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Living the dream/ Phase 1 - The first crossroads
- Thread starter Ali
- Start date
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Today was a washout.
Got about an hour done but no-one was interested, it then started raining really heavy so headed back to the flat and had lunch, had about an hour window in the afternoon but didn't go out again.
Back at it tomorrow.
I drove around while it was raining and found some promising areas with large detached houses and trees nearby.
Got about an hour done but no-one was interested, it then started raining really heavy so headed back to the flat and had lunch, had about an hour window in the afternoon but didn't go out again.
Back at it tomorrow.
I drove around while it was raining and found some promising areas with large detached houses and trees nearby.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Very successful today!
Took some time this morning to look on Google maps and target the best areas with detached houses and lots of trees.
Went to the first one on the list and must have got the job in about 5 doors (of the ones that answered) I was getting good signs from this neighbourhood as about three of them said theh had already had theirs done (one asked if I do roof cleaning) so I started looking for houses where I could see stuff in the gutters and the second one I knocked on said yes after this.
Learnt a lot from this one:
- undercharged by maybe 25% their gutters were full of pine needles, which is something I'll look out for in future
- I offered them a quote and built some rapport first before pitching the sale
- I looked more professional with an outdoors jacket and high vis
- Often better to keep things simple, this is a low ticket industry - they didn't need social proof or any bug sales pitch, it was as simple as your gutters look full, I can clean them for X price, Y/N?
- Offer to show before and after pictures, I spoke to the wife at the beginning and built the most rapport with her - actually used their ladder at some points because the pipes were so blocked I had to get my hands in to empty them, the husband came to the door later to pay me as she had left and didn't seem too concerned with whether or not I'd done a good job so I didnt show him the the before and afters, I'll do this next time as I might get a tip
- Repeat customers, I'm thinking of leaving business cards
Very happy with how that went, the job took just over 2hrs so I might try to do 2 like that tomorrow.
Took some time this morning to look on Google maps and target the best areas with detached houses and lots of trees.
Went to the first one on the list and must have got the job in about 5 doors (of the ones that answered) I was getting good signs from this neighbourhood as about three of them said theh had already had theirs done (one asked if I do roof cleaning) so I started looking for houses where I could see stuff in the gutters and the second one I knocked on said yes after this.
Learnt a lot from this one:
- undercharged by maybe 25% their gutters were full of pine needles, which is something I'll look out for in future
- I offered them a quote and built some rapport first before pitching the sale
- I looked more professional with an outdoors jacket and high vis
- Often better to keep things simple, this is a low ticket industry - they didn't need social proof or any bug sales pitch, it was as simple as your gutters look full, I can clean them for X price, Y/N?
- Offer to show before and after pictures, I spoke to the wife at the beginning and built the most rapport with her - actually used their ladder at some points because the pipes were so blocked I had to get my hands in to empty them, the husband came to the door later to pay me as she had left and didn't seem too concerned with whether or not I'd done a good job so I didnt show him the the before and afters, I'll do this next time as I might get a tip
- Repeat customers, I'm thinking of leaving business cards
Very happy with how that went, the job took just over 2hrs so I might try to do 2 like that tomorrow.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Another house down.
I woke up late feeling really rough, ate some Christmas cake and went out to the area I was at yesterday.
No luck there, drove around the corner and quickly found a bungalow. I thought I could knock this out in an hour so quoted £40 but it took me an hour 45!
Very nice old couple, gave me a cup of tea and were pleased with the before and after photos.
Lessons:
- don't drop price even if I get a run of no's
- don't worry so much about competition, it was relatively easy to get this house - maybe 30mins knocking, a lot of houses said their window cleaner did the gutters too, this made me lowball my quote just to try and get a sale
- the wet weather really slows me down as I'm vacuuming the water out of the gutters too
A very nice interaction, some pleasant old folks got a bargain today and I got to learn a lot.
I woke up late feeling really rough, ate some Christmas cake and went out to the area I was at yesterday.
No luck there, drove around the corner and quickly found a bungalow. I thought I could knock this out in an hour so quoted £40 but it took me an hour 45!
Very nice old couple, gave me a cup of tea and were pleased with the before and after photos.
Lessons:
- don't drop price even if I get a run of no's
- don't worry so much about competition, it was relatively easy to get this house - maybe 30mins knocking, a lot of houses said their window cleaner did the gutters too, this made me lowball my quote just to try and get a sale
- the wet weather really slows me down as I'm vacuuming the water out of the gutters too
A very nice interaction, some pleasant old folks got a bargain today and I got to learn a lot.
