Commercial or Residential?

I would go in person to see the house when I got a chance

But if you or your wife could not? Say they were super insistent that you had to do it today, what then? There is a way to do this that makes sense but I just want to see how you would think outside the box.

I would tell them to give me a window count and what type of windows they are. I can figure everything up from that.

No swords drawn, just friendly conversation. Trying to see how others do it and what I can learn.

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Not bad. Hereā€™s a complicated way to squish it in. If they physically wanted to see me. I would make sure my storefronts are not on an exact date or time, you can do storefronts from what I find within a week or so of when you usually do them and not have owners flip out.

The houses you will lose if you reschedule too often so working around the customer if I had to leave in the middle of a job and I have guys there on the site, I would leave and come back.

Now if you cannot do that and you absolutely cannot get to them during the day, you will most likely lose the consultation. At this point if they are impatient you have to decide if these are people you want to deal with in the first place. Instead I would charge them to move them ahead on the list or they will have to wait. Nobody likes being told to wait, if you cannot get to them in the day, tell them you can only get there at night. At this point they will reschedule to your terms or meet with you on your terms. It sounds crazy but not a lot of companies go out at night, I have done plenty of consultations at night, ie: out at 9 pm and closed a deal.

Also when you get to the appointment if you put them ahead on the list, you could always request the money upfront before you do anything, otherwise leave.

It sounds pretty opposite of what I usually say but I am positive you can make it work. I would not have suggested it otherwise.

This has never been an issue for me. Just about everyone is OK with me coming over the course of a week. If they arenā€™t willing to wait thatā€™s fine with me. Iā€™ve got plenty of other people calling. You canā€™t let your business run you. You have to run your business.

How often do you get calls? Seems like you are doing well then.

A wise man once told me, if you have to be actively involved in your business, itā€™s not a business, you just own a job.

If you can afford to be absent and it runs itself, then itā€™s a business.

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True but for us as we continue to grow time becomes your enemy. I used to go to each quote, and I still will if I need to. Now I can literally quote & book 3-4 new jobs in a day while still in the field generating $1,000.00 plus in sales. Its difficult to do that all in one day if youā€™re driving to each quote.

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Quoting over the phone is something we bucked for a long time. I also had the mind set that it wouldnā€™t work or that Iā€™d lose quotes. And honestly we do lose a few. But over all itā€™s more efficient and we have had a very positive feedback from our new clients. Most people want things now not in a few hours or days.

Plus I always offer both. We can come take a look in person or over the phone. I leave it up to the customer. I explain I can provide them with a emailed quote within 20 mins if they would like to text photos of the exterior home or we can always setup a time and a date and Iā€™d be happy to provide them with the quote in person. You would be surprised with how many people say ā€œYes Iā€™d be happy to send you photosā€

Either way to each their own. I know Iā€™d never go back to driving all over KC again for estimates.

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Yeah I can definitely see the value in that when you are that busy. Thanks for the input.

We do it the same way, works just fine!

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Dang Luke! I need reevaluate my priorities after reading this! Lol! That must rock!

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Not easy thoā€¦

I think i prefer RESIDENTIAL over commercial because of the customer relationships and the feeling of helping a person who will appreciate my service and the way i treated them,

RES PROS: customer relationship is generally more personal, big tips,feels good helping someone take care of their HOME, get to see awesome homes, gardens, scenery art and some people are so cool. i dont mind conversing with the customers, ive learned a lot from a few of them honestly.

RES CONS: Some people SUCK. Some windows SUCK, -STORMS-, tracks are not my favorite thing to clean.

COMM PROS: Exposure, constant cash flow, perfect for honing your techniques and speed and definitely the FREE FOOD lol

COMM CONS: physically and mentally draining sometimes, repetitive, dealing with street people
often.

(these are my personal ā€œpros and consā€)

our residential quotes take about 15 mins. i think counting windows by size, height and difficulty gives us an accurate price that we can give to the customer with and explain how it was generated. we will even let them know how much each window size is worth if they want. the system we use works for us and gets us paid what we think the work is worth. we have cleaned big houses with few windows and small houses just about made of glass, so pricing per window works for us for now, but we will change if necessary as the business grows and develops

90/10 commercial to residential better money and more regular work with commercial

Ughhā€¦

Please donā€™t work for food. Please.

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Ughā€¦ Applebeeā€™s would only pay me in food. Foods good but it doesnā€™t pay the bills. ā€¦dropped them!

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hahaha no i just have a few cool customers that hook me up! :grin::+1: