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.

 

[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"

 

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[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.

 

[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.

 

[MakeItHappen]

Way to go! Now imagine if you would knock on doors for 8 hours 5 days a week and hire someone to do all the window cleaning for you!
You got 192€ in 2 hours so 8 hours would be almost 800€ times 5 = 4000€ per week or over 16000€ per month and almost 200000€ per year (+ repeat customers).

Now is it easy or desirable to do d2d full time to get customers? No, but see what someone can accomplish who does it.

How is it going @piano ?

 

[piano]

How is it going @piano ?

Thanks for the check up!

Window cleaning-wise, I kinda failed, but everything else went well.
This school year is my last and I really put in effort so that I didn't fail it. I tried to make sure that I didn't need to offset any failing grades with my better ones and I succeeded, so "smooth" sailing there, thankfully. Maths, Chemistry and French just barely passed for me (screw my French teacher btw).

Then there came up another composition competition, which normally should've happened a few months later but the deadline this time was 2 weeks ago. This is also why I didn't focus too much on window cleaning during that time either.
In the last week of the deadline, I was using the help of 2-part interval sleeping to compose all day and night.
I really thought hard about quitting, like really. It was also with an instrument that was extremely uncommon to write for (I bought a 14€ pdf just to understand its mechanics, physical copy would've been 32€ lol).
Then last week was my last class trip which also basically marked the end of the grading for the school year so I'm free to do as I please now.

All of that doesn't mean though that I didn't go window cleaning, I did.
The problem with my goal (to end up saving 3200€) was that I have too many expenses and wasn't able to earn more than I spend (I now have more than before, but nowhere near 3200 quid). But granted, my window cleaning was rather sparse.


So how does the plan look for the future?
Since I have a lot more free time now and the holidays, or rather my releasement of school, are around the corner, I'll have (exponentially) more time to save up for the future.

Now I just have to find and pick up my balls again...
looks around where the F*ck are they?

For the whole of August and a bit of July I'll be abroad, mostly in Poland, getting my driver's license too.

I'll make sure to write about my d2d (tomorrow?) here!


ps: I really have been moving constantly for the past few years/this year, but I feel like I'm not progressing fast enough.
I (think) I know that I could be absolutely killing it right now window cleaning wise but there's just so much else to do.
I recently thought about my "1 year of TFF" Thread and can't believe I'm only 3 months away from my second anniversary.

 

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[piano]

I'll make sure to write about my d2d (tomorrow?) here!

Today I scheduled a recurring clean and finished it.
Thing is that today is the hottest day of this year so far (already changed my top once) and I think I got a heat stroke.
I have been having a crazy headache so I didn't go d2d (not physically capable).

 

[ZCP]

@Subsonic you've already seen this thread, right? maybe you two should talk / join forces?

 

[Subsonic]

@Subsonic you've already seen this thread, right? maybe you two should talk / join forces?

Maybe but we live pretty far away from each other.

 

[lifemaker]

Thanks for the check up!

Window cleaning-wise, I kinda failed, but everything else went well.
This school year is my last and I really put in effort so that I didn't fail it. I tried to make sure that I didn't need to offset any failing grades with my better ones and I succeeded, so "smooth" sailing there, thankfully. Maths, Chemistry and French just barely passed for me (screw my French teacher btw).

Then there came up another composition competition, which normally should've happened a few months later but the deadline this time was 2 weeks ago. This is also why I didn't focus too much on window cleaning during that time either.
In the last week of the deadline, I was using the help of 2-part interval sleeping to compose all day and night.
I really thought hard about quitting, like really. It was also with an instrument that was extremely uncommon to write for (I bought a 14€ pdf just to understand its mechanics, physical copy would've been 32€ lol).
Then last week was my last class trip which also basically marked the end of the grading for the school year so I'm free to do as I please now.