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2021
- Goal
- Master daygame
- Age
- 34
This is a cool arc. I own a house in another state that I rent out and looked around for a gutter cleaner last year. Ended up finding one via Nextdoor (neighborhood social media site).
One thing my gutter cleaner did this year that I thought was genius: they emailed me and said "this is just a courtesy note that we will be coming by to clean your gutters on X date."
I responded "Oh, I don't remember requesting this."
They said "We cleaned your gutters last year on this date. We will just keep doing it for you every year until you tell us you no longer want the service."
I was amazed. They assumed the sale and won my business.
One thing my gutter cleaner did this year that I thought was genius: they emailed me and said "this is just a courtesy note that we will be coming by to clean your gutters on X date."
I responded "Oh, I don't remember requesting this."
They said "We cleaned your gutters last year on this date. We will just keep doing it for you every year until you tell us you no longer want the service."
I was amazed. They assumed the sale and won my business.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
pancakemouse said:
That is really genius! It's the perfect way to get recurring business as its basically a maintenance job but a lot of people get it done ad hoc. Thanks for sharing, definitely gonna do that going forward.
Ideally I'll become the go to 'gutter guy' for people in the area.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
For January:
I want to make £1000 gutter cleaning
To do this I will:
-Book a week off, knock on 100 doors a day and on weekends
-Get 5000 leaflets and post them all, the first 1000 the week before my week off to hopefully get loads of leads booked in here
-Work out how to use Nextdoor, Facebook and other relevant sites to book customers for the weekends
Door to door is fun but I want to be much more efficient in future.
I want to make £1000 gutter cleaning
To do this I will:
-Book a week off, knock on 100 doors a day and on weekends
-Get 5000 leaflets and post them all, the first 1000 the week before my week off to hopefully get loads of leads booked in here
-Work out how to use Nextdoor, Facebook and other relevant sites to book customers for the weekends
Door to door is fun but I want to be much more efficient in future.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
I've made my first leaflets using canva and I'll run then in an A5 format, maybe trial 1000 first to see what design is most effective.
The aim was to get some social proof, make a clear offer and a call to action with a discount within a time frame, I'm not sure if this comes across as too pushy but I also don't want the leaflets to just sit in people's houses for ages too. Design-wise I tried to keep it as clean and simple as possible while looking professional and used pictures from jobs I have done that can also be found on my website, this way if anyone is skeptical or wants more info they'll be able to see the photos are the same and hopefully realise that if I've got an online presence as well I'm more legit.
I attached the files incase anyone's interested, any feedback would be greatly appreciated - especially if you're a homeowner or have written copy before!
The aim was to get some social proof, make a clear offer and a call to action with a discount within a time frame, I'm not sure if this comes across as too pushy but I also don't want the leaflets to just sit in people's houses for ages too. Design-wise I tried to keep it as clean and simple as possible while looking professional and used pictures from jobs I have done that can also be found on my website, this way if anyone is skeptical or wants more info they'll be able to see the photos are the same and hopefully realise that if I've got an online presence as well I'm more legit.
I attached the files incase anyone's interested, any feedback would be greatly appreciated - especially if you're a homeowner or have written copy before!
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Created a Nextdoor page and made a post, put the same post on Facebook too.
I've created some online ads I'll post to the pages when I decide whether to run paid fb ads .
I decided on getting 5000 leaflets without the time pressure call to action at the end, I went for this many as it was only £81 and I can post them out over a week and see what happens.
Next time I'll use the time-pressure call to action and compare.
They should arrive Monday.
Other stuff:
Phd girl's sister has moved to America and she's been very quiet since then.
Going for a hike this friday with doctor girl.
Student girl messaged me for a late night booty call but I didn't want to be up till 1 in the morning and then drag myself to work the next day.
I've had my first likes on Hinge from attractive women without running boosts which is cool, maybe new year is bringing more women back on the apps, problem is I don't have much time right now but I could probably aim for a date per week and keep it to my local bar.
I've added cardio and some plyometrics into my workout routine because I want my physique to perform how it looks and want to get back into some jiu jitsu and kickboxing in the spring.
