How to Get Window Cleaning Customers: Leaflets, Local Search and AI

Get window cleaning customers by delivering leaflets in small street blocks, giving each block its own code, listing your service area on Google, and asking every customer for a review and a neighbour referral. AI saves time on leaflet copy, reply texts and review requests; it cannot walk the streets or choose which ones to try.

A window round makes its money on density. A clean that takes 20 minutes pays the same whether the next house is two minutes or ten minutes away, but your hourly rate does not. That is why the plan below treats leaflets as a street-by-street test with a code on each block, rather than a blanket drop across a whole district.

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Check the sum before you print 2,000 leaflets

Start with what a leaflet run costs and what one new customer is worth, because the answer tells you how many customers each drop must bring. Every figure here is illustrative; swap in your own printer quote and prices.

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• Printing: $95 for 2,000 A5 leaflets, which is $0.0475 each.
• Delivery: 80 leaflets an hour on foot, with your time valued at $20 an hour, which is $0.25 each.
• All in: $0.2975 a leaflet, so a 500-leaflet drop costs $148.75: $23.75 of printing and 6.25 hours of walking worth $125.
• A new customer: $20 a clean, every four weeks. After your time, van, water and consumables you keep $12 a clean. Assume they stay for ten cleans, about nine months.

That makes a customer worth $120 in gross profit, and the drop breaks even at 1.24 customers, so you need two. Here is how the outcome moves with the response rate.

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I am not quoting a typical response rate, because it changes with the street, the offer, the season and the leaflet itself, and anyone who gives you a figure for your patch is guessing. The codes in the next two sections exist so that you learn your own.

The second sum is about density. If a clean takes 20 minutes on site and the next customer is a ten-minute drive away, each clean uses 30 minutes. That is two cleans an hour, or $40 an hour at $20 a clean. If the next house is a two-minute walk, each clean uses 22 minutes: about 2.7 cleans an hour, or $54.55 an hour. The same work pays 36% more per hour when customers sit together, which is why leaflets belong on streets next to your existing round.

Choose streets like a round, not like a map

Pick blocks by these rules, in this order.

1. Start next to existing customers. A new customer beside an old one is worth more than a new customer across town.
2. Make each block 90 to 200 houses: one street, or two linked streets. Small enough that a reply can be traced to a block, large enough to be worth the walk.
3. Look at the street in satellite view first. Large windows, bay fronts and conservatories earn more per visit than small ones; flats with locked entrance lobbies cannot be leafleted at all.
4. Respect every "no leaflets" notice, and check whether street distribution needs permission where you work.
5. Write down block, house type, houses, date, version and cost before you start walking.

After a few drops, the log looks like this. Again the figures are illustrative: six blocks, 880 leaflets, $261.80 of cost at the all-in $0.2975 each.

Eight customers from 880 leaflets is a 0.9% response. At $120 of gross profit each that is $960 against $261.80 of cost, so $698.20 ahead. Paste the table into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for a summary by house type, without customer names or addresses, since you do not need them for this. A typical reply:

By house type (illustrative reply):
Detached: 290 houses, 7 enquiries, 5 customers (1.7%)
Semi-detached: 300 houses, 4 enquiries, 3 customers (1.0%)
Terraced and flats: 290 houses, 1 enquiry, 0 customers (0.0%)

Suggestion: focus on detached streets; stop leafleting terraces; drop block D (cost per customer $53.55, over three times block C).

The sums are right, but two of the conclusions are not safe. Zero customers from 290 terraced houses and flats says the leaflet failed there, not that the houses are worthless; block B included flats, and you cannot know how many leaflets reached a door. Run one terraced street again with a different offer before you write them off. Block D is one customer from 180 houses, and a single customer is too small a sample to drop a block on; give it a second drop with the best-performing version. Treat anything under about five customers per group as a hint, not a result.

Three leaflets, three codes

Rotate three versions across your blocks, so the log tells you which message works as well as which street. Add a version column to the table above. Give each block a code the customer can say or text; the street name works well, as in "Text MAPLE and your house number". Without a code you are relying on people to remember which leaflet they picked up, and they will not.

The three versions differ in what they lead with:

• A, price-led: windows cleaned every four weeks from $20.
• B, round-led: you are already on their street on Thursdays, so adding their house saves you a drive.
• C, reliability-led: the same person every visit, a text before arrival, and payment after the clean.

Whatever the lead, every version needs the same six things: your name and one mobile number you answer, with text allowed; what you clean and what costs extra (say, outside windows, frames and sills included, conservatory roofs and inside glass by quote); how often; a "from" price for your commonest house type; one action to take; and the code. Add proof only if it is true: an insurance certificate you can show, or a real customer's comment used with permission.

This prompt gets three usable drafts. The facts are illustrative; use your own.

Write three versions of an A5 leaflet for a one-person window cleaning round.
Facts: outside windows, frames and sills; every four weeks; from $20 for a typical three-bedroom semi-detached house; first clean half price; I am on [Street] and [Street] on Thursdays; contact by text or call on [mobile]; booking code is the street name.
Do not claim insurance, guarantees, qualifications or years in business. I will add those myself if they are true.
Version A leads with price. Version B leads with being on the customer's street already. Version C leads with reliability: same person, a text before arrival, pay after the clean.
Maximum 70 words each. Plain words, no exclamation marks.