All of that doesn't mean though that I didn't go window cleaning, I did.
The problem with my goal (to end up saving 3200€) was that I have too many expenses and wasn't able to earn more than I spend (I now have more than before, but nowhere near 3200 quid). But granted, my window cleaning was rather sparse.


So how does the plan look for the future?
Since I have a lot more free time now and the holidays, or rather my releasement of school, are around the corner, I'll have (exponentially) more time to save up for the future.

Now I just have to find and pick up my balls again...
looks around where the F*ck are they?

For the whole of August and a bit of July I'll be abroad, mostly in Poland, getting my driver's license too.

I'll make sure to write about my d2d (tomorrow?) here!


ps: I really have been moving constantly for the past few years/this year, but I feel like I'm not progressing fast enough.
I (think) I know that I could be absolutely killing it right now window cleaning wise but there's just so much else to do.
I recently thought about my "1 year of TFF" Thread and can't believe I'm only 3 months away from my second anniversary.

WELL DONE @piano!!!
Also though of starting in window cleaning recently, but have doubts, as price for a typical job here in UK is ~$8 per house. (house - usually 8 windows)

But until the costs are calculated, can't say if the price is fine or too low.

 

[piano]

Also though of starting in window cleaning recently, but have doubts, as price for a typical job here in UK is ~$8 per house. (house - usually 8 windows)

But until the costs are calculated, can't say if the price is fine or too low.

I mean, window cleaning companies do exist in the UK and they probably do make money, but the prices at your place are extremely low.
USA has batshit insane prices, Germany decent prices and the UK you get a weird stare for charging 40% of what you would in Germany (afaik).

Perhaps look into @EthanH 's Thread. He's also in the UK and surely knows more than I do. His prices, although not for WC, are also relatively high, so that's good.

Good luck!

Maybe but we live pretty far away from each other.

If anything, I think that'd be a pro.
In strategy games, I'd rather have me and my friend play UK and Germany than Sweden and Norway.

Please enlighten me with your perspectives, but from what I can see window cleaning doesn't really make too much sense to work together on?
Maybe in the later stages, where you have crews and train them and so on.

Besides, and no offense, I'm not sure if I could work with @Subsonic

Another problem is that I'd only become viable until October in a few months.
Without a car I need hours to reach his place by train.


It's not something I'm completely dismissing, but I don't see any benefits to grouping up right now.

 

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[piano]

Alright, today was the next free opportunity to go d2d and I took it.
I went knocking for 1.5 hours and got some really interesting encounters.

It's also really surprising to me how many people just let me enter their house after not even having known each other for a single minute LOL.

In short: Left a few notes and might get a call soon.

I was scared excited to go d2d after I woke up but I reread your guys' past messages and just decided to not think too much about it and it worked.
The rest of the day I spent putting my piano up for sale.
More on it here: MARKETING - A Little Challenge: Selling an Old Wooden Piano for More Than "FREE"

Wow, I worked all day.
Good night

 

[Gypsy Soul]

.

 

[piano]

Little quiz for you:

You get referred by a customer and you get to that customer. He already has a window cleaner he tells you and you quote him 76€ per side. He tells you his cleaner takes only 56€.

What do you do?


The way I see it: I have no leverage.
I compete with an already existing, probably good and cheaper cleaner.
I am only 17.
No registrated business.
(one or two more reasons I am forgetting about right now).

In other words, I need to go lower.

But how?

I just thought about it for a while but couldn't phrase a good reason why I want to go lower ("Never go down without a reason" is a sales proverb I've heard a few times) and just plainly said "aight, let's go with 56€" and we agreed for tomorrow.

What do you think I could've done differently?

Also: His cleaner comes every 2 weeks and so I will replace him if I succeed with this. But I'm going to be in Poland all of August.
And whooosh there's another hurdle.

What will I say about that tomorrow when I come cleaning?
An idea of mine: I could clean both sides as a compensation before I go, thus both sides mostly covered for the month.
Or he could just hire the previous window cleaner for August but that might be just another added pain point of mine. I also don't know how his worker operates (contract? by mouth="come next week again"?)

