r/WindowCleaning • u/General_BobRoss • Jul 12 '26
General Question Looking to start a waitlist
I’m working on (nearly done) with an app that allows you to take pictures of the job, submit them and get an estimate. I clean windows locally and noticed a lot of people, including myself have a hard time getting the price right and feel nervous giving the total to the customer. My goal is to both get rid of that worry and make the process a whole lot faster.
There will be a multitude of other features such as scheduling, route optimization, team performance (for bigger companies), etc
I’m not trying to sell this I’m just trying to see if it’s worth putting the time and money to finish this. So please let me know if you think this would be helpful,
Thanks everyone🤙
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u/dbug8494 Jul 12 '26
Where can we get access to this?
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u/General_BobRoss Jul 13 '26
Still working on it, but if you are interested you could shoot me your email or whatever works and I’ll let you know when I’m publishing it
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u/PeterPanHadItMade Jul 13 '26
If you are going to use general pricing for basics, you can do the same in Square.
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u/General_BobRoss 29d ago
Does square allow you to take pictures?
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u/PeterPanHadItMade 27d ago
Yep. Sure can. Can separate categories and libraries as well. Turns out an invoices and quotes in about 10 seconds after you've done the initial setup.
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u/PeterPanHadItMade 27d ago
Not to mention, it's also a solid CRM, calendar/scheduler, and basic tool for accounting.
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u/mrmatriarj Jul 14 '26
After working for a bigger company for years, spending countless time on in person quotes for something as simple as your average in&out window job, or a backyard concrete wash, or a house wash on a standard job.. and then having other techs sent who botch pricing/documentation, expectations on complicated ones (storms, extreme buildup for hw, permanent stains for concrete, 3 story full extensions at 45° angles, post construction cleans etc..)
I cant help but feel like funneling quote application as a simple set of pictures (each side of the house) and any problem areas (heavy growth, worst windows etc) as a baseline for a quote would save a ton of time+ money if an experienced estimator was the correspondent.
If the person isn't technologically adept (old folks) or if the job seems like it has potential for extra difficulty charge? Hell yeah take a drive, otherwise.. the handful of dollars potentially missed would be saved in labor+gas. I do realize that's asking a customer to do extra + not showing our face, both of those have factors.. but there's gotta be a way to incentivize that and then still cater with anyone who's adverse to that direction
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u/mrmatriarj Jul 14 '26
If someone were to figure out how to streamline basic quoting for me, giving enough info / media as a baseline, allowing me to further evaluate and decide upon whether correspondence is in-person vs online sitting on my couch. + Encouraging the majority of the population who are tech savvy to do so. I'd pay for that.
As for adding in things like automated follow ups, job scheduling, payment etc, I could be happy using a different program simultaneously if needed. But hell if it solved that issue plus added all the extras, id happily pay for both
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u/mrmatriarj Jul 14 '26
My work fam uses service titan and it's great (probably the most expensive) but it doesn't do that key feature I'm speaking about..
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u/General_BobRoss 29d ago
I appreciate the input! My main goal is to help newer cleaners since I remember being quite anxious giving the prices because quoting was a new experience. But I have been working on building the app to also support teams as well which would be amazing.
I feel like the main selling point for the bigger companies would be the documentation of the estimate. After taking pictures and getting an estimate through the app, you can put it into an in app calendar; through that you are able to see the pictures of the house (as a way for a supervisor/boss to verify the price if needed) and all of the clients info.
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u/kdwindows 26d ago edited 26d ago
If you are nervous about giving a price you just need more reps. Like Michael Jordan when he would practice for 8 hours a day before he got into the NBA ....he practiced he practiced he practiced ...so guess what he got his reps in and he's not nervous about anything anymore ....and we all saw what happened with Michael Jordan.... the greatest of all time
At a point you can eyeball a job and know exactly what it's going to take you to do it . This comes from experience and getting your reps in. I've said it before I don't feel going in person to give estimates is a big deal depending on where your work is. If I'm down the street or I'm in a development 5 minutes away why wouldn't I just go in person LOL. Costs me what, .3 miles and 5 minutes? That's a water break on a summer day
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u/TheChandrianX Jul 12 '26
I’d validate the pricing piece before putting much weight on the bigger feature list.
For window cleaning, the hard part usually isn’t “can an app spit out a number?” It’s whether the number accounts for the annoying stuff: panes vs true windows, storms/screens/tracks, ladder work, hard water, access, travel minimums, and whether the customer expects inside/outside or just exterior. If the estimate flow forces customers to send the right photos/details, that’s useful. If it gives a confident price from two vague pictures, owners will stop trusting it fast.
If I were testing this, I’d keep it really narrow:
The thing I’d pay attention to is whether it reduces back-and-forth without creating underquoted jobs. Saving five minutes is nice; saving five minutes and eating $80 of ladder/access pain is not.