Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and fulfilling holiday. I had a great holiday except for being sick for a little bit it was relaxing.

Now we are back feeling refreshed and we all seem to be getting along remarkably well so far. Well everyone except The Man who did not return from the holiday yet.

As I have told you about in previous posts this is the time of year we all reflect on our previous actions and find ways to better them for the new year to come. We are starting that now even without The Man being present. How dedicated are we now I mean come on we could act like wild teenagers who throw parties when the parents are away but no we are grown adults who are being responsible and keeping things going on point. (shhh most of us are most of the time anyway). Seriously though in this time of economic turmoil our main focus should be and is how to keep things going in a positive direction for everyone.

Well since it's so new being back I will have to wait a few days at least for the dramas to start so I have something exciting to report to you guys. So until then have a great week and enjoy the quiet while you can.

See you next week
The Appointed One

Winter Wonderland

Hello everyone,

Winter is upon us although for us today it's rainy but temps are like 56. Shocking for December in New Jersey but we like it; makes for a good work day; no icicles on our crews today.

Anyhow winter is the time when you kind of get to wipe the slate clean and start fresh in a new year. We get to make promises to change things about ourselves personally and professionally. Everyone knows that theses promises usually last about a week maybe two if you have a lot of will power which I have none of. I didn't inherit that gene.

This time of year also keeps us in Wonderland for at least a week or so. I bet you are curious as to what I mean by this and if you're not I'm gonna tell you anyway. Every year we as a company take this time to make changes in the company. We all sit down and go over what has worked well for us and what hasn't. We also get to come up with some creative ways to expand on what we do have and make it better. Sounds great so far right. Well this all usually starts when we get back from our short holiday break this way everyone has a chance to regroup and come back refreshed, ready to spring back into creativeness.

The only thing is until we get back from break we all spend the time prior wondering what will go on, in our land of window cleaning. See we (and yes I mean even me) don't get an inside peek on what THE MAN has in store for any of us until the very last possible second. I'm convinced that he handles it this way because he can't make up his mind until the very last second. I'm sure he comes up with different ways to handle the winter and new year at least 100 times before he presents it to us plus he gets a kick out of leaving us in our state of wonderland.

I hope everyone enjoyed my little blog today. I know I enjoy doing them. Have a great week.

The Appointed One

The Name Game

Good Morning Everyone. I hope your Thanksgiving was great.

I have kind of a weird situation that comes up in spurts here. We service a large area within 3 states and have a pretty common name so I guess this was bound to come up sooner or later.

We get calls from time to time asking if we are either the Septic Company or the Landscaping Company. This is all understandable to a point. However our company name is All County Window Cleaning; the septic company is All County Septic and the landscaping company is All American Landscaping. I can still after pointing out the difference totally see how we can all be confused with each other; Hey it happens to the best of us which is why I love that Bill Engvall. He is the guy who does the redneck comedy with Jeff Foxworthy, He does a bit called "Here's Your Sign" for those of you who don't know who he is. Very Funny Stuff !!

Anyway the one name game I don't like playing all the time is the one where we are confused with another window cleaning company who actually has the same name as us. This is a good thing and bad thing at times. Before I go on I must point out that this other company with the same name services some areas south of us that we don't service BUT he also services a few of the same areas we do as well. Let's start with the downside. We call a potential customer who we have never serviced before trying to gain their business and we are shot down right away because this customer has used All County Window Cleaning and was not happy. The other instance is where they insist that we already service them and we know that we don't. We really want to but we don't. All of this is usually fixable if not right then and there usually within a short period of time.

OK now for the upside. Once we put the knowledge into potential clients brains that we are another company totally separate from the other All County Window Cleaning and we prove what type of services and standards we offer to our customers we end up with the business we wanted to obtain in the first place and even better than that we are able to completely change a persons attitude toward the service industry which helps everyone all around. Plus between you and I making a new relationship with a customer and changing someones idea of us is a personal victory is my eyes. Nothing makes my day at work more than nabbing that big sale or hearing back from a customer how wonderful we were and how they are so glad they gave us the chance to work with them.

That's my story this week. Words of wisdom to go with it... If you have a similar situation out there turn it to your advantage. Offer customers your version of the service, direct them to your website if they appear skeptical of who you really are. Offer to send them literature on your company to spark a recognition and always always offer the perks of your service BUT never never down talk another company. This can and will always come back to bite you later. Karma is wonderful thing trust me.

