I'm going to wash windows for money tomorrow for the first time in my life. Any tips?

[piano]

Last week I had the music competitions workshop and it was amazing.

I don't want to occupy too much time for this, but in short; I think I experienced things that have given me new things to look forward to in the future, to work even harder for.

This week is also the last holiday week, after that I'm slaving away at school once again.

Today I went knocking, very reluctantly: 44 doors.
Most people weren't inside on this sunny and warm day.
I've been noticing that jokes like "Don't worry, I'm not from [shady company]" haven't been working since I started again.
They did however for the charity knocking...

Generally, I think I seriously need to rethink and experiment with my pitch and maybe expressions/body language/excitement and so on.
Right now I'm just slowly walking from house to house and listing what I do.

Knocking today was for some reason also more "exciting". Maybe it was just because I was away for a whole week though. I'll kick or shall I say... knock those doubts away!


All that is hindering me now is myself, no excuses.

 

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[jclean]

Last week I had the music competitions workshop and it was amazing.

I don't want to occupy too much time for this, but in short; I think I experienced things that have given me new things to look forward to in the future, to work even harder for.

This week is also the last holiday week, after that I'm slaving away at school once again.

Today I went knocking, very reluctantly: 44 doors.
Most people weren't inside on this sunny and warm day.
I've been noticing that jokes like "Don't worry, I'm not from [shady company]" haven't been working since I started again.
They did however for the charity knocking...

Generally, I think I seriously need to rethink and experiment with my pitch and maybe expressions/body language/excitement and so on.
Right now I'm just slowly walking from house to house and listing what I do.

Knocking today was for some reason also more "exciting". Maybe it was just because I was away for a whole week though. I'll kick or shall I say... knock those doubts away!


All that is hindering me now is myself, no excuses.

Do you have a mail list of previous customers to use ? Now that customers know you they are going to order again more easily.

Having to sell again and again is going to be an exhaustion mentally.

Don't get me wrong you should keep selling but make sure you take the path with the least resistance.

Cold selling is brutal and in my opinion unnecessary in our industry.

much admiration for the grinding keep going !

 

[piano]

Do you have a mail list of previous customers to use ? Now that customers know you they are going to order again more easily.

Yesn't. Most customers have me give them my info. I'll definitely try to maybe do the opposite in the future but from experience I know that it's definitely a little bit harder than to just give my info.

//

Yesterday I chickened out and didn't go. It's crazy how hard my mood swings.
Yesterday was terrible generally, woke up with youtube in my hands and a screen time I don't want to check...

So today I decided to do better and instead took a book into my hands.
Today I also was incredibly reluctant but still managed to go.
However I only knocked 8 doors and then went home.

Why?
I know that a little bit of my monkey brain is talking right now; but only 1 of the 8 doors opened up.
It's a work day, we have school holidays and so forth.
Last week the Friday was a holiday where you weren't allowed to work, and the Saturday was... Saturday so just more people weren't at work.
Many houses are empty because of holidays as well.
So in short, evenings (maybe starting from 5pm) and Saturdays seem to be most effective.

On a good note though, I finally did the GMB call and was able to show everything. Even my fake business card came in clutch haha. They'll get back to me in 24 hours apparently.


Besides that, I'm really worried about the future.
Not sure if I've mentioned it on here already, but my family might move away and it could be a rural area.
I know I know, the Texans here are probably laughing in cattle or steak or 100 acres of private land right now, but it scares me.
I mean, where is the opportunity? The people? I could build an internet business but I feel like everyone is doing that plus I like businesses that you can actually like feel and touch more (like window cleaning).

Probably won't go d2d today anymore, maybe I won't even have the courage to go tomorrow.

 

[Parks]

Is D2D your main lead generation? How more effective is it at generating leads than just plain fliers? You don't always have to make it hard. Have you looked at the numbers on a larger scale?

Awesome to see you still doing this.

 

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[Kevin88660]

You are crushing it @piano !

