I've had the same company for some 33 years - don't even know how they are rated. But I guess before I would ever switch I'd want to know how a company earns only a B rating.

Gary Mauer
Window Cleaning Network - Oconomowoc, WI

All insurance companies have an AM Best rating. The difference between an A and a B is how stabile the insurance company is financially. There is a significant difference between an A rated company and a B rated company. Actually B is quite undesirable in the insurance world. I remember working for an insurance company years ago (workers comp) and their rating was downgraded from A to A- and several of the top management was let go because of it. I personally would shy away from any B rated company. After all, if you have a claim you don't want your insurance company in financial stress.

Geof White
Valley Window Cleaning, Inc. - Appleton, WI

Your agent should know the rating of the company and should never place you with low rated company. But one year we paid the entire policy up front (about $14,000.00) and less than a month later the company went belly-up with our money.

Theresa Martin Martin's Window Cleaning Corp. - Houston, TX

Isn't there a rope washer available you can attach to a garden hose and pull the rope through?

Gary Mauer
Window Cleaning Network - Oconomowoc, WI

Yes, we use the one that hooks to a hose. Uses just water and light soap, plus lots of elbow grease.

Mark Reinhart
Award Window Cleaning Services, Inc - Grand Rapids, MI

It would be one of the most frustrating and infuriating things that can happen to an employer - if an employee gains access based on your reputation for integrity, then takes advantage of it to steal. I've always told my new guys that many of the folks we work for will have security cameras, and you never know where they are. I also tell my employees if anything ever turns up missing, no one will come after them more aggressively than me.

Paul LeGrand
Blue Sky Window Cleaning - Stowe, VT

One of the most important things I do before I hire someone is to run a background check. I have a company that does this. All I do is put the information on a form over the internet and within 24 hours, I have a reply. It also checks the Driver's License and their tickets. The first prospective employee I ran had a record that printed out to over 30 pages long and it shocked me.

I started this about 10 years ago when one of my customers owned a bunch of daycares. When I went to write the first estimate, I stopped to make a note on my clipboard and all of a sudden I had two children wrapped around each leg. My first thoughts were I got to know who I am sending to this place. Now, I used this as a sales tool, and it gets a lot of jobs.

Doug Koliboski
Your Window Cleaning Company - Cincinnati, OH

Most states have a public case search which enables you to see anything they were convicted of and in here in WI you can see pending charges too. I also have the option of asking my PEO to do a background search which I believe costs around $25.

Geof White
Valley Window Cleaning, Inc. - Appleton, WI

Any suggestions on what to say to a customer, so they put their valuables away, so there are no questions or issues? We don't want to scare them off, but maybe these situations could be avoided if they just put away their jewelry.

Scott Knight
All Seasons Window Cleaning - Valencia, CA

I work by myself most of the time and do many homes without the homeowners present. When necessary I tell new and skeptical customers to make sure all valuables, precious window items and even pharmaceuticals are put in a secure place.

Telling third party stories can help make a positive suggestion. I tell of an incident when I was called about some missing jewelry. Long and short of it all is the customer had left the jewelry with her sister in another town.

Rob Young
The Window Washer - Washington, DC

I warn our cleaners all the time of problems that could occur. You have to make sure the cleaners understand it is OK to call the office if they even sense a problem. Let us help make decisions and handle problems. I have had cleaners call and tell me that the customer left them inside their house and there was a wad of cash on the counter. I called the customer on their cell and asked them to come home and put the money away.

Doug Koliboski
Your Window Cleaning Company - Cincinnati, OH

It's my understanding bonding is basically just a form of insurance that protects your company against dishonest acts, and it works like other insurance when there is a claim. What's interesting is that bonding can potentially impress customers more than liability insurance because it's assumed the insurance company will be very diligent about betting that your employees won't steal anything.

Gary Mauer
Window Cleaning Network - Oconomowoc, WI

It does insure your customers against theft; of course you are required to ensure charges are pressed against your employee.

Mark Tague
M & S Specialty Services - Macon, GA

The way my agent explained it, if you are bonded for $10,000 and you have an employee that steals a $10,000 piece of jewelry your bonding will cover it, but only if that person is convicted of the crime. That is where the big loophole is as far as I'm concerned. The problem with "conviction" is if the jewelry is not recovered it's hard to prove anything. I had a customer that lost jewelry to a carpet cleaning crew. They couldn't recover the jewelry and they were not caught in the act, so no one was convicted and bonding wouldn't pay.

Geof White
Valley Window Cleaning, Inc. - Appleton, WI

I'm self employed but believe in uniforms. Go to wearguard.com for new.

Wes Buckner
Mid-Ohio Window Cleaning - Galion, OH

Years ago in US prisons they would issue used underwear, which was supposed to make them more docile and easier to control. Personally I would never buy used uniforms for employees.

Mark Ahlich
Crystal Clear Vision - New Orleans, LA

We require our guys to buy black or blue Dickies pants ($20 at Wal-Mart) and then we provide each guy with five company jerseys, sweatshirt and a hat. We started 3 years ago, because everyone was wearing jeans, but even clean jeans look dirty as soon as they get wet or a squeegee is dried off on them. We were tired of fighting the dirty employee fight and this really changed everything.

When we first implemented this we reimbursed everyone $20 for their first pair and now we just require it for all new hires. We also have a no sneaker policy and this has made a difference as well in professional appearance.

The uniform services were too expensive and now I feel it would be unnecessary, because the culture of looking clean and professional has been established.

Matt Pierce
Fish Window Cleaning - Woburn, MA

I have gone the route of purchasing uniforms. The problem is when you ask the employee to have a clean set on every day, they still come in with dirty, wrinkled up, stained, grubby looking, smelly uniforms on. Not all the time but how many uniforms are you going to supply them? How often are they going to clean them? Can they get the stains out? So what did you pay for when you bought new?

Then you end up replacing them or giving out "hand me downs", but then they are not the right size or some other issue. Keeping this all in mind it is much more professional looking to use a service. Then you don't have to worry about the uniform they wear and look more at how cleanly the employees are shaven or groomed.

We have been using a service for several years now. It is not that expensive at between $6.00 to $7.00 per week per employee. Our service offers 12 uniforms per employee, picks up dirties every Friday and drops off cleans. Pants and a good looking shirt with company logo and employee's first name. For $7.00 per week it is a no-brainer. Clean and looking good all the time.

Mark Reinhart
Award Window Cleaning Services, Inc - Grand Rapids, MI