Fish Window Cleaning Blog

The businesses with the dirtiest windows have the quickest excuses:

“They look ok to me”

“We’ve had the same window cleaner for 23 years…”

“I clean the windows myself”

But my all-time favorite has to be:

“Our employees take care of that”

Really?

I don’t know about you, but we go through a lot of employees looking for the ones that enjoy window cleaning, are great at it, and have the right attitude to take care of our customers.

Believe me, most people do not enjoy cleaning windows.

And for a while, I did try to convince my best cleaners to help out with other tasks. I tried to get them to write estimates, or do inspections, or (gulp) manage other employees.

Big mistake!

They got grumpy, it reduced morale, and I lost several good employees.

Which is why I always feel for the employees when a business owner says that she’s taking the window cleaning “in-house.” That just gives her and her employees something to argue about as employee morale decreases. And the windows still won’t be clean.

So the next time you’re tempted to hand a mop and squeegee to your nearest employee, here are five things you can have that employee do instead to actually grow your business:

1. Take your best selling product and create a display of it (with other upsells) near the front of the store

2. Try out the products. Trying on clothes will give them ideas for making the dressing rooms more inviting. Playing with the toys will help them help customers pick the right gift. Enjoying the food will help them help customers navigate your menu

3. Create a sign-up form for your email list so you can communicate with your customers after they leave the store

4. Follow up with new customers after a few days to make sure they are happy with their purchase

5. Attend a networking or community event to strengthen your local connections.

What are you doing to grow your business?