What is your extreme window disclaimer?
In the past I’ve put on my flyers “added on sun rooms, sky lights and basements not included” (sometimes the basements are sliders).
You should have The Killers " Mr. Brightside" playing when someone visits:) Looks great, good job.
Hahah- thats funny! Maybe I should!
Thanks for compliment Prizm!
Maybe I could just somehow use the intro music before the lyrics start or have the the lyrics taken out- then have a page on my website where I replace the original lyrics with my own lyrics that involve window cleaning! You got me thinking Prizm;)
Ok I did this quick as a joke so I don’t know if it even rimes but here is a sample- hahahah- LOL
Sung to the tune Mr. Brightside…
“and you just can’t look it’s killing you
and taking control
Streaky windows, turning heads from the dirty view
gazing through grimy panes
choking on the dirty frames
But it’s just the price you pay…
Mr B is calling you
so you can open up your eager eyes
’Cause I’m Mr. Brightside”
I wouldn’t do that. Most people are annoyed by music playing unless they’re the ones that push play. If music starts playing on any website I go to, I leave. I don’t care what the content on the page is, it’s annoying when sound just starts playing.
I hear ya, I’m the same way- I’m just having fun with this concept is all… I wouldn’t really put music on my site unless there was extremely powerful marketing evidence to prove it’s effectiveness… and user controls that would allow a visitor to play the song if they wanted to hear it- not just to turn it off. If they have to search for a way to turn it off because it was playing automatically they will be annoyed- as would you and I.
Yeah, I have two competitors here that have sites that play sound as soon as someone gets on their site. One plays music that you CAN’T shut off. It just plays and plays and plays. I have to mute my speakers everytime I want to check out his site. The other one starts playing a really annoying commercial and you have to hunt for the off button which you have to scroll down for (it’s not obvious).
I forget where I saw it but someone had a link to a window cleaning site and I swear it had what sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks singing some sort of song! It was hilariously annoying!
wow!
Like the site, it looks great. The only thing I would worry about is that 7 day rain guarantee. You say “I will come back and redo any windows that the rain touches” Most of the time, rain touches all of the glass!! You dont want to redo all of the glass do you?? Most of the time, the rain wont even dirty up the window. I would change it to say “I will come back and redo any windows that the rain messes up”, or something like that.
Just my .02 cents.
windowman
Hey Charlie I hear ya.
Things are a little different out here in “sunny” California. We actually “pray” for rain. It’s not uncommon to go months and months and months…without a single rain drop. Now Wintertime is a bit different, but still it’s not uncommon for Christmas Day to be perfectly sunny and 70 deg.
I’ve seen rain guarantees of 14 days as well.
Personally, I mean exactly what my guarantee says. If rain touches the window- I’ll come and re-clean it. Now to be honest, I really don’t plan on having a lot of call backs for these reasons: #1 It doesn’t rain very much here (i’m knocking on wood as I write this). #2 Your right, rain really doesn’t dirty the glass- dirt does. So within 7 days of my cleaning a window, it is not “too” likely that enough (pollen, dust or whatever the wind decides to drop on the window) is going to collect within that 7 days to make the window dirty looking if it does decide to rain. So I really do not anticipate clients even after it rains, to call me back and request a re-clean to often. However, if they do- then I will honor my guarantee 100%, even if it means I lose money. I’m only as good as my word- so I’ll do exactly as I have promised…or in this case- guaranteed.
This is new to me (the guarantee) so I have to give it a shot and see how it goes.
As for the wording of the guarantee, I really want to take out all the fine print, ambiguities, grey areas, guesswork etc… If I say that I’ll redo “any window that the rain messes up” then that is completely subjective and open for interpretation in many ways. It places doubt in the mind of a customer who may think- "well what does “messed up” mean? I see a water line where the rain dribbled down the center of the window- does this qualify as a “messed up window?”
Do you see where I’m going here Charlie? You know, and I know, that rain really doesn’t make a window dirty- but does the customer understand this? Not always.
What I want for my prospective clients is this- I want them to know that if it rains within 7 days of me cleaning their windows- I will come out and re-clean the windows that were rained on. I want them to know that I am not going to come out and inspect the windows and then “hem and haw” and say “well, this window doesn’t qualify cause its not messed up, or the rain didn’t do that so I won’t re-clean it.”
I know your not even remotely suggesting that that is what I or you would do Charlie. I’m just saying that I want my customers to know that I mean EXACTLY what I say- no bull****. If I lose money by spending time redoing windows thats ok- I would rather be know as the guy who has an iron-clad no bull**** guarantee and means every word of it- instead of just another guy who guarantees all sorts of things but doesn’t really mean it.
Here is a perfect case to illustrate my point about honoring guarantees.
I recently made an order with a “well known” printing company who says under their “Price match guarantee” that they will match anybodies price. To quote “XXXXX XXXX will match the advertised price of any print job from any other online printer”…then the fine print comes in. Well, I followed all the fine print to a T, and then requested my price match and the customer service guy started “Hemmin and Hawin” about well you have to tell us before you upload the artwork and blah blah blah… finaly I quote to him what his own company website says and he says he will have to go get managment approval. I tell him thats cool I understand and we agree that when he’s done, he will call me back. Well he never calls me back. So the next day I send them an email telling them I’m still waiting for my callback. A few hours later they send me an email telling me that they got the price match approved for the $111 and that it will be put into my account for use on a future order. So I said to myself “like Hell it will” and I called them up immediately, I didn’t F around either- I got right to the point with customer service. I explained the situation and quoted the customer service guy his own website guarantee which is—
[COLOR=“blue”]"What if I find the lower price after I’ve placed my order?
