In the Window Cleaning Business, It's all About Keeping Your Focus: Proper Focus Equals Success

Hey Folks:

This month, I wanted to talk to you about the benefits of keeping your focus in your window cleaning business.

So what do you say we get right to it? Here we go...

**********************************

The benefits of keeping your Focus

**********************************

Without beating around the bush, I see a lot of window washers trying to either:

1. work other businesses in addition to window washing hoping something clicks.

and/or

2. offer many, multiple services in addition to window washing.

Let's talk about number 1 first.

1. Working other businesses in addition to window washing hoping something clicks.

This is probably the hardest thing for me to do...keeping focus on one business/one opportunity. Can you relate to that? I think that's a problem with many people.

I mean there are soooooo many business opportunities out there, and they all sound great when reading

about them. They really do. So what do we do when we're surrounded by all these supposedly "great" opportunities?

Well...I used to buy into or join lots of them. But I'll tell you the first thing I did when entering the window washing business. I looked back over the years and analyzed the successes and failures I've had. I knew that window washing was the last stop for me, so failure wasn't an option. The wheels had to stop spinning.

After my little "realty check", it finally hit me like a ton of bricks...

It simply all boiled down to having too many irons in the fire all the time. It's tough to spread yourself out among 2 or more businesses. Not only in terms of time, but in terms of deciding which ones to invest in.

Something has to give, so the end result was nothing really took off. In one time period, I was selling asset protection to high income prospects, servicing a bunch of payphones I bought, and talking to day care centers about buying some personalized books for the little kiddies.

Needless to say, bah humbug on that. And the bank account showed it.

But being a "business start up junkie" required some discipline as my window washing business grew. Whenever a business looked appealing or an opportunity arose, my blinders had to come on. Contrary to popular belief, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

After my initial success of capturing window washing customers, I quickly realized that the profit potential in the window washing biz can be absolutely enormous. Why veer off course and dilute that profit by spending time building or doing another business?

One of the reasons I think I was so intent on forming another business is because of the philosophy of "don't put all your eggs into one basket".

This was drilled into me from a very young age. But here's the thing-windows are NOT going anywhere. We'll have glass forever, and more of it is appearing every day. It's a business that will never dry up and blow away unless people start living in caves. :o)

So I encourage you, regardless whether you're in the window washing biz part-time or full-time, give it 100% part-time or 100% full-time effort. The rewards can be tremendous as I am seeing all across the country from hundreds of my students.

2. Offering many, multiple services in addition to window washing.

This is a killer way to make lots of additional profits on top of window washing profits, but my experience has shown that if you do this BEFORE you've established a certain level of trust with the customer, it'll be much harder for you to accomplish this smorgasboard approach.

At the completion of a window cleaning job is a perfect time to go after the add on business like cleaning ceiling fans and mirrors like I discuss in my manual How to Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business. But before you even secure them as a customer, it's way too early to bombard them with lots of other stuff.

Just plant a seed. Be subtle about it. The best way I've found to handle it is to use a "leave behind card" after the job is done, and then cement it further throughout the upcoming months, and throughout your entire relationship with that customer by sending out periodic correspondence.

Your little leave behind card could be similar to a tent card that you see in hotels. Inside the card is a listing of your additional services. Or have a flyer made up that details all your additional services and leave that with the customer.

And as far as "future correspondence", below is a letter you're more than welcome to use in case you

want to capture additional business besides your window washing jobs:

Dear John and Nancy:

Thank you so much for the opportunity to regularly

maintain the cleanliness of your glass.

As you may be aware, in addition to cleaning and

maintaining the windows of our ever-growing cust-

omer base, we have recently expanded our services

to include:

--pressure washing

--blind cleaning

--gutter cleaning

--driveway sealing

--awning cleaning

And if you are in need of assistance with anything

else, please let us know. Although window washing

is, and will continue to be, our main focus, our

customers are continually asking us if we do any

additional services, so if we have the knowledge

and tools to get your desired job done for you,

we'll be glad to take care of it. If not, we'll

point you in the direction of a reputable person

or company who can.

