Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: [GQC] Tim on February 20, 2008, 09:27:28 am
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This is purely talking about if you would take on a new customer at this precise moment, not your lowest priced customer.
Just wondering, I know it sometimes really depends on what area you live in, but I've been doing this for 1,5 year now, and I went to thinking £10 was allright, to £13 minimal price. New customers get the minimum of £13. Hoping to put that up next year aswell.
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Mine is £10 at the moment, but I am seriously thinking about changing that to £25.
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Edit : Polls fixed now, with help from mods. :)
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WC round my way clean my 5apt hopuse for £3.50 and i have 10 windows.
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I have some terraced houses in one area that I would still take on at £8 I can do 5 in an hour, they only have 6 windows and 2 doors, I wouldn't be able to justify charging the new ones more as they would talk.
In any new area though it would be a minimum of £10.
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£10 for me but lately been chancing my arm at £15
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£10 is my minimum charge now but still have many under this
Dean
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WC round my way clean my 5apt hopuse for £3.50 and i have 10 windows.
What does that mean? 5 rm house? House divided into 5 apartments? Que?
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Mine is £10 at the moment, but I am seriously thinking about changing that to £25.
Easily done in the right area.
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my minimum charge is £8, however if it takes any more than 10 minutes then its min £10
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Agree with Aspects - £10, though also have quite a few under - mainly mobile homes though.
Peter
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Matt that's more tricky. I would do it for less in that case.
Peter
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OK Matt - point taken - but generally for me it's a tenner.
I do a whole run of front only's along the A4 in Bristol because they get lots of muck from the traffic and I currently charge £6/7 each and if another came up and I didn't have to move the van it'd be the same, may be a quid more.
Sometimes if they are in they'll ask me to do the back and then it's £15 ish if no extension/conservatory.
So I'll make an exception for half a house in the right circumstances!
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so if you in a road and some old dear comes upto you and says " can you just clean the front of my house " you say " yes, sure its 10 quid ( or in groundhogs case 25 quid ), it might only be 2 upstairs and 1 downstairs window with 1 front door
doesnt add up to me, though i guess some will say " fck the old lady, i dont need that type of work " ::) ::)
I`m one of those that would say i don`t need that type of work i`m afraid,after all this is a business.I never out and out refuse to do certain work i just pass it on.
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It seems that, mainly as a result of this forum, as I have raised my minimum price the number of people who ssem happy to pay it remains about the same. The vast majority still accept it without hesitation.
I am coming to the view that confidence, and being comfortable with what you do and charge is conveyed to the customer. If you are hesitant and a bit unsure they get that too.
Minimum prices, Front Only £8, Bungalow £10, 3 bed semi £14, Council house on the local estate £12.
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so if you in a road and some old dear comes upto you and says " can you just clean the front of my house " you say " yes, sure its 10 quid ( or in groundhogs case 25 quid ), it might only be 2 upstairs and 1 downstairs window with 1 front door
doesnt add up to me, though i guess some will say " fck the old lady, i dont need that type of work " ::) ::)
Well I wouldn't put it like that but I would have a minimum of a tenner. I would try to arrange access to the back so that she could get her moneysworth. I've even agreed to do a quick scrub over the gutter before now to give them their moneysworth or agreed to do a quick bit of inside cleaning if I find them in. I would rather stay with external windows though.
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so if you in a road and some old dear comes upto you and says " can you just clean the front of my house " you say " yes, sure its 10 quid ( or in groundhogs case 25 quid ), it might only be 2 upstairs and 1 downstairs window with 1 front door
doesnt add up to me, though i guess some will say " fck the old lady, i dont need that type of work " ::) ::)
I`m one of those that would say i don`t need that type of work i`m afraid,after all this is a business.I never out and out refuse to do certain work i just pass it on.
seriously, if you did the houses either side and you didnt have to move, you wouldnt do the house for less that your min charge
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£5 minimum but only 1 at this price which is a tiny little bungalow with 5 windows takes 10 minutes
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i must admit, most of my new priced work starts off at 10 quid now
BUT
my example above, if some old dear asks me to do the front of her houses if she see's me in the street i do, i charge 1 quid per window normally, if its less than 5 windows its still 5 quid
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so if you in a road and some old dear comes upto you and says " can you just clean the front of my house " you say " yes, sure its 10 quid ( or in groundhogs case 25 quid ), it might only be 2 upstairs and 1 downstairs window with 1 front door
doesnt add up to me, though i guess some will say " fck the old lady, i dont need that type of work " ::) ::)
I`m one of those that would say i don`t need that type of work i`m afraid,after all this is a business.I never out and out refuse to do certain work i just pass it on.
