Transparent Enhancement Facilitator

Earlier today, I was giving a new customer's home windows a sparkling shine, and I received a voice mail from my father. He called to tell me that he heard on the radio that "they've" come up with a new name for window washers: "Transparent Enhancement Facilitator." It does have a nice ring to it, but it's a mouthful.

After listening to the voice mail, I put the phone back in my pocket and continued to work on giving the windows a sparkling shine. My business partner and I (Jacob), talked about how long the job was taking, and how we've got to become better at estimating. The majority of the windows we were cleaning were on the lower level of the house, and required very minimal use of a small step ladder. At first glance, they actually looked pretty clean. However, when we got up close, we realized that each window had paint on it, some windows had storm windows that weren't visible at first glance, and a few of them were very hard to pull up due to the house shifting. Originally, Jacob told the couple that it would take us approximately four and a half to five hours to complete the job. This particular job was nothing new to us and included interior/exterior window cleaning, screen removal and cleaning, and a touch-up on all tracks and sills on every window. It was the first time that my business partner, Jacob, had given someone an estimate without me being there, but I have full trust in his judgment. I stopped by the day after he gave the initial estimate to confirm the price, answer any questions, and we scheduled a cleaning.

Turns out, the job was under estimated by about two and a half hours. Luckily, our friendly new customer did not mind us staying longer than we had predicted. We did not charge one extra penny for the overtime that we put in because it was a learning lesson for us, and this job will help us get better at our estimates. Getting better at our estimates will be a gradual change, but one thing that will never change is our commitment to doing an unbelievable job on every single window that we clean. Jacob and I both strongly believe it is far more important to do a fantastic job, leave every single customer with a smile, and create lasting relationships with everyone that we service. We do not use the 'get in and get out' method when it comes to Streaking.

The 'get in and get out' method was taught to me by my father when I was young and he had to introduce me to shopping. Whenever he pulls up to the store, he is ready to go directly to the item he needs to purchase, pay for it, and then he is on his way. That term has stuck with me since I was young, and I'll probably continue to use that method when it comes to shopping. As far as the new term he taught me today, 'transparent enhancement facilitator'... well, if you like it, then go ahead. I'm going to continue to consider myself a Streaker - Fayetteville's friendly and meticulous window cleaner.

I hope everyone reading has an awesome day and I look forward to giving your home a streak-free shine in the near future.

AND...How about those Hogs? The baseball team is sitting in first place in the country right now with a big three game, at home, conference series against Vanderbilt this weekend. I'll see you at the ball park.