We all know that rain is clean water and doesn’t leave spots on clean windows. Not looking to start a “keyboard war” or anything like it. Just looking for facts.
BUT… we all also have stubborn customers or prospects who just don’t get it still. Does anyone know of a good website, or link, or a type of handout to leave or send to them?
I HAVE Googled it, but the majority of answers are on professional window cleaning websites, or blog where anyone can answer. Not saying they’re wrong, but I’d be interested in knowing where to find information from a legit science website.
I looked at some NOAA sponsored websites, and they said rain can absorb dirt or gasses in the air and will fall with the rain. But of course, our experience shows that windows will still remain clean. Good help is appreciated in advance.
I’ve found that it’s much easier to reassure customers like that with a rain satisfaction guarantee than try to reason with/educate them on the science.
I live on a peninsula with the Gulf on one side and Tampa Bay on the other. Salt air drifts all of the time and pretty much so does pollen; others away from the water may experience different contaminants. Rain doesn’t leave hard water spots like faucet water or sprinkler water does, but it does wet airborne contaminants as previous mentioned that have attached to the windows that will leave spots after the rain in some cases. If it isn’t an hours long direct hitting steady rain then spotting will occur. A 7-day-rain-guarantee to touch up affected exterior windows gives your customer an added layer of value to your service.
I feel your pain, this was a wet winter in Southern California. One day we received around 6 inches. It was screwing up my schedule until I started mailing a ten day rain guarantee immediately after a customer would book. Not a single cancellation or reschedule or a call for touch ups. My letter explained the complications of rescheduling with a tight schedule and the assurance that any affected panes will be cleaned promptly.
I do have a 7 day rain guarantee I use. It keeps some people, but I should send out a mailer or email explaining the purpose of it. Might make some rough drafts with some graphics to make it appealing.
@ShineproWC I feel the pain. Las Vegas was similar. I could not fill a day for almost a month. The weather folks were finally correct and everyone ran at any chance of rain. I do a 5 day guarantee as the forecast can rapidly change but it deterred only 1 person and they, rightfully, called me back after some windy mist. @Garry I get more issues with the light rain and wind that brings red dust from the desert mountains than the big rains like you, sir.
Be safe fellas.
as said earlier, can’t re-educate, clichés and perceptions are burned in permanently no matter how hard you try
its a psych game and everyone is different, some just want a re-assurance, some want to call you ages later for a re-do, some will have messed up windows and never call you but will wait forever until they think the coast is clear or reschedule ad-nauseum for every cloud in the sky
depends a lot on the predominate weather of the area, in so cal if its not clear blue sky, combined with the screaming “sky is falling” newscasters for every .000000001 inch chance of drizzle (FOG people, it’s fog) there’s issues
PLUS . . . the weather apps throw up a “rain” icon, but if you crosscheck with a detailed site you find it’s 20% chance of less than a hundredth of an inch (not even worth considering in the schedule, call me when it’s 60%+ of 1" or more) talk about fear mongering
in the end, this is a people business, which means every single job will be different as to what works if anything
Rain is a real issue for some folks. The rainy season is coming up for my area, and we just finished a crazy pollen season (although pollen is year around to some degree or another). Many are less likely to order window cleaning during several weeks of heavy pollen because 24 to 48 hours yellow happens again! Rain is a delicate sell. You can’t blame people for not wanting to feel like they wasted a few hundred dollars or more to clean windows then splattered wind blown dirt hits the windows. (Different than pure rain water). I have honored my rain guarantee 3 times in 10 years, and one of those was actually windows where the sill was only 6-8 inches from the ground; easy to see how those few got dirty fast. I think it took me all of 5 or 10 minutes to drop by then on to the next job. Make it part of your service as a touch up if dirt happens and retain a loyal customer. Check your books at the end of the year and I bet it isn’t even a blip on the radar.
Check your books at the end of the year and I bet it isn’t even a blip on the radar.