Thank you once again for the opportunity to be of

service to you and we'll see you soon for your next

window cleaning.

Sincerely,

Steve Wright

Clearview Window Washing Service

There's a goldmine sitting with each customer if you stroke 'em over the years using the above approach vs. using the one time "hit 'em over the head" approach.

The above letter also serves the dual purpose of keeping your company name in front of your customers, so even if a customer didn't need any additional work done, you'll still benefit from the exposure.

Now I talk about customers above, but what about prospects?

Well...when dealing with prospects, the trust factor definitely hasn't been established yet, so it makes

it an absolute necessity to focus on capturing the window washing job and forgetting about the myriad

of other services you perform.

I mean if you're marketing for window washing prospects, and they respond to your window washing

advertisement, it only makes sense to hone in on window washing, right?

Yet I see a few folks try the "jack of all trades" approach where if the prospect doesn't make a decision to get their windows cleaned after the estimate has been presented, the window washer will immediately turn their attention to service #2, service #3, etc.

I know the theory is that if you offer 10 different services, they have to pick one, right?

Not necessarily.

Too much stuff presented can cause confusion and indecision. People really don't like to make decisions, so too many choices forces them into making a complicated decision. Therefore they don't make

ANY decision.

If you try and push too much down their throat, they may resist, and then you walk away with zilch, nada,

zippo. A lot of income could be lost over the years as a result.

I'm sure you've heard about the saying that goes like this: "Jack of all trades, master of none". That fit me like a glove for years UNTIL stepping into the window washing biz.

As I mentioned earlier, that's when I looked back over the years and wised up, and then instead of

"master of none", it was more like "master of one". The results were extraordinary.

So try it if you don't already. Present your window washing estimate, attempt to close the deal, or through your proper follow up strategy get the deal closed for window washing. Turn them from a

window washing prospect into a window washing customer.

THEN step back and watch your relationship with that new customer turn into all kinds of additional services and jobs, in addition to you raking in the profits by regularly cleaning their windows.

In conclusion, resist the distractions and resist the urge to branch out into other "things". Focus, focus, focus! If you're in the window cleaning business, then BE in the window cleaning business.

'til next time.

Best Wishes,

Steve

Steve Wright is the author of How to Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business, and has started hundreds of individuals on the path to success in their own window washing business as evidenced by reading what some of his students have said here. Mr. Wright has also developed a revolutionary online web-based system called The Customer Factor to assist all window washing business owners in maintaining and growing a successful business. Using both of these resources provides the one-two punch needed for maximum success in the window washing business. For more information, give Mr. Wright a call at 256-546-2446 or visit either of the websites posted.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

An Introduction To The Broken Windows Theory Of Business

When is a dirty bathroom a broken window?

No, that's not a riddle. It's a question that could today be at the

core of a business's success or failure.

Answer that question correctly

and use that answer as a beacon, and your business could dominate its

competition indefinitely.

Ignore the solution to the puzzle, and you

will be condemning your business to failure in a very short period of

time.

The "broken windows" theory, first put forth by criminologist

James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in a piece called "Broken

Windows" in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in March 1982, explains

what a broken window is in criminal justice terms.

But the brilliance

of that theory goes much further than one interpretation. It can and

should be applied to business, too, and it can make a critical

difference- if American businesses will simply take the time and have

the courage to notice.

When Wilson and Kelling first unveiled the theory, the idea of

concentrating on seemingly petty criminal acts like graffiti or purse

snatching seemed absurd: How would a crackdown on jaywalking lead

to a decrease in murders?

The broken windows theory states that something as small and

innocuous as a broken window does in fact send a signal to those who

pass by every day. If it is left broken, the owner of the building isn't

paying attention or doesn't care.

That means more serious

infractions...theft,

defacement, violent crime- might be condoned in this area as

well.

At best, it signals that no one is watching.

This is the heart of the broken windows theory: Wilson and

Kelling write that "social psychologists and police officers tend to

agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all

the rest of the windows will soon be broken."

Why?

