WindowBossPro Blog — Running a Window Cleaning Business

Training New Techs in a Window Cleaning Business: The First Two Weeks

Most owners train the way they were trained, which usually means not much. “Watch me for a day, then you try.” It works for some people and leaves others guessing for months. A short, written plan for the first two weeks means every new tech learns the same way, the same standards and the same procedures, and you can tell when someone is ready.

After the Hire

Hiring Techs for a Window Cleaning Business: Who to Look For and How to Find Them covered finding the right person. Now you have them. These two weeks decide whether they become a tech you can trust with a van or a tech you are always checking up on.

Before Day One

Get the setup done so day one is about work, not paperwork. Payroll forms filled out, gear ready, a uniform shirt if you use them, and their account in WindowBossPro: employee record, personal PIN and van assignment. Send them a short note with the start time, the meeting place and what to wear.

Also print or share your written procedures, especially the safety ones covered in Ladder and Safety Procedures for a Window Cleaning Business. They should read them before they climb anything.

Days 1 to 3: Ride Along and Watch

The first days are mostly watching and helping. The new tech rides with you or your best tech, carries gear, sets up and breaks down, and cleans ground-level glass with feedback. Talk through everything you do and why:

• How you read the job card before getting out of the van
• Where you put the ladder and why
• How you lay drop cloths for inside work
• The order you clean a window: scrub, squeegee, detail the edges
• How you check your work before calling it done
• What you say to the customer at the door and when you leave

Days 4 to 7: Storefronts and the Tech App

Storefront routes are the best training ground. The glass is at ground level, the stops are quick and the standard is easy to see. Let the new tech clean full stops while you watch and correct.

This is also when they start running the tech app. They log in with company login and their PIN, open the day's jobs in route order, tap the navigation button to get to each stop, and read the card: window count, stories, sides, extras and access notes. They tap Start when they begin, take before and after photos, and tap Complete when the job is done. Complete creates the invoice and can charge the card on file, so they learn early that skipping the tap means the office cannot bill.

Teach Skip properly too. If a store is closed or the glass is blocked, they tap Skip and write a short note so the office knows why.

Days 8 to 10: Residential With Supervision

Move to homes once storefronts are solid. Residential adds new skills: second-story work, screens, tracks, hard water, inside cleaning around furniture and customers who are home. Start with 1-story homes and work up to 2-story. Do not rush 3-story or high-risk work; that comes with time.

Teach the extras on the job card carefully. If the card says screens, every screen comes off, gets cleaned and goes back in the right window. If it says hard-water removal, show them how you test a small area first and what to say if the stains will not fully come out.

Show them how access notes work. Gate codes, dogs and where to set the ladder all come from the address record. If they find something new, such as a skylight nobody mentioned or a dog that was not noted, they add a note so the next visit goes better.

Days 11 to 14: Running a Day

In the last stretch, let the new tech run the day while you ride along and mostly stay quiet. They manage the route, talk to customers, take the photos and tap Complete. You step in only for safety or quality problems. At the end of each day, go over two things they did well and one thing to improve.

Use a short checklist to decide if they are ready to go out alone: safe ladder setup every time, consistent clean glass, all photos and completions recorded, polite with customers, knows when to call the office.

Write It Down Once

Every lesson in these two weeks should come from a written procedure, not just your habits. That way the second, third and tenth hire learn the same thing, even when you are not the one training them. Building those procedures is covered in Standard Procedures That Let a Window Cleaning Business Run Without the Owner.

Trained Techs Build the Business

A trained tech who can run a van alone is what lets an owner grow. Two careful weeks up front save months of callbacks and complaints. For the tools that make training easier, see the window cleaning business software page.