I have always heard the the following sage advise…Find out what your competition is charging and price accordingly. Or, find out what your competition is doing then copy them. I’ve often wondered if the advise should really say. Find out what your competition is doing…Then run in the other direction as fast as possible!

I remember when I first started my window cleaning business. I decided to look for other window cleaners, and talk with them. That step proved to be difficult. Just like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Finding a window cleaner was not easy.

However once you found one…the real challenge was trying a window cleaner to get to talk. Its as if they were giving away trade secrets. Seriously, how hard is it to find out information on proper window cleaning technique? Ya..know..Like you should wet the window prior to fanning the squeegee across the glass.

The few that did talk gave me some memorable quotes:

“You should go to work for window cleaning company before you start your own business.”

“You should not market..just wait for word of mouth to build your business.”

“You will never underbid me…NEVER!”

And my favorite:

“Did I mention I’m the only authorized window cleaner in this city.”

The first piece of advise would be good, if you are terrified to start out on your own. However you would have to deal with non compete clauses, learn bad business habits, not get paid your true worth, and wasted time. Plus the bad feelings associated with you leaving to start your own gig. The window cleaning business owners would feel you just used them. And now you are running around trying to steal their customers.

So, what should you know about your competition?

You need to find out what your competition is saying to the market. How are they positioning themselves? Are they specializing, or taking on anything that comes along? Do they guarantee their work? Making any promises? Are they customer focused? Or are they ego focused? These are just some of the questions you need to ask about your competition.

The next step is to find out if your competition is living up to their market message. Are they treating their customers as their number one priority? Do they show up on time? Do they show up at all? Do they really look professional? I believe you will be surprised at the answers to these, and other questions? Or, maybe you won’t…

How do you find out this information? Ask people who are using window cleaners. You can find them by asking friends, family members, neighbors, and people who call you for estimates. You will find that most people will volunteer this information without you asking. And this is valuable information.

You are being told how by these customers how to build your business. They are giving you their expectations. And how to turn them into raving fans. Pay close attention, take notes, and you will be light years ahead of your competition.

And the best part…Its Free!

Today as I was staring at the blank computer screen…wondering what should I say about know thy market. I decided to do some research. Yep, thats right I started goofing off on the Internet. You know on second thought calling it research sounds so much better.

Anyhow I read the post at Greg Stielstra’s PyroMarketing blog titled Fishing or Catching? Greg gives an incredible metaphor for knowing your market. The parallels between his post fishing or catching and knowing your market are powerful. For example Greg wrote:

The answer was not a greater number of flies or more frequent casts. It was not merely a numbers game. In fact, increased fishing actually contributed to the problem. The solution was not bigger flies or brighter flies. Awareness wasn’t the problem either. Trout saw the artificial flies, they just weren’t interested. Nor were trout more likely to bite if you held them captive and forced them to look at the artificial flies.

When you try to force your version of a fly on the trout they are not interested. Why? Because you are looking at it from your perspective. You are not thinking about what the fish wants. The same goes for marketing. Most companies create their marketing around them themselves or what interests them. They refuse to figure out exactly what the customer wants. They do not walk a mile in their customers shoes they do not try to find out what they want.

When a company only talks about their interests that is called ego marketing. Resist the urge to allow your ego to control your marketing. You will see this all the time where a window cleaning company will talk about what interests them; the latest tools, techniques, processes, their credentials, professionalism things the customer really does not care about. The real focus is: why someone going to call you? What is primary motivation that triggers, or cause the customer to call you over any other window cleaner?

Claude Hopkins said you need to enter into the conversation already going on the mind of your customers. Your market has an internal dialog about getting their windows cleaned. You want to find out that dialog, and what what really motivates their decision. How does your market view window cleaning? Why do they get their windows cleaned? What benefit do they feel when they have clean windows? What are they looking for when a window cleaner comes into their home? What happens if they do not get their windows cleaned?

Another mistake I see is a company will cast too wide a net looking for customers. They try to pull in customers who have no interest in getting their windows cleaned. Now this cast either produces nothing, or inquires who are not serious. The widow cleaning company gets to waste time, and money sorting through all the tire kickers.

