[giftedk]

hi all,
        Im looking for advice on getting the money in from customers.  I go round on a saturday morning to collect, and if their not in i leave an envelope for them to send payment with an added 70 pence to cover the cheque. This system works quite well but i still get customers who cant be bothered to get out of bed to answer the door, and others who take ages to send payment in. Im thinking of dropping these customers as they are pi..... me off.  Does anyone use any other methods of payment (paypal, online banking) and are they effective ?.

[Deanyp]

Hello mate. First time i've responded to a question(only been a member a wee) Great find tho.
Anyways...to ya question. What i started doin bout a year ago was to start leavin notes saying"windows cleaned today bla bla" Then i say...Can you please leave money (a) under doormat or (b) under plant pot.....wherever you agree really.for the followin mornin as thats when you'll be comin by to pick up. May take a month to get them used to it,but they.and you will. I used to go out thurs n fri eves in the freezin cold.Dont have to now.just pick it up next day after i done my shining. No more hours of pointless boring chat wi the punters.P.S. One or two will mess ya about but hey, they're gonna do it anyways aint they? And if after a couple o months they aint left the money out, just ask them to send a cheque. Seems to work a dream for me mate.

[Ray Pickering]

Alright mate.

It would bother me losing 70p from each customer--eating away at your profits! depending of course what you are charging.

I went collecting last Saturday for round about £120 there were 4 customers at home so it was a complete waste of time.

In future i'm going to collect on a Friday night when most people have been paid & are (hopefully) at home.

Having said that i aggree it would be a better idea to get them on PayPal etc;as long as they accept it.

It's worth asking if they could leave the money with a neighbour which quite a few of mine do.

Ray.

[Sir Squeaky]

To be honest, any of my customers which are a more than a mile or two to collect and won't send a cheque are usually treated as "if in" unless I'm in a particularly good mood.

Only end up collecting every 3 or 4 weeks, and it's never much.

Roger.

[Thecleanerservice]

I tell my customers from the start-I don't collect because then I would have to make 2 journeys and that would put my costs up, if they're not in they send, if they don't send I collect when I'm passing or next visit.  I only do them twice without paying .they usually catch on.
Pj

[williamx]

I have the phone numbers of all my customers and I phone them the night before to say I'm coming to clean their windows tommorow and can they leave the money either under something or with a neighbour who is going to be at home who I also clean.  I have a 99% success rate with this system, as for the phone charges, I use my mobile phone which has more free call minutes than I ever need, so it dosn't cost me anything.

[simbo]

same as williamx
collecting would really p*ss me off, i also ring all mine first which is why i only target £10 and above properties. start as you mean to go on no matter what it takes , will be worth it in the end
all the best
paul

[Paul Coleman]

I tell my customers from the start-I don't collect because then I would have to make 2 journeys and that would put my costs up, if they're not in they send, if they don't send I collect when I'm passing or next visit.  I only do them twice without paying .they usually catch on.
Pj

That's pretty much how I operate.  If people don't bother sending a cheque on the occasions that I miss them, then I go and work for people who do.  I have two probable dropppings coming up and one possible.  I don't supply the stamps or envelopes either.  I don't see why I should.  These people would soon be onto their employers if they withheld some of their wages.  A few of them are just pee takers - though thankfully most are OK.

[cedric]

We haven't collected any money for 2 years now.
the envelopp system is very good. people put the stamp on it themselves.
You can bouy a "COLOP Printer 20" stamp at Staples and you put your name and adress yourself.

We have also a payment section on our website where people can pay with Nochex or Paypal. You loose a bit with the commission, but it's so much better and safe to stay a home instead of collecting money at night.

[matt]

it takes a while BUT the customers get the idea in the end

i knock on the door after the clean and collect, if no1 is in, i just leave a note with

Your windows were cleaned today

Sorry we missed you for collection, we can either catch you next time or you can send a cheque to : address
or you can pay online using Nochex or paypal


it works ok, some leave it for a clean or 2, some of the bigger accounts even leave it 3 cleans, then i have a bumper payday