Because

the

message being sent out by a broken window- the perception it invites is

that the owner of this building and the people of the community

around it don't care if this window is broken:

They have given up, and

anarchy reigns here.

Do as you will, because nobody cares.

Wilson and Kelling suggested that a "broken window"- any

small indication that something is amiss and not being repaired- can

lead to much larger problems.

It sends signals, they said, that the bad

guys are in charge here; no one cares about maintaining some kind of

order, and anyone who wishes to take advantage of that situation

would be unopposed.

It leads to lawlessness, a kind of anarchy by

neglect.

"Just as physicians now recognize the importance of fostering

health rather than simply treating illness, so the police- and the rest of

us- ought to recognize the importance of maintaining, intact,

communities without broken windows," wrote Wilson and Kelling.

Years later, Wilson told me that the idea behind the broken

windows theory "had to do with the responsibility of the police to take

seriously small signs of disorder because people were afraid of

disorder, and there was a chance disorder could lead to more serious

crime."

Still, critics of the theory greeted it with skepticism, believing

that attention to small infractions would necessarily would necessarily

decrease the amount of attention that could be devoted to much more

serious crimes.

The same objection, in slightly less genteel verbiage, was

raised when Rudolph Giuliani, the newly elected mayor of New York

City in 1994, announced his intention to eliminate graffiti on subway

cars and move the hookers and pimps out of Times Square, to make

Manhattan more "family-friendly."

Critics practically laughed in

Giuliani's face, intimating that the "law and order" mayor- who had

been elected based largely on his experience as a U.S. attorney for the

New York area- was dealing with the small crimes because he knew he

couldn't contain the larger ones.

They were proved wrong.

Giuliani and his new police

commissioner, William Bratton, believed that if they sent out clear

signals to criminals, and to New York's citizenry generally, that a

"zero tolerance" policy would be applied to all crime in the city, the

result would be a safer, cleaner city.

And the statistics bore them out:

Over the following years, the numbers of murders, assaults, robberies,

and other violent crimes all went down dramatically.

And it had all

started with graffiti on subway cars.

I can hear you asking, "What does that have to do with my

business? It's all about crime and criminals."

That same theory is applicable to the world of business.

If the restroom at the local Burger King is out of toilet paper, it

signals that management isn't paying attention to the needs of its

clientele. That could lead the consumer to conclude that food at this

restaurant might not be prepared adequately, that there might be health

risks in coming here, or that the entire chain of fast food out outlets

simply doesn't care about its customers.

Given that scenario, it is not a stretch of the imagination but in

fact a point of logic to conclude that the broken windows theory

should be applied to business, as it was to the problems of crime in

urban areas.

Certainly, the perception of the average consumer is a

vital part of every business, and if a retailer, service provider, or

corporation is sending out signals that its approach is lackadaisical, its

methods halfhearted, and its execution indifferent, the business in

question could suffer severe- and in some cases, irreparable- losses.

This book is about broken windows in business: how they

happen, why they happen, why they are ignored, and the fatal

consequences that can result from their being allowed to go

unchecked.

It is meant as a cautionary tale, a primer, a road map, a

manifesto, and a salute to those companies that fix their broken

windows promptly.

It will explore not only specific examples of

broken windows, how they occurred, and what their long-term results

were but also the culture that creates an environment in which

windows are broken and left unfixed.

I believe that small things make a huge difference in business.

The messy condiment area at a fast food restaurant may lead

consumers to believe the company as a whole doesn't care about

cleanliness, and therefore the food itself might be in question.

Indifferent help at the counter in an upscale clothing store-even if just

one clerk- can signal to the consumer that perhaps standards here

aren't as high as they might be (or used to be).

An employee at the gas

station who wears a T-shirt with an offensive slogan can certainly

cause some customers to switch brands of gasoline and lose an

enormous company those customers for life.

But that's only the tip of the iceberg. I think we as a society

have fostered and encouraged broken windows in our business by

standing by and letting them happen. If the waiter at a local chain

restaurant is impolite, or even merely complacent, about our order, we

chalk it up to a bad day, one employee in one outlet of a large chain,

and we don't send a letter to management or the corporate level.

