WindowBossPro Blog — Window Cleaning Software

Choosing Window Cleaning Software: Questions to Ask Before You Commit

Choosing software is a bigger decision than it looks. Once your customers, recurring plans and cards on file are in a system, moving them again is work. So it pays to ask the right questions up front, ideally while you are running a free trial with real jobs. These are the questions that matter most for a window cleaning company.

Ask Before You Move Your Customers

Several of the problems in Common Mistakes When Starting Window Cleaning Software start with picking a system that does not fit the trade. The questions below help you avoid that. Ask them of any system you are considering, including ours.

Does It Understand Windows?

• Can each job record the window count, stories, sides and extras? Or will that end up in a notes box?
• Do those details show on the tech's phone and the office lists? Details that only live in a back screen do not help the tech on the ladder.
• Is there a place for access notes — gate codes, dogs, ladder spots, skylights?
• Can estimates be built per window, per screen, with story add-ons and hard-water removal?

If the answer to these is “you can use custom fields for that,” the software was not built for window cleaning.

Does It Handle Recurring Work?

• Can recurring cleanings run every two weeks, monthly, quarterly and twice a year?
• Do they come due on their own, or does someone have to schedule each visit by hand?
• Can you see everything that is due on a map, with overdue work marked?
• Do one-time jobs like spring cleans sit alongside recurring work?

Recurring customers are the core of most window cleaning companies. The software should treat them that way. How Window Cleaning Software Keeps Recurring Cleanings Coming Due shows what that looks like.

Does It Plan the Day and Run the Field?

• Can you assign jobs to a van and a day, and auto-route from the shop?
• Can you run one van on residential and another on a storefront route?
• Does the tech app show jobs in route order with navigation?
• Does it work on the phones your techs already have, without special devices?
• Are there before-and-after photos, a time clock and crew GPS?

Does It Keep Customers Informed and Get You Paid?

• Are there automatic reminders the night before and alerts when the crew is close?
• Can customers see where they are on today's route?
• Is there two-way texting from the office, tied to the customer record?
• Is the invoice created when the job is completed, and can the card on file be charged then?
• Can a property manager get one monthly statement for every building, with each line labeled by address?

What Does It Really Cost?

• Is there a per-user fee? Window cleaning crews grow in spring; per-user pricing punishes that.
• Is texting included, and how much?
• Which features are on which plan? Make sure the plan you can afford includes what you need.
• Is there a free trial without a credit card?

For reference, WindowBossPro is $59, $89 or $199 a month for Start, Pro and Crew, never billed per user, with a text allowance on every plan and a 14-day free trial with no credit card.

Can You Get In, and Get Started?

• Can you import your customers from a CSV, and do the addresses land on a map?
• Can you be running real routes within a day or two?
• Does it work in your country and bill in your customers' currency?

Questions to Ask Yourself

Not every question is about the software. Before you choose, be clear about your own company:

• How many vans will you run in a year? Pick a system that fits where you are going, not only where you are.
• How much of your work is recurring? The more recurring work you have, the more a Waiting List that brings customers back on its own is worth.
• Who will use it? If an office person will run the day, have them try the dispatch board during the trial. If techs will use it in the field, put it on their phones.
• How do your customers like to pay? If most would put a card on file, auto-charge on completion will change your cash flow.

Test It With Real Jobs

The best answer to all of these questions is a trial with real work. Import a slice of your customers, set up a few recurring plans, run a real route with a real tech and send real invoices. Within a week you will know whether the software fits. Read more on the window cleaning software page.