The two most annoying things in business are as follows
Hey Susie it will be $220.00 to clean your windows Inside/Out. ( Customer agrees verbally and signs carbon copy or accepts email bid) Upon completion of job Susie says $220.00 but it only took you 3 hours that’s more than $70.00 an hr. Grrrrr my head explodes just thinking of this. You don’t walk into a hair salon and say great $15 sounds good and then get a nice hair cut and go but it only took you 10 minutes that’s $90 an hr. We as business owners all understand that we don’t profit what we charge #1 and #2 the customer accepts the quote for said service and the length of completion is irrelevant. If they have a problem then they will have a problem with the roofer, carpet cleaner, pressure washer, floor guy, tree service etc. So my question is how do you handle the whole but it only took you this long? Do you say a bid is a bid and if you lose them then good riddance, do you justify your price by stating your business expenses which they a wont understand and b is not their business. How do you handle this?
Customers fail to read terms and conditions and then your the bad guy and there gonna bad mouth you and not use you again. For example you explain either verbally and/or in the quote this doesn’t include the removal of hard water damage or post construction debris such as tape, glue, stickers, paint etc. Customer verbally says ok I understand and also accepts quote with terms and conditions. The job end and they go well I am not happy you didn’t even take the tape off, or you work while the husband is there but the bid was accepted by the wife that never read terms or communicated them to husband. Or here is another scenario, the windows just don’t look good because they have been neglected and you explain to them that you don’t guarantee spot free windows. How do you handle customers that expect crystal clear windows that are not capable of coming that clean or they failed to read the terms stating it doesn’t include x y and z. Do you give a discount to avoid a bad review, do you go around and do extra work because they didn’t do their due diligence. Does it depend on the account type or the aggressiveness of the customer?
Please I would appreciate help, I run a good business but have problems combating the well it only took you this long and you charged me this much people, or the well how come you didn’t take that off the window people.
Yes that’s because I’ve been doing this for quite some time we didn’t take any breaks either,most guys less experienced would probably take longer
Don’t sweat these type of people put them in there place with out being condescending like above an move on
You don’t owe an explanation to anybody about what you make. Period !!
You gave them the price they accepted that’s that.
The answer obove basically says. If you want to pay me by the hour I could make this last all day.
Second one is easy
Hey you didnt do the basement windows. “Well I never included them in the estimate”. “ Do you still have it “ ? No … ok Let me pull it up for you “. I have no problem doing them it’s just going to be a little xtra !!
Everything your doing , or not doing needs to be in the estimate. It needs to be emailed. Period!! Everyone has an email.
this has happened once in our 4 years in business. He was an unreasonable man and his wife knew it. she was the one who had booked the job and when she asked (after her husband getting upset about our hourly) “do you want me to call you again?” i said "it’s probably best if you don’t
I have had some people get pushy. One guy pulled me outside and was like going off about how window cleaning is not a skilled profession. He stated he was a financial advisor and asked how much I think he deserves to get paid, he then said there was some kid cleaning at mcdonalds and he was sure the windows probably looked fine. He got into this big discussion about how much people deserve to make hourly depending on there job title. My response was if I clean the windows by myself in 3 hours his price was his price, if I showed up with 8 guys and cleaned them in 5 minutes his price was his price. His price to clean the windows was the price to clean the windows. Around here in this market it happens quite a bit, youll give someone a bid and they will say well it only took you this long or so is it still $300.00 ummmmmm yeah it is. I know a security company, carpet cleaners, general contractors, other windows cleaners, landscapers it happens to all of us. You were only here this long! I know a mechanic that when he works on peoples cars he will train his employees to wait an additional 2 hrs after the job to call the customer so they don’t get pissed about hourly
Not talking about skipping work like “hey you didn’t do the basement.” I mean customers who don’t understand not every property is gonna come out with crystal clear windows. Some people think because your a professional you can turn chicken shit into chicken salad and then they think you suck at window cleaning or robbed them because they failed to read about post construction cleaning in your terms or that neglected windows may not come out perfect.
Look buddy if you don’t want to use me again then that’s fine, but there is nobody that’s going to tell me what I can An can’t make.
You run your business your way I’ll run mine my way. Yes I’m not the cheapest guy around , my prices are fair compared to companies like mine.