Once you figure out what your customer really wants from a window cleaner you will have no problem attracting customers. Do you really know thy market?

I would venture a guess that the oldest question from student to teacher:

“Why are we learning this? It has no piratical application in the outside world.”

Guess what? We have to be more concerned with math as a business owner that as a student. Why…you need math to know your results. Every ad (marketing campaign) has to be traced to know if it was profitable.

However many businesses have no clue if their marketing works. All because they do not know their math. They go by gut feeling if the marketing is working. There is no connections between marketing and customers walking through the doors.

Look at sports professionals. They know their math…Batting averages, earned run averages, free throw percentages, shooting percentages, yards per carry, completion percentages, driving yards from the tee, putts on green.

What are your key stats for your window cleaning business? ROI for advertising, Life time customer value, dollars per hour, closing ratio.

Lets say you average $250 per house. How much money are you willing to spend to get a new customer? $0, $20, $100, $200? I know as little as possible. Would you spend $250? Sounds crazy right? Why waste all the money to get one new customer. Lets say that customer calls you twice per year for window cleaning. In/Out in the spring, and out in the fall for a total of $400. Let us also say this customer stays with you for seven years before moving away. The total amount that customer spends with your window cleaning company is $2800. The new question becomes would you spend $200 to get $2800 back? I would guess you could not get down to the bank fast enough to start making this trade.

Another math example. You are considering raising your prices. What will happen to the business if customers start to switch to another window cleaner? Here is an email I answered on Gary Mauer’s Window cleaning network:

In Lawrence Steinmetz’s book “How to sell at margins higher than your competitors”, he talks about raising your prices. He states that you could lose 30% of your customers, and still make more money. And most businesses do not come close to the 30%.

You said that you have raised from $150 to $250. 50-80% increase averages out to 65%. Using those numbers you could lose 40% of your customers, and still gross the same. 100 customers at $150 is $15,000. 60 customers at $250 is $15,000. Your profits would increase, because your costs would go down. Less customers to service. Plus you would have more openings in your schedule for better paying customers.

Know Thy Systems

Chaos…Clutter…Mess! Do either one of these describe your business? Maybe all three?

That definitely described my business several years ago.

Sometimes one of the three will creep back into the business. My weakest point of entry seems to be when someone calls in to get an estimate. I’ll jot down their information on any scrap of paper that I can find. And you know what happens next? Yep, I’ll lose that paper…and forget to get the estimate done. Guaranteed lost business!

Rarely the customer will call back and complain that I haven’t done the estimate. I profusely apologize and rush out to get the estimate done. On the way out I’ll say a prayer of thanks to God for shining such good fortune upon me.

The next thing to happen is making corrections to get back on track. I realize that I’ve gotten away from my system of inbound calls. It is simple…I just use a estimate sheet and fill out the information such as name, address, phone number and anything else the customer might talk about.

Systems are processes put in place to produce consistent desired results. A system can be as simple as how you answer the phone…to as detailed as the exact method you use to clean each house. Most of the time these systems are not written down. It’s the way we’ve always done it! (is that the battle cry of most businesses?)

None of my systems were written down. So when I started hiring employees the systems broke down pronto. Nobody knew what was expected of him or her. And things kept getting done wrong. Or at least “Not the way I’ve always done them!” So confusion reigned. And things started to slip through the cracks. None of the employees had any direction.

This started to show up in customer complaints. Pretty quickly I was spending most of my day running around putting out fire, after fire. I was pointing the finger at the employees. When I should have been yelling at the guy in the mirror. Hey I was not leading the company.

Not to hard to guess what happened next. Customers started to get frustrated, and leaving in droves. And finally when the next season started I did not hire back anyone. I just went back out and started cleaning solo. Got back a lot of customers, and remained without employees for several years.

I have since put my systems in a manual. Including a section on proper training of why and how the systems work. Is everything perfect? I wish. Things still creep in, and new things pop up. However at least there is a reference available to help.

