You ARE NOT Selling Window Cleaning!

dude, it is not my marketing plan. It is good business practice.

fear is a giant killer…

Well, I just wrote a long post and accidentally deleted it…man I hate that!

CFP is right.

Scammers will scam whether or not you offer a guarantee or not. Winderwasher: The individual who ripped you off did not do so on the basis of the “guarantee card”, right? He simply ripped you off, and disappeared before paying. That had nothing to do with a guarantee issue.

I offer a 100% guarantee whether the job is for $50 or $25,000. Seriously, I do. And no one (yup - NO ONE) has dared to attempt to use it unethically, because it shows clients that you’re not messing around, and that you are serious about your business.

Of course, it does a lot of other great stuff, too, which I have already typed out in great length (alas) only to have deleted it!

Anyway, always offer a STRONG guarantee. People will trust you, hire you, and pay you, if you deliver on your word.

Paneless,
I totally agree with you. I never mentioned anything about not giving a guarantee on my work. As a matter of fact, I and my guys always mention it to the customer when I close out the job. “If you have any concerns at all, please call us back. We stand behind our work 100%”. Its just a matter of preference whether you want to give them their money back or not. 99% of the people I deal with are legit and dont expect to get their money back if something doesnt go as planned. They just want for you to make things right with them. If I get a complaint from one of my crews, I address it right away. It gets documented with what we call a trouble ticket. I follow up on the call within an hour or so if it wasnt left on our voicemail after hours. The issue is taken care of and a copy of the ticket is left with the owner usually within a day or two. To me thats showing the customer that you are doing all you can to satisfy them. We have never lost a customer to my knowledge with this procedure. An apology can go along ways these days because you very seldom hear one.

CFP,
I said that to myself a few posts ago. Why bother typing all of this? I do offer a satisfaction guarantee and I do advertise it on most of my materials. My point is that I dont offer the money back thing. I dont want to absorb that kind of loss due to someone that is going to shaft me before I even touch their glass. Screen burn, heavily oxidized glass , blown seals all over the place. It amazes me sometimes when people think I can turn a blown seal into crystal clear perfection. The money back guarantee is just MY choice not to promote. Why not put this topic to bed. Its just a difference in opionions. As long as you stand behind your work, you should have no problems.

Steve

Thanks…:slight_smile:

Winderwasher: Its fairly obvious to me that you have your head on straight, and that you think seriously about your marketing and business strategies. AND that you know what you’re talking about.

Take our advice, though, and your window cleaning business will become even more successful.

A guarantee without teeth is mere words. Simply because of the ‘put your money where your mouth is’ expectation that people rightly have.

"100% satisfaction guaranteed"
vs.
“100% satisfaction guaranteed or we’ll give you every single penny back”

Which sounds more legit?

I’ve offered a $$-back guarantee for YEARS and never been burned. Neither will you, as a high-quality window cleaning service provider. And you’ll land more [I]interest[/I], and subsequently, more [I]clients[/I] because of it.

Take it or leave it, but you should really take it.

:slight_smile:

Paneless,
I appreciate the compliment. Thats goes the same from me to you. I have read alot of your stuff over there on the NWCD. I signed on there just before you left about a year ago. I can see that you are a pretty level headed guy that puts his post together so they are of encouragement rather that dismissing someones ideas as something out of the mouth of idiots. The web and these forums have given me such a wealth of knowledge and hands on experience that cant be found in a book or seminar. Those of us that have been down alot of dead end streets in this business can pass those experiences on so that others dont make the same and often costly mistakes we have made. I appreciate and respect everyone’s input here.

Steve

Interesting thread! Personally speaking what may work for some may not work for others. It seems as though trying to make the word “Guarantee” stick out and grab people can easily be done by…not offering a “Money back” guarantee but merely putting “Satisfaction Guaranteed”

I know because that simple 2 word line was the trigger for me back when i first cranked it up out here in Canyon Lake in June of 2004. I ran it in a throw away ad that came out every week from June to Dec and we did 35,000 just off that ad.:wink:

The words, Guarantee, Money Back Guarantee, Satisfaction Guaranteed or whatever, is not the “eye catcher” you guys think we use it for. It is comfort, it is their safety net in a world of screw jobs and poor service. Most services fear using it and for NO REASON and no experience with this matter.

It works EVERYWHERE and is not a generic term such as “best” “quality” “professional”, because it has meaning. I have several carpet cleaners here that have huge guarantees. That to me seems “risky”, just because of my horrible experiences with them. But because of that experience, who do you think I will call next time?..

What words work best together? whatever puts them at ease… It is far from just a marketing keyword.

In order to figure out if one guarantee voiced differently will out-do the previous would need to be tested against the other. A guarantee will NOT be the sole reason they call, there had better be something else there.

I find myself hungry for pizza now, I am calling Pizza Hut :slight_smile:

Whatever works is what i would use even if…it means “trial & error” in using it differently to see the results.

Words are just that “Words” now…if your fall short on [U]Delivering[/U] then all the catchy words phases etc mean nothing!

again Craig, “catchy” has little to do with it… it is about emotional triggers.

Words mean everything because no words, no business to “deliver” to. It is painfully obvious we must run a good, ethical business.

Fresh, Hot Pizza delivered in 30 minutes. Guranteed

Those [U]words[/U] [B]alone[/B] sold a [B]billion[/B] dollars worth of half assed pizza. (sorry Mike)

Words are everything

Words are necessary to attract the customers. That’s what this thread is about.

Delivering is necessary to keep them.

Im completely aware of the how important words are! I was more or less referring to the 2nd half being action & delivery!

Yes…words are what draw people but…word without action is merely sentiment!