Thanks NWH its nice to have someone agree with me for a change! I am in business to make maximum profit, and I have found that when I have a day of £25 and over houses to do that is when I make the most money, I will clean anyones windows if they are prepared to pay the price that I charge, apart from my Mum, and she has hers done for free! ;D
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I still have many £5.00 jobs and because they are small, and the round is as compact as it gets, I can make good money on them. How can I charge more for a new one, when the house either side is done for a fiver? Dai
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Dai, I agree there. I tend to say the same price as next door as it does give me more work in the same place. Generally I am surprised at peoples' minimum charge. I know that the days doing less houses, but better paying ones are the most profitable days. However, I like the 40 houses in a scheme at £5 too. If I lose one, so what. If I lost a £200 job, it's a bigger deal.
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im the opposite, i have a good mix of houses
most of my better earners are from houses next to each other, house after house after house
the top end houses are spread out and i sit in the van, drive to the next house i could have done 2 houses in thet above road
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my average is £7 for my houses but only looking to improve that from now on
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as you can see i live in the n.e. when researching this career change i spoke to lots of the local window cleaners,all are trad,all under price themselves for example what they would charge £3.50 ,i would charge £7.00 it has not stopped me growing my business .wfp is as rare as rocking horse s!!!t in these parts but my customers love it ....in short i,ve said this before it really does,nt matter which part of the country your from people will pay for a good job
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I still have many £5.00 jobs and because they are small, and the round is as compact as it gets, I can make good money on them. How can I charge more for a new one, when the house either side is done for a fiver? Dai
Dai, charge your new customers more when you pick them up. If they ask why you clean their neighbours houses cheaper, tell them it's because they're old customers with old prices that are well overdue a price increase this year. (It's what I do when I've got compact work). I price each new house as if it was the only house in the street.
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It seems that, mainly as a result of this forum, as I have raised my minimum price the number of people who ssem happy to pay it remains about the same. The vast majority still accept it without hesitation.
I am coming to the view that confidence, and being comfortable with what you do and charge is conveyed to the customer. If you are hesitant and a bit unsure they get that too.
Minimum prices, Front Only £8, Bungalow £10, 3 bed semi £14, Council house on the local estate £12.
Couldnt agree more, most of the time its you who reduces the price NOT the customer. You get it into your head that the other cleaner charges less,or, at that price its £20 £30 an hour am I worth that???
Probably the most successful member of this forum said " you will be suprised what they will pay"
Mark
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you will be suprised what they will pay
Well thats me, because I firmly believe, just because I wouldnt be willing to pay that sort of money, somebody else would. If they dont like my price then there will be somebody who does, its something my dads always taught me, Luke
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Well thats me, because I firmly believe, just because I wouldnt be willing to pay that sort of money, somebody else would. If they dont like my price then there will be somebody who does, its something my dads always taught me, Luke
Totally agree, its a numbers game to me, I don't like it if everybody agrees to my price as this would mean I'm too cheap, and I'm building a round full of cream, I'll let some other wc do the semi skimmed as I only want the best! ;D
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Personally I wont touch anyhting for less than £10. I think £10 is a fair price for even a small house.
If it is a house that is near or right next to somewhere i already do then maybe I might consider going SLIGHTLY lower.
But this depends on where you are at with your business. If you are just starting up and need all of the customers you can get, then probly be better not to restrict yourself with a minimum price. However, if you are well established and just need to refine the work you already have then a min price is a good idea.
It comes down to what you are doing in your own business i guess.
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I had a situation recently where one of my underpriced customers recommended me to two of her neighbours whose window cleaner had stopped coming.
So now I have three underpriced customers but they are all so close togeather they are a good proposition as a treble up.
Swings and roundabouts
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i have different prices even for identical houses next door to each other
if asked, i allways tell them the truth, the older customers got in with a good price as i was starting up, now im not desperate for work, i can afford to charge a little more, they either take it of leave it, its upto them, many know this, it pays to be loyal and they get a better price than a new customer
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Funny how we are eh Matt?
I would feel uncomfortable going in much higher than my existing custy next door and so if existing was say £8 I might stretch the new one to £10 but not a huge differential for the same.
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i have 3 houses in a little layby pull in type of thing ( i do all 3 houses )
1 is 9 quid ( i took this house over from the last guy )
1 is 12 quid ( i took this over from same guy )
1 is 14 quid ( a job i priced about 2 years ago ), this house knows they are the most expensive and often joke " i wish i had caught you a few years ago , it would have saved me a fortune "
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you will be suprised what they will pay
Well thats me, because I firmly believe, just because I wouldnt be willing to pay that sort of money, somebody else would. If they dont like my price then there will be somebody who does, its something my dads always taught me, Luke
I like that :) Very well put. Now I must try to put it into practice ;D
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I do a lot of houses on one estate and my minimum is £17.00. All mine are over garages. The cheap ones are the ones with garden gates
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i have 3 houses in a little layby pull in type of thing ( i do all 3 houses )
1 is 9 quid ( i took this house over from the last guy )
1 is 12 quid ( i took this over from same guy )
1 is 14 quid ( a job i priced about 2 years ago ), this house knows they are the most expensive and often joke " i wish i had caught you a few years ago , it would have saved me a fortune "
This is not good business sense to me! especially if you have been doing them for 2 years as you say, be brave and put them all up to £15!
