WindowBossPro Blog — Tech App

Automatic On-the-Way Texts From the Window Cleaning Tech's Phone

Window cleaners need customers to do small things: be home for the inside, leave the side gate unlatched, bring the dog in, move the car off the driveway where the ladder goes. Customers are happy to do those things when they know the crew is coming. An automatic on-the-way text is the simplest way to make sure they know.

Fewer Skips Start Before the Van Arrives

Many of the skips described in Skipping a Window Cleaning Job for Rain or No Access, and Noting Why never needed to happen. The customer would have been home, or left the gate open, if they had known the crew was close. The on-the-way text fixes the “if they had known” part.

In WindowBossPro, on-the-way texts go out automatically as the tech works the route. The tech does not type anything, does not look up a phone number, and does not use their own phone number. The message comes from the company, and any reply goes to the office.

The Customer Chooses Their Alerts

Not every customer wants the same messages. WindowBossPro lets each customer pick from three alerts:

• The night before. A reminder that the crew is scheduled tomorrow. Good for anyone who needs to be home for the inside or who has to remember the gate.
• When they are next. A heads-up that the crew is coming to their house next. This is the on-the-way message most customers care about.
• When the tech arrives. A note that the crew is at the house. More on this one in the next guide.

A homeowner who works from home might want all three. A storefront manager might only want the arrival text so they can let the crew in the back. A customer who is never home and has an outside-only plan might want just the night-before reminder. The point is that the customer decides, which means fewer people annoyed by texts they did not want.

Why It Matters Most for Inside Jobs

An outside-only job can usually be done whether the customer is home or not. An inside-and-outside job cannot. If nobody answers the door, the tech either waits, does the outside and leaves the inside, or skips the whole thing. All three cost money.

The “when they are next” text gives the customer a window to get home, wrap up a call or open the door. Combined with the night-before reminder, it turns “nobody home for the inside” from a regular occurrence into an occasional one. The sides on the job card, covered in Window Count, Stories, Sides and Extras: Reading Every Job Card in the Window Cleaning App, tell the tech which jobs depend on that.

It also helps the outside-only customer. A homeowner who sees “the crew is next” can move the car that is parked under the garage windows, pull the patio furniture away from the sliding door, or switch off the sprinklers that were about to soak the glass the tech just cleaned. Small favors like that make each job a few minutes shorter.

The Live Map Backs It Up

Some customers want more than a text. In the customer app, they can see the day's route on a live map with their place in line: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.” That map uses the same route order the tech is working from, so it moves as the tech taps Complete on each job.

A customer who checks the map before running to the store is a customer who is home when the crew arrives. It also means fewer calls to the office asking “when will they be here?”

Replies Go to the Office

Customers reply to on-the-way texts. “Running ten minutes late, start outside.” “Gate code changed to 4481.” “Can you do the screens this time too?” Those replies come into the office through two-way texting, not to the tech on the ladder.

That is on purpose. The office can update the gate code on the address, add screens as a line item, or call the tech if something needs to change right away. The tech keeps cleaning.

Every plan includes a monthly text allowance counted in segments sent and received: 500 on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew. Short, plain messages use fewer segments, which is one more reason to keep automatic texts brief.

Let the Route Do the Talking

The on-the-way text is a small thing that removes a big source of wasted trips. Customers who know the crew is coming are ready for it, and techs spend their time on glass instead of on doorsteps. For the full set of tools on the tech's phone, see the WindowBossPro window cleaning app page.