AHHHH, please help me out.

 

[MakeItHappen]

Do you need the money badly? If not skip.

You don't want to work for people who see you as a commodity.

 

[lifemaker]

Little quiz for you:

You get referred by a customer and you get to that customer. He already has a window cleaner he tells you and you quote him 76€ per side. He tells you his cleaner takes only 56€.

What do you do?


The way I see it: I have no leverage.
I compete with an already existing, probably good and cheaper cleaner.
I am only 17.
No registrated business.
(one or two more reasons I am forgetting about right now).

In other words, I need to go lower.

But how?

I just thought about it for a while but couldn't phrase a good reason why I want to go lower ("Never go down without a reason" is a sales proverb I've heard a few times) and just plainly said "aight, let's go with 56€" and we agreed for tomorrow.

What do you think I could've done differently?

Also: His cleaner comes every 2 weeks and so I will replace him if I succeed with this. But I'm going to be in Poland all of August.
And whooosh there's another hurdle.

What will I say about that tomorrow when I come cleaning?
An idea of mine: I could clean both sides as a compensation before I go, thus both sides mostly covered for the month.
Or he could just hire the previous window cleaner for August but that might be just another added pain point of mine. I also don't know how his worker operates (contract? by mouth="come next week again"?)

AHHHH, please help me out.

Have you thought of giving your new client a good discount for few future washes?
(as a compensation for your inability to clean his windows during August)

It might work if he operates via a contract.

 

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[jclean]

Little quiz for you:

You get referred by a customer and you get to that customer. He already has a window cleaner he tells you and you quote him 76€ per side. He tells you his cleaner takes only 56€.

What do you do?


The way I see it: I have no leverage.
I compete with an already existing, probably good and cheaper cleaner.
I am only 17.
No registrated business.
(one or two more reasons I am forgetting about right now).

In other words, I need to go lower.

But how?

I just thought about it for a while but couldn't phrase a good reason why I want to go lower ("Never go down without a reason" is a sales proverb I've heard a few times) and just plainly said "aight, let's go with 56€" and we agreed for tomorrow.

What do you think I could've done differently?

Also: His cleaner comes every 2 weeks and so I will replace him if I succeed with this. But I'm going to be in Poland all of August.
And whooosh there's another hurdle.

What will I say about that tomorrow when I come cleaning?
An idea of mine: I could clean both sides as a compensation before I go, thus both sides mostly covered for the month.
Or he could just hire the previous window cleaner for August but that might be just another added pain point of mine. I also don't know how his worker operates (contract? by mouth="come next week again"?)

AHHHH, please help me out.

There is only 1 answer, be honest.

You can't do it for 56 euros a side because you:

1)do a better job.
2)always show up
3)...

You are on vacation for the whole month of August. Just tell this...

I just took over a company with 5 window washers. The prices are way too low.
I send or call every customer and honestly tell them their price is too low and we need to raise it.

Some customers understand this others don't.
There is plenty of work.
Try to get rid of your scarcity mindset.
Because this is what customers feel and they benefit from this

Best of luck

 

[Kevin88660]

Little quiz for you:

You get referred by a customer and you get to that customer. He already has a window cleaner he tells you and you quote him 76€ per side. He tells you his cleaner takes only 56€.

What do you do?


The way I see it: I have no leverage.
I compete with an already existing, probably good and cheaper cleaner.
I am only 17.
No registrated business.
(one or two more reasons I am forgetting about right now).

In other words, I need to go lower.

But how?

I just thought about it for a while but couldn't phrase a good reason why I want to go lower ("Never go down without a reason" is a sales proverb I've heard a few times) and just plainly said "aight, let's go with 56€" and we agreed for tomorrow.

What do you think I could've done differently?

Also: His cleaner comes every 2 weeks and so I will replace him if I succeed with this. But I'm going to be in Poland all of August.
And whooosh there's another hurdle.

