Cleaning Storefront Windows Before Opening Hours: Scheduling the Early Route
Most storefront owners would like their glass cleaned before the doors open. No customers in the doorway, no buckets on the sidewalk during business hours, and a clean front for the first person who walks in. That preference shapes the whole storefront route, and it means the early morning is the most valuable time in a storefront tech's day.
Why Early Mornings Matter
The billing side of commercial work was covered in Monthly Statements for Commercial Window Cleaning Accounts: One Bill for Every Location. This article is about the route itself, and specifically about the hours before 10am when most of the storefront work has to happen.
A storefront tech who starts at 6am can often finish a dozen or more small storefronts before the shops open. Start at 8:30 and half of those same stops are now in the way of customers. The schedule should be built around that window.
Record Every Opening Time
Start with the facts. For every storefront, write down when the business opens and any hard rules. Put it in the access notes on the address:
- “Opens 6:30. Outside before 6:15 only.”
- “Opens 10. Any time before 9:45.”
- “Opens 11. Kitchen crew arrives 9, inside glass only after 9.”
Those notes show under the address on the office lists and on the tech's phone. Anyone building the route or running it can see the time rule without asking.
Order the Route by Opening Time, Then by Distance
When storefronts come due on the Waiting List, the office drops them onto the storefront van's day on the dispatch board. Auto-route the day Closest First or Furthest First from the shop to get a starting order based on distance. Then adjust by hand for opening times.
A common pattern:
- Early openers first: bakeries, coffee shops, breakfast places.
- Then banks, medical offices and gyms that open between 7 and 9.
- Then retail that opens at 10.
- Restaurants that open at 11 or later at the end, along with outside-only stops that can be done any time.
The tech's phone shows the same order, with a navigation button on each stop. If dispatch changes the order, the phone follows.
Getting In Before Anyone Is There
Outside glass is easy before opening. Inside glass needs access. Many storefront owners eventually trust their window cleaner with a key, a lockbox code or an alarm code so inside glass can be done before staff arrive. Keep those details in the access notes on the address, behind each tech's personal PIN. For more detail, see Access Notes for Commercial Window Cleaning: Back Doors, Keys and Alarm Codes.
If an owner does not want to hand over a key, schedule inside glass for the first few minutes after they arrive, and put that time in the note.
Let Owners Know the Night Before
A storefront owner who knows you are coming in the morning can clear the display window, leave the back door open or tell the opening employee. Customers choose their own alerts: the night before, when they are next, and when the tech arrives. For storefronts, the night-before alert is often the most useful.
If the owner replies with “we are closed tomorrow” or “come after 8,” the message comes into the office through two-way texting, and the office can move the stop before the route starts.
When the Early Route Runs Late
Some mornings, a stop takes longer than planned or a key does not work. The tech has two choices: do the next stop late, or skip it. Write the rule on the address so the tech does not have to guess: “If after 6:30, skip and note, owner OK with next day.”
When the tech taps Skip and writes why, the office sees it right away. The storefront stays due on the Waiting List until it is done, and turns overdue after a 7-day grace if it keeps slipping. Crew GPS on the office map shows where the van is, so the office can tell an owner how far away the tech is.
Clean Before They Open, Every Time
An early storefront route that runs on time is one of the most reliable sources of work a window cleaning company can have. Record opening times, order the route around them, and let the notes and alerts do the rest. For the rest of the commercial setup, visit the WindowBossPro commercial window cleaning software page.
Run the Early Storefront Route
WindowBossPro puts opening times and access notes on every stop and keeps the route in order on the tech's phone.
Start Free Trial