The best benefit? Confusion no longer reigns.

Why should you know your obstacles? After all shouldn’t you just focus on the positive, and not the negative?

In his book the new psycho-cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz has an excellent illustration which answers these question. He writes how a car has many gages on the dashboard feeding you information. You can see your speed, rpm, oil pressure, temperature, and other gages. As you drive along you are spending most of your time watching the road. Focusing on the direction, and destination you are heading. Occasionally you glance at your dashboard to check your gages. Why do you do this? Simple you are making sure your car is in good working condition, or staying within the speed limit. If your temperature rises too high , your oil pressure falls too low your engine could be ruined.

Likewise if you barrel along towards your goal ignoring your obstacles. How are you going to know if you have traveled to far off course? You see by occasionally checking you can make slight adjustments to keep you on the track towards your goal.

I’m reminded of the time I cleaned windows at the wrong house. One morning I took off to do an outside window cleaning job. I did not check my calender to confirm the address. Just went off my memory. (This is something I would not recommend) So, I’m happily cleaning the outside widows of this house. Beautiful day, mid 70’s, partly cloudy with a slight breeze. My cell phone rings…its my wife, and she wanted to bring me lunch. A half an hour later my cell phone rings again. Yep, its my wife wanting to know where am I? After a conversation of I’m here…no your not. I finally realize that I’m not really here, but at the wrong here!

Because I did not check my information I lost several hours of my day. Not to mention my embarrassment. However I bet the folks were surprised to find crystal clean widows when they got home. I wonder if they called the police?

Today this is a funny story. Yet not verifying the address became an obstacle. An obstacle can be anything which wastes time, or cost you business. Obstacles prevent you from being more productive, or prevent customers from doing business with you. Finding your obstacles can be eye opening. Correcting your obstacles can lead to more business.

There are a couple ways to find your obstacles. First is to take a honest look at your business. Step back, and look at it from an overall view. This can be hard to master. After all we are so busy running the day to day. You know asking yourself some honest questions can produce results. Second is to ask your customers. They will have insight you could not see. Your customers will be looking at your window cleaning business from the outside in.

Are there other obstacles holding you back? Lack of follow up with your customers? Hard to get in contact with you? Limit your payment options? Take on work you are ill equipped to handle?

Know Thy Message

What do you say to your customers…or what is your message?

Conversations that are going on in the minds of your customers are the most important things to them. They do not care how many years you have been in business, what associations you belong to, how professional your crews are….nope none of that or more. All they care about is the solutions to their problems. How can you help them solve their pressing issues. The customer is not impressed with awards, logos, equipment, or training. They only care about how clean windows make them feel, or what it gives them. You must focus on how you benefit the customer

Sometimes this can be a hard concept to accept. We want to focus on ourselves, however that is what everybody wants to do…Including your customers. Zig Ziglar always says – “If you help enough people get what they want, they will help you get what you want”.

So, what does this have to do with what to say to your customers?

Plenty…You must make a connection with your customers, or they must feel a connection to you. You make that connection by enter the conversation that is already going on the mind of your customer. And I can tell you the conversation is not how many years have you been in business, or how professional you are, or…you get the idea.

Claude Hopkins said you need to enter into the conversation already going on the mind of your customers. Your customer has an internal dialog about getting their windows cleaned. You want to find out that dialog, and what really motivates their decision. How does your market view window cleaning? Why do they get their windows cleaned? What benefit do they feel when they have clean windows? What are they looking for when a window cleaner comes into their home? What happens if they do not get their windows cleaned?

In this conversation you present yourself as the solution to their problems…do this and customers will beat a path to your door. I know I am repeating myself – but this is a very important point. Present yourself as the solution to your customers problems, and they will gravitate to you in droves!

You can become part of the conversation in your customers mind with “Window Cleaners Profit System”. Just go to http://www.windowcleanerprofits.com and find out how.

Know Thyself - said Socrates.  Easier said than done - wrote Benjamin Franklin.

