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ARE THESE ADD ONS FOR YOU?
(September/October 2007)

By Bob Lawrence

In the previous edition of this magazine [July/August 2007] we explored the success some window cleaners are having with bird control as an add on, and we’ve since learned that more and more have gone that route and are doing well at it. In past articles, we’ve also covered those who’ve found profit in post construction cleanup, fabricating debris consulting and tempered glass scratch removal. Even so, there are a dozen or more other possibilities out there for expanding your business. This article explores some of the opportunities others are cashing in on.

WINDOW MEDIC

Last October, after 15 years in business as a window cleaner, Mike Draper of Bloomington, Illinois, decided to invest heavily to get into window defogging, $15,000 to be exact. “We didn’t really get started until March of this year,” says Draper, “but I would say we are real close to having our money compensated.” Until he got into it, Draper believed that the only solution to condensation and calcium buildup in double-panned windows was to either replace them or live with seeing through a fog. “I told people for 15 years that you couldn’t do anything about it because fogging is caused by a broken seal. But then I learned it can be remedied.” The revelation came from Window Medics International, Ontario, Canada, which offers dealerships to those wanting access to its patented glass restoration process.

As Draper explains it,  moisture and condensation can be removed from between thermal glass panes without having to remove the window. It’s done by drilling two small holes into the glass in the upper and lower corners diagonally from each other and using a garden sprayer to spray in deionized or distilled water to rinse and remove debris. A drying agent, methanol alcohol, is then sprayed in to help remove the moisture. Valves are then inserted in the drill holes to allow the glass to expand and contract so that it breathes. The result is that “the window is restored and you’ll never get condensation in it again,” Draper says, adding that “there is no instant gratification because it takes a drying out period of about 12 weeks before it become completely dry. After that, we guarantee that it won’t fog and condensate again for 20 years.”

Most of the defogging business is on the residential side because most commercial buildings use tempered glass which when drilled, will shatter. Draper can do light commercial buildings with non-tempered windows and has found profit in dealing with property management companies. “They are more than happy to use our service because we can go in and do a window for about $85 where it would cost them anywhere from $150 to $200 to replace it.  Sometimes we’ll do 40 or 50 windows in a complex so it doesn’t take long to make back the startup costs.” By mid-August, he had done over 300 windows, charging by the window, not the hour. With that much experience, he can easily figure the time involved and what to charge on new jobs. He also learned about pricing, as well as how to restore glass, during two days of training at Window Medics. Despite the big outlay of cash, “I felt it would pay off because you see the condensation problems everyday,” says Draper.

For his dealership, he pays no fees or royalties but he doesn’t have exclusive rights to his market, meaning any other window cleaner can buy a dealership in Bloomington. To protect himself and corral the Window Medics name, Draper changed his long time company from Twin Cities Window Cleaning to Window Medics of Central Illinois. He’s also free to cover a wide territory which includes five metro areas within 45 minutes of Bloomington. Through his advertising and marketing, along with two salesmen on the street, he foresees defogging catching on big time. As he puts it, “This is a brand new concept and many of my regular and potential customers don’t know it exist, but we are working to make them aware. I feel confident that next year we’ll do $100,000 with defogging.” Based on his experience and success with this new add on, Draper recommends it to others with a caution that you have to work at it. “I definitely had to build the business myself because there is not a lot of support from Window Medics once you purchase the dealership,” he says.

Defogging represents only 9% of the company’s annual revenue while 90% is from window cleaning. The other 1% comes from another of Draper’s recent add ons - window tinting. He got into that last Fall after a training session with a local window film distributor. Seeking a higher quality product than it was offering, he eventually switched to Llumar Professional Films for residential and commercial tinting. While much of what his company installs is for solar control, it has covered a new FBI building’s windows with anti-eavesdropping film, installed bomb blast film on new banks and corporate offices, and applied graffiti film to protect commercial windows from scratches.

Getting into tinting cost Draper less than $500 including training and a small inventory. To install it, you measure and cut what you need from a roll, wet the window, pull a thin plastic layer off the film and press it against the glass. The film is adhesive allowing it to stick to the glass which is then squeegeed to remove the water.  It’s not all that difficult and there’s money to be made, according to Draper.  “The film cost about 90 cents per sq. ft. but you can charge between $6 and $7.50 per sq. ft. If I was in Florida, I would be tinting everyday, but in my climate, we look at it as just gravy.” As with defogging, there a learning curve, but not much, according to Draper. As he puts it, “There are little tricks to it just like in window cleaning. When you do it every day, you get pretty good at it.”

