[simon knight]

likewise some people cant clean there own windows !!!


Darran

True but windows don't "need" to be cleaned.

I can go years without my windows being cleaned, but I can't go years without my car being serviced or without buying food.

[Richard Neal]

you go years without cleaning your windows?? tut tut call yourself a window cleaner? what a disgrace 

[Smudger]

i don't need to go to a garage so its not essential to me.
but i do and i get good service and as i use them for several vehicles i get
a better price than if i used them infrequently which is the whole crux of the thread


Darran

[AuRavelling79]

Look if Simon Knight et al think that an 8 weekly is no longer to do than a 4 weekly then let them continue in that cosy notion.

Meanwhile in my world a 4 weekly is about 10%/20% quicker on average. Here's why:-

1. On 4 weekly there is no need to do the top frames every clean
2. At 4 weeks you don't need to rinse so thoroughly = saves a bit of water
3. On 8 wks more Cobwebs and spidey nests.
4. More and more baked on Bird's muck
5. More muck in the joint between cill and bottom frame and "splash up" grit on doors and patios.
6. More slug trails

On one house the difference is a few minutes which seems minimal. But if you do 20 houses in a day then that's an hour in which you could do another three or four houses. You also save a litre or two per house which gives you more capacity should you need it.

I wouldn't dream of offering 3 or 4 monthly except in very rare and well paid circumstances.

I offer my custies both 1 and 2 months and as mentioned above about a third go for two months at the higher price.

[roundbuilder]

some people are full of it on here. I must say many talk a good days work. Window cleaners are 10 to the dozen.we are all over the place..if a custy of mine said they are strapped for cash and ask to go 8 weekly and i said yes but will cost you an extra 5 pound im sure the next canvasser or leaflet they get through the post they wouldnt think twice about changing as will save them the money they cant afford to pay.

[Jonathan Spencer]

some people are full of it on here. I must say many talk a good days work. Window cleaners are 10 to the dozen.we are all over the place..if a custy of mine said they are strapped for cash and ask to go 8 weekly and i said yes but will cost you an extra 5 pound im sure the next canvasser or leaflet they get through the post they wouldnt think twice about changing as will save them the money they cant afford to pay.

That is what happens

[AuRavelling79]

some people are full of it on here. I must say many talk a good days work. Window cleaners are 10 to the dozen.we are all over the place..if a custy of mine said they are strapped for cash and ask to go 8 weekly and i said yes but will cost you an extra 5 pound im sure the next canvasser or leaflet they get through the post they wouldnt think twice about changing as will save them the money they cant afford to pay.

Utter nonsense cleen,

You obviously haven't any confidence in your ability to retain your customers except through the old "keep the price low" and then panic if another window cleaner drives by. If you do a good job and your custies trust you then you will have let the "cheapest price messers" go long ago. Who wants'em?

You've changed the scenario quoted above to a specific instead of general practice. When you canvass or are asked to quote you simply say:- "I offer several options - monthly at £12, every two months as the windows will have more bird muck and dirt on them for £15. The first clean will be extra again to get them up to scratch, which would you prefer?"

If Mrs. Lady comes up to me as a regular loyal custy and says hubby has lost his job and I'm gonna have to cancel then I will be reasonable but it is very rare and I don't run a charity I run a business and I learn from others on this forum and from my own mistakes.

Trust me - I've been on this forum long enough to hear folk tell me that wfp is rubbish and will never work; that you cannot work in the rain; that you must collect and not leave payment slips; that you need a "wrapped shiny van" with a company made system. There is even one guy who says that patches rule. And that you cannot be a window cleaner without a ladder.

Even I'm guilty of saying "shy away from taking on staff - they cause nothing but trouble" and yet there are very successful guys and gals who do - one of whom I know who is a millionaire.

Meanwhile, myself and others carry on learning and growing our businesses and let those with closed minds carry on in their own sweet way.

But to others that are learning and want to make an informed decision then I say "Read on Macduff!" ignore the naysayers and improve your business methods.

[Nigel Lee]

I am genuinely shocked reading this thread.  If you don't raise your price along with the interval your throwing money away.  I average between 30-40% going from 4 to 8 weeks.  People are fine with this as a general rule, maybe lose 1 in 5 tops.  I admit I am rushed off my feet so can take the risk.

As one poster said, apart from the financial implication you need to do this as a deterent to others.  All good window cleaners know how big word of mouth is in our trade.  It can also work against you.

