Transcription
I've got five common objections that people say about waterfed pole window cleaning. Now, this was a big issue for me when I changed the majority of my work from being a traditional window cleaner. I changed it all over to waterfed pole window cleaning. And one of the biggest issues I had really was explaining to all my customers why the change, um, why it was going to benefit them.
And then even customers perhaps that I've never met before are now at home. They thought I was a traditional window cleaner and they thought their windows were being done the traditional way and I might be around the back of the house and they're saying to me, "Oh, Ashley, did you forget to wipe the windows at the front? They're still wet." So the whole thing again I've had to start explaining again. I've actually been cleaning your windows this way for over a year and they didn't even realize.
So number one common objection people say to waterfed pole window cleaning, all waterfed pole window cleaners are sick of hearing, is why is the window still wet? Is it going to dry out? And the answer is yes. The idea of waterfed pole window cleaning is that the brush agitates the dirt, loosens it. The dirt then sticks to the water and that dirty water is then rinsed away from all the way from the top to the bottom to leave behind just the pure water which will then dry without leaving any spots or residue.
Not every customer wants to hear that long explanation. They're happy just to hear that the water will dry without leaving any residue and that's enough. But I do think if you do give them that big explanation, it does show that you know what you're talking about. It does show a certain amount of professionalism as well. So, I don't know. Sometimes it's good to say the whole thing. Other times people don't want to hear it. So, you've got to decide for yourself what's best really. It's good if you can come across professional and I think to show that you're going to do a thorough job of the frames as well. That always comes across really well. So, sometimes you have to persuade them to give it a couple of cleans just to see how it's going to go. But, I've had some really good responses from my customers in the end. So, so it's gone really well.
The second objection I've come up against, I had one customer in particular who I'd taken on fairly recently, a customer came out to me and said, "Oh, they the previous window cleaner was doing that method and they weren't too happy with it." The reason was at the bottom of the window, either side of the window sill, um, the render of the house had been bashed and you could see where the waterfed pole window cleaner had swished the brush from side to side on the window sill to wash down the window sill. It had hit the render either side and knocked out the render and damaged, damaged it basically. So, I explained to the customer that I'd be very careful and in particular I love to use these brushes. This is a Supreme brush from Gardener. You can see the difference here. If I just show you this square brush, the body is reduced. The bristles stick out that bit more. So, there's less chance of hitting the side of the walls, the render, anything like that. And the nice thing about these brushes, I also like to use these brush bumpers as well, which are really good. So that just helps give me and the customer that peace of mind that I'm not going to damage their property. So yeah, I really like to use these brushes for that reason. So sometimes there's been a couple of instances where I have shown the customer the brushes I'm using.
Another good example of this is objection number three that I've had with leaded windows. Um, and a couple of times, one case in particular, the customer was particularly concerned about their windows. They were leaded windows. So, I actually showed the customer the brush and explained the difference. This is a Supreme brush from Gardener again. Um, this time it's flocked. So, the bristles are very much softer for the lead than a regular standard brush. A standard brush can get in under the lead and ping the lead off the glass and it can end up in a right state. So really important to use a flocked bristle brush for leaded windows. So that helps that customer just to appreciate the fact that I was using the right tool for the job. I just showed her the brush and and uh showed that it was softer and that it wouldn't damage the lead.
Point number four, will I wipe the seals? Yes, I always try and wipe the seals. When I was working the traditional method, I'd always make a point of wiping the seals. And I used to use that as a little bit of a selling point when I first started really. I used to say to the customer that I'm going to make a thorough job of wiping around the frame and the seal. So, I still wanted to keep that as a policy really. When I made the change and wanted to make sure the customer knew that I was doing it because I felt that it was going to do a really thorough job and that I was going to maintain those high standards. There are brushes out there, special seal brushes, where the brushes are angled down ever so slightly more to help you get the seal, but I usually find these pretty good and that's another reason why I like the bumper. So, the bumper is not going to bash on the on the window sill too much either. Uh, and it's going to protect the window sill. So yeah, still wipe the seals. In fact, what I find using this method is it's a good idea anyway to give the frames, especially along the top, but also down the sides, be really thorough about cleaning the frames. And so I actually find that the whole window, I'm giving it a much more thorough clean than I was before. And I'm getting dirt out of places that I never could have done before. Even though I thought I was being thorough the traditional way, I find I'm giving the frames and the sills that bit more attention and they're getting a real thorough, thorough clean now. I really love the results you can get from waterfed pole. The the quality of the clean is fantastic if it's carried out in a thorough way like that.
So the fifth objection, bit obscure this time, but I had one customer who objected to me getting the wall wet. I mean, isn't the wall going to get wet when it rains anyway? Um, but she was worried about the wall being wet. Uh, she was just trying to come up with an excuse really to try and get me to go back to the traditional method or get rid of me altogether. But one good way to counteract that is to use one of these. This is a uni valve. It's a really handy little device. Waterfed pole window cleaners love these because it fits inside the pole and then all you do is give the pole a little tug and it'll switch the water on and off. So, you've got total control over the water. And what that means is you can have turn the water off and only turn it on once the brush is actually on the window and then obviously clean the window, turn it off, move to the next window, turn it on again just by tugging the hose at the bottom of the pole. So, it's a really excellent little device to have one of those fitted inside your pole. You're still going to get some runs down kind of underneath the window, I suppose, but it just helps reduce those kind of wet lines going across the property when you're moving from one window to the next, and that'll help you save water as well in the long run. Actually, a really good device to have fitted in your waterfed pole setup.
So, that's my top five objections to waterfed pole. I found it quite hard work at the beginning. Can't kind of explaining to everyone. So, I've maybe I've lost one or two, but some of the work I've picked up and been able to do as a result of switching to waterfed pole, I mean, I've done some big commercial jobs. I'm able to handle fascia cleans, conservatory cleans more easily. So, I think the impact it's had on my business has been fantastic. And, uh, yeah, like I said, I really like the results I'm able to achieve. So, I hope you find that useful.