Just got a phone call to come out and clean TWO sliding glass doors. That was it - just the two doors. I said I have a $100 minimum, is she sure she wouldn’t want all of the windows done? She said no, just the two - besides her other window cleaner (who doesn’t come around anymore, charges $90 for the whole house). She still only wanted two sliders cleaned. Sometimes I don’t know how to take people. Wonder if I could have the plumber come out and fix one faucet handle without a minimum charge?
I have had one or two of those types and ill at least go ahead and do the exterior till i reach 100 bucks worth that way they feel happy
Congratulations on the job! A lady called me years ago only wanting her garage window cleaned. This was before I had a minimum. She lived 45 minutes from me. I told her I was too busy. Now I would gladly clean that ONE window for my minimum. 
Oh no, no job out of it. She wanted only the two doors and nothing else - wouldn’t even discuss doing the whole house so she declined. I wouldn’t drive over and do a per slider window charge for two windows. Gas, insurance, my time, etc. for $24? Nahhh. I have a big job tomorrow that will put me in a nice pay check. Come on Friday!
tell her youll let her know if youll be driving through her neighborhood. last november i had a lady who wanted only a few windows done($40). i did it. a woman was walking by and took my card , turned out to be a $600 window job and a $400 power washing job, 2 days later i get a call from her friend for an $850 window job and a $300 power washing job. a month later i get a call from her cousin…another $600…and another referral for 300 and then his neighbor for 800. You get the picture, if you can make it work make it work. My dad use to tell me “its always about the money but its not always about the money”.
^this deserves a hundred likes (or handmade clogs/cured sausages/sacks of oats if you are old school like me).
be careful not to get caught up in the “I have a minimum charge, and I won’t budge” mindset. some jobs should be viewed as investments. yeah, maybe it costs you a little up front in terms of dollars per hour, but it may pay off huge in the long run. always factor in the potential for referral business before writing off a job because it doesn’t meat your minimum.
For me, these sort of instances are kind of a “luck of the draw” thing. I have a minimum, I’ll deviate from it occasionally if it makes sense (next door neighbor signs up for the same day, they’re on my route to another job, they’re related to me or friends, etc.). But so far nothing outstanding has come of these exceptions. I’m much more likely to receive high-dollar referrals from from other high-dollar clients. But props to you guys who have made bank off it!
U may be the nicest guy on this forum
Thanks for the compliment! I try not to make any enemies.
This is in a neighborhood with so-so results. In five years I’ve landed 6 jobs. Two are regular customers. I would have been okay matching the other guys price ($90) but she was adamant about just doing the two sliders. Sometimes you get that feeling it will go nowhere. Did that once before down the street from this one - front window and entryway - nothing since. Enter minimum.
This is what I do. Let them know I’ll be glad to do it when I’m in the area. I don’t want them running around saying “he wanted $100 to clean 2 windows!” and that’s surely what they will say because they will leave out the minimum pricing when relating the story to anyone else.
What he said 
I would have gone out and done the work for free and had a lifetime customer after that. One of my regular customers lost her husband of 53 years this past summer. Last week she called and asked if I could stop buy. I stopped with one of my window cleaners…
She couldn’t get the tree down from the attic by herself.
We pulled the tree down and set it up for her to decorate while she prepared us lunch. She gave my cleaner a $10.00 tip and we left. We were there less than an hour. Customer for life.
I too help out regular customers and they are quite loyal because of it. I only lost two customers in my down time from my accident. Most of the others mentioned they only wanted me to do their windows. This one is not even a customer in the past and was expecting a very cheap visit. Two sliders only and her “regular cleaner” doesn’t come out anymore - might say something there? Sometimes it’s a judgement call.
All situations are not the same in dealing with customers or future customers.
There in lies the conundrum of being able to read each situation to the best of your ability.
Reading people and situations takes time and practice. What works in one situation.
Doesn’t work in another… And can’t be cookie cutter’d
Sometimes it warrants being a blessing and do it for free. Believing in the long run it will come back to you.
In the form of them being a customer or giving you a referral. Or they tell somebody about it and they give you a call.
And as other’s have said do it when your in the neighborhood.
Other times it’s knowing this yahoo is just trying to use me and take advantage of me.
Thinking i am just going to do this for them on the cheap… That some how i must be desperate… Ahh NO
See me thank you for your time. Then walk away…
It would be an exception for me to go lower than my minimum which starts at $100.
And unfortunately, it’s true: a lot of people will forget that most other servicepeople have minimums. So they’ll say “you’re going to charge me $100 to clean a few windows”? So they need to understand that you just don’t magically show up at their windows geared up and ready to clean, and then just teleport home.
Note too that she said the windows hadn’t been cleaned in about a year because her other window cleaner quite coming around. She only wanted two sliders done. I offered to do all of the windows to make it worth while because of a minimum to come out - she declined and threw in her “other” cleaner only charged $90 for the whole house. $10 would have been very negotiable! I think I judgement called this one okay. Perhaps if I had been working that neighborhood I could have made the stop. No lost sleep over this one as I keep filling the schedule up this time of year until summer.