I don't think "company policy" is such a hot idea.  You need to be a bit flexible.  If someone has been made redundant and your making £15 in 15 minutes, perhaps don't risk losing it.  Particularly if you need the work.  If your established and your prices are consistent, rarely would it be a good idea.  But still judge each case on its merits, anything between 0 and 50% I'd say, but a 30-40% average.

This is a business.  Treat it like one.  "Bulk buying" or "trade discount" work on the same fundamentals.  I think people who don't raise their prices surely know its huge mistake by now and are just arguing for the sake of it.

[Nigel Lee]

some people are full of it on here. I must say many talk a good days work. Window cleaners are 10 to the dozen.we are all over the place..if a custy of mine said they are strapped for cash and ask to go 8 weekly and i said yes but will cost you an extra 5 pound im sure the next canvasser or leaflet they get through the post they wouldnt think twice about changing as will save them the money they cant afford to pay.

You work in the wrong areas dude, if thats what you think.

[AuRavelling79]

some people are full of it on here. I must say many talk a good days work. Window cleaners are 10 to the dozen.we are all over the place..if a custy of mine said they are strapped for cash and ask to go 8 weekly and i said yes but will cost you an extra 5 pound im sure the next canvasser or leaflet they get through the post they wouldnt think twice about changing as will save them the money they cant afford to pay.

You work in the wrong areas dude, if thats what you think.

Don't say "dude" - you'll get arrested for disrespect!  (See the "shocking" threads!)

[roundbuilder]

nigel and gold..i dont know how you can say that. fair enough if you price the custy like that from day 1 but what if they become unemployed or have money issues..when a custy saysto me "im sorry im going to have to cancal you cleaning my windows as i cant afford it my husband has lost hes job" thats when id say well would you want it every other month instead and 9 times out of 10 i keep them as a custy..i wouldnt dare have the cheek to say ill add on an extra £5. like i said we are 10 to the dozen people want the best price as well as the best job. nuff said

[simon knight]

Look if Simon Knight et al think that an 8 weekly is no longer to do than a 4 weekly then let them continue in that cosy notion.

Meanwhile in my world a 4 weekly is about 10%/20% quicker on average. Here's why:-

1. On 4 weekly there is no need to do the top frames every clean
2. At 4 weeks you don't need to rinse so thoroughly = saves a bit of water
3. On 8 wks more Cobwebs and spidey nests.
4. More and more baked on Bird's muck
5. More muck in the joint between cill and bottom frame and "splash up" grit on doors and patios.
6. More slug trails

On one house the difference is a few minutes which seems minimal. But if you do 20 houses in a day then that's an hour in which you could do another three or four houses. You also save a litre or two per house which gives you more capacity should you need it.

I wouldn't dream of offering 3 or 4 monthly except in very rare and well paid circumstances.

I offer my custies both 1 and 2 months and as mentioned above about a third go for two months at the higher price.

You can do all your customers in 2 months?  Blimey I really struggle to get round in 3 months...and 4 is probably more realistic! Mind you the houses I clean tend to be anywhere from 4 to 8 bedders and I also do the insides as well. Perhaps your customers live in shoebox land

Your points 1-6 may well count if you're wfp but as I'm trad (and proud of it) I know for 100% fact that the difference between a 2, 3, 4 or 6 month clean is notional, and as I said previously if I do find it takes far longer then I will charge a bit extra, and my customers don't mind as they know I'm not taking the p1$$ and they're gonna have a good job done.

You always come onto the forum and act like some sort of sage and that your word is law...and people tend to suck-up and agree with you (possibly because you can string a sentence together grammatically with no spelling mistakes...which is impressive to some on here!)

Frankly mate you may be a big-shot where you come from but in Putney SW15 you'd be F all !

[Perfect Windows]

nigel and gold..i dont know how you can say that. fair enough if you price the custy like that from day 1 but what if they become unemployed or have money issues..when a custy saysto me "im sorry im going to have to cancal you cleaning my windows as i cant afford it my husband has lost hes job" thats when id say well would you want it every other month instead and 9 times out of 10 i keep them as a custy..i wouldnt dare have the cheek to say ill add on an extra £5. like i said we are 10 to the dozen people want the best price as well as the best job. nuff said

If you just said "yeah, it's going up 50%" they would probably dump you.

Being strapped for cash has happened to me and I've said "Look, I can cut your annual bill by going to once every twelve weeks instead of six.  If the customer is a  £16 customer and they go up to £24, they are going from £128 a year to £96.  The customer's happy (his bill has gone down) and I'm happy (if I can fill with another 12 weekly my turnover has just gone up by 50% on that part of my work).