What does this have to do with finding customers? Everything! You need to find out your likes, and dislikes. What kind of jobs you enjoying doing everyday. What type of customer you want calling on your business. Once you get a clear picture of the type of window cleaning business you want. The picture of your ideal customer is much easier to figure out…And Find!

Answer the following questions and see if you can find yourself.

· What type of work do you want to do?

· Residential, commercial, construction clean up, route, lo-rise, hi-rise, a combination?

· Are you going to have any add on services?

· Are you going to clean windows by yourself?

· Are you going to have employees?

· How many days per week will you clean windows?

· What are your hours?

· What level of service do you want to provide?

· What type of tools are you going to use?

· What is your pricing level? High? Medium? Low?

· What type of weather will you work in?

· How long do you want your season to last?

· What is the income level of your customers?

For example lets say you decide you want to do residential work. You want to have employees, you want to manage, no weekends, and regular business hours. You want to work in upper middle class neighborhood. You want to provide great service, and price above your competition.

Now armed with all this information you are ready to go out and find your ideal customer. How? Well now that you know thy self you will know who to go after. You will no longer be floating along taking what ever work comes along. You will be able to turn down jobs which do not fit you profile. And concentrate on finding the work you want to perform.

Most people want to skip this part and run out the door to find customers. Two years later they are standing around scratching their heads wondering where did all these customers come from? They want to do only residential jobs. And are always getting calls for CCU. I’m always amused by people who complain about their customers. Hey, you went out and got them!

I remember a couple of years ago driving between jobs I saw another window cleaner packing up his truck. I stopped to talk and introduce myself. (You do the same…Don’t you?) As I was admiring his pressure washer he mentioned that all he ever got was pressure washing customers. We talked about window cleaning, tools, customers, and our pricing. However, he couldn’t answer any of the questions I asked him about his business. He seemed to just keep getting pressure washing jobs. When he wanted window cleaning jobs…didn’t know why

If you cannot come up with a clear definition of who you are…you will have no control over the quality of customers who choose you. You will leave to chance the type of customer you acquire.

Know thy customer…Yes, easier said than done. This will require some work, but the rewards will pay off. You cannot push this off on someone else, or just skip over this part. Why? Because only you can determine your ideal customer.

In fact if you take the time to learn about your customer you will be light years head of your competition. Just go back to the requiring work part. Other window cleaners will not take the time or put in the effort. They are too busy looking for the next job rather than looking for the right job. Most window cleaners make the mistake of believing that “everybody’s my customer”.

How do you find out all this information? Ask your best customers. Your best customer are your best customers for reason. They are enthusiastic about your service. You have done something right in their eyes. It make sense to find more of your best customers. Anyhow most people are eager to help. Your best customers will be no exception. They will be thrilled you ask for their input.

You need to go beyond geography, and demographics. You need to find out what your customers are thinking. Why do they get their windows cleaned? What do they expect from you? Before? During? After? Why do they have you clean their windows? What did they like most about your window cleaning business? What did they dislike about their last window cleaner? These are just a few questions…can you think of any more?

Once you know the answers to these questions. The next step is to observe your customers. Do they live in the similar kinds of homes? Subscribe to the same magazines? Attend the same events? Belong to the same associations?

You are looking for something in common. Most people are drawn together by a something. It could be anything, and something your competition easily overlooks. Find that commonality and you can now target your dollars towards this group.

When I first started out I went after zip codes. However I kept getting calls from customers who would only want outside only, just upstairs, or downstairs windows cleaned. I realized that these were renters, were very price conscience.

I then went after only homeowners within a certain zip code. However I was still not happy with the results. So, I started to look for something in common. After some research I noticed that my best customers shared 3 occupations. CPAs, Engineers, and Business owners were where I got my best customers. I got this information by asking my customers during causal conversation while cleaning their windows.

I really focused my efforts on this new information. I got list of each group within the zip codes from various sources. I was able to customize my marketing to each group and the results were explosive.

What can you do with this information? Will you find the common links within your customer database, and use it? I know you will enjoy the rewards if you put this to good use.