I’ve been in business for 2 years now. Is it worth changing “Premier Window Washing” to “Premier Window Cleaning?” I kind of like “cleaning” better now. Any thoughts?
That’s not a drastic change that may leave your customers wondering where you went. They will figure it out. So really I think it cones down to how much money you have invested in your current branding (business cards, logo, vehicle graphics, etc…) if you don’t mind spending money on new branding then I don’t see why you shouldn’t. It’s your company and it would suck to always be thinking that the name was different. And again I don’t see you losing or confusing your current customers with that small change. I say go for it.
Anyone can “wash” a window… but to be clean is a whole nother’ story 
I agree, comes down to cost and whether its worth it to you. I would send a letter to all your current and past clients advising of the minor name change emphisizing a new name but same great service as before… Something like that.
Use the Search feature, and you’ll find results regarding the semantics of wash v. clean.
Your name is not a brand, it’s a name.
Washing and cleaning are a perception difference (personal.)
More important is how customers might conduct Interweb searches for your services.
If you want true branding recommendations, contact THE authority – AC Lockyer:
Business Consulting for Service Companies.
According to Wikipedia:
A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business[1]
A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. A legally protected brand name is called a trademark. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity - it affects the personality of a product, company or service.
Also according to Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: brand name
Function: noun
Date: 1922
1 : an arbitrarily adopted name that is given by a manufacturer or merchant to an article or service to distinguish it as produced or sold by that manufacturer or merchant and that may be used and protected as a trademark
2 : one having a well-known and usually highly regarded or marketable name
presumably you liked the word WASHING better in the early days. i think the word washing sounds good -old school style
I prefer “cleaning” over “washing”. Its seems more “high-end” and “modern” in my opinion. I try to think of how my target market would view my name …anywho, I think its worth it 
I have heard window cleaners arguing the difference between “washing” and “cleaning” (the use of razors, the degree of professionalism etc) however, to the general public “washing” and “cleaning” are synonymous. On many of the checks written out to me, people write “window washing” in the subject line despite that my company name includes the phrase “window cleaning.”
So it’s up to you. But remember that you are not advertising to other window cleaners, you are advertising to the general public.
Some people forget that they are trying to win over people with no industry knowledge. Saying that you use GG4 and Ettore rubber and the best this and that usually doesn’t impress customers. They like to hear: money back guarantee, licensed & insured, always on-time, clean cut and uniformed etc.
Premier Window Window Washing has a nice ring to it, by the way.
What if you market those things as well as what equipment and chems you use?
Have you found that informing your customers of what you use on their windows- to be disadvantageous?
I personally find that being upfront and explaining in advance (via the website) what your going to do and how your going to do it, to be beneficial by reassuring your potential customer that you are in fact a professional who uses proffessional grade equipment and chemicals instead of showing up at the job with an Arco am/pm squeegee and some Windex. Also, it greatly eliminates having to answer these questions on the phone or in person.
Informing your customer is a good thing. Just because they may be ignorant of industry terms or standards is no reason to treat them as if they were incapable of understanding such things.
I agree that one should also extol other benefits of choosing your company, such as punctuality, clean-cut, experience, licensed & insured, guarantee… etc.
If you like that name better I would just buy the trade name. Its only $10.00 for a trade name in Arizona. Put the trade name under your company… as in make your company the owner of the trade name. Then you can do business as both. Just my thoughts…
I personally find that being upfront and explaining in advance (via the website) what your going to do and how your going to do it, to be beneficial by reassuring your potential customer that you are in fact a professional who uses proffessional grade equipment and chemicals instead of showing up at the job with an Arco am/pm squeegee and some Windex. Also, it greatly eliminates having to answer these questions on the phone or in person.
Nate, your right as far as explaining that you use professional grade chems, equip and technique but you don’t need to go into detail about what those are. saying that you use Glass Gleam 4 and an Ettore Contour Pro Plus means nothing to the customer. They just want to know that you are a pro and not an amateur.
<a href=“Photo Storage” target=“_blank”><img src=“http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n514/greenj26/00001-homeless-squeegee.jpg” border=“0” alt=“Photobucket”></a>
Why do I not need to go into detail? Simply because they are not familiar with those products? Does it hurt to tell your customers what products you use?
