Whenever I hear window cleaners talk about ways to grow their business it’s usually focused on finding new customers. Unfortunately that is the least profitable way to grow a business.

Increase prices - Talk about raising prices can strike fear in the biggest baddest window cleaner on the block. The fear is that the customer will flip out, and not ever hire them again. So, a window cleaner will put off increasing prices… allowing inflation to eat away at their profits. The truth is you need to raise prices at least enough to maintain your standard of living. I feared raising prices, and was shocked by my customers reaction. One told me it was about time. My income went up, and nobody complained.

Increase frequency - In most cases a residential window cleaning customer will get their windows cleaned once a year. And I found that by keeping in contact with them year round I could get more to move up to 2 times a year. The benefits include; increased efficiency, less dirt on windows and higher dollars per hour. You need less customers to for the same amount of income, less marketing costs and less paperwork. You increase your profits.

Increase transaction size - There are many ways to increase transaction size at each house. Two of the best ways are screen cleaning & sill cleaning. You have to remove the screen to get to the window most of the time. So why not clean them while they are down, and make some extra money. This is a win-win situation. You are happy because you are making extra money, and the is happy because your are providing added value.

Steve Wright over at Window Washing Success Tips talks about another method in this post Gutter Cleaning Anyone? 

These three ways to grow your window cleaning business are often overlooked, or glossed over. But I have found that this can be quick and simple way to increase revenue and profits. And because you already have a relationship with your customers they are open to these because they trust you. Give these three strategies a try and watch your business grow.

John Jantsch makes a great point about attracting the right customers.  In fact you are attracting the type of customers you really want.  Check it out here:

 http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/01/22/frequency-matters/

86% of Americans used coupons in 2006, and saved over $2.6 billion.  People are enthusiastic users of coupons.  We love to search for them, clip them, and redeem them.  Many times customers will try a new company or service because of a coupon.  Coupons are so popular with they make a powerful tool for marketing.

There are pros and cons with using coupons in your window cleaning business.  My experience has shown me that coupons have more pros than cons for a window cleaning business.  Some of the cons are that customers will become use to getting coupons.  They will wait for the next coupon before purchasing.  So, the argument against coupons is that your condition your customers to shop only with coupons.

I use to believe in the arguments against coupons, and avoided using them.  I thought coupons would only attract bargain shoppers, and cheapskates.  I would be forced to cut prices and that would lower profits.  However I changed my mind after using Val-Pak.  Much to my surprise I found out that everyone likes to use coupons.  Some of the customers that called to get their windows cleaned perfectly within profile of what I considered ideal customers.

Here are several tips to use coupons for maximum results.  Make sure you keep the coupon simple.  A lot of small print is not good.  Keep your offers simple… like free screen cleaning with every window cleaning appointment.  Leave off the special circumstances, or qualification otherwise it will kill response.  I also found way to make your current customers angry is to put out a new customers only coupon.  Do you really think it’s a good idea to punish your loyal customers?  If you decide to give a $17 dollar off coupon why would you not let your past customers take advantage of it?  They are reading the same publications your potential customers are reading.  So, let everyone redeem your coupons.

Another quick tip for coupons:  If you are giving a dollar off on your coupons make it an odd number.  Avoid giving $10, 20 or 25 off.  You will get better response by giving $17, 22 or 24 dollars off.  It will stand out, and grab attention.   My personal favorite is $17 dollars off.  I have found it gets good action.

Make sure you give serious attention to coupons in your marketing, and reap the rewards.

What a customer says about you is 1000 times more effective than anything you say. And I found out quite by accident that letting a potential customer talk with a happy customer is magic. A potential customer will call and see if you are worth the risk, and do a good job. That potential customer is wondering if they should let you and your employees into their home. And if they can get a first hand account from a satisfied customer, they will confident in your service. That is why references are more powerful than testimonials, if you use the right.

Early in my window cleaning business a potential customer asked for a couple of references. I didn’t have any references, but I didn’t want to lose the customer. So, I said sure let me run back to the office and call you with their phone numbers. I got back to the office and started calling the customers that I thought were thrilled with their window cleaning. When I got a list of 4 customers together I called the potential customer and gave her the references. A couple days later the potential customer called and set an appointment to get her windows cleaned. I found out later that she had called all four references to check me out. This new customer became a long term regular customer, and ended up referring just over 6% of my new business in her first year.

Letting a potential customer call a current customer works so well because of the honesty involved. As the business owner I’m naturally tell the potential customer what a wonderful guy I am. I’ll also tell the customer that I have excellent skills, and customer service. That is what the prospect expects me to say. However if the prospect calls a current customer and hears the same thing, then that is different. The customer has no financial gain, and no reason to be less than honest. It’s just one person talking to another. It also shows that I’m confident in my window cleaning business. The situation in not scripted, and the customer must be happy. They would not recommend a business that delivers a bad service.

How do I get customers to agree to being references? Simple really… I ask. the best time to ask is right after I finish a window cleaning job. The customer is telling me how nice the windows look. At that point I’ll ask if they would mind being a reference. If they are not enthusiastic, I’ll quickly back-off. You don’t want a less than enthusiastic customer as a reference. A lot of times people hesitate because they don’t like strangers calling, and I completely understand. Above all else I want to respect their privacy. Never, and I mean never use a customer as a reference without their permission.