Until Next Week Have a Prosperous One,
The Appointed One

Holiday Tips

Hello I'm sure everyone is either going nuts trying to get ready for thanksgiving or dying of anticipation for that yummy turkey. I'm the earlier one of those two.


Today I wanted to bring up a subject that comes up alot more this time of year than any other. "Do I have to tip the guys and how much should I tip them" Holidays seem to just bring out the best in people don't they? Anyhow this has always been an awkward question for me. I don't know exactly why but it makes me uncomfortable. I don't like to tell people how much extra they should give especially when they are already paying a good amount for our service. However I did come up with a response that gets me out of committing anyone to any particular amount. "Well that all depends on your comfort level, You are not required to tip them but if you feel comfortable and that they are doing a wonderful job you are welcome to tip them whatever you decide"


This is the best answer I can come up with that is good enough for everyone without appearing to be money hungry people or depriving the techs of any extra they work hard for. I know they would all probably string me up by my toes if they knew I was telling a customer they didn't have to tip them but from a business stand point we need to be fair. Besides you get customers ranging from the little old lady who you know really can't afford our service to begin with all the way up to the customer who has us come in several times a year for a high amount without flinching. You don't want to make anyone feel bad if they can't tip and you certainly don't want to insult anyone who definitely can.


Our techs nine times out of ten do a phenomenal job and are very deserving of tips. They also come back with tips regularly throughout the year. It just seems to be this time of year it comes up more and more. I know from past experiences there are alot of businesses where the employees are not allowed to accept tips or gifts. We are not one of them which is great for the techs seeing as how with some of the customers they deal with residential as well as commercial they are so more than deserving of it.


So that is my holiday tip story of the week. Hopefully this will give some insight on how to politely deal with the tip question to fellow window cleaners and provide an acceptable solution to customers questions as well. I hope everyone enjoys their holidays.


Have a Safe and Wonderful Holiday,
The Appointed One

Collections

Hello window cleaning world,

Is everyone enjoying the weather? It's a bit cold for me and we are almost due for some real snow here.. Times like this I wish I lived on a tropical island and am very grateful that I work indoors.
Anyway today I want to shed some light on the daily frustrations of our very own "Money Bags" We all give her a hard time about being harsh and brutal at times with customers but let's look at it from her point of view for a minute. How many times can you call the same person looking for payment and keep a smile on your face when each time you call they act like it's the first time they have talked to you?! I consider myself a patient person although everyone here thinks I'm a spaz. I manage to keep a cool head when it comes to customers. "Money Bags" on the other hand consistently gets the ones that haven't paid in like 6 months who either dodge the calls or again act like it's the first time they have talked to us, you know the type. "Umm Oh really I thought that was paid, Could you send me a copy of that bill, I sent payment to you already" Now you are sitting here looking at all your notes on this customer which shows 1. It was never paid, 2. You already faxed, mailed and emailed the bill to them and 3. The last bill paid was the service before the one you are trying to collect on.
Believe me I understand the bind everyone is put in especially with the way the economy is right now. We are in a bind as well... my personal theory is that if you don't have the money then don't order the service but at the same time if people don't order the service then we don't have jobs but again if people keep booking appts. and not paying we won't have jobs either.
"Money Bags" handles collections the best way she can. I know she tries to work with customers at times working out payment deals, arranging for us to go in person to pick up payment and even waiving bills at times due to a late complaint on service. There are some instances where customers just flat out refuse to pay us or just keep avoiding us leaving her no choice but to send off to our legal collections guy.
I apologize to any customer who has felt that they were treated in a mean manner that is never our intention. To avoid conflict please find a way to pay us. We are not horrible people we will work with you if you work with us. Window Cleaners I would suggest the same for you always be willing to work with a customer who is willing to work with you. Remember anyone can end up in a bad situation at any time.

