How to Train Your Window Cleaning Team

We are in business to come back, again and again. If you want to know how to train your window cleaning team, start with that line. Every standard I teach exists to get the next booking. Here is the story behind it, what I have seen happen without it and what one standard looks like on a Monday morning.

The story behind "we are in business to come back"

When I talk to a new customer, I ask: is this a one-off clean, or would you like me to come back? They might say, "It depends on how good you are." So I say, let me do my cleaning. I always make the joke that there is no second first impression, so I had better do a good job now. That normally lightens the mood.

Your customer already knows roughly how much you will charge before you come. Once you are there, you quote the exact price and they agree on it. You do the work, you have built a good rapport, and they are comfortable having you back. It is one thing in their life they do not have to worry about.

At the end of the clean I say: "Thanks for the dirty windows. Enjoy your view. I will send you an invoice. Would you like me to book this cleaning in for the same time next year?" If it is the 1st of March, I offer the 2nd of March next year.

Almost 100% say yes, book it. The invoice gets paid, and next year is already budgeted, with an existing customer who is warmed up and waiting for you. My calendar fills up quickly that way.

What happens without proper training

I have seen a customer come to me because of subpar work, and it came down to poor training. The cleaners from a big company did not know how to get to these windows, and they made a real mess of it.

I think motivation played a part too. They were employed, not self-employed, and they were underpaid for a difficult window. They could not clean it properly, and the company lost the contract.

That customer reached out to me. I did the cleaning, with that same way of thinking about coming back, and I gave them the confidence I could do it. I kept that customer, and the big company lost a lucrative repeat customer.

One standard on a Monday morning

What does one standard everyone sticks to look like? It starts with tool preparation, for the start of the day and the start of the week:

• The squeegee rubber is new.
• There are no bends in the squeegee channel.
• There is enough soap and water.
• The rags are dry and clean.

If a crew gets this right before the first window, you are already on your way to the same result from every cleaner.

How I train the people who work for me

My subcontractors train under my online training, so we all work towards a standard we can agree on, and my customers know it. The Standard is that same training for your team, at $199 per employee, with certification. For more on how it works, read window cleaning training for employees.

Related guides

• The Standard: training for your team
• Window cleaning training for employees
• Why window cleaning businesses fail
• How much do window cleaners make?

Questions people ask

How do you train a window cleaning team?

Give everyone one standard. My subcontractors train under my online training, and the standard starts with tool preparation before the first window of the week.

How do you keep window cleaning customers coming back?

Do a good job, build a good rapport and agree the price before you start. Then at the end of the clean, offer to book them in for the same time next year. Almost 100% of mine say yes.

Why do window cleaning companies lose customers?

In my experience, poor training. I have taken on a customer after a big company's cleaners did not know how to reach the windows and made a real mess of them.

What should a window cleaning crew check on Monday morning?

That the squeegee rubber is new, there are no bends in the channel, there is enough soap and water, and the rags are dry and clean.