Life:
My big goal here is to pay off the 6k left from the coaching group ASAP and move to a cheaper place out of the city centre to free up enough cash to jump from my job to my business once I have grown it from a side-hustle.
I've created some online ads I'll post to the pages when I decide whether to run paid fb ads .
I decided on getting 5000 leaflets without the time pressure call to action at the end, I went for this many as it was only £81 and I can post them out over a week and see what happens.
Next time I'll use the time-pressure call to action and compare.
They should arrive Monday.
Other stuff:
Phd girl's sister has moved to America and she's been very quiet since then.
Going for a hike this friday with doctor girl.
Student girl messaged me for a late night booty call but I didn't want to be up till 1 in the morning and then drag myself to work the next day.
I've had my first likes on Hinge from attractive women without running boosts which is cool, maybe new year is bringing more women back on the apps, problem is I don't have much time right now but I could probably aim for a date per week and keep it to my local bar.
I've added cardio and some plyometrics into my workout routine because I want my physique to perform how it looks and want to get back into some jiu jitsu and kickboxing in the spring.
Life:
My big goal here is to pay off the 6k left from the coaching group ASAP and move to a cheaper place out of the city centre to free up enough cash to jump from my job to my business once I have grown it from a side-hustle.
Antonio44
Member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2022
I enjoy following these adventures, keep it up!
I'd suggest think how someone who has no previous knowledge of gutter cleaning might perceive it. Bonus points if they're female. Like, when I was thinking about this, I thought how I could sell this to my sister.
General feedback:
Neighbour is not spelt correct - worthwhile running all text through a spellchecker and grammar.
I'm not a great copywriter - but if I had to say - why do I want to have clean gutters? Like as a homeowner, what's the benefit? Specifically, (i'm not a gutterboy so IDK just brainstorming why you might do it) - it'll save potential damaged/collapsed gutters? Flooding/water damage of house?
Slightly more personal opinions so feel free to take with a pinch of salt:
I think it would help to see you on the leaflet, looking smart ish work clothes. You have a big advantage here in that you look respectable naturally - in my prev experience (maybe it's just the areas I hang out in), the majority of window cleaners etc were alcoholics/definitely on the junkie scale. The kinda people I would feel slightly uncomfortable about knowing they were using ladders on my house when I wasn't there.
If referencing a neighbour's house - I think specific references to locations would help. You're in nottingham so I'd ref that at least. Also, when going door to door and saying "we've just cleaned alice's gutters at number 6, and as we're already here we can give you a 15% discount." Social proof.
Pricing - I can see why you wouldn't want to state example prices, but some kind of reference to it would be helpful - or state the typical time to do the job. Like, customers don't know, is this going to take a full day or is it a 20 minute job? If you tell them a typical house is an hour then they can at least think "ok, it's gonna be in the ballpark of 50 quid".
Sewerdog said:
I'd suggest think how someone who has no previous knowledge of gutter cleaning might perceive it. Bonus points if they're female. Like, when I was thinking about this, I thought how I could sell this to my sister.
General feedback:
Neighbour is not spelt correct - worthwhile running all text through a spellchecker and grammar.
I'm not a great copywriter - but if I had to say - why do I want to have clean gutters? Like as a homeowner, what's the benefit? Specifically, (i'm not a gutterboy so IDK just brainstorming why you might do it) - it'll save potential damaged/collapsed gutters? Flooding/water damage of house?
Slightly more personal opinions so feel free to take with a pinch of salt:
I think it would help to see you on the leaflet, looking smart ish work clothes. You have a big advantage here in that you look respectable naturally - in my prev experience (maybe it's just the areas I hang out in), the majority of window cleaners etc were alcoholics/definitely on the junkie scale. The kinda people I would feel slightly uncomfortable about knowing they were using ladders on my house when I wasn't there.
If referencing a neighbour's house - I think specific references to locations would help. You're in nottingham so I'd ref that at least. Also, when going door to door and saying "we've just cleaned alice's gutters at number 6, and as we're already here we can give you a 15% discount." Social proof.
Pricing - I can see why you wouldn't want to state example prices, but some kind of reference to it would be helpful - or state the typical time to do the job. Like, customers don't know, is this going to take a full day or is it a 20 minute job? If you tell them a typical house is an hour then they can at least think "ok, it's gonna be in the ballpark of 50 quid".
natedawg
Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2022
Personal notes from me:
- I'd consider removing the "We just cleaned your neighbor's house" simply because it's probably not true. I have a hunch that the idea came from the sales tactic "We recently cleaned xyz's gutter down the street, do you know them?". It's not bad at all, but I would want to see something more benefit-driven in place of it.