Have a great week,
The Appointed One

Undercut Pricing

Hello out there,

This is generally the time of year people call looking for bids on their corporate buildings, schools and communities in an effort to put together budgets. This is great since a window cleaners dream is a large job that can be completed in a good amount of time and is guaranteed to repeat at the very least annually. Sounds all good and fine right? Yea until the bidding process takes place and you realize that quality and standard isn't really a consideration in the acceptance of the bid. Now don't get me wrong I'm not totally bitter or trying to insinuate that our company is superior over all others BUT when you know who your bidding against it makes it hard not to be upset when you don't get the bid and you know this client will be calling around again because they aren't satisfied with the work performed by the guy who undercut us by like half.
I get told all the time by my co workers and my boss that I am a spaz and act like a maniac when things like this come up and I don't disagree; I do however think it's my spasticness and passion that makes me good at what I do. You all know that there is a decent amount of time and effort into placing these large bids. Driving out there, meeting with someone who talks your head off for hours (Mr. Fancy Pants will attest to this), putting together the bid in a professional manner, then following up just to find out that some one man show or a very large company underbid you by half if not more. Please don't take offense and get all personal on me you all know you have felt this way one time or another (IF you haven't yet.. trust me you will)
We are a higher priced company than some others out there BUT we also offer a higher standard of service than some others out there as well. It is this standard that makes me wish companies and schools would consider that in their decisions along with price. Most times we hear "Well we went with the lowest bid" That's fine especially with the economy the way it is. To be honest I do get some satisfaction when I look at the size of the job and know that for the money being charged the guy who got the bid will suffer working ridiculously hard for no money at all because he underbid it so much. (Yea I know go ahead say it.. I'm a mean spiteful witch) Then of course there are the situations where a few weeks or months go by and that same company who laughed at your estimate is calling asking if you could complete the job by like... mmm.. tomorrow. In these cases sometimes I wish I could say No sorry you should have thought about that before... Then reality kicks in and I say sure we can do it no problem because we are the better company at that point. Satisfaction granted..
My words of wisdom for the week.. Bite your tongue when you can, Keep having conversations in your head..(as crazy as that sounds) it's those made up conversations in my head that save my sanity daily and keep the conflict to a minimum. Window Cleaners and Clients please look at more than dollar signs when bidding and accepting jobs.. There should be a code of conduct among us all. Don't laugh I said "SHOULD BE" I'm not that naive.

Have a Great Week,
The Appointed One

Good Guy, Bad Guy You Decide.....

Good Morning,

I have an issue myself this week, it's not a new issue but it's one that come up usually around this time every year and maybe I just take things too personally sometimes but it bugs me. I as the Appointed One don't think I'm a mean person unless I have to be. Don't laugh I'm serious, yea I know I'm a girl so I must be moody and whatever but who isn't sometimes....
Anyway there seems to be this ice dam that goes up between office staff and techs which seems to get worse in the winter. Techs think we (office staff) don't understand what they go through nor do they believe that we work anywhere near as hard as they do. To some extent they are right; I know I personally do not fully understand what they face when they are out in the field. All I do know is that I do the best I can to get the most accurate info from a customer and get their schedules to work out the best possible way I can while making sure there is enough work on the schedule as well.
I do work in the office and yes I do work a pretty set schedule as does the other members of the office staff. The techs do work a variety of hours based on what we get onto the schedule for them. I do get to work inside unexposed to the weather and as they like to point out sit and talk on the phone all day while they are outside getting wet and cold, doing physical labor all day. What they don't see is the battling we do over the phone trying to defend them and keep customers somewhat calm while trying to keep the job on the schedule or get more on.
I am NOT unsympathetic to their situations out in the field when they are at a job where the customer misinformed us during an estimate causing the job to double in size and we get on the phone and offer some "ridiculous" deal to keep the job on instead of letting them just walk off and forget it. However if we did this everytime a job went haywire and it was yucky weather out they would complain that they weren't making enough money or "it wasn't even worth getting out of bed" I look at saving a job or negotiating a better deal for the customer as keeping them working making some money as opposed to not working at all making no money. When this happens which thankfully isn't too too often although it seems that way during the winter months when everyone and everything is freezing the techs take it as we don't care and understand. I wish we could make the techs totally understand what we deal with in the office sometimes. I would rather be out freezing and wet at times than dealing with some people and issues inside.
At the end of the day we all get the work done and go our separate ways and come payday when they are making the bigger bucks they suddenly realize that we are not the enemy. Just like mom sometimes we know best... Now you can all laugh.
Have a great week,
The Appointed One