I’d love your thoughts on this flier and this technique for starting a new biz.
Thanks!
Brad Bolt
Clearly Professional Window Cleaning
I would ditch that “new guy” idea you got going there. If I just built a house and had $60,000 worth of windows installed then i want someone cleaning them that knows whats going on.
You are leaving a lot of money on the table! Just because your a new guy doesnt mean you need to be cheap. You really need to be charging more if you are new. I think the “getting my foot in the door” thing is BS. For me the start up was what cost the most so why do I need to work cheaper because Im a new business. But Im just a window cleaner so I will let the marketing GODs help ya out. Hey Paul, Kevin Your up. 
Take the word practice out of that flier.
[SIZE=“5”]Fake it 'till ya make it![/SIZE]
Dont be so cheap either. Make you look novice, and like you are desperate.
Brad that flier put a fear in me just reading.
I can only think of one word when it comes to that flier.
desperate.
Although you may be desperate for work or at least customers to start out with. It has been my experience that once the typical homeowner sees someone desperate they either take advantage or just not bother at all and your flier may just get them to call a professional window cleaner.
Neither one of those look appealing to me. Instead of basically giving away your business with extremely low prices (which are difficult to raise once you started) I would possibly focus on giving the customer a demo of what your window cleaning would look like. 100% of the demo’s I have done I landed the window cleaning job
[ame=“Iverson Practice! - YouTube”]Practice? We talking about Practice?[/ame]
I would practice on friends and family and my own windows. Once you feel confident your skill will improve the more homes you do. I wouldn’t let them know your practicing. I could only imagine the over the shoulder look you would get.
So what are we talking about?
Yeah, I think your prices are too low. I’d raise them ($5 a window is way too cheap).
Be careful. Don’t let them Know you are new. Before you know it you won’t be.
Yeah I would never say “you need to practice”
They don’t even need to know you haven’t been in business long. If you need some practice houses, hit up family and friends first and then do some cheap jobs outside of your service area (so if you screw up or do a poor job, it doesn’t get out nearby) but don’t advertise that your new; just advertise a steep discount
Also, this is a minor detail, but there’s no need for the periods after every sentence in the list. Even if it’s technically correct grammatically, the list flows better without them. You’ll probably want to drop a good third of the words too and add a picture of some sort.
You should look into getting professional flyers designed, or at least printed… it’s alot cheaper than you might think and makes you stand out big time against competitors using this kind of platform. gotprint.net is particularly cheap. (Edit: 2 sided full color and coated 8.5x11 flyers at gotprint will cost you $99 on 100lb paper. Request a sample pack and compare the difference in quality between what you print off at home and what they (or any print company) can do. WORTH the money.)
I totally get what all of you are saying; I really do sound desperate!
I will take a different tack related to I’m in business and this is what I offer; I am 'Clearly Professional!'
One question: it seems like a lot of WCers around here (Phoenix area) charge $5 per window. That seems to include in and out and tracks. Extra charge for insect or solar screens.
I’ve looked at a number of area websites and they’re online prices are all around $5. I’d love to charge more, any suggestions?
If I was to guess I would say they are saying $5 a pane not the whole window.
Being new is a great way to justify a low price, but who wants
you to “practice” on their home?
You need to look at your offer from their view.
Sounds risky for them. Risk = less sales
Kevin (one of the members here) used an example of creating PERCEIVED value (perceived value - definition of perceived value from BusinessDictionary.com: Customer’s opinion of a product’s value to him or her.)
by taking Lamborghini’s marketing of their cars, which are super expensive peices of junk. But how do they create the value, they make the owner feel important, it gives them “status” in their minds and they get away with it.
Remember, window cleaning is a luxury service, for homeowners.
Just because someone charges 5 bucks a window does not mean they wont pay YOU 8 9 or 10 bucks for that same window/ you just dress it up differently is all. So how do you do that? By the way you speak, the way you look, the print material you use etc…does it scream professional, we are the best, only the affluent use us, you can trust us, etc…
Dont be afraid to charge more. You cant roll up to an estimate in a beat up truck and charge 1000 bucks for a 3000 sq. ft home. You can if you feel confident about it tho, and look the part. Untill you are able to do that tho, present yourself in a way that you can create that perceived value, charge enough to pay the bills and make alittle extra to pay for the bells and whistles so you CAN play the part, thats what I mean about “fake it till ya make it”.
Just test it out. Next time someone calls you for an estimate, just for kicks, charge 100 bucks more than what you normally would, and dont look like you are asking a question when you tell them the price, make no apologies, this is your price, this is what it includes, when would you like me to start it.
Cortezaero,
I will second the numerous previous posts highlighting the impact your original opening pitch has on prospective customers and add that you may want to evaluate, at the very least - possibly change all together, the language of your 4th selling point; “Only the owner will clean your windows.” I think I understand your intent but in reading this I found myself asking “Why?”
From the customers perspective I don’t feel its a stretch that they may ask themselves the same question, or something like “Is the owner the only one capable of cleaning my windows?” “What if the owner isn’t available, will whoever shows up not do a good job?” So on and so forth. At your current stage of business development you should be serving two efforts (the discussion of branding initiatives, brand perception, market identity, new product/service launches etc. are another marketing concept all together).
Conveying professionalism and presenting a call to action, that’s it! Show them that you are a professional and convey why they need to contact you today. If you start viewing all of your marketing pieces like this you should be able to sharpen your message and increase your likelihood of success.
Finally, as someone new to the window cleaning industry myself, I can not weigh in on your pricing. But as a business exec who has been brought in to grow a firm 200% this year I can tell you first hand, starting out under bidding your jobs to get a foot in the door is one of the worst things you can do! One of the previous posts mentioned, it opens you up to be taken advantage of, but more importantly it burns one of your most important commodities, time.
From the posts I have read here as well as on some of the other larger forums for the industry let the countless tales of new operators running themselves ragged on underpriced routes be your warning. If you are running 8, 10, 12 hour days servicing underperforming accounts you have little time to acquire full margin accounts that will allow you to turn a profit, let alone reaching sales volume and margins that afford growth. This is a recipe for working hard to loose money, or worse still, going out of business.
Good luck!
Nice post.
