[Niall McAllister]

anyway back to the original question.
the Guild gives good advertising, it ranks high on google. it is trying to make something of itself.
Little acorns and all that

[Moderator David@stives]

Little acorn, fantastic description.

If they said that from the beginning .................................

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

little acorns

anyways i am glad to hear that you are considering joining the guild dave...we could do with someone of your stature on the guild.......i am trying to think what role you could take up.....health and safety liason officer might be available when you are feeling better....LOL.....someone had to say it. ( sorry mate ) :

maybe you can help me with a few questions dave....i am asking you this as you seem to know your stuff

how many members does the fed have?

how many did they start with?

how did they begin the long drawn out process of recruiting their members?

did they have teething troubles?

were there skeptics of the fed when it first started?

how did they deal with those skeptics?

i have other questions dave, but they can wait

[Moderator David@stives]

Scrimmy

I dont have a clue to any of the above ?

Nothing to do with me, all i know is that they are a government recognised bona fide trade association.

Why put the onus on me, i don't claim to be something i am not.

[GWCS]

Lets face it in reality, the guild is a group of window cleaners formed to present some unity and advice to others. To be a member you need to be insured and licensed (where applicable). So it does represent a group of "professional" window cleaners.

You get some nice logos, you get a profile on the website and you get a certificate to show off to anyone you want to show it to. Yup thats about it..

Thats great for £20..

If the guild was to become something like the FWC to provide everything dave morris brought up earlier then the actual joining fee would by far more due to the running costs and expensive hotel outings and trade shows :, and in reality people probably wont want to join for the high price.

Which is why the guild came about in the first place.

I used to be a member of the FWC, but I didn't feel it gave me or my customers anything extra that I had already or could find elsewhere cheaper. So for everything I wanted from the FWC, I have from the guild for far less money outlay.

I suspect this is probably the same for most other members.

[Frankybadboy]

nice to see who comes up tops on the google rankings

[GWCS]

nice to see who comes up tops on the google rankings

franky are u Irish?

the guild is only top in Ireland because its well seo'd and is on a Irish IP.

the guild is no where in the UK on google, and the FWC is pretty much top.

[Frankybadboy]

please dont say iam irish,thats insulting all them good lads over there


i didnt say who was top did i  just asked.

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

i know that google rankings are significant.......the fed are as dave says a recognised trade association whereas the guild are still to get to that stage....the point i am making is that folk like dave dont seem to grasp the fact that even the fed had to start somewhere....they didnt get to where they are overnight.....and i reckon they had (and still do have) skeptics of the fed......a lot of the guys on here can afford the fed and thats great, but not everyone has the turnover that dave and the other big guys out there, and it comes across as saying that the 20 quid to join the guild is only for the plebs who havent got the big commercial jobs to justify joining the fed so they really should crawl under a rock somewhere.....that could be taken as snobbery.......but fortunately i can see through all that, i just think dave and those of that mindset (fed only boys) need to give the guild a break and let those who want to join it alone to make their own minds up

[Tosh]

These are the member benifits for the FWC:

Representation of a government recognised Trade Association

A wise business investment with an independently run organisation

Risk Assessments/Method Statements & Policy Statement guidance

Free 24 hour Legal Advice Line

Nominated insurance broker to assist & help with Liability Insurance

Discounted Window Cleaning Equipment

Accredited Health & Safety Training courses for window cleaners

25% discount with Website Wizard

Discounted personalised work wear with Kingfisher

Free quarterly Trade Magazine "Window Talk"

Corporate advertising in Yellow Pages

Use of Logo thus highlighting professionalism & dedication

IOSH accredited Cleaning Windows Safely course - WFP & Ladders

Bi-annual Trade Show & Window Cleaning Competition

Group Accident financial assistance for Members & their employees

Personalised identity card and Membership certificate

Area membership Lists issued on request to Councils/Agencies etc.,

NVQ2 in Cleaning Building interiors, Windows & facade surfaces

Affiliations with; British Cleaning Council, Cleaning and Support Services Association, Asset Skills & close working relations with the HSE's Cleaning Industry Liaison Group.

From that list, much of which I could pick holes in, all I really would want is the use of the logo!  I may as well pay the £20 and go with the Master Guild lot!  I think the logo is better too.

[Moderator David@stives]

A few things i like from that list is

The trade show
The Mag, a bit pants sometimes but something to read in print.
Id cards The corporate Yellow pages ad
Accredited h@s trainining
 
The best line is "A Wise Business investment"

A couple of questions, forget the cost, that isnt even an excuse for window cleaners.

In a Two horse race which cert will help you to get you more work ?

Which cert is more likely to harm your business image ?

What does each tell your clients about you ?

Dave

[Tosh]

Dave, the vast majority of guys here won't have clients that know anything about the FWC.  I guess the biggest contract I've ever had was a Hilton Hotel and they did make us jump through a few hoops and it was help from this forum that sorted out the risk and method statement and safety policy I needed, along with a few other ones.  I wasn't asked if I was a member of a trade association.

I've also quoted for a massive posh golf course and hotel (restaraunts/bars/swimming pool/gym) and they didn't want to know either.  OCS won that contract purely on price (I clean the windows of someone who works there who knows).  They were nearly 50% cheaper than any other quote.

For the majority of us window cleaners, if we want a logo (which all the FWC would be for me), I'd just spend the £20 and go for the Guild.

[Moderator David@stives]

Tosh

only trying to help so i will leave it there,

[Moderator David@stives]

Maybe OCS know how to price correctly instead of just  plucking a figure out of the air, maybe they instilled confidence by being very professional.

p.s

OCS are members of the FWC, they also have a seat on the board, maybe the guild could tempt a big hitter to give them more clout ?

[Gleaming windows]

Dave!

Nat and the rest of them are trying, at least theyre being positive.

Your a grumpy old git, shut up and give it a break.

[Moderator David@stives]

Matt

Is that the best you can do.

Am i not allowed to join in an arguement ?

I am being positive.

I am trying to give people the benefit of my wisdom, time and time again people ask me how my biusiness does so well, part of that answer is to be affiliated with worthwhile organisations.

Not once have i attacked the Guild, you read it all wrong , start again from the beginning you rude man.

[jonnyald]

your a big hitter DAVE 

[Gleaming windows]

Join in the arguement? who was arguing before you joined in?


As for being positive and not knocking the Guild, sorry, whos replying on your behalf then? Those painkillers can have a mind and mood altering effect if taken to excess.


Maybe the guild arent a worthwhile organisation at the moment, and you have suggested in your opinion how they can better improve themselves, but that isnt going to happen overnight.

As for me being rude. Is that any ruder than you telling me to put a sock in it in a previous thread??

You rude man.

[Moderator David@stives]

I am small fry.

Made a decent little business, but definately not a big hitter.

[Moderator David@stives]

which thread was that Matt ?