Vin

[roundbuilder]

yes but a jump from 16 pound to 24 sounds madness. Thats fair they save over the year but as soon as they get canvassed again or a leaflet they will be tempted to drop you. I know as have been a canvasser for years and i do get jobs where a cleaner is charging well over the odds for example i wouldnt turn down that 16 pound job every 8 weeks where you would be selfish and state will have to be 24. Someone who is lacking funds wont agree with this. I wouldnt if it was me and im sure you wouldnt either.
You are not offering anything better are you. Its not as if your upgrading to first class. Well anyway im happy with my round and it grows and grows and i get good prices. Its just my view but i wouldnt feel right charging extra just for 8 weekly id consider if job was 4monthly or 6monthly as would get filthy but not 8 weekly no way pedro. Mind you i guess if you havnt a full round then to make it you have to risk charging mad amounts and hope they stick.

[gary999]

i like my cozy notions

[Perfect Windows]

you would be selfish

Wow, thanks for that.  I think I'm offering them an option to cut their annual cost while still keeping their business at a value that makes it worth my while doing them.  We'll have to disagree.

Its not as if your upgrading to first class. Well anyway im happy with my round and it grows and grows and i get good prices.

Mine grows and grows as well and from what each of us have said on this thread, I seem to be getting better prices than you for my less regular customers.  If you like that, then I have no argument with you.  I'm simply suggesting that there is another way.

Mind you i guess if you havnt a full round then to make it you have to risk charging mad amounts and hope they stick.

That's an odd notion. Surely a less than full round is what tempts people into being busy fools by undercharging.  Many of the people on here complain about their underpriced work and how, once they are full, they will drop it.  I'm clear about my prices from the start, so all of my work is well priced. (and I won't have to drop customers through no fault of theirs)

Each to their own, of course.

Vin

[roundbuilder]

perfect windows.. Whats your average price then and how many custies you got to be so sure of yourself. I have set prices for the size of house not if they want it 4 or 8 weekly. How would you get many recomendations charging an extra 8 pound if 8 weekly from 4. Well if all your custies are fine with this then fair play to you.

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

I don't think whether 4 or 8 weekly is the main consideration. Things like being on a main road, lots of shrubs by windows (more cobwebs), close to lots of trees (more rubbish on sills and bird poo). We have 4 week cleans which actually are dirtier than 8 week cleans so the main thing is to assess the clean overall with the frequency being part not the whole consideration. If you just automatically have a price for the size of a house and the frequency of the clean then you surely miss all these factors too?

[Perfect Windows]

perfect windows.. Whats your average price then and how many custies you got to be so sure of yourself. I have set prices for the size of house not if they want it 4 or 8 weekly. How would you get many recomendations charging an extra 8 pound if 8 weekly from 4. Well if all your custies are fine with this then fair play to you.

I'm afraid I'm not going to discuss details of my business size here.  My average turnover per customer visit is just under £21 (I've excluded a number of high priced jobs as they would skew that upwards unfairly).

I think  the important figure is that almost exactly a third of my customers take the reduced annual cost associated with twelve-weekly cleans (or my extortionate uplift as you might describe it!).

My the way, to go back to your earlier suggestion that I'm selfish, yes I suppose I am.  I'm running a business to make as good a living as I can, so everything I do is in service of that.

Vin

[simon knight]

This is such an incredibly bizarre thread!

If a customer wants to have a bigger gap between cleans the answer is "yes ma'am"...after all they are her windows for Gods sake!

If one subsequently finds that the longer gap takes X amount more time to get 'em cleaned then X amount more gets charged. But in reality the extra time is so minimal that the extra 50p isn't worth asking for

The Malc Golds of this world will argue that 50p times 1000 cleans a year = £500

I say that you'll lose £5000pa if you take that attitude.

Gold has his opinions and has been around for donkeys years, has an established round and customers faithfully to him...I suspect he is also a good window cleaner!

But that's Gold!...us lesser mortals need to bend and charge prices according to what the market will stand.

We, all of us, daily see a glut of 8ft double pointers strapped to the roof of the family car...these are the people who want our business. They're not bad people, merely the unforunates who've lost their jobs and want to earn a few quid to keep a foof over their heads and put grub on the table.

On the basis that this isn't exactly the most skilled job on Gods earth then at these times we need to add a bit of "added value" for our customers.

As an example:

2/3rds of my work is commercial: I used to do outs only..now I do insides (albeit occassionally)....and don't charge ...Mad?...well no actually. What I'm doing is ensuring that as long as they are in business I will be their window cleaner.

This isn't the economy to be haggling over a few quid. Be grateful you're kept on.