Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Paul Beard on June 20, 2015, 08:15:13 pm
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Hi guys.
The time has come for a price increase. I've got 12 houses on the same street, but as business is picking up I'm thinking of increasing all houses up from £12 to £15. Has anyone had experience of giving the bad news ? I'm I likely to lose a few ?? Or should I just leave it alone. ?
I've been there windows cleaner for just over a year. Using traditional method
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I always use the rule of only putting them up if I can afford to lose them ! Also if I have had a particular bad day, then I have put them up too, not caring if I lost them ;D
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Personally I think your jump in price is too big for just a year unless you have underpriced them,
We increase our prices pretty much every year, but to about 40 % of the customer base the other 40 % the following year ( 20% are newer under a year customers so they get hit the following year ) prices tend to rise between 50p and £1 for smaller stuff £1.50 to £2 for bigger houses that are over £25 per clean.
As for losses it normally amounts to 2 or 3 over all the rounds ( approx 1100 customers )
Darran
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Ive got one I need to put up from £90 to £150 :o
Massively under-priced it 18 months ago but time to bite the bullet - now loosing money every time I clean it
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Hi guys.
The time has come for a price increase. I've got 12 houses on the same street, but as business is picking up I'm thinking of increasing all houses up from £12 to £15. Has anyone had experience of giving the bad news ? I'm I likely to lose a few ?? Or should I just leave it alone. ?
I've been there windows cleaner for just over a year. Using traditional method
That's a 25% increase in just a year :o
With inflation running at just above zero I think you'll get an unfavourable response, probably something in the order of 'go forth and multiply'
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Hi guys.
The time has come for a price increase. I've got 12 houses on the same street, but as business is picking up I'm thinking of increasing all houses up from £12 to £15. Has anyone had experience of giving the bad news ? I'm I likely to lose a few ?? Or should I just leave it alone. ?
I've been there windows cleaner for just over a year. Using traditional method
That's a 25% increase in just a year :o
With inflation running at just above zero I think you'll get an unfavourable response, probably something in the order of 'go forth and multiply'
I think too it's a big jump. The best you can do is year on year put them up as it's a whole street.
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another local windie will be rubbing his hands at the new work he will be getting
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Thanks guys.
I'm going to just leave it for the remainder of the year. Then put a £1 on next year. These houses are all 4 bed. So I've under priced to begin with. :-X but I'm just starting out so playing the numbers game at the moment.
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Why not just put £1 on your entire round every year, get better paid work, raise prices, get better work, raise prices until you start losing more than you would like then back it off until you are full.
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I think your best bet is to do 50p as soon as pos, this is acceptable to anyone, then give it til after the wage increase in October and mention ( another 50p ) but let them know you will resist any increase til same time next year ( ideally like now ) so this time next week, next year, you will have £1 increase on all your work.
I think £3 on a £12 job, will only result in more loss than gain. And if you wanted go again in the October of next year another 50p after the wage increase telling them you want to pay the living wage to your employees ;D
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Never bother with 50p's
£12 seems fine to me
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Hi guys.
The time has come for a price increase. I've got 12 houses on the same street, but as business is picking up I'm thinking of increasing all houses up from £12 to £15. Has anyone had experience of giving the bad news ? I'm I likely to lose a few ?? Or should I just leave it alone. ?
I've been there windows cleaner for just over a year. Using traditional method
At that increase you could afford to lose 2 of the twelve houses and you would still be earning more
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£3 increase they will tell you to jog on , As already said wait till next year then stick £1 on , I increase mine about every 2yrs usually £1 or £2 depending on the job .
I have a fair few that are under-priced but i make good money on them already you have got to be providing the best service possible to warrant a good increase , I charge up to 50% more on some jobs than a very well established window cleaner in my area who has been on the go for over 20yrs .
But i do a 50% better job every time so custys are will to pay for a first class service that is worth the extra spend .
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Wow thats steep.
Min wage has gone up about 50p in 10 years!
I have priced all my work up that its safe for 10/15 years to come without the need to rise at £10 for fronts is a nice round easy number with strong hourly rate earning power. When time does come ill put them all up £2 which will still be well above inflation costs at a guess.
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I put all mine up a few months back. Some by 4 quid as we're too low. I lost 4 customers. But now make a extra 380 quid a month. Do it and don't worry.
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I like the idea of "only put the price up if you can afford to lose them".
If your struggling for work and font have a full ish round then it might be best to canvass/leaflett first (at the right price) and once your confident you can achieve the prices you want, increase you previous customers.
Just need to test the water.
£12 for a 4 bed house seems good to me, but everyone is different.
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If you have not put your prices up for some time dont delay. Go up a quid and then take up this thought next year. If you want an increase now it will only be a larger problem next year,
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Honest questions
Do they view you as a very good window cleaner? - add a pound
Are they pleased to have found you or you them? - add another pound
Is it it over a year since the last increase? - add a pound
Do you think you are being greedy? - take away a pound
Do you earn over £35.00 an hour for the whole lot including van moves/tea break etc.? - keep the same
If all the above then +3 -1 therefore add £2 to each one.
;D
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I wouldn't bother for 50p stick a £1 on them and then review it again in a years time, what you don't want is your
customers thinking this is going to be the size of your yearly rise.
Most customers expect things to go up every year but not by 25%.
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I have 1 the same that's £85 but has been done by me for donkeys years,they have the house on the market and when the new people move in they will be paying £150 if they use me. I've explained this to the people there and they have said they will tell that's what I've always charged so there's no problem with me continuing when it's sold. This was a job done by my father from the 80s and he was old School in as much that when he gave a price it more or less stayed like it forever,I had a lot of letters and explaining to do when I took over but 9out of 10 new it was comimg
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New people will pay £150?? To clean there windows?? is that every 2 weeks??? lmao
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Every 2 months these people are multimillionaires £150 every 2 months is like £20 to most people.
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to the OP its your round/business.do what you think is fair/best for you and the customer however i personally wouldnt put £3 on the price of a clean after a years service unless they were REALLY underpriced AND didnt mind if i lost the work.
id be honest with them and say i underpriced the jobs and need to put them up or stop cleaning for you........................then pause...............you might be pleasantly surprised.
i have in the past slapped an extra fiver on cleans ive underpriced and not lost one.then a quid on another and lost it as customer point blank refused!customers can be a strange bunch!
for me(at present) any work that doesnt earn me £30 minimum an hour gets raised.
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a few years ago i took over a job an old trad windy used to do and he was charging £8-50 for a 5 bedder with a large conny on the back.
i charge her £30.which i think is a fair price for the job on an 8 weekly frequency.
i have a price review every jan and put some up every april but not the same jobs every year.some of my better paying jobs are fixed for 5 years and if their still with me after this time will go up in price.
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Increase prices for your new customers and raise old customers prices when you have enough work not to worry about losing them. As you said it`s a numbers game and when they`re right increase the prices accordingly. Make sure that all new work is priced correctly.
Being trad you`ll be a lot slower than wfp but you can still earn as much as me. Don`t let anyone tell you are charging too much or too little, it`s your business. Some customers will pay more than others. I`ve got some from the start who are stupidly under priced but they`ve been loyal and reliable so I keep them at that price because I`m happy with that but I wouldn`t charge the same for a new customer.
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Every 2 months these people are multimillionaires £150 every 2 months is like £20 to most people.
£150 might have the same worth to them as £20 does to you but you can bet your arse that they know when theyre being ripped off.
Knowing the price of everything doesnt mean knowing the value of it.
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They are living in a house that I would normally charge £150,the person that is there at the moment is ripping me off