- ^ A good exercise for this listing out all the benefits of getting your gutters done. For most people, they may not have gutter issues for years, and as a result it's not a pressing pain. As they are not in a pain to fix them, it can be hard for them to find a reason to clean their gutters.... Unless you give them one of course.
With that said...
- If they don't clean their gutters? What can happen as a result? Rot in the roof? Mold? List them all out.
- If they DO have clean gutters, what benefits do they experience? Increasing roof replacement time by 5/10 years? Hell, what would happen if they got their gutters cleaned once per year so they called you back all the time?
Regarding the pictures, I would simplify them into two solid before/after images. Contrast is a powerful selling tool.
Expand on the bullets, don't make them too long but just long enough to sell your service a little more. Double points if they leave an impression (with something like humor). For example your last bullet: "Fully insured" to... "Fully insured - So you can sue me if I mess up!" (don't use that lol)
Regarding the colors: I'd opt for more disruptive color schemes like neon green/yellow etc.
- I'd consider removing the "We just cleaned your neighbor's house" simply because it's probably not true. I have a hunch that the idea came from the sales tactic "We recently cleaned xyz's gutter down the street, do you know them?". It's not bad at all, but I would want to see something more benefit-driven in place of it.
- ^ A good exercise for this listing out all the benefits of getting your gutters done. For most people, they may not have gutter issues for years, and as a result it's not a pressing pain. As they are not in a pain to fix them, it can be hard for them to find a reason to clean their gutters.... Unless you give them one of course.
With that said...
- If they don't clean their gutters? What can happen as a result? Rot in the roof? Mold? List them all out.
- If they DO have clean gutters, what benefits do they experience? Increasing roof replacement time by 5/10 years? Hell, what would happen if they got their gutters cleaned once per year so they called you back all the time?
Regarding the pictures, I would simplify them into two solid before/after images. Contrast is a powerful selling tool.
Expand on the bullets, don't make them too long but just long enough to sell your service a little more. Double points if they leave an impression (with something like humor). For example your last bullet: "Fully insured" to... "Fully insured - So you can sue me if I mess up!" (don't use that lol)
Regarding the colors: I'd opt for more disruptive color schemes like neon green/yellow etc.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
My leaflets arrived today
Stayed in to wait for the delivery and then went out, found some very wealthy neighbourhoods to post them, did about 200 in 2 and a half hours - took a long time walking up and down all the drives.
Kept going after it got dark, there was one house where I posted the leaflet, looked round and saw the electronic gates start to close, thought: "oh fuck off" and had to sprint out before they shut
Things to consider:
5000 leaflets is a lot more than I thought and will last me a while.
Given this I'd like to move to online advertising although I'll see how the leaflets perform.
A thicker a6 style might be better to get through the letterbox as sometimes the a5 leaflets get crumpled when posted.
Stayed in to wait for the delivery and then went out, found some very wealthy neighbourhoods to post them, did about 200 in 2 and a half hours - took a long time walking up and down all the drives.
Kept going after it got dark, there was one house where I posted the leaflet, looked round and saw the electronic gates start to close, thought: "oh fuck off" and had to sprint out before they shut
Things to consider:
5000 leaflets is a lot more than I thought and will last me a while.
Given this I'd like to move to online advertising although I'll see how the leaflets perform.
A thicker a6 style might be better to get through the letterbox as sometimes the a5 leaflets get crumpled when posted.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Had an amazing day out with doctor girl. We did a hike around one of the national parks here, got to talk about a lot of deeper stuff and just have a really good time. Went back and had dinner and I stayed over.
She told me how she worked in a care home before studying medicine and specialising in geriatrics. She really enjoyed it- turns out this smart, good-looking, posh blonde girl just really enjoys looking after people.
At one point it was just us walking back through some fields as it was getting dark and I realised how much I would have given a couple years ago to have an experience like this and now it just feels normal. I think we've crossed a threshold from dating and fucking to making some actual memories.