What will I say about that tomorrow when I come cleaning?
An idea of mine: I could clean both sides as a compensation before I go, thus both sides mostly covered for the month.
Or he could just hire the previous window cleaner for August but that might be just another added pain point of mine. I also don't know how his worker operates (contract? by mouth="come next week again"?)

AHHHH, please help me out.

Depends on the market rate.

And are you doing for the experience or building customer base.

If you are seeking experience or growth then price doesn’t matter.

I used to send to send out cv to ask for chances to intern for free. It was a widely used method for inexperienced students or fresh grads to clock industry experience.

 

[piano]

Alright, thank you all for the tips and thoughts!

Today I went there and it was no big deal at all that I was going to be away in August.
Lesson learned from this is that I simply overthought this way too much.

Not sure if he's that good of a customer honestly.
"Let's see in the future if we can work on the price" or something like that which is kinda mad sus and I will definitely not go any lower. Though for the while the current price is gonna be ok.
Simply will raise prices or break things off once I get enough good customers.

Will be away from cleaning for the next few days due to music-related things.

Have a nice weekend!

 

[piano]

A little update about everything:

I've been in Poland learning for my driver's license exams and I think I'll pass the theory exam next week.

Besides that, my general plan looks like this right now:

Finish School (done)
Finish Driver's license (probably somewhere in October)
Turn 18 (will happen at the same time as Driver's license)
Get bank account (when I turn 18)
FINALLY registrate Company (when I'm back from Poland)

But there is a problem now.
My parents are financial masterminds and due to recent occurrences, they are struggling financially.
And then came the Arbeitsamt and told them they wouldn't receive childcare money for taking care of me anymore (a whopping 250€) since I'm not occupied in education anymore.

In short: my parents want me to work to cover that bill (or else they quit my piano lessons etc.). But I also need to have money to fund the business. Also apparently for health insurance. Oh and also I don't have a car. But hey, my mom is moving away for a year because of educational reasons and bought herself a NEW F*cking SUV.

@Subsonic I'm really jealous of your wealthy parents lol.

Anyways, I thought about working 2-3 nightshifts a week at some parcel center or something for 1-2 months so I still have all the time for window cleaning during the day.

Generally though, I should be more than set with 2k a month and won't have to work the night shifts anymore (I wonder how I'll commute to them in the first place).

2k are 10 houses for 200€ a month. I should be able to do that.

Anyways, wish me luck guys.

 

[BizyDad]

Anyways, I thought about working 2-3 nightshifts a week at some parcel center or something for 1-2 months so I still have all the time for window cleaning during the day.

You have a plan. Good. Focus on moving forward, not worrying about what other people do.

2k are 10 houses for 200€ a month. I should be able to do that.

Don't you dare stop there and get comfortable, or eventually we'll get the post "I want to move out of my parents house but the cost of my own place is so much more than $250/month".

I hope instead we will read the post that announces your own apartment because business has been going so well.

And if you are like most people on the forum, once you've grown this to a certain size, you might start looking at other business models, and that too will cost more $.

Keep going, keep growing.

 

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[Awaken Study]

In short: my parents want me to work to cover that bill (or else they quit my piano lessons etc.)

How much are the piano lessons?

 

[piano]

Don't you dare stop there and get comfortable, or eventually we'll get the post "I want to move out of my parents house but the cost of my own place is so much more than $250/month".

Don't worry, leaving my family is at the top of my list.

Keep going, keep growing.

Thank you.

How much are the piano lessons?

I think 100€ a month, though the big problem isn't to finance them and the few other things along with it.

 

[savefox]

Look into adding other services like pressure washing and roof cleaning. Thay way you can charge 1000+ for a single house

 

[piano]

Look into adding other services like pressure washing and roof cleaning. Thay way you can charge 1000+ for a single house

Definitely. First I have to find a way to even just get around though (have been searching for cars, used leasing, renting, everything etc. but no luck yet. I only need it for 2 months or so so that I can pay for everything and get an actual long term car).