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first 2 have been done for 5 years, 3rd house for 2 years
i know for a fact that the first 1 wouldnt have the price 6 quid increase, thats a little OTT
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Or you could take the average price of £12 for all ;D
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If you took my advice you would be ahead by £1 and everyone would feel equal ;)
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Think that the way matt works is fine for matt, and I dont think he's grumbling bout the price of the cleans, he's happy, his customers are happy, everyone wins.
Mark
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If you plan to stay a one man band you really should be concentrating on refining your round, to me this means always keeping an eye on who is your lowest paying customers, and put these prices up to bring them inline with your best customers, if you lose them then replace them with better paying customers, I use a stopwatch to time every job I do and keep a record of it so I know which jobs are lagging behind, if I don't increase the price of these jobs I would soon start to resent doing them!
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If you plan to stay a one man band you really should be concentrating on refining your round, to me this means always keeping an eye on who is your lowest paying customers, and put these prices up to bring them inline with your best customers, if you lose them then replace them with better paying customers, I use a stopwatch to time every job I do and keep a record of it so I know which jobs are lagging behind, if I don't increase the price of these jobs I would soon start to resent doing them!
I am in the process of refining my round too many lower end jobs that dont earn me my new required hourly rate they though are being replaced with better paying jobs i am targeting two years to totally change my work around
Groundhog do you really time each job like that i must admit i do clock watch but on blocks of work not individual jobs
Dean
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If you took my advice you would be ahead by £1 and everyone would feel equal ;)
indeed
but i could keep it the same and not gain £1 BUT no have the risk of them telling me where to go
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Think that the way matt works is fine for matt, and I dont think he's grumbling bout the price of the cleans, he's happy, his customers are happy, everyone wins.
Mark
indeed :) all parties are happy ;)
though the next increase in price will makeme even happier ;)
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My minimum price for domestic is £10.
Here are two £10 houses that I did today... They take me less than 10 minutes each and are about half a mile apart.
House 1
(http://www.southerncleaningservices.co.uk/001.jpg)
(http://www.southerncleaningservices.co.uk/002.jpg)
House 2
(http://www.southerncleaningservices.co.uk/003.jpg)
(http://www.southerncleaningservices.co.uk/004.jpg)
Now I know I will get some people telling me that I am ripping the customer off... But when I took them on I explained to them that my minimum price was £10, and they were both fine with it! 8)
Andy
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Did you have a cuppa in that 10 mins as well Andy?? ;D ;D ;D
Peter
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I use a stopwatch to time every job I do and keep a record of it so I know which jobs are lagging behind, if I don't increase the price of these jobs I would soon start to resent doing them!
I started doing that using the stopwatch on my phone but I have got to dicipline myself to do it more. Its very revealing!
Mine was more focussed on my working practices and how long different things took but its well worth the effort.
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Did you have a cuppa in that 10 mins as well Andy?? Grin Grin Grin
Peter
Unfortunately not :( But the 10 mins does include setting up, writing the bill and packing away :)
Andy
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Groundhog do you really time each job like that i must admit i do clock watch but on blocks of work not individual jobs
Dean
Yes mate I do, it not only helps to reveal which are my best paying customers but it also acts as an incentive and I try to beat my best time every time I clean them. A good example of this would be a large commercial job that I have, the first time I cleaned them it took me over 8 hours, now two years after that first clean I have got the time down to 3 and a half hours! ;D
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I think its time i started timing jobs aswell and recording the results i do take notice of the time it takes to do blocks of work or whole streets but have never recorded them its a good idea as you say so you can see where time saving can be made
Dean
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??? My minimal price is £2.00 for a upstairs flat,a 3bedroom house is a max of £3.50 and a min of £3.20. I've got one house that i can get away with charging a fiver and thats a monthly.Some of the minimum prices i've seen among u lot I JUST COULD'NT GET AWAY WITH,the customers would just laugh in my face. :D
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were you from~???
you say that and i thought that but i went for it and honestly you can it make take longer to build a full round but it will earn lots more!!
windows cleaners like you(no disrespect) put the prices down!
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??? My minimal price is £2.00 for a upstairs flat,a 3bedroom house is a max of £3.50 and a min of £3.20. I've got one house that i can get away with charging a fiver and thats a monthly.Some of the minimum prices i've seen among u lot I JUST COULD'NT GET AWAY WITH,the customers would just laugh in my face. :D
If locally they are the prices you can get and if you are unhappy with your earnings then why not go further afield and search out better priced jobs
Dean
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i have some flats at £6 but im earning over £30 an hour on these jobs
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The houses in the pics are in no way being ripped off by any means,there getting a very good deal i think for £10.
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what would u charge for thse houses NWH
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i have some flats at £6 but im earning over £30 an hour on these jobs
I have a load of old peoples flats I do for £6 each but I treat it as one big job rather than 20 little ones and its a good mornings work. One of my favourites.