally i just sit back and read read and read

if its happened to you you may feel alittle different towards it