The customer today only wanted the outsides cleaned. I prefer to not work that way but I had already upsold him to all of the windows and not just the second level and it’s February and February money is hard to come by.
On the back of the house, facing east and directly in the sun, there were three large panes on the second level. On the inside these were windows in the living room, an open second floor. So I started with those and after two of them the homeowner came outside and mentioned that from the inside it looked like I was missing some spots where he thought birds had flown into the glass. I went inside and looked and then went back up the ladder and redid one of the three. Then I went back inside and couldn’t see a difference. I told the homeowner that I was going to leave those three until the sun moved higher in the sky and then see what I could do. I wasn’t convinced that the spots were on the outside but there wasn’t any point in arguing.
Later he brought me into the house to point out a couple of problem spots. On the first window the problems were inside the pane and I told the homeowner that he would probably see a lot of this now because the windows were being cleaned for the first time in five plus years. On the second window he pointed out to me he said it looked like I squeeged the top pane but only mopped the bottom pane. I told him that all the soap reside he was seeing was on the inside. Then I cleaned the inside of the bottom pane to show him.
The homeowner was nice the entire time but just not aware of the problems with his windows and the limitations of only cleaning the outside.
While I was cleaning the rest of the outside I saw the homeowner get a ladder and start cleaning the inside of the three, east-facing large windows on the second floor. A while later we spoke and he said that now that he had tried to clean them they looked worse than before. He was using something called Perfect Glass and a microfiber towel. I told him that he was essentially just moving the dirt around. I jumped up his ladder and cleaned a section of one of the panes. He said “that looks so much better” and then hired me to clean the insides of the three big windows.
Like I said, he was friendly the entire time and I was pleased to be able to demonstrate my skill level and knowledge but it is frustrating when a homeowner only wants the outsides done and doesn’t realize that they aren’t going to be able to whip out the insides on their own. We’re professionals and have developed skills to make us significantly better at this than the average homeowner.
Totally agree.
I can understand if you have monthly cleaning that the customer only want the outside of the windows mostly… but when they are rarely cleaned you want to do the inside also… other wise they will look like this example.
Sometimes I do only outsides I sighs when I see those fingerprints or bugs spots on the inside. I wanna do a perfect job!
I’ve pretty much made it standard to convince the homeowner that they NEED to do the interiors. To put it this way, in the past 10 years, maybe 2 or 3 customers have chosen to not do interior (after a good amount of selling). Sometimes it’s easier to just add it in for a little bit less than the usual cost for in and out. Something they can’t refuse but, since it is the off season, will still make you some money and eliminate those headaches.
Good work on being patient, though. Last week I had a $500 residential (in 35 degree weather on an epically windy day) have us do quite a bit of touching up after we completed. My father in law is a painter and painted the outsides of the house (how I got the job), so I was apparently on paint cleanup duty after all was said and done. She told me the last guys never left a spot and after I was done she found a few spots, including paint, prints, scratches, blown seals, etc. Some of the stuff warranted, but other stuff is VERY nit picky. we are talking about nose to the glass shit, here. Of course I found paint from 10 years earlier from when my father in law first did the house years before. Obviously their window cleaners didn’t get all of the paint of (and had slipped through the cracks for years since) and I had to eat that too. Anyway, some people just don’t see their windows cleaned often enough to see these flaws and I think in my case, she wanted everything perfect. After all, it was a million dollar home, freshly painted, immaculately decorated, but the windows were 20 years old.
I love outside only cleaning cause i price it at 70% of in and out, so it’s more profitable per hour and no dealing with furniture, knickknacks, etc. I do make it a point to tell them that they’ll see the best results if i do both sides of the glass. Sometimes I’ll ask if there were one window that’s most important to them to have a perfect view, which would it be. Then i do that one both sides. That way, they feel like they just got a little something extra, and they can also get a taste of what in and out service would be like.
