[Andrew McCann]

Rog.

Sorry to hear you are feeling down at the moment.

The answer to your question is probably a combination of things all of which have been mentioned already. I have always watched your posts with interest and have noticed a trend. This isn't a dig at you or anything..  just an observation. You do seem to be "Up and down" (OMG Gail has just seen the up and down bit and is laffin at a window cleaner being up and down quite a bit in your moods. In these crazy days more and more folk are like that. Stress and depression are at an all time high.

The problem with being in a down period is that the motivation goes, everything seems hard work and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. These feelings are picked up by the customers and it affects them. If you phone a company and you get a cheery "Good morning etc the impression you get is good...phone another and get someone saying the same but in a surly way you get an entirely different impression and it immediately puts you off them.

I know this will seem hard and you will probably think it won't work but try the following.

1/ Buy a decent sign written teeshirt and sweatshirt...  they are cheap enough and you will be able to get them locally.

2/ Decide how much new work you want/need.

3/ Decide where you want it (There is ALWAYS some work in any area) Some more than others.

4/ Get some decent A5 leaflets printed one side, one colour. £100 ish for 5000 or 10,000 ..I cant remember but that is around the price.

5/ Go out and CANVASS between 6 ish and 8ish  3 or 4 evenings a week until you have got the work you want. One "hit" leaflet drops are almost a waste of time..  it's the repeat ones that bring in work over a long period of time. Leave your leaflet through the "No answer doors and go back to those a couple of days later.

6/ Come back and tell us how good you feel when you have got your target  

Now.. you can probably think of many reason this won't work but I promise you it will. Just accept that sometimes it will seem like a hard slog with a lot of no-takers but you will also get evenings when you seem to hit a purple patch. Just remember when you are out there that your next new customer could be living at the next door you knock.

I bet you Ian is always on the lookout for new customers and it is all down to him that he seems to get work walking through the door... It doesnt.. it's down to opening the door first and I bet you Ian does that all the time.

Over and out... and all the best.  

Andrew

[matt]

roger

if you want a web site, let me know, i will knock 1 up for you if you want, though to be honest im not sure thats the answer

[Sir Squeaky]

  People pick up on positive and negative attitudes, always smile and whistle when you are working - it really does get noticed.

Smile, yes. (which I always do).
Whistle, no.

People who whistle need to be punched. Hard.

[Sir Squeaky]

Squeaky,

I remember from other posts from you that you only work in a 0.5 mile radius of your house.

Why don't you go out canvassing? Cast your net a little wider - Perhaps try 1 - 2 miles from your home???

 

Andy

No, about 7 miles actually.

[Sir Squeaky]

Thankyou for that big post Andrew.
I appreciate it.
It's what I've done unsuccessfully before, but I know it works for some.

As far as Ian picking up work by opening doors...no he doesn't, he just gets randoms asking him all the time, where as I don't.

He picked up a local pub at over £60 a week while waiting at the traffic lights outside.
I pull up there many times a day, but he gets asked.

That £240-odd extra a month would get me a new house, hence improving my life.
To him it's just a bit more money he can't spend.

It's so frustrating.

[supernova77]

Squeaky,

There must be some affluent little villages within a 20 / 25 mile radius of where you live? Why not canvass areas like this?

The furthest I travel for a days work is 30 miles away - But the £'s are well worth the travelling!

Andy

[Sir Squeaky]

Squeaky,

There must be some affluent little villages within a 20 / 25 mile radius of where you live? Why not canvass areas like this?

I have in the past unsuccessfully.

Trouble is there's dozens of window cleaners around here and in the nice places within that distance.

[Andrew McCann]

Wow you really are feeling down Rog  

I swear if I were near enough to you I would give you a couple of evenings a week and go out with you to prove it can work for anyone mate.

Come on.. I dare you.. give it a go. You MUST set yourself a target of total value of new work first and MUST stick to the canvassing schedule you set to get it though or it won't work.

As to dozens of window cleaners there are and always have been the same here. ALL seeming to work for peanuts but I always managed to get the new work I wanted.  I just stuck at it untilI did.

Andrew

Andrew

[Tosh]

He picked up a local pub at over £60 a week while waiting at the traffic lights outside.
I pull up there many times a day, but he gets asked.

And I used to clean that very same pub at £45 (which was a good price; Ian does a little bit extra; but not enough to justify the extra price; the git (I've also cleaned this pub for Ian too))!

But when the ownership changed and I lost the job, I never bothered my arse going in there to say, 'Hi, do you need a window cleaner?'.

I wish I did, and I've learnt a lesson. 

A shy child gets nowt!

[Oakley Windows]

Yea, I say lets see if Rogers little 'on-line' green light goes out, at least it might be some sort of evidence that he's out there putting some footwork in.

[Bobs Window Cleaning]

Roger

Do you only clean windows?

What about gutters and pressure washing? Nice earners for those wet days or when you run out of windows to clean.