I would ask them for their number instead of giving them your number.
Then follow up a couple of days later.
If they are not interested ask them if you can follow up 3-6 months later.

If they don't want to give you their number then give them your number.

EDIT: In Germany, you probably have to get a signature from them to call them legally (B2C). But I don't know how big the legal risk is if they gave you their number willingly.

The market consent regulations exists in many countries.

Generally I ask for their numbers and text to them. Never had an issue so far.

Calling is more intrusive and risky as a first time contact, when you haven’t got the written consent that you can market to them.

Texting is less intrusive and people usually won’t make a fuss out of it. If they are not interested they will at most ignore.

 

[realbillperry]

So tomorrow I'm going to try it. Knocking on peoples' doors and wash their outside windows.
There is just something that kind of bothers me:
-I'm going on foot (I'm just 16 so no car) and I wondered if I should just knock on peoples' doors with all my equip on my back/hands etc. Is this something to worry about (does that reduce my image? I kind of think so)?
-(related to first question ^) When I look like a one man army window cleaner, should I just be honest and tell them that I'm actually just working by myself instead of a company? I saw in pretty much all window cleaning videos that the solo workers basically always lie about being in a company.

I think these were my main concerns. Perhaps you have any answers to the above?
Also, any other tips are very welcomed.

Imma update you guys tomorrow on how it went!

I just read page 1 of the thread so far, but wanted to jump on this. If you're out and also see businesses with dirty windows, I'd just go up and clean one single window on front. Where the staff/owner can see it from the inside.

Clean the one window with minimal supplies. Then go in and make the ask. They'll be able to see the difference/result firsthand without ever having to say "No".

Also, if you haven't yet, look into Chris Voss' stuff on negotiation. His book "Never Split the Difference" is superb.

Ask a question of the homeowners/business owners that leads to them saying "No" but is actually a "soft yes".

You: "I can come around once or twice weekly to keep the windows spotless for you, for just $X (or whatever your currency is). Does that sound crazy to you?"

Since we're more wired to say "No" than "Yes". It helps the ask land more "softly"

 

[piano]

I just read page 1 of the thread so far, but wanted to jump on this. If you're out and also see businesses with dirty windows, I'd just go up and clean one single window on front. Where the staff/owner can see it from the inside.

Clean the one window with minimal supplies. Then go in and make the ask. They'll be able to see the difference/result firsthand without ever having to say "No".

I think this might be very illegal and kills all credibility towards you

Also, if you haven't yet, look into Chris Voss' stuff on negotiation. His book "Never Split the Difference" is superb.

Heard many good things about it.

Still, thank you for trying to help.

 

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[heavy_industry]

If you're out and also see businesses with dirty windows, I'd just go up and clean one single window on front. Where the staff/owner can see it from the inside.

Clean the one window with minimal supplies. Then go in and make the ask. They'll be able to see the difference/result firsthand without ever having to say "No".

Forcing your services down the customer's throat.
What an "ethical" and "professional" manner of conducting business.


I would instantly reject any offer and never do business with a company pulling this stunt.

I know what a clean window looks like - I don't need a F*cking demo.

Ask a question of the homeowners/business owners that leads to them saying "No" but is actually a "soft yes".

You: "I can come around once or twice weekly to keep the windows spotless for you, for just $X (or whatever your currency is). Does that sound crazy to you?"

Since we're more wired to say "No" than "Yes". It helps the ask land more "softly"

So first we have advice on cleaning someone else's property without permission, and now we have crafted speech and manipulative behavior.

This is a great strategy if the goal is destroying your company.

 

[realbillperry]

Forcing your services down the customer's throat.

I can see how it would seem that way. Not my intention of course, but I can understand that.

crafted speech and manipulative behavior.

Asking a question in a certain way as to avoid knee-jerk "no" responses isn't any more or less manipulative than copywriting. If you ask a question like "Are you interested in this?" it's guaranteed to get at least a certain amount of "no" responses without any actual thought given.

Asking something like "Does it sound unreasonable to try this out for a month and see how much I can do for you?" will get more sales. I stand by that.