Even

if we do change brands of gasoline after seeing an attendant in an

offensive T-shirt, we do not write or e-mail the president of the oil

company to alert him to the problem.

We are enablers to window

breakers in every aspect of every business. We don't even necessarily

patronize those companies that fix their broken windows, if the less

attentive one is in a more convenient location or has a slightly lower

price.

That's not to say we are all to blame when a company has

broken windows and doesn't fix them, but it does mean we all bear

some responsibility to stand up for what we actually want and have

every right to expect out of a company to which we're giving our hard-earned

money.

In a capitalist society, we can assume that a company

that wants to succeed will do its best to fulfill the desired of its

consuming public.

If the company sees sales slipping but doesn't have

data from consumers as to what made them decrease their spending on

a retail level, the company will not necessarily know what to fix.

Still, corporations and even small businesses that don't notice

and repair their broken windows should not simply be forgiven

because their consumers didn't make enough of a fuss.

It is the

responsibility of the business to tend to its own house.

The owner of a

Starbucks franchise who decides that revenues are at a healthy level,

such that he or she can put off painting the store for another year, is

asking for trouble:

Yes, things are fine now, but when the paint is

faded and peeling and consumers are no longer getting the experience

they've come to expect, it will be too late to fix things with, literally, a

fresh coat of paint.

The time to repair broken windows is the minute

they occur.

It's better, however, to prevent such smashed panes of glass to

begin with.

This book will examine the origins of broken windows into

two purposes in mind. First, we will see how the small things that can snowball into

large problems develop so we can best illustrate how to

repair the damage once it's been done.

But it is equally important to

see how these things happen so that a smart business owner can make

sure to prevent them at- or before- the very first sign of trouble.

If you

have a policy to paint the store every year, you'll never have to worry

about whether this was the year you waited too long.

In order to best understand how the broken windows theory

relates to business, it's important to examine the original theory- as it

related to criminal activity- in some detail. Because of the brilliant

thinking of Wilson and Kelling, "Broken Windows" illustrated a

serious societal problem that was going unnoticed, and helped turn

around some of the country's largest cities (including the largest of all)

by paying attention to detail.

It began with a program in New Jersey in the mid 1970s. The

Safe and Clean Neighborhoods Program was meant to improve the

quality of life in twenty-eight Garden State cities, and it was to do so,

in part, by increasing the number of police officers on foot patrol,

rather than in patrol cars. Police chiefs, Wilson says today, felt that

such a move was not likely to lower crime levels, "and the police

chiefs were right: They didn't have an effect on crime rates. But they

did have an effect- and in my view, a powerful effect- on how people

felt about their communities and their willingness to use it, suggesting

that fear of disorder was as important as fear of crime."

Indeed, as Wilson and Kelling wrote in the Atlantic, "residents

of the foot-patrolled neighborhoods seemed to feel more secure than

persons in other areas, tended to believe that crime had been reduced,

and seemed to take fewer steps to protect themselves from crime

(staying at home with the doors locked, for example).

Moreover,

citizens in the foot-patrol areas had a more favorable opinion than did

those living elsewhere."

What does this all mean to business?

It's not likely that having

police officers walk the aisles of a Wal-Mart store will increase sales.

But it was the perception that something was being done to increase

order that made the difference for the people living in these New

Jersey cities.

In a business (as we'll discuss in detail through out this book), the broken windows

can be literal or metaphorical.

Sometimes a

broken window really is a broken window, and a new pane of glass

needs to be installed as quickly as possible. Most of the time, however,

broken windows are the little details, the tiny flaws, the overlooked

minutiae, that signal much larger problems either already in place or

about to become reality.

We'll examine companies- huge ones, household names- that

have failed to notice and repair their broken windows and have

suffered greatly for it.

We'll also look at those that have made it a

priority to attend to every potentially broken window and ordered

plenty of replacement panes to make quick, seamless repairs.

The

lessons learned will be many, and varied, and they will have happy,

and not-so-happy endings.