Interestingly, however, I’ve actually had it happen several times already that the customer is raving how great the windows look and I haven’t even done both sides yet. I think people have lower standards in this depressed area that i live in… something i still need to adjust to.
Has nothing to do with you just doing the outsides Has everything to do with it being a nightmare of a customer.
I do outside only all the time. Outside only means your respinabale for cleaning the outsides An making them look good.
If the insides are dirty them the insides are dirty what are you going to do. Some people have they maids or just want to do the insides themselves. Don’t bother me, I’m making what I need An on to the next
All my years dont ever think I had an exterior only complain like your saying.
A reasonable, thinking home owner/property manager is going to understand that if you clean only the outsides professionally then the uncleaned insides will compromise the overall result.
I put it this way: would you be satisfied if you just cleaned the outside of a clear glass cup? No, of course not!
With that said, 98% of my work is exteriors only. The reason I don’t have issues with the customer is because I’ve done significant weeding out of my client list. If they are overly picky about unrealities then they don’t understand what I do. Bye bye… bottom line just got healthier.
Most of my clients have maids/cleaners that take care of the insides every couple of weeks so if there is a spot it’s my fault and I don’t leave until it’s gone.
Next time the customer complains clean one of the windows on the inside to show him that he is simply pointing out crap on the inside.Usually customers will then ask for the inside to be done or just stip complaining.
I love the part where they want to argue that only doing the outside should be half the original quote when it should be 65-70%. You will loose your shirt EVERY time if you do it for half the price.
The best that you can do in a situation like that is have the discussion up front that doing an “outside only clean” will only serve half of his issue. Unless he has a housekeeper maintain the insides or does it himself the only difference he will see is the outsides are clean.
I just explain that, accept their check, and move on to the next. Most times they will agree to both sides, very few just want the outside done. Had one in 8 years complain her windows didn’t look good afterwards and I told her the insides had dirt, dust, and mold. Of course she was an Angie’s List customer and complained I did a sub-par job…LOL People. smh
I have come close but never done it. There have been times I wish I had but I also don’t want the reputation of quitting when the work gets hard. Nobody really calls for the easy stuff, they hire you for the hard stuff and then you get to do the easy while you’re there.
I had a lady walk me through the house showing me only the windows she wanted done, outside only mind you. Then change her mind when I was done and said do them all. And then when I handed her the bill she wanted the insides done. I thought my head was going to explode right there in her living room. LOL
i walked away from an almost complete job last summer.
partially disabled lady. told me on the phone she new crank out windows and that always cleaned them herself but now couldn’t.
i get there and she seems nice but most of the windows are actually old aluminum sliders which must be taken apart and they’re FILTHY as are the tracks.
but i decide to forge on. when i finish the inside of the kitchen (the last inside) she rubs her finger on the moulding and says aren’t you going to do this and starts moaning about how clean she has always kept them and what a bad job i am doing.
after a brief discussion i packed up and left.
she hadn’t cleaned those windows or frames ever i’m sure.
I’ve turned down a few jobs where they only wanted the outsides. One particular house had never been cleaned in probably 30 years and I told the landlord it would make no difference if I only did the outside. She thanked me for my honesty and they’re probably never going to get cleaned.
I think a reason its definitely worth more than 50% is that you are still going through the same work of travel, unloading, paperwork, etc. All that stuff doesn’t get cut in half by their only electing to have half the job done.
And a perk is that the price for in/out isn’t much higher, so it’s an incentive for them to buy the in/out as it’s a better value for them. So it’s win-win: if they go outside only you make more per hour and they cut costs; if they got in/out you make more overall and they get a better value.
It’s my experience that the outside takes me about twice as long as the insides. Up and down ladders, screens need cleaning more dirt on windows etc. So it’s not a higher rate per hour when I charge twice as much for exterior windows. This is New England landscaping, hilly terrain and house designs may be different and more time consuming than your neck of the woods. At least double just to break even on my usual hourly production rate in my opinion.
