When I first started window cleaning my goal was to do residential and build a storefront route. Well, I canvassed this downtown shopping area right near my Fire Department because I figured I would at least be able to get 10 or so accounts that I could do after a shift at the FD. I only got one account which is a small bakery. The owner was very nice and I did end up cleaning her home. I have been doing the account for about a year. It turns out that residential has been very busy and enjoyable for my wife and I. So we are doing all residential windows and gutters with the exception of this lady’s bakery. It’s really become an inconvenience to do. How do I tactfully and professionally let the account go?
Meh… If you are done with storefront just tell her your insurance doesn’t cover commercial anymore.
Just be honest and tell her you’re shifting you business model to residential only . Give her the last service for free . She’s a business person , she’ll understand
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Seems simple enough… I guess I overthought it because during some periods where we would go past 4 weeks due to our schedule being packed she would email/text asking “When are you coming to do my windows?” (in this specific town we are the only window cleaners.)
If you’re the only window cleaners in town you could raise the price to a point where it’s worth your time. Simple economics - scarcity and demand tends to create higher prices
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I guess I’m having a hard time grasping this. I could understand if you’re the only good or reputable window cleaners. But someone’s gotta be doing the other storefronts. I would give a 2 month notice to your customer (if you can manage that) and suggest she ask around to the other business owners to find out who cleans their storefronts.
Two months notice? The store won’t die from dirty windows. It isn’t like you are cancelling before a wedding.
Just tell them you can’t do them on a regular schedule anymore and they need to find someone else.
i agree lying is always best, tell them…
when you were young you were on a family picnic, your mother got covered in sticky goo while passing out cinnamon buns. you had to watch helplessly as she was devoured by ants. you thought you could deal with it but the smell of bakery is just too much.
or
your father sold bakery equipment and while demonstrating a very powerful kneading machine his tie got caught and the machine pulled it so tight his head came clean off! the smell of the fresh bread is bringing back horrifying nightmares.
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Yes the ONLY. Population of this specific community is 7600. Now the town over yes there may be a window cleaner. But no one works this town. My fire dept is located in the downtown area of this town and I have never seen another WC.The other storefronts turned me down because they didn’t deem it necessary to have a window cleaner because they “do it themselves”.
@Infinity one of my lieutenants just told me the town used to have a WC about 5 years ago. An old guy… But he retired.
Hmmm. Did I miss something? Population of 7,600 and you are too busy to do one bakery? Perhaps you aren’t charging enough to make it worth your while. Do you have a minimum for store front? You have been window cleaning for about a year and store front does seem to be the slowest to come around. The others do not see the value in the service; it is your job to articulate the value of your service. No, you won’t get all of them, and a town that small maybe not even most of them, without getting them to come around to your way of thinking. Be persistent while your bread and butter is residential.
Edit: be careful someone else doesn’t move into your “store fronts” and also your residentials. Just saying.
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Okay let me clarify: my fire department is located about 40 miles from my home. All of of my residential clients are within a 10 mile radius of my HOME not my department. The only reason I entertained trying to pick up a route near my job is because I figured I could do it after coming off of shift since I was already in the area. The residential side for me and my wife has been very busy in and around our home territory. We both decided that we really liked residential and are sticking to that and do not want to do storefronts period. So now I have this lone store front near my job that I just need to drop.
Thank you. Very good advice
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I like that. “Just be honest.”
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In that case refer to LA’s advice.
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I hit the same situation in my business. You just go in shake their hand and tell them that your business has been so busy that you are no longer able to keep up and give them the level of service you want to offer.
I just had to do this with an account I’ve had for 10 years. I was just completely honest and did it in person. I just told them circumstances have changed I’ve tried to maintain the account and don’t want it to be a situation where I’d start to deliver a bad service by not being able to get to it in time.that was my personal experience. The customer asked if it was the price, I assured them it was just my situation changed