Sometimes companies that deserve to be

rebuked for their laziness will go unpunished, but other times there

will be retribution at the hands of the public, which shows exactly

what happens when you give people what they don't want.

What the public wants more than anything else is to feel that

the business- retail or service-oriented, consumer or business-to-business-

that work for them care about what they want.

Consumers

are looking for businesses that anticipate and fulfill their needs and do

so in a way that makes it clear the business understand the consumer's

needs or wants and is doing its best to see them satisfied.

Broken windows indicate to the consumer that the business

doesn't care- either that it is so poorly run it can't possibly keep up

with its obligations or that it has become so oversize and arrogant that

it no longer cares about its core consumer. Either of these impressions

can be deadly to a business, and we'll see examples of both as we

proceed.

If you run a business, and you truly believe that little things

don't make a difference, you really should read this book- it may save

your business.

If you don't run a business but would like to, this can be

the road map to your success. IF you're merely interested in business

and wonder why one succeeds where a very similar one fails, perhaps

the examples contained here might help answer that question for you.

But it can't be overemphasized that tiny details- the smaller,

the more important- can indeed make a tremendous difference in a

business's success or failure.

Sometimes, yes, a company can make a

huge mistake (the whole New Coke thing was less a broken window

than a neutron bomb placed dead center on corporate headquarters),

but often, even those are foreshadowed by the little things that go, alas,

unnoticed.

A broken window can be a sloppy counter, a poorly located

sale item, a randomly organized menu, or an employee with a bad

attitude.

It can be physical, like a faded, flaking paint job, or symbolic,

like a policy that requires consumers to pay for customer service.

When the waiter at a Chinese restaurant is named Billy Bob, that's a

broken window.

When a call for help assembling a bicycle results in a

twenty-minute hold on the phone (playing the same music over and

over), that's a broken window. When a consumer asks why she can't

return her blouse at the counter and it told, "Because that's the rule,"

that is a broken window.

They're everywhere.

Except at the really sharp businesses.

Read on.

From Michael Levine's Ground-breaking New Book, Broken Windows, Broken Business- How The Smallest Remedies Reap The Biggest Rewards

http://BrokenWindows.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Commercial Window Washing Business Tips--Part 1

The title of my manual is How to Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business so 98% of my business was residential window washing and that's what I teach, but window washing is window washing whether it is residential or commercial.

Although I will say there are certainly some differences and a few twists when it comes to commercial window cleaning. So we're going to talk about that and a whole more in this article

****************

The Approach

****************

There are 3 primary ways to approach a commercial window washing account.

1. This approach, in my opinion, is the best way. Just walk in, introduce yourself, and offer to provide a free estimate to get their windows cleaned. Here's a sample conversation:

Store Clerk/manager/owner: Can I help you?

Window Washer: Sure...my name is Steve Wright and I own SparkleClear Window Washing in town. I was wondering if I can provide you an estimate to get your windows cleaned.

Store Clerk/manager/owner: Whaddya crazy?

Window Washer: Yabba dabba doo.

Sorry about that. Strike the last two from the record.

Seriously though...this approach gets to the heart of the matter very quickly, so if there's any interest or lack of interest at all, you'll know about it fast so you can move on to the next

location.

They may say "we currently have someone, so we wouldn't be really be interested", or they may say, "we have someone but he's not too dependable so go ahead and give me an estimate", or they might say "not right now, why don't you leave me your business card and I'll give you a call if we need someone", or they might say "Man we've been looking for someone...when can you do 'em?".

If they're not interested, always leave them one of your business cards anyway. Timing is everything and maybe at the present time, the timing isn't right. A few months down the road, their current window washer might screw up, so they'll be looking to tap into a new window washer.

In my monthly newsletter Window Washing Success Tips, you've heard me write about playing the numbers game. And that's all we're doing here. Say what you have to say, either do the

estimate or not, and then move on. The more accounts you talk to, the more you get, and the more you can sing "Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to the bank I go."

Although I personally don't think there's a lot of salesmanship involved in the above conversation with the store clerk, I have spoken to window washers who don't feel comfortable just walking in off the street and asking to do an estimate.

