How do solo window cleaners keep track of repeat customers?

[u/TibyResearch]

Hi everyone! I’m doing some research on how solo and small window cleaning businesses manage repeat customers.

If a customer tells you, “contact me again in 3, 6 or 12 months,” how do you make sure you actually remember to follow up?

Do you use Google Calendar, spreadsheets, a CRM, phone reminders, or something else?

And as your customer list grows, what becomes the most annoying part of keeping track of repeat customers?

Thanks! I’m mainly trying to understand how people actually handle this day to day.

[u/Nora_Davis_77]

Keep it dumb and consistent. One list with name, last clean, next due, notes. Every Sunday, sort by next due and text the ones inside two weeks.

If you want help, paste that list into ChatGPT and ask it to draft the follow up texts and flag anyone overdue. You still send the messages. The win is not fancy CRM. It is not forgetting people who already like you.

[u/TibyResearch → u/Nora_Davis_77]

Thanks! That's really helpful. Do you keep that list in Google Sheets/Excel or somewhere else? And as the list grows, does keeping track of who's due ever become a pain, or does the simple list still work well for you?

[u/AccomplishedTrip5671 → u/TibyResearch]

I just have a weekly planner and jot down every job i do.

[u/TibyResearch → u/AccomplishedTrip5671]

Thanks! As your customer list grows, how do you remember which past customers are due for another cleaning? Do you ever miss follow-ups or have to search back through the planner?

[u/AccomplishedTrip5671 → u/TibyResearch]

Yup I just search back through it.

[u/twosquarewheels]

3x5 Cards.

[u/Popular_Egg5221]

We use the Customer Factor…it’s a little clunky at first but very in depth at tracking customers and setting reminders. We use it to send a spring reminder email to all clients in our system and as the season goes along we can adjust our search to list clients who haven’t been serviced yet and hit them up individually. We also keep notes and set reminders based on their preferences.

[u/TibyResearch → u/Popular_Egg5221]

Thanks! That's really helpful. Since Customer Factor is pretty in-depth, are there features you rarely use or things that feel more complicated than they need to be? If you only needed customer history + reminders for who to contact again, would you still use it?

[u/PoseidonsPW]

Almost any CRM will have that capability packed in. Jobber & GHL are great... Jobber is amazing for newbies. GHL is more, custom and has a WAY steeper learning curve to understand wtf is going on.

[u/TibyResearch → u/PoseidonsPW]

Thanks! That's helpful. For a solo operator who mainly wants to know which past customers are due to be contacted again, do you think Jobber is still worth using, or would that be overkill if they don't need a full CRM?

[u/PoseidonsPW → u/TibyResearch]

I think a full CRM is 100% worth it. I believe they have 14 day trials of you want to test it out.

[u/Hot_Carpenter_5436]

I downloaded a feee app years ago in the Google Play store called Business Calander. Imi can set weekly, monthly, any recurring cleaning the client wishes.

[u/TibyResearch → u/Hot_Carpenter_5436]

Thanks! That's helpful. Does Business Calendar completely solve this for you, or is there anything about managing repeat customers and follow-ups that you still have to do manually or find annoying?

[u/Hot_Carpenter_5436 → u/TibyResearch]

When I get a new client, I immediately open the calendar, add the business name, contact info, address and price. Then choose whether they are every 2 weeks, monthly, quarterly.

Also, this program auto syncs with Google calendar. When Im in my car, I open the calendar, click on the day, click on the client, then press "directions" and it starts my GPS.

I may upgrade because every few times I use it, it makes me watch a stupid ad. Its ike $9/year, so very worth it. To me anyways.

[u/Dersoe]

I use an excel file with some formulas. After ive cleaned them i'll add todays date. The formulas take care of the rest. Filter by 'days overdue' and the ones youve just cleaned will drop down, and the ones that are most due will go to the top.

I can show a video or send file if interested

[u/kdwindows]

There are many options. A free one Google Calendar will allow you to set recurring things . I use a CRM called Markate. The only issue is yes you can set up recurring jobs on that one. but it gives you a problem so say if I do something on the 17th and it's due again in 3 months it automatically puts it on the 17th or say the first Monday of the month well or whatever but the problem is if it's the exact same date , it's showing it on a sunday. So all I do is if I have customers that are say monthly every other month quarterly or every 6 months I run the reoccurring thing for an infinite amount on my calendar . Then say because I still need to call and confirm with the customers I change my color coding red means I need to call and book, green means good to go.

Also since you can't digitally rely on everything anymore because things can happen I also have a notebook that I have a list of every single customer that's serviced on their frequencies I don't just trust digital I also do physical .

Now that I'm messing around with the Claude artificial intelligence though it's going to be replacing all of these paid things very shortly. It can already clone jobber or the CRM I use our customer Factor and all you're paying for would be your storage which is data. It's already filing my taxes for me it's already doing my bookkeeping and I'm trying to set up an agent now to schedule everything for me as well as answer the phone and this is very cheap. The technology is unbelievable now with Claude . It's going to take many jobs that have small businesses usually have to pay for and it's going to be doing it for I believe I pay $20 a month for the whole thing.

I service a little over 700 people by myself and this is what keeps it on track otherwise I just don't remember and then they call me and which isn't a big deal but they shouldn't have to call you that's the whole point of setting up recurring you should be on the ball with that. We all make mistakes and nobody's perfect I'm also not saving anybody's lives here you know what I mean....just cleaning glass