If you went to the Dr. and she told you that you need surgery, would you simply say ok let’s do it, or would you start researching the procedure and specifically what it entails. Would want to be familiar with the medical condition and it’s terms or would you be satisfied with “my thingy hurts and the good Dr. will fix me all up good as new”.
My point is that information is a good thing. I see no reason to withhold it. If they aren’t intrested then they can forget it as quickly as they read it- no harm, no foul.
But to assume that they don’t care about it, simply because they aren’t familiar with those terms would be a mistake. I’ve never once had somebody say "I was going to go with you- untill I read what chems and squeegees you use.
On the contrary, I have people ask for me by name and then tell me what a great website I have. Apparently they like knowing what I’m going to do and exactly how I’m going to do it.
Why do I not need to go into detail? Simply because they are not familiar with those products? Does it hurt to tell your customers what products you use?
If you went to the Dr. and she told you that you need surgery, would you simply say ok let's do it, or would you start researching the procedure and specifically what it entails. Would want to be familiar with the medical condition and it's terms or would you be satisfied with "my thingy hurts and the good Dr. will fix me all up good as new".
My point is that information is a good thing. I see no reason to withhold it. If they aren't intrested then they can forget it as quickly as they read it- no harm, no foul.
But to assume that they don't care about it, simply because they aren't familiar with those terms would be a mistake. I've never once had somebody say "I was going to go with you- untill I read what chems and squeegees you use.
On the contrary, I have people ask for me by name and then tell me what a great website I have. Apparently they like knowing what I'm going to do and exactly how I'm going to do it.
Posting the specifics of your tools, solutions and techniques on your website is a great idea. I go into detail with this on my website also. A website is interactive. You can click on certain links to read more info if you want to. A website allows you to customize the marketing experience letting the viewer delve into more information if they so choose.
However, putting a bunch of specifics on chems, tools and techniques on a flier may be overkill. Even more overkill is telling your customers a bunch of technical information that they didn’t request. If they are watching you, and you start telling them that you are doing the super swirl squeegee technique with your zero degree Unger swivel lock, and you are wiping the edges of the glass with imported scrim cloth and then you are absorbing the water from the ledge with a Polyvinyl alcohol towel (pva) which is a water-soluble synthetic polymer material with excellent absorption properties… well they might just find something to organize in the other room.
My point was that the technical information that interests a person involved in a certain craft may be pretty boring to someone else. And that the marketing involved in getting a craftsman to buy a product may not be the best marketing for the craftsman to use to get customers.
As an example, I worked in carpet cleaning for 3 years and I noticed that carpet cleaners would recycle the marketing material meant to sell carpet cleaning products to them. I would see the exact descriptions for truckmount systems that were in trade magazines printed in the carpet cleaner’s phonebook ads and valpack flyers. This mistake was made by independent operators. I never saw franchises parrot the manufacturers ads because they had a more sophisticated marketing strategy. Look at Stanley Steamer’s commercials, they are funny and persuasive, but they don’t tediously relate the technical specifications of their equipment.
Now, if someone seems interested in knowing more information. I would never suggest withholding it from them. I just think that people who geek out on things (I’m including myself in this) may overestimate the interest that the general public has for their knowledge.
Another consideration, which I mentioned, is the degree of interactivity of the advertising medium.
Marshall McLuhan is well known for his theories about “hot and cool media”. In his 1964 book, “Understanding Media”, McLuhan proposed that different media invite different degrees of participation from the person who chooses to consume a media.
Hot media are low in audience participation due to their high resolution or definition. Cool media are high in audience participation due to their low definition (the receiver must fill in the missing information).
Jesse, I think we agree and just didn’t realize it.
There must have been some miscommunication on my part. I totally agree that the kind of info we are talking about has a specific place-- and that’s not in general marketing (fliers, radio, whatever). A website is different for the reasons you mentioned. The customer does not have to subject themselves to it. It’s simply there to inform them if they so choose. I’ve never marketed this info outside of my website and never will.
Though now that I’ve read the second paragraph quoted above-- I love that! It’s so nerdy its funny! I’ve got to figure out a way to use that, at least to force customers into other rooms;)
We’re just a couple of window cleaning geeks. Nothing to be ashamed of… I think.