A reply for version B, illustrative:

Your windows cleaned every four weeks by the person already on your street

I clean windows for homes on [Street] and [Street] every Thursday. Adding your house saves me the drive, so your first clean is half price, then from $20 a visit, outside windows, frames and sills included. Text MAPLE and your house number to [mobile] and I will send a fixed price the same day.

[Your name], window cleaner. Fully insured. Streak-free guarantee.

Even with the instruction, the last line slipped in. "Fully insured" and "Streak-free guarantee" were not in the facts. Keep the first only if you hold cover and can show the certificate on request, and cut the second unless you will genuinely re-clean for nothing, because a promise on paper is one you must keep. Check that "already on your street" is true for every street in the block, and that "the same day" is a reply you can give on a busy Thursday.

A QR code that opens a text message or a short booking form helps people at the kitchen table. Use a generator that produces a permanent code, and scan the printed proof with your phone before you order 2,000 copies. For layout, how to design flyers and printed marketing with AI covers fonts, margins and what to ask a printer for.

The 48 hours after the leaflet lands

A leaflet works in two steps. The paper gets noticed, and then someone has to be easy to hire. Both steps are yours to design.

The cleaning-day knock. On the day you clean a customer's house on a leafleted street, knock on the doors either side. "Hi, I'm [your name]. I clean windows on this street and I'm at number 12 today. Did you see my leaflet? I can do yours now for half price, with no commitment." Allow about 20 minutes for ten knocks. Note the answer in the log: yes, no, "not now" with a month to try again, or "already has someone".

Reply templates. Have five ready before the first drop: a price request, "how often?", "do you do the inside?", "I already have someone" and "no thanks". AI drafts them in a minute; you supply the prices and the rules.

Write five short text replies for a one-person window cleaner, for these cases: price request, how often, do you do the inside, I already have someone, no thanks.
Prices: three-bedroom semi-detached outside windows, frames and sills $20 every four weeks; first clean half price; inside windows and conservatory roofs by quote after a photo.
Use [first name] and [your name]. Maximum 45 words each. Never promise a time I have not offered. Never quote a final price for a house with a conservatory or very large windows without a photo.

A reply to a "MAPLE 14" text might read: "Hi [first name], thanks for texting. For a three-bedroom semi-detached, outside windows, frames and sills are $20 every four weeks, and your first clean is half price. I'm on [Street] on Thursdays, so I could do yours this Thursday between 9 and 1. Shall I book it? [Your name]". Read each template against your own rules before saving it. If the AI offers a time slot, a discount or a guarantee you did not give it, delete the line rather than hoping you will remember.

Speed helps. Answer within the hour during your working day where you can, because a reply that arrives a week later competes with the next leaflet on the doormat. When the house has a conservatory or awkward access, pricing per window and quoting from photos shows how to ask for a photo and price from it without a visit.

A Google listing for a van with no shop

Some people who get your leaflet will not text the code. They will search for your name. A Business Profile means they find a phone number and reviews instead of nothing. In Google's terms a window cleaner is a service-area business, because you go to the customer rather than the other way round, and that changes how you fill in the profile. Google's help page on service areas gives the current steps.

Window photos catch reflections, neighbours and house numbers, so crop them and keep faces out. Do not use AI-generated or heavily edited "after" shots: Google's photo guidance says an image should represent reality, and a customer who sees a different result at the door will say so in a review.

For the description, give the AI facts and nothing else. "One-person window cleaning round serving [districts]: outside windows, frames and sills every four weeks from $20, conservatory roofs and inside glass by quote. Text or call for a fixed price. Cleaning days are Monday to Thursday." That is a fair first draft; the only line you must check is any reply-time promise, and anything about insurance or guarantees you did not supply.

After a leaflet drop, look at the profile's Performance section for calls and messages, which you reach from your profile in Search or through Business in the Maps app. Some leaflet customers arrive that way instead of by code. So ask every new enquiry "Did you get a leaflet?" whatever the source, and note the street, otherwise your table will under-count the leaflets and over-count Google. The rest of the setup is in how to optimise your Google Business Profile with AI.

Reviews and neighbours: ask after the second clean

Ask for a review once the customer has seen you turn up twice. The first clean shows you can clean; the second shows you are reliable, which is what a review of a round should say. Google's policy sets the limits. You may not offer payment, discounts or free services in exchange for a review. You may not ask only the customers who seem pleased. You may not set staff a number of reviews to collect. You may ask every customer for an honest review, and a link or QR code is the easiest way to let them.

Hi [first name], it's [your name], your window cleaner. An honest review on Google, whatever you think of the work, helps other people on the street know what to expect: [link]. No worries if you'd rather not.

Send it to every customer in the same words, and leave out "if you're happy", which invites only the pleased ones. Some customers do not text. Print the same wording, with the QR code, on a small card you hand over or post through the door after the second clean.