Like @leavingnc Ben says there aren’t many like that. When they come around you have to put them in there place. It’s exhilarating!!
I hear ya thiugh , some people can be intimidating, just remember you have every right to make what you feel is necessary to keep your business profitable , an make you happy to go to work. F that guy !!!
Sorry for the language if you don’t speak that way. I do !!
After cleaning the first window explain to the customer The remaining hard water spots, paint, silicone etc. cannot be removed with soap and water. Mrs. Jones if you would like me to remove the stains there is an additional cost of… Set the expectations from the beginning especially with new customers. And as you are working, ask the customer “is everything looking OK so far”. If customer tells you everything looks great during the cleaning process, most likely at the end of the cleaning process there should not be any issues. During the cleaning process if the customer brings to your attention something is not quite right, address it immediately. Point is don’t wait till the job is complete to ask the customer how you did, continuously asked during the cleaning process to ensure you’re doing a satisfactory job.
Yes yes I get that. That is a little bit of an issue. You have to set the expectation level before you start , even before you give the estimate.
Look your windows are really old. I’ve notice some staining issues , that won’t come out with a regular cleaning. Just want to let know that before you except my estimate.
Even put in the estimate. Old windows , or
*Notice windows have staining issues a regular cleaning will now remove staining.
Or ask them when your therr what’s your expectations here. These windows have been neglected, we can clean them , but if your looking for them to come out like new I can’t promise that.
When I do these 8 out of 10 will say no no we don’t expect them to be line new. If they say well they have to be. I say well I’m not the guy for ya then.
Let some idiot new guy be the hero for nothing. He will be there all day trying to appease an unreasonable customer. That more than likely won’t be willing to pay what it takes to get them close to new.
With all do respect I would not do this. It makes you look like a rookie IMHO. Someone that is not sure of themselves.
If your a pro you know what looks good, an how the job is suppose to come out.
If this is what you do an it’s working forgive me it just wouldn’t work for me.
I respect your business quality , An I’m sure your very successful , I just had to throw in my 2 cents for what it’s worth. Which may be nothing lol
Sorry Tss but I agree with this except my concern is not so much looking like a rookie but more inviting picky responses. I feel like when you ask about the service or point out things the customers puts special glasses on to search for problems with the windows.
I hope this isn’t happening regularly. If it is you may need to figure out a way to market to a higher caliber of customer.
If a customer brings up how fast we are I will mention that it’s not that we’re fast, it’s more that we are extremely efficient. I keep it short and simple. Briefly talk about the value you bring to the table (experience, new equipment, outstanding, customer service, etc.) instead of listing your expenses trying to justify the cost.
Most customers don’t read all, if any, of the terms and conditions. You still need to have them in writing though, stating them in the most simplistic straight forward way possible.
I just know a lot of businesses that this happens with! I spoke to a contractor recently that said it’s literally non stop. so many people go to work everyday for $16, $25 $30 an hour and they see us in and out in an hour and a half and charge $160 and they freak out. they just don’t understand the cost of business some people will go well when I go to work everyday I don’t make $70 or $90 an hour. They just don’t get that A. They’re not running a business and B. they accepted our bid
" I know Susie… Isn’t this great !! We are so blessed to live in a country where you can afford to actually have your windows cleaned ( Think of that Susie - you are paying me to have windows cleaned ! ). And Susie want to hear the kicker ? A guy can start a business to meet that need and be so successful a it - so good at it - that he can make $70.00 an hour doing it. Ahhh Susie isn’t this a wonderful day ? Aren’t we both so blessed ? "
" Would you like to schedule your Spring window cleaning before I leave Susie ? "
Never run into that situation. I get compliments on how fast we are. We aim for $100/hr between us and I make sure to do an in-person bid so I know how long it will take.
We do a thorough job, but point out stuff that doesn’t come off with standard WC tools ie scraper, scrubber and Dawn, maybe a little BioClean. They tend to understand and are impressed how much better the windows look.
Years ago I had a retired lawyer tell me…“I didn’t make what you make an hour when I was a lawyer.” I don’t remember my response to him. I know I wanted to say “See you could have been a window cleaner making great money part time.”
