The Definitive FaceBook Group For Window Cleaners

Click here to join Roberts group.

Anyone who is a window cleaner & is on Facebook will have come across or Robert Lamb & his group “Windowcleaners”. Being a very popular group, one that many visit every day, I wanted to find out about the owner & his story behind it. Many don’t realize that Robert Lamb the owner had a window cleaning accident & runs his own window cleaning company. Robert gave me the attached newspaper article, but also adds – here is something that wasn’t in that newspaper article:

“On October 22, 2003 I was on a ladder about 18' off the ground.” “I was in a home with a marble floor.” “I had a ladder stabilizer at the top of the ladder and leg levelers at the bottom of the ladder.” “The leg levelers were extended just a little bit.” “One leg leveler collapsed.” “The ladder was only one month old and so were the levelers.” “The leg levelers were analyzed by a university and they found the metal used was actually inferior and that was why the leg levelers failed.” “I was thrown into a banister and broke my back.” “I am now paralyzed from the waist down.” “I had been using ladders for 16 years in my window cleaning profession before this accident.” “This photo (below) was taken not long after that accident.”
“Our company was saved because of a lot of friends helping us out.” “One of those friends actually worked for us and then went out on their own starting their own company.” “They took over all of our accounts and trained window cleaners for us to take my place.” “What a great bunch of friends!” “One of our sons, a fantastic window cleaner in his own right, moved to Brooklyn, NY to do volunteer work printing Bibles and Bible literature.” “Now our son-in-law is our main window cleaner.” “Our daughter and another son also clean windows along with a hand full of others.”

Robert pictured center, shortly after his window cleaning accident.

What drove you to start a face Facebook book page for window cleaners?

I wanted to be able to network directly with other window cleaners and I’m hungry for window cleaning information.

Why do you think your Facebook page above all others became the most popular? 

I invited a lot of people to join the group, but it must be popular because I’m constantly getting requests to join and others who have already joined the group are also inviting their friends. 

Why did you make your Facebook page - “by invitation only?” 

Karl, I wanted to keep this group as “family friendly,” so it is a way of prescreening those that wanted to join. Even with this in place, some have joined and their character is questionable even by Facebook’s own standards. For instance, a few have used vulgar words and if you went to one of these guys Facebook page, he even had lewd photos of himself there. He got past the prescreening but was eventually removed from the group. 

Were you amazed by the response of window cleaners joining? 

Not really, I think basically window cleaners are a great bunch of guys and gals that are self-motivated and want to be able to hone their skills by tapping into the experience and knowledge of other window cleaners. That’s the main purpose of this group. I know there are a lot that have thanked me for setting up the group and inviting them to join.

Where do you see the future in your Facebook page & how would you like window cleaners to use it? 

That’s a good question. Some have asked to advertise and I have always turned down the offer. I think in the near future, I will allow some limited advertising. One reason is that it’s good to know what’s out there as far as products and services to window cleaners. Another reason is that this group will be easily able to contact the vendors, suppliers, etc about the products they want to try. I’d like window cleaners to show us any new tricks of the trade that they have learned, no matter how trivial it might seem. Perhaps we already knew what they are sharing, but you can always learn new tricks. Also, I would like to see more questions asked by the old dogs and novices. Post your favorite tip photos and videos, upload a document (sales advertisement, etc.), tell us an interesting work related story, etc. One thing I also appreciate is the work related leads that some have been posting here. That makes the group a great resource. And thank you Karl for finding all those interesting window cleaning news articles for us! 

Robert working in the freezing weather in his window cleaning days. Click to enlarge.

After your accident did you feel your business was doomed? 

Right after my accident, I was fighting for my life and really didn’t think about my business. A couple of months into it, I started thinking more clearly and realized I had a great support system. My daughter right away contacted Gary Mauer’s group. I’ve been a longtime admirer of what Gary thought up, the original window cleaning network. Some even sent monetary contributions to a trust fund that was set up. My wife contacted a local window cleaning company that had actually been a part of our company at one time. They covered all of our work until we could get window cleaners to take my place. That company, White’s Window Cleaning, even trained our new window cleaners. So long story short, very few of our regular customers even missed a service. 

What or who gave you the strength to carry on? 

Ultimately, besides my family and Christian brotherhood, my strength comes from Jehovah God. 

After the accident did you sue the equipment companies that caused your fall? What was the final outcome, were you happy with result? 

We hired a lawyer. He flew to California to do some research and to Tennessee to do more research. He had the leg leveler tested in a laboratory and found the metal used was inferior, but the company that had made the leg leveler was now defunct. Another company bought the rights to make that leg leveler but they improved the design by using a superior metal and when my accident happened, there was no one the hold accountable. So all I got from the deal was peanuts. Literally, my lawyer sent me a can of peanuts! I’ll have to say, though, they were the best peanuts I have ever eaten. (Laughing out loud!) No, I really was not happy with the results, but the peanuts were really were good. 

When or where was the last window you cleaned personally? 

The last window I cleaned, in a series of windows, was about 18 feet off the ground in a foyer in a residential customer’s home. It was a Pella window that broke down into three parts, an interior pane of glass, wooden grids (mutins) in the middle (to make the window look like it had French panes), and an exterior pane of glass. Why they had this kind of window almost 20 feet off the ground is a mystery to me. This home had a LOT of these windows. I must have been holding one of those wooden grids when I fell because there was one lying beside me in splinters. The last thing I remembered was cleaning that window and then hearing the sound of the helicopter that flew me to a hospital in Nashville, TN. 

Thinking of your fall, what would you give as advice to other window cleaners? 

