WindowBossPro Blog — Window Cleaning Software

The Customer App: What Your Window Cleaning Customers See

Window cleaning customers ask the same handful of questions over and over. When are you coming? Is the crew close? How much do I owe? Can you add the screens this time? Every one of those questions is a phone call or a text the office has to answer. The customer app answers them before anyone has to ask.

The Other Side of the Route

The Tech App: What Your Window Cleaners See on Their Phones covered the tech's side of the day. The customer app is the mirror image: the same route and the same jobs, seen from the homeowner's kitchen or the shop manager's counter.

Where Am I on Today's Route?

On the day of their cleaning, customers can open the app and see today's route on a live map, with a line like “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.” For a homeowner waiting to let the crew in for an inside cleaning, that is the difference between waiting around all morning and running an errand. For a storefront manager, it is knowing when to prop the door.

The map is built from the route the office set and the crew's progress through it, so it stays current without anyone in the office updating it.

Alerts the Customer Chooses

Customers pick which alerts they want:

• The night before — a reminder that the crew is coming tomorrow.
• When they're next — a heads-up that the crew is headed their way.
• When the tech arrives — the crew is on site.

Some customers want all three. Others want just one. Letting them choose keeps the texts welcome instead of annoying. For more on texting, see Texting and Automatic Alerts in Window Cleaning Software.

Invoices, Payment and the Card on File

Customers can see their invoices in the app and pay online. They can also update the card on file themselves when it expires or they switch banks, which saves the office from reading card numbers over the phone and keeps auto-charges from failing.

For customers on auto-charge, the app is where they can check what was charged and when. For customers who pay by hand, it is the easiest way to pay the moment the invoice arrives.

Requests, Sign-Ups, Ratings and Referrals

The app is also where customers ask for more. They can request service — an extra cleaning before a party, a hard-water treatment on the back slider — and sign up for services and pricing you offer. Those requests flow back to the office, where they can be quoted or scheduled.

After a job, customers can rate the service and refer friends. Window cleaning is a word-of-mouth business, and a referral that starts in the app is a lead that did not cost an ad.

Why It Saves the Office Time

Every feature in the customer app replaces a phone call or text the office would otherwise handle:

• “When are you coming?” becomes the live map and the night-before alert.
• “How much do I owe?” becomes the invoice list.
• “Can I give you a new card?” becomes a card update in the app.
• “Can you add the inside next time?” becomes a service request.

For a one-van owner-operator, that is time back on the glass. For a company with an office, it is fewer interruptions and fewer missed messages.

It also cuts down on wasted trips. A homeowner who knows the crew is three stops away opens the side gate and moves the car. A storefront manager who got the night-before alert does not stack boxes against the front glass. When customers know what is coming, more jobs get done on the first try and fewer turn into a Skip.

Getting Customers Into the App

Customers do not need to download anything from an app store. The easiest moment to introduce the app is right after the first cleaning, when the invoice arrives: point them to it for payment and ask them to pick their alerts while they are there. Recurring customers who add a card on file in the app at that point are set up for every visit after.

Storefront managers and property managers often check in less, but they still benefit from seeing invoices in one place and updating the card without a phone call.

A Better Experience for the Customer

Customers notice when a window cleaner is organized. A reminder the night before, a heads-up when the crew is close, an invoice that arrives as soon as the work is done and a simple way to pay make a small company look professional. That is part of why recurring customers stay. Learn more on the window cleaning software page.