I received a call today from a woman needing a picture window cleaned. She then asked if I also do chandeliers. I would like to add this one day, of course, and have read a bit on this forum about it, but I can’t honestly say right now that yes I do them. She said she’s gonna look for someone that can do both.
I feel like maybe I should have said yes and just learned real quick. I mean, at some point it will be my first time, why not now? (It’s not like I have one at home to practice on.)
First off: no need to kick yourself over this. Better safe than sorry. Just something to learn from and maybe adjust your approach slightly for next time. @JfromtheD will appreciate what I’m getting at
I would ask for more information before saying that I couldn’t do something. If you asked her to send you a picture or two, that would have given you time to jump on the forum and research how to clean them. Then if the chandelier looks out of your scope of ability or comfort level, you can back out gracefully by saying something like, “I’m sorry, but currently I don’t clean [blank] type of chandeliers” or, “I don’t clean any interior fixtures higher than xx feet.”
I’ve also had some success with being up front about my inexperience in a certain area, but expressing my interest in researching and learning something new. I think this works for me because I have an established presence in my market, and it’s apparent that I’m professional in everything I set about doing. If you’re pretty new to business, it might scare off potential customers if you’re that forthcoming about your inexperience. There’s some truth to the phrase, “fake it till you make it”
There’s good money in chandeliers but it’s tedious. Always inspect it before bidding or cleaning. If it’s sketchy then pass, you don’t want it to fall or you’ll be out $$$$.
If it’s tiny dangling pieces those are going to take forever. If it’s larger glass pieces then not too bad but always take them off on opposite ends so it doesn’t get unbalanced.
A small chandelier should probably start at $100 but it’ll take experience to gauge how long it’ll take and buff accordingly.
Personally, I just put some invisible glass in a travel sized squirt bottle and use that with Huck’s to clean them. You can use spray away, but if you’re on a ladder for a couple hours then a tiny squirt bottle starts to seem like a good idea.
I haven’t done a lot but those I’ve done have been good jobs.
Wow thanks, Alex. That was just the encouragement I needed and your suggested approach makes so much sense. I would have never thought to do it that way. I really appreciate it!
For me if I don’t do something I don’t do it. No shame in that . I’ve been asked if I did chandeliers an , Roof cleaning the same thing happened.
For me chandelier Cleanjng is to tedious really want nothing to do with it.
I’ve also been on the other side of the both services for Power washing an window cleaning.
So don’t beat yourself over it. Do more research, so when the next call comes in you’ll be more comfortable with it , an the answer will be yes I do both services .
Your going to need A-frame ladders or that heavy giant thing.
That’s one reason I was worried. I just got done hanging door hangers in some of the most upscale communities and would really have liked to get a foothold there. Right now I’m happy if I’m getting a job every two or three weeks, which isn’t too great but I know patience is important right now. But as Luke says in one of his videos, you just make a lot of mistakes when you’re new and just have to continuously figure out what you could have done better. Next time, I’m definitely going to use the approach Alex suggested above.
Thats the beauty of this forum you dont need to recreate the wheel when it comes to WC. People here have made the majority of the mistakes and shared the mistakes and the correct way of doing it. It all available at anyones finger tips.
That is sage advice. Keeping this in mind will help me not get too discouraged. Thanks!
And no, I’m from Pennsylvania. In fact, if you’ve seen the show The Office, the town it takes place in - Scranton - is a town I service. (Why? Am I typing with a drawl? Lol)
Yeah I’m definitely taking advantage of it. I find it almost addicting reading thread after thread and often find myself on here till past midnight. I wish you could just download the forum straight into your brain like in The Matrix. I just want to be amazing at this immediately!