Give this strategy a try in your window cleaning business. You will have customers closing jobs for you, and they will be better at it than you. References are a powerful marketing strategy that I don’t see used enough.

This weekend my wife was watching HSN and I sat down on the couch to watch with her… I was bored!

However my marketing radar went off about 2 minutes into the segment. They are master marketers… Watch when you have some time for a free sales seminar. They were pitching, presenting and closing. It was awe-inspiring. They have a little counter showing how many units are selling. When they say or show something that hits the right buttons… the numbers start to jump. And the host will immediately repeat whatever caused the spike.

What happen next really made me salivate from a pure marketing viewpoint. Up in the right hand corner pops up an icon that said select here to order. I was stunned… I picked up the remote control and pressed select.

You can order through cable! The ultimate in convenience…

You do have to have an account set up with HSN, you don’t have to wait on the phone anymore.

This is great example of opening up more avenues to accept customer orders.

Keith

Do you know why customers leave or fail to do business with a company in the first place?

According to the Small Business Administration 68% leave because of Perception of non-caring, 14% product dissatisfaction, 9% price, 5% friend’s recommendation, 3% move, 1% Death.

68%… WOW!

There is one huge reason is lack of follow up.  Follow up is paying attention to your customers, making them feel important; you show you care about them.  Everybody likes to feel special and when you pay attention to your customers they feel special.Follow up is not difficult and you should put a plan in place to prevent the 68% form leaving.

In his blog Dan Kennedy said this about follow up:

“Because virtually nobody does a decent job with follow-up, when you do, your competitive edge is huge and automatic.”

URL: The Power Of Follow-Up

Keith

Today I was at a house doing a bid.  The customer had called yesterday and told me no one was going to be home.  I told her it would be OK, I would leave the estimate in the front door.  I drove over to her house got out and started walking around the house.  It was a coloinal with storms, and divided double hung windows.  Not exactly my favorite type of windows to clean.  You can get into some hardcore wrestling matches trying to open those bad-boys. 

I walked around the back of the house counting windows.  Made my way around to the front of the house.  As I approached the front door… You already know what happened next, don’t you?… Yes, the front door swung open and a women stated: “Who are you and what are you doing?”

After the heart attack… I filled her in on the details… I was called to come out and give a estimate for window cleaning… and I was told this was the address… and I the person on the phone told me no one was going to be home… and…

The woman told me she was the mother and she often house sat for her daughter.  And she was surprised her daughter forgot to tell her I might be by today.  I said no problem… sorry for the confusion.  Gave her the estimate, got in my truck and left.

The lesson I learned was to always knock on the door before starting an estimate.

Keith

Today I got rained out.  The customer wanted to reschedule.  I tried to tell her about my rain guarantee, but she still wanted to reschedule.  Oh well you can’ t win them all.

Do you have a guarantee?

I do…since 2000 I’ve been using not one, but three guarantees.  What are they?  I’ll tell you in minute.  First, let me tell you why you need a guarantee.  Most people fear making a mistake when purchasing anything.  The risk is on the customer…we know the old adage “Buyer Beware!”.  A guarantee reverses the risk away from the customer, and puts it back on you.  In the customers mind we have just become more appealing to do business with.  In fact there is no risk on their part to do business with you.

Now, I know what you are thinking…”What if some one tries to rip me off?”  SO WHAT!  Dishonest people will try to rip you off no matter what.  The increase in business you from the guarantee will more than offset any dishonest pinhead.

Here are my guarantees:  A 7 day rain guarantee (only had it used 4 times in over 7 years), a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and an on time guarantee.

One day I realized that I would do each one of the above things if a customer asked…So why not shout it from the mountaintop.

Well it finally happened today…

A person called to complain about getting a flyer at their house.  I wonder what took so long?  I was expecting one much earlier.  The call was left on voicemail before business hours.  He said he did not want to see any of my flyers anywhere, or he would get laws passed to stop me. 

What am I going to do about it?  Am I going to stop flyering?  Nope — Just make sure we don’t give him another flyer at his house.  You cannot let a little criticism stop, or slow you down.  You have to let it roll off your back like water off a duck.

Because the only vote that counts is the one who puts cash in the bank.  Flyering has a high ROI.  For every dollar spent printing flyers & then passing them out returns $11.18 in new business. 

And the votes are in…keep flyering!

Well…Will they?

Last Saturday I was watching The King Of Cars on A&E and a couple who were looking for a truck kept asking for the “last guy” who sold them their old truck. They could not remember his name, however they would know him when they saw him. They kept asking each other…what was his name? And they walked around looking for this guy!

So, here is a couple that came back to the same dealership to get their next car. They liked their experience enough to come back…To the same CAR DEALERSHIP! That says a lot about the salesperson, and the positive impression this couple felt.

I believe it is the salesperson’s fault for not keeping his name in front of the customer. Especially when doing so is not very difficult today.

A monthly newsletter, holiday card, email, postcard… All of these are easy to implement, and cost effective. By doing one of these you will be light years ahead of the competition. You will stand out and easily be remembered. And how do I know? Easy, try to remember the last time you recieved regular monthly communication from a local company you did business with. Not easy is it?

Regular communication with your customers will go a long way to keeping you in front of them.