Thats why id carry a small notebook as i jot down the location and quote so when i get home i can have some sort of filing system(ie notebook) so when i follow up i have the persons name. Business address etc. But i see the benefit to a carbon copy
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Iâve been using carbon copies as well, but have realized Iâd rather not mess with them anymore when i have a smart phone with me and can just take a picture.
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Thatâs the way I do it.
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The good thing about carbon copies is that the info of all your quotes is in one place. You can get a book of âGeneral Purpose Sales Orderâ for like $3 at Walmart, servers as quotes and receipts, just staple your business card to it until you can get custom made.
Get their:
Name
Address
Email
Phone
Referred by
And quote them anything you can do, sell sell sell.
While youâre parked out front, introduce yourself to anyone outside, and leave cards or flyers in the houses next to and in front, even if they donât call they may give your card to family or friends, plus they start to familiarize with your company name and logo.
My 2¢
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Put directly into my piggy bank. 
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Here is the first cards I got, before I designed my logo, etc⌠Itâs OK.
I donât have my name on there so that anyone can pass the cards out.
My wife writes 7 Day Rain Guarantee on there. It does get noticed. Especially when they see my handwriting on the card too. 
This second picture shows what I write on the back most of the time, not all the time.
Scheduled - Is there so that the prospect might ask about it. If they donât, I point to it and talk about it. I let them know this is a price for every 2 weeks or 30 days(I might adjust the price based on what they want) then I write 2 Weeks or 30 Days beside Scheduled on the card.
7 Day Rain Guarantee - Is there to generate a conversation, as well.
Sometimes, I donât give an Inside priceâŚmost of the time itâs because there are too many things in the way racks, nick nacks, posters, vinyl covering, curtains, painted surface, ectâŚ
Outside+Door - This means, all outside glass surface + both sides of the door. This has been really popular.
Today I picked up a monthly with: In&out 4W & 1D + 9 Mirrors $30
For accessible glass - Sometimes, beside the bid amount, I write: âIn&Out $25 For accessible glass - 9W & 2Dâ
Then I explain what this means to the prospect. They might have twelve windows and three doors but you can only get to nine windows and two doors.
(Just so you know BaBz, sometimes there is glass you canât get to, or it isnât worth getting to. Unless you explain this to the prospect, they may expect you to move all that junk and six neon lights to clean that glass. 'âWhat do you mean that window wasnât in the bid price? Iâm paying you to clean all my windows. I donât care that itâs going to take 30 minutes to get to it. Iâm paying you $15, ainât I?â
I will make some changes on the next order of business cards.
I think I will have the following things added to the back:
Scheduled
7 Day Rain Guarantee
Sales Tax not included
I keep forgetting to mention the sales taxâŚwe have one. I have different ones for three different areas I canvass. So, it would take up too much space to list what the sales taxes are. Also, I had less acceptance when I added the sales tax into the bid.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
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I donât think that writing an expiration date works for me. It seems like it could create a negative feeling. On a more formal bid sheet, or something like that, it is needed. But, on a business card it could seem a little too formal.
Now, I think if you write the current date on the back of the card you can create the same sense of urgency without seeming so contractual.
You could write down the current date and donât point it outâŚforget itâs even there. I think a lot of people would assume it has something to do with the bid being âTime Sensitiveâ. If they bring it up I would blow it off with, âOh, that is really to remind me of when we talked. A couple of months from now I might not be able to fit your price in anymoreâ Yes, I know what I wrote might not look right, but, read it out loud and feel what I wrote. Notice you didnât say you were going to raise their prices. You didnât say much of anything really. But, their subconscious mind is filling in all the blanks and interpreting what it feels you were saying. Same sense of urgency without seeming pushy.
I could probably explain it better if it wasnât 2:30 in the morning.
Itâs not that I wouldnât honor the price after 30 - 90 days, because I may or may not honor it after two weeks.
Sometimes, after youâve written your bid down and walk inside you see things that make you realize you might be a little tight on your bid. Or, you might get that feeling you really donât want them or their place on your route.(I have changed my bid right there in front of the customer, while I explained why. They were understanding.)
For me, a date and the possible dialog arising from it might hamper the interaction. You could always mention it in your followup call.
I only put dates on things like formal proposals, residential estimates, invoices, and contracts. If I get a Storefront calling me up 60 days from now I probably would raise the bid just to test how serious they are about my services and that they know prices will go up. But then again, it really depends on: if the location fits into my route; the client would help promote my business; and the original bid was a Win-Win for both of us.
Time for bed.
Bad dreamâŚ(French Pane Storm Windows???)
(Gonna to charge them $300 per)
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Forgot to mention:
If they accept my services, I try to get their business card and I will write down, on their business card, the same exact things I wrote on the back of my business card that I gave them. This way I am confirming the accepted offer with them and I have all of their contact information, to put in my book later.
Make sure it is their card you are takingâŚI have a really nice card for a professional tile installer. Ah, problem is my client owns a cellphone store.
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This all helps. Im still figuring out my selling style. Im a people person so i will prob just go off them.
TaxesâŚdo we NEED to charge taxes? Even tho we may pay them. Cant we just add in the extra 7 or 10 bucks to bid and note âtax includedâ?
Yes you need to charge state taxes if your state has a sales tax on services. So yes there.
Next question, yes you could approach your numbers in this fasion but eventually youâll need to know exactly what the job was worth and what amount of taxes you charged. When you go to pay your state sales tax theyâre going to ask you what taxes you collected. And yes the state will want to know down to the penny. This is research you should be doing for the state you plan to do business in.
So the short answer to that question is yes but the long answer to that question is no. Why in the world would you do it that way? You gotta pretend youâre actually running a legitimate business eventually.
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I mentâŚsay job would be say $100(for arguement sake) bid would be 107-110. Saying tax included. You just put $7.00 as collected taxesâŚ
Be your professional self, the one people can connect with but not the kind of person that wants to waste the business ownerâs time. Youâll be able to tell who has time to talk and who has a thousand things going at once and doesnât really want to talk about the windows. You need to have your pitch ready for people who donât have a lot of time to talk.
I know a lot of âpeople personsâ and their mistake is they think everyone has time to talk and hear what they have to say.
Sometimes the best approach with a busy overwhelmed person is to imply you are there to take care of one of their problems for them, which you are.
I agree with IronLionZion.
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I think it muddies the water. Tax auditor might say you earned $107 and you need to pay 7% of of $107, not $100. What does you client do when they try to write it off their taxes? I donât like to leave these things to chance.
I used to give my resi customers the grand total, including tax. After thinking about it, i realized that makes the number higher. People would rather see a lower number, of course. I put â+ taxâ next to it so they donât get surprised later if they didnât realize window cleaning is subject to sales tax, and this way they resent uncle Sam instead of me. And really, thatâs how all stores do it. Best buy shows you the TV for $500. At the register it ends up more. So, i say give them your price. What the government adds is a separate thing.
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I agree 100%. At least we donât have to pay a tax for owning a TV, like in England. Thatâs crazyâŚgive it time, it will happen here, too.
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I donât know if itâs like this in every state, but here sales tax has to be shown as a separate line on the invoice.
Good way to explain to the customer also
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I agree. And i wouldnt think the customer would mind too much or have an issue with that. As tax is expected. (Again, id assume. 1 thing i do know is people will surprise you at ever turn)
I like the front better nowâŚjust move the phone number to the middle and make it bigger font size.