If you find a lower price including shipping on the same job within 7 days of placing your order with XXXXXXXXXX.com, please give us a call at 123-456-7890 or email us at [email protected] with all your information. We will confirm the printing, finishing and shipping options are the same, then refund the difference [COLOR=“red”]to your card[/COLOR].
[/COLOR]
I explained that they are going to put that $111 back on my card and not on my account for future printing cost as they had previously stated.
They said they will refund my card and that it will be back within 24 hours. Well, its been over 24 hours and its not back on my card. So I’m going to have another chat with them tomorrow.
The whole point of all this though is that i don’t want to be like this company Charlie. I don’t want to put my customers through what this company has put me through. I want my clients to know right off that there is no BS in my guarantee. I won’t “hem and haw” and argue about it either. If they say the rain hit their windows and would I please come out and reclean them- I will tell them “certainly- let me put you on the schedule for re-cleaning at no cost under the 7 day rain guarantee”.
I want my wording of the guarantee to be perfectly clear, with no grey areas that are open for interpretation.
Ok thats my .02 cents…or 2 bucks
Thanks for pointing that out though Charlie, I’m happy to clarify my guarantees. And if I find that I am losing too much money/time or that people are intentionally ripping me off- I simply won’t guarantee it at all, and that will be plain and clear too. I’ll just stop the whole rain guarantee all together and remove it from my advertising and website.
But I’m betting people are honest, so it doesn’t keep me up at night;)
BTW- I really like your slogan in your signature- that’s a keeper!
Hey Woody,
I hear you. We get rain almost every afternoon in the summer down here in the south, so I get where you’re coming from.
I know what you mean about guarantee’s also, for 13 years I’ve been telling people if we cant please you, you dont owe me a dime. I stick to that as well.
Oh, and thanks for the compliment on my tagline, it has opened many doors for me. I will meet a new PM, or client, and I will look at them stone faced and say “Let me make one thing perfectly clear…(I’ll wait a few seconds to see the suprise on their face), and then say…Your Windows!!!”, of course, then I will smile and introduce myself. Most of the time it is a good ice breaker, and we laugh. On the times it didn’t, I just told the people, I’m a fun loving guy, and dont take much too seriously, so this is me. If we do business, I’ll always be smiling, if we dont do business together, I’ll still be smiling!!
windowman
That’s the way to be Charlie. It’s all in the attitude and how you present yourself. Not only what you say, but how you say it means a lot. Lots of people can smell BS a mile away, and some of us can see it too. Be friendly- be honest, and people will see and respond to that.
A good example of this today was while I was waiting at the Apple store to have my computer checked out. The store was crazy packed full of people and the employees were getting behind on their appointment times. I had a 6pm appointment and didn’t get seen until 6:45pm. But I sat their happily chatting with others and watching people come in all ****ed off because they had to wait. The employees were always nice to these angry customers but when the customers were busy ranting, I could see the looks that the store employees were giving eachother. These customers were not scoring any points with overworked employees.
Then a guy comes in and says his iPhone just stopped working. The tech asked him if their had been any liquid spilled in the phone? The guy immediately crosses his arms and says “not that I’m aware of” ( the first thought that ran through my head is that this guy is lying) anyways, the tech goes about checking the phone out and tells the guy that the phone can be replaced for X amount of dollars! He also explains that both liquid sensors in the phone were tripped so that there was in fact liquid in the phone. The tech guy knew the customer was lying to him, it was his demeanor and the way he physically presented himself + the litlle sensor things inside the phone that change color if they come into contact with liquid (I believe that’s how they work) tell no lies.
Point is, all these people short-change themselves by being dishonest or just comming across as abbussive.
I on the other hand waited happily and spoke with an honest smile to my tech guy. I did not try and BS him, and I made it clear that I understood that things were busy and stressfull and I didn’t mind waiting at all. Me and the tech guy got along great and he went way above the allotted 15 min that they are supposed to give you. He even told me he would stay late and work on my computer, plus he didn’t charge me for what would normally be a $150 service (extracting the contents of my old hard drive and backing them up to the new portable drive)
Maybe it was the way I treated him- he returned the favor!
So yeah, be fun loving and don’t take things too seriously- you got it covered Charlie!
Oh and I’ve typed this all out on my iPhone with my thumb, so if i look illiterate (more than usual I mean) that’s why.
being friendly at the computer shop doesnt always work out !- i was met by a most cheery pink shirted tech guy and he really talked-the-talk. i was so impressed i brought him 4 beers when i picked up my repaired laptop (gratefully received !) but once home my lappy didnt work and i then made 3 return visits and still no joy !!! i now realize Mr.PINK SHIRT can talk-the-talk , but not walk-the -walk
I hear ya- we all have to back up our talk with our actions. That goes for guys who wear pink shirts too;)
using my SEO tools seems like your website takes almost 8 seconds to load. Other than that it looks pretty. Not efficient however. You can minimize load times by resizing your images.
Yeah I’m planing on doing just that. I’m waiting for my computer to get fixed first. Then I plan to work on the SEO, including the pictures. When I designed it I never noticed a slow down for the load time. But others have mentioned the same thing so I do plan on fixing it as soon as I can.
Thanks for reminding me!
Hopefully I’ll get my computer back today or tomorrow