NEVER work by yourself. My wife and oldest son were working with me that day. They were in another part of the house and heard the sound of the falling ladder. Even if they had been there to steady the ladder (and it didn’t need steadying), when that inferior metal gave way, I still would have fallen. But because they were there, no one else was home at the time, they were able to quickly call 911 and get me help. I was unconscious and had a nasty head wound. They found me in a pool of blood. If they hadn’t, I imagine I would have bled to death. 

Rob in his younger days at work.

How long has your national window cleaning company “Window Masters” been in operation & where are you expanding to? 

We’ve had Window Masters not quite seven years now. We are in We're in 25 states, Washington DC, and two Canadian provinces, and soon to be in others. Even though “Window Masters” has been up and running for several years, is still in its infancy. It’s a tiny company run on a shoestring, and we really like it that way. 

Why do you want to keep “Window Masters” small? 

What I mean is we want to keep it manageable. I know the problems associated with growing too big too fast. We want to do a good job at being a great national service provider. That means providing a good service for our customers and paying our window cleaners on time while being safe. It’s a tall order to fill without complicating things by exploding growth. 

Robert in his window cleaning days cleaning Paducah Ford.

How do you feel about National window cleaning service providers? 
About one year after my accident, I received a registered letter saying that one of our accounts in Paducah, KY, Victoria’s Secret, was no longer one of our accounts. We lost the account to a company that was supposed to do the account nationally. National service providers have always been the bane of my existence. I’m sure most window cleaners can relate to this. National service providers (NSP), are driving our industry into the ground. I understand what they are supposed to be doing, I realize that corporate America feels like these NSP are providing a really good service, saving them money, but I really dislike HOW they are doing it. They are often viewed as bullies by the window cleaning industry, taking away your hard earned accounts without you having any say so. That’s how I felt when I got that registered letter. Sometimes they phone you and say, “We have this great account for you!”, and then say we will only pay you $10 when you know the account is worth twice or more what they are offering you. If you don’t take the job, a “Bucket Bob” will. I don’t have anything against those people, they have to eat and feed their families, but if they aren’t purchasing insurance, or licenses that I am, it makes it difficult for our company to compete.

What’s the difference between “Window Masters” & other NSP’s? 

After that letter saying my hard earned account was being taken away by some unknown national company, I felt that that was the last straw. “If you can’t beat them, join them,” is a phrase I never have understood, until that letter. That day, I started a NSP company, Window Masters. There are some major differences about our company. We totally understand window cleaners, been there, done that. We don’t come in with prices that are unrealistic, in fact, we ask the window cleaners for window cleaning quotes. If they are going to do the windows for us, we want them to be happy with the price they are getting. Of course, there are some requirements that the window cleaner must meet. One basic minimum requirement is that carry liability insurance. 

So far, we are a little NSP, very little. But we can provide corporations benefits too. One benefit is that their accounts payable department spends less time writing hundreds of checks to hundreds of companies. One check to us and they’re good to go. That brings up another subject, paying checks to the window cleaners. Our regional company, Rob’s Window Cleaning, still works for several NSPs. Some pay in 45 days after the work is done! Some wait for SIXTY (60) days! Who wants that? What are they doing with the money, putting it in a savings account somewhere? We pay net 30. What that means is when our subcontractors invoice us for the service they provide, we do whatever we can to pay them within 30 days, even if we have not been paid first. 

Robert, standing next to one of his trucks before his accident.

How do you manage your regional company “Robs Window Cleaning,” & what does your working day consist of? 

I’m one of the office managers. Besides answering the phone, and problem solving, I do some scheduling and sales work. And finding a good window cleaner in untouched territory. That’s another reason why I started the Facebook group. 

Do you stick to window cleaning or do you do other “add-ons.” 

Ninety five percent of our work is window cleaning. We do a little pressure washing and other types of cleaning. About half of our work is commercial and about half is residential. 

Coping in a wheelchair must be hard, do you feel that your accident has somehow expanded your managerial abilities? 

I’m a REAL manager now. I don’t do some window cleaning and some managing. Since I haven’t cleaned windows in about eight years, I can really focus on managing. But I’m glad I had all those years of actually cleaning the windows so I can not only know the business, but have empathy for the window cleaners. 

Do you have a point of view of the recession/crisis & how window cleaners can benefit? 

Some unfortunately have suffered in the window cleaning industry because of the critical times we are living in. But when there is loss, there can also be gain. Do you remember the line from the Godfather movie, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer?" I never saw the movie, and I really don’t think I have many enemies, if any. But the point is well taken, if you know who your competition is, when they fold because of the economy, death or whatever, that void is going to be filled and it might as well be you, or me. I know who my competition is and I know who some of their customers are, so when the competition evaporates for one reason or another, I always make myself available to the new prospective customer. You should too. 

Who do you most admire in the window cleaning world & why? 

Dead or alive? There are a lot of people. The first ones who come to mind that I admire are Jim Willingham and Don Chute. They were knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and ambassadors for other window cleaners. Living? Frank Lauret of France (pictured right) is an awesome window cleaner. How many times has he won the IWCA speed contest anyway? You have to not only be fast, but a high caliber window cleaner to win that competition. Look him up on YouTube, look them all up! 

Anything else to add? 

I never thought that water fed pole thing would catch on (LOL). I mean, what a lazy, uneducated, and sloppy way to do window cleaning! Boy was I wrong! We have a couple of water fed poles now at Rob’s Window Cleaning. They are amazing! And I could go on and on about the benefits of using them. But what is more exciting is the next new breakthrough in window cleaning. I know it’s just around the corner and it’s exciting. Exactly what it is, is anybody’s guess, but it’s going to be great!