WindowBossPro Blog — Running a Window Cleaning Business

Customer Communication in a Window Cleaning Business: Before, During and After the Visit

Most window cleaning complaints are not about the glass. They are about surprise. The tech showed up when the customer was not expecting them. Nobody said the job would be pushed to Thursday. The invoice arrived with a charge the customer did not understand. Clean windows plus poor communication still feels like poor service. Good communication turns an ordinary clean into one the customer talks about.

Communication Earns the Review

Reviews and Referrals: The Cheapest Growth a Window Cleaning Business Will Ever Get ended with the point that good communication is the best defense against bad reviews. This article walks through what to tell customers at each stage of a visit, and how to do it without the office spending all day on the phone.

Before the Visit

The customer should never be surprised that you are coming. For recurring customers especially, a cleaning can come due months after the last one, and they may have forgotten the plan exists.

• Booking confirmation. When a job is scheduled, tell the customer the day.
• Night-before reminder. A short text the evening before: tomorrow is window day, please leave the side gate open, put the dog inside, clear the sills if you are doing interiors.
• Access check. If the access notes are incomplete, ask now, not when the tech is at the gate.

WindowBossPro sends automated reminders and alerts by text and email. Customers choose their own alert preferences: the night before, when they are next on the route, and when the tech arrives.

During the Visit

The day of the clean is when schedules slip. Rain in the morning, a job that ran long, a ladder problem. Customers forgive delays they hear about. They do not forgive silence.

The tech app sends an automatic on-the-way text when the tech heads to the address and an arrived text when they get there, so nobody has to remember to call. In the customer app, customers can see today's route on a live map: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.” That one line answers the most common call the office gets.

Train techs on what to say at the door: introduce themselves, confirm what is being cleaned (the job card shows the window count, sides and extras), and ask about anything the customer wants special attention on. A thirty-second conversation prevents most disagreements later.

If the customer is not home, the tech should still leave the property as they found it: gates closed, screens back in the right windows, nothing left on the lawn. A short note in the job and a set of after photos let the office answer any question that comes in that evening.

Two-Way Texting

Customers want to text, not call. Two-way texting with customers from the office lets them reply to a reminder with “Can you come Friday instead?” or “Gate code changed to 4417,” and the office handles it without phone tag. Keep replies short, friendly and fast.

Plans include a monthly text allowance of 500, 1,000 or 2,000 segments sent and received on Start, Pro and Crew. Most messages are short, so a clear, brief style also keeps you well inside your allowance.

After the Visit

The job is not over when the ladder comes down. After the visit:

• Invoice the same day. When the tech taps Complete, the invoice is created and the card on file can be charged. Customers can see invoices and pay in the customer app.
• Clear line items. Windows, screens, hard water, each listed. A customer who understands the invoice does not dispute it.
• A thank-you and a review ask. Short and personal.
• The next visit. For recurring customers, mention when they can expect you again.

Before and after photos from the tech app are useful here too. If a customer asks whether the back windows were done, the office can check the photos instead of guessing.

Commercial Customers Want Different Things

Store managers and property managers care less about on-the-way texts and more about consistency and clean billing. They want the glass done on schedule without being bothered, and one clear statement. Set property managers to Monthly billing so they get one statement covering every location, each line labeled with its address. Keep a contact on file for each building so questions go to the right person.

Write Your Communication Rules Down

Like everything else, communication works better when it follows a procedure: which alerts go out automatically, who answers texts, how fast, and what techs say at the door. Then you can tell whether it is working by looking at the numbers each week, covered next in The Weekly Numbers Every Window Cleaning Business Owner Should Watch.

No Surprises

Customers who always know when you are coming, what you did and what they owe are customers who stay. For the reminders, texts, customer app and invoices that keep everyone informed, see the window cleaning business software page.