“Like defogging , I thought it was a natural fit with window cleaning,” says Draper, “and what we’re trying to brand with Window Medics is that we can do anything that has do with windows. Next year we may even get into replacing them.

BLINDS AND MORE

In Canyon Lake, California, Craig Aldrich is always looking for ways to enhance the services offered by Sparkle Window Cleaning. Along with regular window cleaning, you’ll see he and his crew doing construction cleanup, bird control, pressure washing and cleaning solar screens, blinds and gutters. “All of that keeps us more than busy,” says Aldrich, now in his 30th year in business.

Which add on is most lucrative? “They all are,” says Aldrich, “but blind cleaning is a very lucrative for me.” This he has down to a science having custom built utility tables to hang the blinds for cleaning at low pressure with a pressure washer. Using deionized water, they dry spot free. Calling this method a step down from ultrasonic cleaning, he says, “It does almost as good a job.” Depending on how many he does in a house, there are times when blinds bring in more money than windows.

Gutter cleaning is another big money maker for Aldrich who offers a basic dry cleanout and a deluxe version culminating in pressure washing the gutters and down spouts.

None of this has required much of an investment in learning or equipment, according to Aldrich. His small mobile pressure washing  unit was the biggest expense, but it paid for itself years ago through multi-tasking with gutter and blind cleaning, exterior washing, and boat and boat dock cleaning

The add on services represent a sizeable chunk of his overall business, as much as 40%, according to Aldrich, who says the fastest growing are blinds, exterior pressure washing and bird control.

Selling current and potential clients on additional services beyond window cleaning is not difficult at all because “People who are anal about clean glass are pretty much anal about everything else,” says Aldrich.

He’s offering more services that go beyond his core business because “It’s that much more of an enticement for the customer.”

Should others get into it? “Absolutely. I think they would be foolish not to have add ons.”

KLASS ACT

Jeff Klass, First Klass Window Cleaning Inc., in West Allis, Wisconsin, is into everything add on, window related and non-window related, from hard water stain removal to chandelier and curio cabinet cleaning. Representing close to 10% of his business, such work is profitable. “With anything I have as an add on, I get way more money than I do cleaning windows,” says Klass. “I get $60 an hour per man cleaning residential windows, but chandelier cleaning starts at $75 an hour and goes up from there. We recently did a couple of chandeliers for a client for $120 and it took one guy only about 45 minutes from set up to cleaning and tear down.  That customer would never go for that kind of hourly rate for window cleaning.”

While every house potentially has a chandelier cleaning job in it, the same clients that have Klass do their windows two, three or four times a year aren’t necessarily going to have him clean their lights anymore than once a year. It’s the same thing with curio cabinets. “My minimum charge for that is $75 and the clients has to remove all the figurines, knickknacks and whatever. I haven’t come up with but one yet that has taken me more than an hour to do and that one was for significantly more than $75.”

Such up-sales that go beyond window cleaning are what Klass calls “absolute convenience things that customers are willing to pay for. But like the chandeliers, it’s something you’ll do for them only once a year.”  Nor does he do light fixture cleaning at every home he services. “Some are not in the mind set and don’t see the value or the need to do it. The ones who do have us do the cleaning, have us do it religiously,” Klass says.

During his nearly 20 years in business, Klass has always been aggressive about adding value. “While I’m talking to an existing or perspective client for window cleaning,  I’ll be looking around to see what else needs cleaning. You just have to keep your eyes open because they might not even know what else needs to be done or know about the other services you can provide. Go in with an open mind and you’ll find things to do. For example, people might clean their shower doors with a squeegee or their cleaning lady might spray the outside of them with Windex to get hand prints or whatever off, but they don’t really get it clean.” It’s the same with chandeliers.”

While most cleaning companies such as Mary Maids will surface clean a 2,000 crystal chandelier, they’re not willing to take it all apart and hand wipe every crystal and really detail clean it, according to Klass who believes an expensive chandelier should be professionally cleaned. Pointing to one client who has a $9,000 showcase fixture over the kitchen table, Klass says, “He’s willing to spend $400 to have it cleaned because it protects his investment and shines like it was designed to.”