12 years ago on the 6th Jan my father died of cancer, he fought his way out of a council estate to doing 6-figure contract work in finance but sacrificed his health and relationships. It would be really cool to talk to him now and tell him what I've been up to. Shortly after he passed I dropped out of college, became a depressed stoner and was generally directionless, I watched myself fall behind because I never thought I could have what I wanted in life. But now I feel that when I figure out how to make good money, after all this time, I'll have finally got my shit together.
I've decided to max myself out, get rich, start a family and have a community.
Been working on my next ad and using the feedback to really get to why this service is valuable. I've attached a draft but I think its coming together.
She told me how she worked in a care home before studying medicine and specialising in geriatrics. She really enjoyed it- turns out this smart, good-looking, posh blonde girl just really enjoys looking after people.
At one point it was just us walking back through some fields as it was getting dark and I realised how much I would have given a couple years ago to have an experience like this and now it just feels normal. I think we've crossed a threshold from dating and fucking to making some actual memories.
12 years ago on the 6th Jan my father died of cancer, he fought his way out of a council estate to doing 6-figure contract work in finance but sacrificed his health and relationships. It would be really cool to talk to him now and tell him what I've been up to. Shortly after he passed I dropped out of college, became a depressed stoner and was generally directionless, I watched myself fall behind because I never thought I could have what I wanted in life. But now I feel that when I figure out how to make good money, after all this time, I'll have finally got my shit together.
I've decided to max myself out, get rich, start a family and have a community.
Been working on my next ad and using the feedback to really get to why this service is valuable. I've attached a draft but I think its coming together.
Zug
Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2021
Sewerdog said:
Love reading stuff like this. Really feels good to go from a fuck up to having your shit together, doesn't it?
I don't know much about ads, but this one doesn't strike me as being very good. There's a lot of buzzword bingo, there's no real hook or narrative to it. I can't remember the name of the company, nothing grabs my attention. 25% off when you message within 7 days just sounds like obvious bullshit when there's no price listed. I'm not an ad guy, but nothing strikes me as effective here. The before and after photos are a very nice idea, but the before photo isn't even that bad. Also the slight difference in camera angle is a problem in a comparison photo for a topic that's uninteresting and that doesn't provide explanation. I don't like the photos being vertical when its a before and after, usually that's presented horizontally with before photo on the left. I would chose a more extreme before photo with more obvious problems/repairs, and make damn sure the camera angle for both before and after is EXACTLY the same.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Zug said:
Hell yes it feels good.
Thanks these are some really good points.
I might bring my dslr up a ladder and try to get some really striking before and after shots.
Definitely can work on a compelling narrative to work the points into and refine it.
The offer is an interesting challenge too, I've heard an offer with a discount within a time frame is the most effective call to action but the vague discount I've got does sound suss.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
From seeing 4 different girls I've found:
1. I like doctor girl, I've noticed I like spending time with her and she has shown me a lot of what I like in women. I'm gonna a keep building this relationship and take every good date as a bonus - which it is.
Very smart and lively girl, not solipistic at all and then starts cumming non stop for about 5 minutes straight when we have sex which is a massive rush especially as I just like making her feel good.
2. Phd girl, seems to have gone a bit luke-warm but I'm not sure if it's just in contrast to spending time with doctor girl or me feeling luke-warm on my end because of the lack of passion.
3. Student girl, quite sporadic late night meet ups - haven't seen her yet this year as I've been on a good sleep schedule and have a lot to do in the mornings. Otherwise we have nothing in common and are just using eachother for sex which is pretty good.
4. Stripper girl, haven't pursued her anymore either because she drinks and does coke a lot and I'm not about that life.
I'm finding all time spent with doctor girl is so good the others seem a bit meh, also I haven't been putting time I to OD because I'm getting what I want right now and taking the chance to live the early 20s that never happened.
I've really enjoyed seeing a few girls at once and then spending more time with with best one for me naturally.
I want to build something lasting but I'm going to keep pushing to see what I'm capable of after I'm in a good place money wise.
Reason being is money controls my looksmaxxing and logistics and also I'm gonna run out if I'm not careful lol.
Otherwise I have 9 days off work so will be back on the apps and out all day door to door next week!
1. I like doctor girl, I've noticed I like spending time with her and she has shown me a lot of what I like in women. I'm gonna a keep building this relationship and take every good date as a bonus - which it is.
Very smart and lively girl, not solipistic at all and then starts cumming non stop for about 5 minutes straight when we have sex which is a massive rush especially as I just like making her feel good.
