WindowBossPro Blog — Tech App

The Arrived Text: Letting the Homeowner Know the Window Cleaner Is Here

There is a particular moment every window cleaner knows: the homeowner looks up from the couch and sees a stranger's face at the second-floor window. Even when the visit is scheduled, it startles people. The arrived text is the small courtesy that prevents that moment, and it does a lot more besides.

The Last of the Three Alerts

The night-before and when-they-are-next alerts are covered in Automatic On-the-Way Texts From the Window Cleaning Tech's Phone. The arrived text is the third alert a customer can choose in WindowBossPro, and it goes out automatically when the tech gets to the job.

Like the other alerts, the tech does nothing to send it. No typing, no copying a phone number, no use of the tech's personal number. The customer gets a message from the company saying the crew is there, and any reply goes to the office.

Why Window Cleaners Need It More Than Most Trades

A lawn crew works in the yard. A window cleaner works at the glass, which means at the edge of the customer's private space. That makes the arrival text unusually useful:

• No surprise faces. A homeowner who just got “your window cleaner has arrived” is not shocked to see someone on a ladder outside the bedroom.
• Blinds and curtains. Customers who know the crew is outside can open the blinds so the tech is not cleaning around them, or close the ones they want closed.
• Inside jobs. For an inside-and-outside job, the arrived text is the knock before the knock. The customer heads to the door.
• Pets. A customer who forgot about the dog in the yard gets one more reminder to bring it in.

Storefronts and Offices

The arrived text is just as useful on a storefront route. A shop manager may want to know when the crew is on site so they can open a back door, move a display away from the glass, or warn staff that someone will be working on the front windows during business hours.

For a business, the customer on the alert might be the store manager rather than the owner, which is fine. The alert goes to whatever contact the customer has set up. Storefront work on the phone is covered in its own guide later in this series: Storefront Stops on the Phone: Running a Route of Shops and Offices in the Window Cleaning App.

For a building with several tenants, it also saves the crew from walking into the wrong office. The manager who got the text can meet them at the door and point them to the right glass.

A Record That the Crew Was There

The arrived text is a courtesy, but it is also a timestamp. Paired with the job being started, the photos and the job being completed, it gives the office a clear picture of the visit: when the crew got there, what they found, and when they finished.

That record helps when a customer calls weeks later saying nobody came. The office can see the job was started and completed and look at the photos. Most of the time the customer simply was not home and did not notice clean glass, which, to be fair, is exactly what clean glass looks like.

When Customers Do Not Want It

Not everyone wants a text every time the crew pulls up. A customer on an outside-only quarterly plan who is always at work may find it pointless. That is why the arrived alert is the customer's choice. They can turn it on or off along with the night-before and when-they-are-next alerts.

A reasonable default is to suggest the arrived text for every inside-and-outside customer and every storefront, and leave it up to outside-only homeowners. The office can mention it when a new customer signs up.

Replies Come to the Office

Customers do reply to arrived texts: “Door is open, come on in.” “Please skip the bedroom today, baby is sleeping.” “Can you do the garage windows too?” Those replies come to the office through two-way texting. When a reply affects the job in progress, the office passes it on to the tech with a quick call or message. When it is a request for extra work, the office adds it as a line item so it shows up on the invoice. That keeps the tech focused on the glass while the office handles the conversation.

Small Text, Big Difference

The arrived text costs the tech nothing and saves startled homeowners, closed blinds, missed inside jobs and a few awkward conversations. For more on what the tech does on the phone from arrival to completion, see the WindowBossPro window cleaning app page.