So this leads me to the second way of approaching a commercial prospect.

2. Simply use a flyer as the door opener or "crutch". And you can let it to do the "selling" for you. In a recent article, I talked about the use of testimonials so make sure you include 2 or 3 testimonials in your flyer.

With flyer in hand, I would say:

"Hi...my name is Steve Wright and I own SparkleClear Window Washing in town here. I just wanted to leave you this flyer introducing my service in case you may ever be in need of a quality window cleaning."

And then just leave the flyer and off you go to the next store or business. Easy and fast.

3. This approach is a combination of the two listed above. You simply walk into the business with a flyer. I would say:

"Hi, my name is Steve Wright and I own SparkleClear Window Washing Service in town. I just wanted to stop in and give you this flyer to introduce my window washing service to you in case you might ever be in need of a quality window washing company. Oh by the way...Since I'm here, can I go ahead and give

you a free window washing estimate?"

I personally like number 1 the best but number 3 comes in a close second. Asking them a direct yes or no question is usually much more effective then just handing them something and then walking

away, like what happens when we use approach #2.

One last thing on the flyers...some window washers have created flyers that offer an introductory special regardless of the true estimate value of the store or business.

Overall people have told me the response has been favorable, but some window washers don't feel like doing jobs for $10 (for example) when the true estimate value is $40.

I personally think it's a great idea. It gets them committed to you so there's a very strong chance you'll be going back on a repeat basis. If not...you didn't really lose that much. And

you did gain additional exposure for your business by being there working in your company uniform. Anytime you can do that, it's a plus for sure.

In last month's newsletters, I talked about why it's important to not to make price the central theme of your business, but that was for your residential customers. Commercial is a whole different ball game. That's one of the twists I referred to earlier in this article.

Speaking about pricing, here we go...

*********

Pricing

*********

Be cheap. How's that for a short answer?

Yes...you do need to bring down your pricing vs. your normal residential pricing. The commercial side of the business is cutthroat and there's some pricing wars going on. So you're going to be up against some competition usually.

It's hard to give you exact numbers without seeing the glass, but an average size pane of glass would be priced at $3 to $4. Keep in mind that the average size pane of commercial glass could be 2 to 3 times the size of a window that you would see on a house. The good news is that it's just one pane vs. a two pane (or more)

regular double hung window at a house.

And then adjust upward or downward accordingly. What I mean is your final presented price is a judgement call based on 4 things...

1. Are you desperate for the business?

2. Did the store seem really interested or was it one of those "Yeah...you can leave us an estimate if you want to" kind of sentences.

3. Do you know or have an idea whether you might be competing against another window washing bid?

4. Are you providing an estimate to a store who currently has a window washer?

The best scenario obviously is if a store is desperately in need of a good window washer or they currently have a window washer who they're looking to get rid of because of dependability and quality issues (you'll hear this a lot).

In these situations, you may want to bump up the estimate a few dollars (just a few).

Otherwise, you may want to drop your estimated price a little bit. Again...use your judgement. As you probably know by now, the estimating process certainly isn't an exact science.

Just remember that commercial window washing is all about price. There's always another commercial window washer right behind you willing to do it for less.

With your residential customers, you'll generally have the loyalty of the homeowner (unless you did a poor job), so they're not going to make the change to another window washer to save a few measly bucks as readily as a business owner or manager would.

In Part 2, I talk about presenting the estimate, quality of the job, service contracts, and wrapping it all up.

See you then and happy cleaning,

Best Wishes,

Steve Wright is the author of How to Start Your Own Residential Window Washing Business, and has started hundreds of individuals on the path to success in their own window washing business as evidenced by reading what some of his students have said here. Mr. Wright has also developed a revolutionary online web-based system called The Customer Factor to assist all window washing business owners in maintaining and growing a successful business. Using both of these resources provides the one-two punch needed to catapult anyone from zero to six figures per year in the window washing business. For more information, give Mr. Wright a call at 256-546-2446 or visit either of the websites posted.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.