2. Phd girl, seems to have gone a bit luke-warm but I'm not sure if it's just in contrast to spending time with doctor girl or me feeling luke-warm on my end because of the lack of passion.
3. Student girl, quite sporadic late night meet ups - haven't seen her yet this year as I've been on a good sleep schedule and have a lot to do in the mornings. Otherwise we have nothing in common and are just using eachother for sex which is pretty good.
4. Stripper girl, haven't pursued her anymore either because she drinks and does coke a lot and I'm not about that life.
I'm finding all time spent with doctor girl is so good the others seem a bit meh, also I haven't been putting time I to OD because I'm getting what I want right now and taking the chance to live the early 20s that never happened.
I've really enjoyed seeing a few girls at once and then spending more time with with best one for me naturally.
I want to build something lasting but I'm going to keep pushing to see what I'm capable of after I'm in a good place money wise.
Reason being is money controls my looksmaxxing and logistics and also I'm gonna run out if I'm not careful lol.
Otherwise I have 9 days off work so will be back on the apps and out all day door to door next week!
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Had an excellent day door knocking, found another wealthy neighbourhood with lots of trees and landed a job in under 10 doors.
What I've changed:
I now have a uniform: smart navy blue outdoor jacket, smart jeans, clean safety boots and a navy blue cap.
I also go around with the leaflets for when no-one is in or for when someone is interested but they dont need their gutters doing right now.
I've also noticed i'm getting good responses when people talk to me a bit longer at the door even when they dont need the service - usually i'll get the "We've just had them done" objection which seems to mean everything is on point with my pitch but they just dont need the service. I think this is the case because with each job I've landed everyone needed the service quite badly.
The most interesting thing about today is one of the big boys in the area was actually supposed to do this job around christmas but had to cancel so I was able to pick it up - I think this is a massive benefit of going door to door, it's perfect for capitalising on these opportunities and I was able to get work even though a more established gutter cleaning company had been through this area already.
What I've added to my service:
Showed customer before and after photos.
Made the effort to chat with them and create some rapport, I then gave them some of my leaflets.
They gave me a tip when they saw how much I was actually clearing from their gutters. They also said they'll refer me to some of their friends and I got to tell them some more about how I'm growing this as a side hustle - this is what I'm most pleased about.
Finally they asked me if I was able to fix a leaky bit of guttering - this is actually an upsell I've been thinking of but need to get a much bigger ladder to be able to offer this service, amazing that the opportinuity was actually presented to me though.
Most importantly I quoted a solid price this time and managed to get the job done to a high standard in the two hours I gave myself.
Pretty gassed about today because if I landed a job like this every day I would be able to out-earn my current job when the whole process of leaving the house, door knocking and cleaning took about 3 and a half hours! Not mentioning i'd pay less tax due to business write-offs.
Just did the one job so I could crush an upper body workout and now going to Doctor girl's to cook her dinner and fuck her brains out.
Very grateful for today and even more grateful that it was all because I got out and made shit happen.
What I've changed:
I now have a uniform: smart navy blue outdoor jacket, smart jeans, clean safety boots and a navy blue cap.
I also go around with the leaflets for when no-one is in or for when someone is interested but they dont need their gutters doing right now.
I've also noticed i'm getting good responses when people talk to me a bit longer at the door even when they dont need the service - usually i'll get the "We've just had them done" objection which seems to mean everything is on point with my pitch but they just dont need the service. I think this is the case because with each job I've landed everyone needed the service quite badly.
The most interesting thing about today is one of the big boys in the area was actually supposed to do this job around christmas but had to cancel so I was able to pick it up - I think this is a massive benefit of going door to door, it's perfect for capitalising on these opportunities and I was able to get work even though a more established gutter cleaning company had been through this area already.
What I've added to my service:
Showed customer before and after photos.
Made the effort to chat with them and create some rapport, I then gave them some of my leaflets.
They gave me a tip when they saw how much I was actually clearing from their gutters. They also said they'll refer me to some of their friends and I got to tell them some more about how I'm growing this as a side hustle - this is what I'm most pleased about.
Finally they asked me if I was able to fix a leaky bit of guttering - this is actually an upsell I've been thinking of but need to get a much bigger ladder to be able to offer this service, amazing that the opportinuity was actually presented to me though.
Most importantly I quoted a solid price this time and managed to get the job done to a high standard in the two hours I gave myself.