Bob

[pingu]

You know Roger I am a bit of a numbers geek and watch my business like a hawk down to how much I earn for every km I drive...(yes it's weird but...so am I  ) but doing these types of figures allow me to know exactly how my business is running...

At the start of the year I 'project' how many new customers I want, how much in monetary terms I want to earn..this is then watched on a weekly basis...so I know how we are doing and if things start to look like the 'projection' is deviating too much I make extra effort where required...

So I suppose what I am saying in a long winded..."look at me" kind of way is...

You have to know where you want to be in order to get there and then make steps to reach your objective...

I know you have been in this game for many years and you have seen many things but you have to make those efforts every day, week in, week out...

I wish you well and as Andrew McCaan has said get out there and canvass...

I am sure that those who are genuinly pulling in loads of new customers at decent rates are not sat back and having their doors knocked down by said new customers...they are out there and to get them you need to be out there too.

Good luck Rog

Dave.

[ftp]

There's only one thing left to do - set fire to Ians van. 

[Gordon_Taylor]

I know this will be a bit controversial but would ever go back to ladders, it seems you have never been truly happy since going over to wfp and all the expense seems to be putting more pressure on.

Gordon.

[TVCS]

I think that at one stage or another we have all been a bit cheessed off with life, work etc etc etc.
 At the end of the day, not wanting to sound like a know it all twit, but you get out what you put it.   The fact that Ian is getting work even when he is having a dump shouldnt really get to you.  I bet when he started he had gaps in his work.  LIke others have said, do some door knocking, leaflet drops and get shed loads of business cards printed and give one to everybody you meet.    Just because Ian isnt knocking on doors doesnt mean you cant.  Offer your existing custies a little discount for recommending you to friends or neighbours. 

Or sell your round to ian, work for him and pinch all his custies.  ( thats a joke incase anyone doesnt realise.)

Chin up mr sqeaks,   
Ant

[WCE]

Look I am going to be honest here. It seems that you want to be picky with the work you do but you can only do that when you have the work already and you are looking to improve your earnings.
What I did was:
1. Canvass - Between 6-8 weeknights and 10-4 sats. - you say that no one else canvasses in the area so what. Maybe they are the fools who are missing plenty of opportunities, why should you miss out on the same? This will give you the base of custom to work from no offence but you seem to be a bit put out about others  work and how they get it - forget em' worrying about how they do won't pay YOUR bills. As an aside IMO you are aiming to be to local (put it this way if I had a nice run of well paid work in Chepstow then I would travel down from Tewkesbury - If I didn't have enough work and I knew that I could make a profit as opposed to nothing then I would travel - whats to lose? If I made a profit vs nothing then how can you lose? Exactly!
2. Website: Even a simple one will do. Mine is rubbish compared to loads i've seen but yet I get loads of work from it - especially commercial - Why Exposure. I am on every free listing poss and I also use google addwords to ensure that I get the exposure I want from keywords.
3. Yellow pages: This one does seem to be hit and miss however, I seem to do well from mine.
4. Customers - Ive said this before but you'd be amazed what your customers do for a living - My 3 biggest commercial contracts came from one residential customer. He is a purchasing manager for a national "services" company who were in need of a window cleaner. If I had never asked him what I did then I would of never of got the job.
5. Fellow window cleaners - Why do think I was acting like Miss Marple  in the "Got to get rid customer letter thread" ? Because I saw an opportunity to get more work. Sometimes you have to make your own opportunities. Don't wait for the work to come to you and miss out - get in first!!!
The Total cost of me doing all these things was under £500 per year and it has worked for me!
Finally don't expect to just sit on your backside waiting for it to happen for you because it wont, quite frankly you only gain from what you put into a business. No effort =  no gain.  it's as simple as that. True you see these guys and they seem to have work coming to them on a plate but I am sure they have put the groundwork in the first place. Because of that effort now they can see the benefit of that effort, So what I am saying is go out canvass, advertise and let people know you are about and available a bit of effort will be worth it, I promise!

[Clive McDonald]

All the advice is good. There have been times in my life when I have had to make a determined effort, usually because my wife left me, or I lost my job.What i'm trying to say is I have done things, the really successfull things, because I have been forced, not because I am clever.

When you are forced to do things there is a certain amount of humiliation,  feeling foolish, and a necessary acceptance that you may not have been right about everything.

Did you ever get your van signwritten?
Where do you advertise?

[macmac]

Buy some tfr & stick a 4 week ad in your most popular local(ish) paper for conservatory roof cleaning.

"From green to clean" or whatever, "pvc cleaning specialist" etc.

Dont mention window cleaning, just this.

Tony

[davids3511]

I have in the past unsuccessfully.

Yes, but things change. Competition give up, move on, die or whatever. You need to be out there regularly looking or it will pass you by.

[mr merson]

I skipped all the posts ( sorry mate ) I do know how you feel ( I am 41 now and have been where you are now several times )  Give me a ring 07892 764 854  If you dont ring , you will always wonder why