My first go at door hangers. Really just trying to get customers and see what I can get going as a new business. Haven’t had any success. Though maybe not the right neighborhood? On the other hand I started on Yelp and that is promising but they have their own way of feeding you/me customers.
I’m looking for what works for you guys. Thanks again in advance.
Good job on the effort and I know you are probably really proud. Remember one thing what looks cool the us doesn’t look the same to customers. I have not even read your entire door hanger because I was instantly turned off by how much there is. You want them to see your services your contact info and maybe a call to action. You got way too much on there. When someone sees something from a random company you better get their attention and 3 seconds you are expecting them to read a book on small door hanger. Less is more!
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Don’t use a door hanger as a proposal where you’re giving them an entire run down of how you clean and all your offerings. It is overkill
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It is the same thing with work vehicles people are so afraid that if they don’t have every single thing on their work vehicle customers won’t know all about them so they flood their vehicle with so much lettering people just look away.
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Yeah… I agree it’s visual diarrhea. Thanks for the pointers.
Keep at it! Good efforts, I’ve done stuff I thought was cool too. Always remember customers skim and all the detail we are proud of is boogers to them. Short and simple
I am not a fan of the “Gold, Silver, and Bronze” packaging. The reason being is if a customer takes the Silver Package, they are left with dirty muddy tracks - whether they “asked” for it or not they are left with a mess when they open the window; that reflects onto you. Is it worth justifying “Well, that is what they asked for?” People don’t know, all they know is they want their windows cleaned and window cleaning is a luxury service. Most have no idea what all of that entails. 50% OFF! That is a lot to give away on a first clean - arguably the most difficult to get clean. $500 job, takes you 4-6 hours to do - get paid 1/2 of what it is worth?
$500 job, $50 OFF, $450 is way better for your time and effort than $250. You never truly know how difficult a first clean will be until you elbow deep in something you are kicking yourself for giving away. Who wouldn’t want to save $50? Who would want to GIVE AWAY $250?
Just something to think about.
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Thanks Garry. Yeah I can see your point regarding the different packages. Since starting my business a month and a half ago I’ve noticed that the end of cleaning the whole window sill tracks and frame otherwise it just doesn’t look good. I am going to eliminate that and rework my strategy. In the 50% off was just for The homes in my immediate area which aren’t the biggest and I knew going into it I’d be down but I wanted to hopefully get some good pictures for advertising. But again they haven’t been that successful. I like the $50 off doesn’t seem like you’re giving them everything. And they come to expect that The next time. And that first cleaning is a doozy.
I really appreciate the feedback and hope you have a good day.
Charlie Carter
Or if they choose bronze they can’t get their screens cleaned unless also having inside windows done. I fooled around with packages and it was a nightmare, customers would always find the in between and then what? Turn down a customer because they want screens and no inside glass. The best I have found is to have one way that you clean windows and it is take it or leave it. Personally I clean the glass, screens, and rinse out the exterior framing that the screen sits in and do a courtesy wipe over the exposed window track. I do not slide windows open and clean those tracks. If I do then people bitch about price and go to my competitors who also don’t clean tracks. Tracks, screens, glass, or however find one way to clean windows and do everybody the same.
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Outside windows, frames, screens but no tracks; inside-outside windows, frames, screens, tracks.
Two options, two prices.
My competitors don’t do what I do, don’t charge what I do, don’t point out to the customers what I do, don’t guarantee satisfaction as I do.
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I respect your approach and your desire to be the quality guy. However I am in business to make money! If I wanted to up my quality so I could go sleep at night knowing people don’t have dirt in their tracks then I could. However I would do that less busy and less profitable! I know we often times think that if someone won’t pay for quality that means they are a tire kicker and not are customer. Well that is true sometimes it literally comes down to the money. I had one of the busiest local painters tell me "you don’t need to do perfect work, you just need to do satisfactory work. " In my experience in my market, if I get the glass and saved the customer leaving streaks and being on a ladder, get the dust off the screens they are happy. If I wanna pack around a vacuum and scrub tracks I am going to be $360 to someones $220.00 and they will not hire me. I tried being the “track guy” when I started and for me it came down to dollars. Even the people who will pay don’t care about the tracks once the quote is sent! I would go as far as to say unless it is incredibly noticeable you can even skip the screens. People want the crap off the glass! Remember for every customers you hear complain that your competitors don’t clean tracks there is 20 saying yeah he was gonna clean the tracks but I couldn’t afford him. Also I personally don’t enjoy scooping dead bees and mud out of peoples windows.
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Thank you Denver. I’m starting to see the light. The goal here is to minimize your frustration while trying to get the customer what they want or at least close to it. I’ve worked in other trades and rely on my sense of completing a job with the customer feeling they got a little extra. I think the package idea was my interpretation of what guys I’ve seen do on YouTube. Not what actually works. I don’t want to get in one of those pickles between knit picking this or that with customers which never ends well.
Do you do a mix of residential and commercial? If so how do you pitch to residential customers?
Since starting I’m on Yelp using their free startup advertising. Seems to be hit and miss and not really in my city but surrounding cities I drive 30 minutes out.
I’m starting part time while I work my day job during the week to get started. I’ve got some really high end homes near by and think I’ll redo the door hangers?
As always thanks in advance.
Charlie
Do you have an email! I’ll send you a quote and show you how to package it without putting restraints on people
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My prices are X for exterior only or Y for exterior, interior, screens and tracks. I also wipe down the frames, sills and opener mechanisms.
I always start with Y but if they want to pay less or don’t want somebody in their home/business due to Covid then X is my backup.
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Thanks for the info. I’m headed in that direction with my business.
I appreciate the feedback.
So true Gary. I’m learning to weed out window shoppers. Haha…
Thanks. Quality is important and I like to have clients walk through after the job to make sure they’re satisfied before I pack up. It shows you care and I think you can learn what the customer is looking for.
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Booked a customer yesterday who asked if I vacuum tracks or just wipe them with a rag. His previous window cleaner didn’t get called back since they just wipe with a rag, but he called me instead, because of that simple task of loosening the dirt with a disposable paint brush, vacuum tracks, wipe with damp cloth - easy and relatively fast if you get into a rhythm with it. In/out, windows, tracks, screens = $676; doing it in two weeks when they get back in town.
give the purdy 2 inch angled one a try, lasts quite a long time, and the bristles dont turn into a mess like the disposables have for me
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