Pretty gassed about today because if I landed a job like this every day I would be able to out-earn my current job when the whole process of leaving the house, door knocking and cleaning took about 3 and a half hours! Not mentioning i'd pay less tax due to business write-offs.
Just did the one job so I could crush an upper body workout and now going to Doctor girl's to cook her dinner and fuck her brains out.
Very grateful for today and even more grateful that it was all because I got out and made shit happen.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Woke up at Doctor girls house, she had to leave early for work.
I lazed around a bit feeling some resistance to getting out there, was not in the zone at all, ate breakfast and headed out.
I got the first door I knocked on.
It was yesterday's neighbourghs who had also been let down by the big gutter cleaning company.
Charged a good price and completed the job fast, she was pleased with the service, asked if I had a card so I passed her a leaflet.
Another opportunity capitalised on by door knocking.
I did some research into this company. They have a fleet of vans with cranes on the back and multiple employees - I get the feeling they make most of their money on big-time commercial contracts judging by how their gear must be worth 100k or more.
Looks like a gap in the market has opened up for whatever reason and being a small operation run out of my car with no overheads means I've been able to capitalise here.
Given that these opportunities are out there, I will play the numbers game with door to door to find them. Especially now I'm giving my details out to customers and showing them what I've done with pictures - hopefully I can build a base in the area and get referrals coming through too.
Another thing worth mentioning, being the first door of the day I bungled my pitch, tripped up on words, mumbled etc but as soon as I mentioned 'gutters' her face lit up because I was offering a service that she actually wanted.
Edit:
She also lit up when I quoted the price so it may well be lower than she expected.
I lazed around a bit feeling some resistance to getting out there, was not in the zone at all, ate breakfast and headed out.
I got the first door I knocked on.
It was yesterday's neighbourghs who had also been let down by the big gutter cleaning company.
Charged a good price and completed the job fast, she was pleased with the service, asked if I had a card so I passed her a leaflet.
Another opportunity capitalised on by door knocking.
I did some research into this company. They have a fleet of vans with cranes on the back and multiple employees - I get the feeling they make most of their money on big-time commercial contracts judging by how their gear must be worth 100k or more.
Looks like a gap in the market has opened up for whatever reason and being a small operation run out of my car with no overheads means I've been able to capitalise here.
Given that these opportunities are out there, I will play the numbers game with door to door to find them. Especially now I'm giving my details out to customers and showing them what I've done with pictures - hopefully I can build a base in the area and get referrals coming through too.
Another thing worth mentioning, being the first door of the day I bungled my pitch, tripped up on words, mumbled etc but as soon as I mentioned 'gutters' her face lit up because I was offering a service that she actually wanted.
Edit:
She also lit up when I quoted the price so it may well be lower than she expected.
Ali
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
Spent about an hour an a half door knocking, gave out some leaflets and landed this job in a tucked away house right on the edge of a wood.
An elderly women lived there and I quoted what I thought was a good price given how plants were literally growing out of the down pipes.
I was so wrong, I've done about half the job in two hours and will go back tm morning to finish it off as it got dark.
There's mud down all the down pipes that I'm gonna have to bring something to hack it out and I was hacking through and lifting frozen chunks of mud out of the gutter with the vacuum itself.
I'd say I undercharged by about 60-70%!
Nevertheless a very nice old women who needs a shit ton of work doing around the garden and property and can hopefully become a repeat customer every 6-months to stop it getting in that bad condition again.
I also have a lead booked in from todays flyers for Thursday morning which I'm very happy with.
Here is a picture of a shrub growing out the gutters and my inadequate ladder, I think I'm going to develop some sort of complex at this rate
An elderly women lived there and I quoted what I thought was a good price given how plants were literally growing out of the down pipes.
I was so wrong, I've done about half the job in two hours and will go back tm morning to finish it off as it got dark.
There's mud down all the down pipes that I'm gonna have to bring something to hack it out and I was hacking through and lifting frozen chunks of mud out of the gutter with the vacuum itself.
I'd say I undercharged by about 60-70%!
Nevertheless a very nice old women who needs a shit ton of work doing around the garden and property and can hopefully become a repeat customer every 6-months to stop it getting in that bad condition again.
I also have a lead booked in from todays flyers for Thursday morning which I'm very happy with.
Here is a picture of a shrub growing out the gutters and my inadequate ladder, I think I'm going to develop some sort of complex at this rate