Referrals are a different thing from reviews, and the reward must depend on a neighbour booking, never on a review. The wording below is for a doorstep card and a text.

Know a neighbour who'd like their windows done? Ask them to text MAPLE and "from number [your house number]" to [mobile]. When they have their first clean, you both get $5 off your next one. [Your name]

Thank the referrer after the new customer's first clean, not when the text arrives, so you never pay for an enquiry that goes nowhere. Log the source as "referral" with the referrer's house number, and after a few months you can see which customers send you work. Those people deserve a handwritten thank-you and a hello on the doorstep more than they deserve a discount.

AI helps with three small jobs here: variants of the review text for different customers, replies to reviews, and the wording of the card. A reply needs to be short: "Thank you, [first name]. Glad the windows look good; see you in four weeks." A critical review needs more care: "Sorry we missed the bay window sill. I will call back on Thursday and redo it at no charge." Check that any promise is one you will keep and that the reply gives no address or other private detail. Before you let a tool post replies for you, read whether AI should auto-post replies to Google reviews, and how to ask for referrals goes deeper on timing.

Where AI saves minutes on a window round, and where it does not

Here is an honest tally for a round with 30 enquiries and 24 review requests a month. The minutes are illustrative; time your own tasks for a week and replace them.

That is 4 hours 20 minutes a month. At the $40 to $55 an hour a clean earns in the earlier sums, those hours are worth roughly $175 to $235 a month if you spend them cleaning. It is a modest saving, and I would not pretend otherwise. The real gain is consistency: replies go out in the same words, the log gets filled in, and every customer gets the review text.

AI does not help with delivering the leaflets (6.25 hours per 500), knocking on doors, cleaning, choosing the streets, or checking that a claim is true. It also costs something. As of November 2026, ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Google AI Pro (Google's plan for Gemini) list at about $20 a month each; ChatGPT and Google also sell cheaper tiers, and all three have a free plan. For this volume of small tasks, start free and check the plan's current limits before you pay.

A four-week test you can run this month

If you do nothing else, run this. It uses 300 leaflets, about $14 of printing at the per-leaflet price from the first sum (a run of only 300 costs more per copy, so print the larger run and keep the rest), and roughly ten hours.

New customers from week 2 will not have had a second clean by week 4 on a four-week cycle, so note when each is due and ask for the review then. Once two or three blocks have paid back, the next constraint is usually the diary, not the leaflets. Window cleaning round software looks at how to plan and rebook a round as it grows past what a notebook can hold.

Questions window cleaners ask about leaflets

Should the leaflet show a price?

A 'from' price usually works better than none, because it filters out people who want a bargain and saves you answering the same question by text. Put the price for your most common house type, say what it covers (outside windows, frames and sills), and make clear that the final price comes after you see the house. Test a priced leaflet against an unpriced one in two similar blocks.

How many leaflets should go out in one drop?

Think in blocks of about 90 to 200 houses, one street or two linked streets, so that a reply can be traced to a block. A bigger drop makes the log harder to read and ties up a whole day of walking. Start with two or three blocks near existing customers, learn from the table, then scale the version that worked.

Can I offer a discount to people who recommend me to a neighbour?

A referral reward is a separate matter from a review. Google prohibits discounts or free services in exchange for reviews, so never link a reward to a review. A thank-you for introducing a neighbour who books is a normal business practice, but check any rules that apply where you trade, and thank the referrer only after the new customer's first clean.

Further reads

• AI for Window Cleaning: What Helps a One-Van Business and What Doesn't — What helps a one-van window cleaner beyond marketing.
• Window Cleaning Price Increase Letter: Text and Leaflet Versions With AI — Raise prices on an existing round without losing customers.
• Gutter Cleaning Flyers: Three Leaflet Versions Written and Tested With AI — A second leaflet test for a neighbouring trade.
• House Cleaning Business Flyer: Test ChatGPT Copy, Then Design in Canva — Design a leaflet in Canva from ChatGPT copy.
• How to Get House Cleaning Clients: A Local Plan Built With AI — A local plan for house cleaners that borrows well.
• How to Price Commercial Window Cleaning: Per-Pane Quotes From Your Labour — Price shopfronts and offices when the streets run out.
• How to Get More Work as a Tradesman: A Local Plan Written With AI — A 90-day local plan any trade can follow.
• Commercial Window Cleaning Contract: Proposal, Access and Safety With AI — Survey notes become a scope table, access and safety clauses, frequency pricing and an insurance section, checked five ways by AI before a lawyer sees them.
• Get Landscaping Clients: Project Photos, Local Search and AI Follow-Up — Week-by-week steps for landscapers: tidy the Google profile, publish captioned project photos, request reviews and follow up every enquiry with AI drafts.
• Pressure Washing Marketing Ideas: Neighbour Offers and Posts With AI — Five neighbour offers with wording and sums, a 13-minute photo-to-post routine, Google Business Profile rules, and how to get permission for job photos.
• AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help (guidelines for representing your business, service areas, photos, tips to get more reviews); Google Maps user-generated content policy (fake engagement, rating manipulation). Printing costs, response rates, prices and time savings are illustrative figures to be replaced with your own.