First off let me start by saying that I’m not trying to offend anyone. So I just now was doing my laundry…I live in a condo…shared laundry room. I saw this kid dumping a bag of rags into the dryer. I said that’s a lot of rags there what did you clean up? Kid says my dad is a window washer. First thing I did was I gave him a business card and asked him to ask his dad to give me one and maybe we can exchange info or if I ever got stuck on a job, maybe…maybe I can give him a call. Kid said his pop does all the subway restaurants in the city we live in. About four I believe. He’s just starting out. So, was it a good thing to do what I did? Dumb? Can building friendships within the same business(other than this forum which I love by the way) hurt you or help you?
Networking is never a bad thing, IMO. If I learned of a new cleaner in my area, I would definitely want to reach out to them. Help them from making mistakes that could hurt the both of us, like underpricing work. And the possiblility of having someone to call in on larger jobs could really be a plus.
Good work! It was very neighborly of you :).
Good point with the underpricing. Thanks. I just felt like I was given all kinds of support When I started up. Why not extend that to another small business owner whether they are looking to side gig or go in all the way.
Making contacts is usually a positive thing, you never know what might happen down the road. Just imagine if three years from now the calls you and says he is looking for someone to buy him out, or help with a large chain he just secured bit can’t handle. Be kind and gracious, opportunities will arise.
I Allways meet and pass on a card to wc’ers I bump into. Some act like I am going to dunk them in my bucket!!!.
Just like in life, your not going to like everyone.
I am not afraid to pass on a lead, or help on a job ( if I can)
A lot of them will give you " the wary eye" but keep doing as you did.
Pax
My friend josh who owns birds beware found me on here when I first started. Invited me out for lunch, and totally blessed me. At first I had no clue how I could be friends with my main competitor but its been awesome. Besides having a friend, I pass him jobs like roof cleaning or window jobs i can’t tackle myself. And he passes me stuff when he is to busy to take on more work. He’s far more established but why not at least get to know your competition? There’s more than enough work out there for anyone willing to work hard.
There are a few window cleaning companies that I keep close contact with (ACWC and Thompson Touch most notably) but for the most part Ive noticed that competitors usually dont want to be bothered.
Their loss.
I have a few competitors in my area that I am friends with and we give each other work and advice all the time. One is a fellow WCRA member. Both have more years experience than I and beleive it or not, we have taught each other many things over the years. It has been completely positive. Of coarse they are good people to begin with. There are other window cleaners who I would probably not share much with at all. I have met many over the years and they seem mostly fearful of the competition. I am their enemy.
Meet as many fellow window cleaners in your area as you can. You are bound to find a few that you can share with, grow with and help each other out.
About six or seven years ago I had a client who had some scratched glass and asked if I knew how to remove it I told them I didnt but would call around and inquire if there was anyone doing that in our area.I was put in touch with another window cleaner in town whom I didnt know (but had heard of) and was a bit apprehensive about calling tho I did and lets call him John went out and took care of my customer and made me look like a hero.
After he was done John called me to let me know how it went and then at the end of the call he asked me if I was looking for anymore work.I said yes always and then he asked me to meet him at one of his jobs a few days later.I worked with him that day and found out he was a long established cleaner in town that he was a father of two,that he was in the middle colon cancer and had given a few clients to another guy he knew and was trying to keep some of his top jobs and asked if needed would I be willing to help him out when I could as he couldnt really stress his body out too much.I told him I would on the condition that I did all the ladder work or any of the outside work if need be.He agreed and we have been friends ever since.John has sent me all kinds of smaller jobs and tons of pressure cleaning work.His oldest is now ready to head for college and tho it got kinda scary at one point John is in remission and not needing to call me as often as he used to.
I am so thankful for Johns friendship that I am so glad I made that call out to him when told by a glass company "well there’s a window washer in town we use to fix scratched glass."I never have regretted that decision once and it is one of the top 5 I have ever made in my life.
I have never went out of my way to get to know others I my area but its simply because I don’t have the time. I enjoy getting to meet other owners and I will always refer jobs to those I have met in person.
We are all trying to provide for our family in one way or another and there is plenty of work.
I have a guy in town that has really helped me get started. I met with him and he answered all of my questions. I think it’s a positive thing especially to help keep your pricing in line with the other guys.
When I first joined WCRA, Todd from Mtn West WC introduced himself. He’s been a great resource for advice. He’s sent a job my way when he was too busy and I’ve tried to do the same, being I’m a small outfit that cleans windows as a second job and some jobs are too big for me to do. I’ve probably been an annoyance to him but I am so grateful for his willingness to help.
Brandon Watts
Watts Works
Sandy, UT
I think it’s very important to have good relationships, especially among the smaller companies… if a big job comes through, getting some manpower to help can be crucial. Plus, if the other guy ever decides to get out of the business, he may sell you his # and website on the cheap.
As said below, networking is never a bad thing! You never know when those contacts may come in handy down the road and what they could possibly do for you in the future. It’s possible that if you cannot supply a particular service or they can’t, you may be able to recommend each other! Keep up the networking, it can work for you!
- Taylor,
Bristol Cleaning Calgary Window Cleaning, Lawn Care and Snow Removal Service
They’re all the enemy
I stress all the new guys in town to get what its worth money wise. And I also got one of my largest accounts from another window cleaner that sold it to me from making a good relationship with him. And just recently I met a new window cleaner that jumped up the SEO ladder in two weeks I called him and he said he wants to do more seo and get a maid business for his in laws and doesn’t really like windows so I hired him to do my SEO and now I get lots of calls thanks to him and he dropped all his window cleaning advertisements and SEO to make way for mine.
[MENTION=6469]Jaran[/MENTION] happy to here you got everything up and going with your web site. So with your new site and better SEO how many more calls are you getting?
0-4 per day average 1-2