In terms of pricing a job, “It’s hit and miss, but once you do enough light fixtures, you know what to charge,” says Klass. “It’s really like anything in window cleaning, there is no set formula. A  lot of it is guess work.” After finishing a job, if he finds that he over estimated, he’ll lower the price because it’s the fair thing to do. “I have no problem at all lowering my price. It also builds trust. If your clients trust you, they’ll never bid you out.”

Often he spots something that needs cleaning but doesn’t try to upsell because it’s something the homeowner can and should do themself.  “But if they have a three-story foyer with a chandelier hanging down in it, I pretty much know I have a sale that’s made itself because the homeowner or their cleaning lady isn’t going to climb a ladder and do it.” Nor can you find such services in the Yellow Pages, he adds.

Although Klass recommends adding on services, he cautions that some of it requires a level of education. As he puts it, “You can do trial and error but there are enough avenues available with email groups and forum where you can pose a question. You are pretty much going to be able to hit the ground running with the educated responses you get from concerned professionals. There are enough out there willing to help.”

In all, Klass provides just under a dozen different services and for good reason. “If you’re a window cleaner in Wisconsin, you have to do what you can to make a go of it because there are three-and-a-half months a year where we are pretty much dead. You have to try to maximize your impact while you’re in the houses or at least possibly even drum up some business when your customers might not be in a window cleaning mind frame. You want to get them in the spending money mind frame. There are big amounts to be made.”

For Klass, the upside to providing various services is that it “enhances our core business because we are offering things that most others don’t. The downside is something might get broken.” For example, once when his brother-in-law worked for him, he accidently cracked a hand blown Italian light fixture bowl two days before Christmas when the homeowner was expecting family. Klass quickly ordered a replacement from Italy that wouldn’t arrive for six weeks, but to fill the gap, he found one in Chicago that was sent overnight. The homeowner found it unacceptable as a permanent replacement because of a scratch, but it solved the immediate problem and was installed. Altogether, it cost Klass about $1400. That happened 14 year ago and that customer is still with him. “The downside is, if something goes wrong, it can go spectacularly wrong. The upside it’s usually an easy sale to make.”

MILWAUKEE SOLUTIONS

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Al's Window Cleaning and Building Services has been a major fixture in residential and high rise/low rise window cleaning for half a century. But this doesn’t mean Patrick Balistreri is content with doing things the same old way; he’s always looking for a new way to fly and new products to clean better in order to expand his business.

Like Draper, Balistreri has a Window Medics dealership with defogging as an add on, but he’s also discovered some environmentally friendly products that perform “phenomenally” well and increase his bottom line. One of them restores glass, seals it and gives it self-cleaning qualities without using abrasives or buffers. Called Restore, it’s applied to the glass with a sponge and sealed with a clear ceramic polymer which helps make the window self cleaning, according to Balistreri. Describing it as a nano technology, he says that after the application, once the sun hits the window, titanium dioxide molecules convert to hydrogen peroxide which  eats away any organic material on the surface. For example, if there is a bird dropping on the window, it will turn it into a powder that rain will wash away.

“This process bring the optics back and the glass stays cleaner longer. It’s really unbelievable,” says Balistreri, adding that it’s profitable. “We make more off of this than regular window cleaning because you can charge a premium. People love it. It’s a good up-sale.”

He’s also excited about Algae & Mold Remover & Multi-Purpose Surface Cleaner which restores the appearance of concrete and seals it against salt and moisture to keep algae and mold from growing back for five years. “We use it a lot on pool decks, patios, pavers and sidewalks, making them look like new again. It’s phenomenal,” he says.

That same product has opened up a whole new stream of revenue on the high and low rise buildings where Balistreri’s company cleans windows. “Cleaning and restoring the exterior of buildings is a new service for us and it comes at a time when a lot building managers are getting away from sand blasting and caustic cleaners. If they can have something that is environmentally friendly and won’t damage windows, frames or cars on the street, they are all for it.” An example of the product’s effectiveness is the restoration of travertine marble on a 35 year old building which was covered with dark spots no one else could remove. “The marble is now completely white and looks like new again,” he says.

As with the glass restoration product, it’s another lucrative add on service, according to Balistreri. Easily applied with a pump up sprayer, both solutions are low cost and require that you only follow directions, he says. Available from Simix Solutions, they are highly recommended by Balistreri, who says, “It would be a great competitive advantage for other window cleaners to use these products.”

