[antony chan]

i bought a window cleaning round of a window cleaner who cleans old skool style! he missed loads of window that i can do via WFP and also his prices are redickulous! he was more of a window cleaner for pub money guy..  the prices need to be raised.. i want to give the customers i couple of months notice that the prices are going up so they have time to decide, i have no idea what to write to inform them, any help i would be very greatful!

many thanks

ant

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

 do u collect if so smile n say fr nxt time price will b
£ x simples ow much r they now
explain if you wfp etc u will clean all windows n frames
shud be a goer 

[AuRavelling79]

i bought a window cleaning round of a window cleaner who cleans old skool style! he missed loads of window that i can do via WFP and also his prices are redickulous! he was more of a window cleaner for pub money guy..  the prices need to be raised.. i want to give the customers i couple of months notice that the prices are going up so they have time to decide, i have no idea what to write to inform them, any help i would be very greatful!

many thanks

ant

Hi, Ant!

Give us some specifics - how much for a council type semi - how compact etc?

[NJWindowCleaning]

If you brought the round and you think the prices are too low you either put them up by no more than a £1.00 or tell them that you are revalue the prices on every house or flat by your normal prices.
 But you could loss some customers if you revalue.

All the best 

[wayne 77]

Get customers to like you first and know you, then explain the extras you are doing then mention the extra charge you will lose far less dont write explain and all will agree

[Smudger]

This could be very tricky, esp. in the light of the current economic situation,
i think you will have to grin and bear the prices for a few months otherwise the custy's will
think you are pulling a fast one and just money grabbing. 

those houses where the old windy missed are a little easier, do just the windows he did, but
speak to the custy, either on the day or go back and explain the wfp and the extra windows that
can now be done and adjust the price accordingly.

change things to quick and you will lose loads, be smart, so your reliable and do a top class clean and maybe to sweeten things offer to clean the odd bit of facia ( like the front porch ) once every 3 months when the price goes up
the custy will need to see a benefit to this, remember they are used to low costs ( even if it was cr@p work )
so changes will be tough

good luck

Darran

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

I would write a letter explaining that there was a clear reason that the previous cleaner wanted to pass on the work, that his prices didn't represent the time involved for the work done.
Explain that you wish to continue to provide an improved service but to do so the cost would have to reflect the time needed.
Then get someone to go through the prices and conclude your letter with the fact that you have had a 3rd party assess the round. The new price will be:  £xx.xx

I had to do this with a round that was passed to me, in some cases the price doubled. Didn't loose one. Even if you do loose the increase compensates.

[ptwt]

if i were you i would do the work until it had paid for itself and then put the prices up.e.g if it cost £500 after i had earned £500 from that work i would put the prices up. You may loose some but if you do a better job than the last guy you probably won't loose many as even in this economic climate people know prices have to go up. In the unlikely event that you lost them all you wouldn't have lost any money if following the above.

[martinsadie]

if i were you i would do the work until it had paid for itself and then put the prices up.e.g if it cost £500 after i had earned £500 from that work i would put the prices up. You may loose some but if you do a better job than the last guy you probably won't loose many as even in this economic climate people know prices have to go up. In the unlikely event that you lost them all you wouldn't have lost any money if following the above.

when you lose them they tend to come back after a couple of months

[perfectpanesplymouth]

If you can handle the prices for now then wait until January when vat goes up and use that as an excuse, that's if you are not vat registered and have to do that anyway

[Ian101]

if i were you i would do the work until it had paid for itself and then put the prices up.e.g if it cost £500 after i had earned £500 from that work i would put the prices up. You may loose some but if you do a better job than the last guy you probably won't loose many as even in this economic climate people know prices have to go up. In the unlikely event that you lost them all you wouldn't have lost any money if following the above.

Having just bought two underpriced rounds thats exactly the way Im going to do it that way they are used to me cleaning for them and if the lot cancelled (unlikely) then got my money back

[andyjm1]

If you can handle the prices for now then wait until January when vat goes up and use that as an excuse, that's if you are not vat registered and have to do that anyway

Pretend you're charging them VAT when you're not VAT registered?

Bad advice, that would be fraud.

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

if i were you i would do the work until it had paid for itself and then put the prices up.e.g if it cost £500 after i had earned £500 from that work i would put the prices up. You may loose some but if you do a better job than the last guy you probably won't loose many as even in this economic climate people know prices have to go up. In the unlikely event that you lost them all you wouldn't have lost any money if following the above.

Having just bought two underpriced rounds thats exactly the way Im going to do it that way they are used to me cleaning for them and if the lot cancelled (unlikely) then got my money back

And in 6 months time they will ask how come you have been able to afford it up to now. If you have identified a problem fix it straight away, in 6 months time you will hate an underpriced round.

[steve k]

I looked at buying this from Anthony and cleaned it with him last month. 90% of the houses should be double the price!!...some big semis at £5-£7...going to be difficult to make it worthwhile as prices will not be able to be increased by more than £2 or so straight away.

Will be difficult to sell on at the prices as well...will struggle to get x3 for it!

[d s windowcleaning]

from the next clean my the new price will be £xxxx , i put all mine up about 6 weeks ago by £2 not lost any . most people will expect the price to go up i wouldnt wait till january there will be to many things going up then with the vat increase .

[antony chan]

Thanks for all your replys,

i have a fair idea what im going to do, but if you have any more suggestions please carry on 

[perfectpanesplymouth]

If you can handle the prices for now then wait until January when vat goes up and use that as an excuse, that's if you are not vat registered and have to do that anyway

Pretend you're charging them VAT when you're not VAT registered?

Bad advice, that would be fraud.

not quite what I meant, what I meant was explain to them that you have to pay extra vat and all your costs have gone up, fuel, resin etc

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

I looked at buying this from Anthony and cleaned it with him last month. 90% of the houses should be double the price!!...some big semis at £5-£7...going to be difficult to make it worthwhile as prices will not be able to be increased by more than £2 or so straight away.Why not? If they are half price explain to the customer. Maybe this round has passed on from many window cleaner for this reason. Tell the customers, double the price, run a business.

Will be difficult to sell on at the prices as well...will struggle to get x3 for it!

[steve k]

because telling a pensioner that the £5 clean she has had for the last x amount of years is now going up to £10 will simply not be acceptable...the customer is interested in 1 thing only...clean windows!! Not what is in the back of your van or what your website looks like...clean windows is our business!! The customer will need a lot of convincing that your £10 clean is any better than the £5 clean she has had for a few years!!

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

If you can't charge customers enough to make a living and a small profit you may as well find other work. You don't owe them anything, your assessing a business that you have bought and it's price structure is too low.

This is a common practice. A business goes bust, it is bought out, its clients are assessed and are introduced to your price structure. Loss is usually less than the increase.
You are not buying their price structure, you are buying their customer list. You should impose your own prices immediately.