I am a manager at a mid-market window cleaning company. We are interested in the high rise / large commercial market. I want to know what makes long term high rise cleaners tick.
What facets of your job do you love? Why high rise window cleaning over other window cleaning, or other work in general? What are the best rewards of the work you do?
What would you rank as the biggest pains in the ass? Whats the most likely thing to turn you off of your work. What do companies do that make you resent working for them?
How do you feel about post-construction cleans? How does your desire to to high rise post-construction cleaning rate to your desire to do regular high rise window cleaning?
I’m really curious to know whats on your minds! Thanks!
I enjoy High rise work because the account size. High rise accounts usually start around $5000 and can go anywhere around a $100,000 a year.
For example I just got 3 calls this week, we have not advertised 8 to 10 years, 1 call was a $60,000. 1 time a year cleaning account we previously cleaned 2 years ago , a $30,000 job we cleaned 2 years ago. 1 $20,000. job too
These were not our regular customers but just ones that had changed management hands and decided to try different companies.
This will be above and beyond our regular work last year.
Another posititive for us is we don’t have downtime of driving to and from the account’s as often. Will be at 1 facility for a few days or weeks.
Longer season if you are in a cold climate.
Insurance and employee wages are usually higher but the price of jobs are also.
Downside for many companies is you have to be financially rate responsible. Carrying employee wages and costs for longer periods until payment is made. Also collecting and paying in larger amounts of sales tax and emplyee withholdings gets many companies caught in a bind.
To add, you dont need to have short days. No problem working 8, 10 or even 12 hours a day as needed or weekends.
Start times can be early, get up and out before sun heats up or before the wind picks up much too. We usually start at 5am, some leave after 8 hours others work til 2:30 and get 5 hours of overtime a week.
More flexibility.
Bids can require you to be more professional, many times do group walk thru of facility or present bid to a panel of individuals.
I enjoy a mix of accounts. Even though we wash windows daily it really mixes it up and takes the repetition out of only residential, storefront or commercial. Each of these have variances that can help eliminate being burned out as quick.