BUSINESSES THAT GO TOGETHER

One of the most prevalent add ons for window cleaners is pressure washing, and for Jim Andrews, it represents about 50% of his business. He’s had time to grow it because his Sunshine Cleaning Service in Palatka Florida, has been doing pressure washing for most of the 24 years it’s been in business.

While a lot of those doing pressure washing do not clean windows,  a lot of window cleaners aren’t into pressure washing, but for Andrews, “It made sense because when you do it, you get the windows dirty and they’ll need cleaning. The two businesses just go together.”

His company does both residential and commercial pressure washing ranging from siding and stucco to buildings and sidewalks.

A growing part of this business is cleaning shingle and tile roof, making them look like new again, according to Andrews, who says that in the south, new roofs will start turning black after about five years because of the high humidity. Using a low pressure pumping system set up for roof cleaning, you pump the cleaning solution out at a low PSI and follow it with a rinse. “Once we do it the first time, we get the customer set up on an annual maintenance schedule where we come back and retreat the roof. We guarantee it to be stain free for the life of the shingles,” he says.

Andrews got started in pressure washing after about three years in business when a customer asked if he did that kind of work. “Not being one to turn down any work, I rented a unit and learned how to do it,” says Andrews. “As time went by, I got better at it. Now we have two big trailer rigs with hot water tanks and everything.”

After his first pressure washing job, Andrews got more business through word of mouth and in going after it. “If I get a call for a window cleaning estimate, I do that, and if the house or building and sidewalk are dirty, I offer pressure washing. They most always go for it. It works the other way around too. If they call me for pressure washing, I also offer them window cleaning. It just make sense to offer both services.”

While it can be more lucrative than window cleaning, pressure washing is more costly because of the cost of the machines, the chemicals, gas and upkeep. “The overhead is higher, but you can charge a little more,” says Andrews. Knowing what to charge was trial and error. “We knew what our time was worth, how long the jobs would take and went from there. But even after all these years, there’s still a lot of guess work in bidding a job. We make the best educated guess, factoring in all of the knowns and unknowns that we’ll encounter.” He advises that if you make a mistake in your bid, you can always go back to the customer and explain it. “Most of the time they’ll understand and then let you adjust so it’s more fair for you.”

With pressure washing, there is a learning curve more so than window cleaning, according to Andrews. “For me, it took years to figure out the best chemicals to use, how to do this and that, and how to do the maintenance to keep the rigs up. I learned by flying by the seat of my pants, just teaching myself. ”For newcomers to the trade, the Internet has shortened the learning curve quite a bit and made it a lot easier. “With the forums and message boards, they can learn more in two or three weeks than those of us did starting out 20 years ago.”

As for the investment required to get started, it can be less than a thousand if you buy a unit at a big box store, according to Andrews. But you don’t have the accessories and the power of commercial units. “That’s what you need for serious commercial work, and you’ve got to have hot water. For a hot water rig with the trailer, tanks and everything you need, you’re looking at $10,000 to $20,000, but you can make that back in time.”

As for downsides, you can do a lot of damage if you’re not careful because you can knock a chunk of stucco from the side of a house, blast a window out or peal the paint off. Those doing the work also need to keep a close watch for new security cameras and speaker systems. Andrews spent close to $1,000 replacing three security cameras outside a restaurant that were accidently water damaged by an employee because they didn’t look like traditional cameras. You can also cause damage by using the wrong chemical on the wrong surface, according to Andrews.  Another downside is that pressure washing is hard work. As he puts it, “You spend all day moving hoses and ladders and it takes its toll on your back, and there is a lot of grip pressure from pulling the trigger. But they’ve come out with some new tools and accessories that alleviate that.” Another negative about this add on is that a lot of the commercial work is in the off hours when customers are not around. “For example, we do our Super Wal-Marts in the middle of the night, starting about three in the morning.”

Andrews recommends pressure washing for other window cleaners looking for extra income. “It’s a business that goes hand in hand with what they’re doing,” he says.

As you’ve just read, the add ons discussed herein are working for these specific window cleaners, and they could work for others wanting to increase the bottom line. As Aldrich sums it up, “If you don’t have add on services, you’re leaving money on the table.”

This series concludes in the November/December edition of AWC Magazine with Anne Richter’s article on holiday lighting.

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