[sunshine windows]

Had a lady request a one off today, 3 doors down from where i was. She said she'd tried arranging a one off with a different local cleaner but he only wanted regular work.

What a numpty! £20 for 10 mins work.

Price it right lads and you're laughing all the way to the bank.

Really don't understand the logic in refusing work like this unless you're absolutely rammed with work and busting your balls to get finished each day. If that is the case then put your prices up x amount, which might lose you a few customers but gain you a substantial increase in income overall.

Rant over!

[home6442]

Totally agree.
I also give them a card and ask them to phone when they need
done again.

[bumper]

i have asked to do one offs,said it will be 20.pound oh how much for once a month 10 pound oh why is it dearer than 10 pound bla blah,and if you do  one offs your regular customers will be thinking er er one offs i might do that and then she tells every body in street then all the estate gets to know and before long you lost half your customers.thats why i dornt do one offs plus no time i already work 3 hour day.

[dazmond]

i dont generally do one offs as they use lots of water and take longer than 10 mins esp if their dirty and I CANT BE BOTHERED!!

the reason being ive usually got plenty of work to be cracking on with normal maintenance window cleaning and add ons like conny roof cleans,fascias,soffits and now solar panel cleaning!

i look forward to finishing early some days and a dirty one off clean can be hard work and i end up working ALL day!!

UNLESS THEY OFFER ME THE MONEY UP FRONT AT A MUCH HIGHER PRICE THAN NORMAL MAINTENANCE CLEANING AND IM IN THE MOOD FOR MORE WORK THEN ITS NO!!!!!!

[bobplum]

when i say"£20.00",they normally say "how much" and then the debate starts
i have never known a one off too take 10 mins more like 30 mins and yes i have on average 20 a day to do 5 days a week so thats my reasoning for not doing them and has other posts say if other customers get wind of this it can cause problems so my policy is monthly or nothing

[Tom White]

I'll do one-offs, but what I won't do is go and travel to see a job.  I'll ask for a description - I know this area very well - and then I'll price it high.

I also do a lot of the army married quarter march out cleans; very simple; no travelling to quote since these houses are mostly identical with no conservatories.  Again, I'll price these high (they get well paid for moving with their disturbance allowance).

But I refuse to be messed about with a one-off.  I will only clean when the customer is there and ensure I'm paid then and there.  And it has to be better paying than my standard work, otherwise what's the point?  I may as well be cleaning my regular customers.

[roundbuilder]

I do 1 off's all the time. Never turn down a pound note. Would be a fool to not do them unless out your way.

[landy2]

i do one offs , but like menyion above i wont do them on my round as you will get odd ones thinking they can do the same , but do loads on my way home the way i look at it bonus money as i would of finnished now 

[home6442]

If you charge £20 for a 1 off and £10 for the same house as a regular
and a customer asks you why.
Tell them iits a loyalty  discount or something similar.
If a customer is going to dump you because they want 1 offs they will do it anyway,
as soon as another window cleaner comes along and offers it to them.
Some customers ask for a 1 off just to see what kind off job you do before committing to more
cleans.
I have one customer who would ring me every now and again asking for a 1 off clean.
I double the price and she doubles that with a tip.
If I can do it I never turn away work.

[supernova77]

What a numpty! £20 for 10 mins work.

I would rather spend that 10 minutes canvassing for more regular repeat work...

[AuRavelling79]

I don't mind a one-off if:

It is substantially higher-priced than equivalent regular cleans and both the custy and I know it is a one-off from the outset, not a "I'll go regular" then quickly becomes a messer - I weed these out by charging higher for a first clean anyway.

If it is a "one-off" in among compact regular work then I will charge double or even triple so that my regulars do not feel tempted to go "one-off" themselves.

Someone on here offers an "on demand" service at £50 minimum and if I recall correctly has two or three of these custies.

[robertphil]

the physical effort of doing a 1 off-er will slow you down later in the regular round by a big margin .

[tonyoliver]

thats if they tell you its a one off

come on guys how often have they told its a regular then they get o.c.d even though its not been cleaned for 5 years they say well call you i am still waiting for a call

[Tom White]

I received a call this morning for a place in Itton Court.  I know this place and have cleaned bits of it before.  It's old, much of the Georgian paned sash windows are flaky, and they wanted the insides doing too.  It's a pain in the bottom type of job.

The bloke who phoned me wouldn't give me a frequency, he wanted an ad hoc cleaning service, so I declined.  He said "What?  You're turning down a job with about 400 windows in it?" (He was exaggerating, but it is a big job; it was a large part of an old mansion).

Too right!  I know I could've went and stuck in a nice high quote, but his whole demeanour suggested that he thought it was a ripe job any window cleaner would bite his hand off for.  I didn't bother explaining why this wasn't the case.

I prefer regular work, which I've plenty of, rather than pain-in-the-bottom one-offs.

[Mike #1]

Good point on on old flaky windows , reminded me of a job i turned down about 2 yrs ago went and looked at house and windows were in a terrible condition and TBH some looked as if i was to put a brush on them the glass was likely to fall out so declined to do them and gave my honest reason she hounded me for a week phoning my landline and mobile she was not happy at all . Mike

[AuRavelling79]

the physical effort of doing a 1 off-er will slow you down later in the regular round by a big margin .

That's a good point.

[formb]

Had a lady request a one off today, 3 doors down from where i was. She said she'd tried arranging a one off with a different local cleaner but he only wanted regular work.

What a numpty! £20 for 10 mins work.

Price it right lads and you're laughing all the way to the bank.

Really don't understand the logic in refusing work like this unless you're absolutely rammed with work and busting your balls to get finished each day. If that is the case then put your prices up x amount, which might lose you a few customers but gain you a substantial increase in income overall.

Rant over!

That's all well and good when you are 3 doors down. I'd do it then. But if she phones me up and there is no one in her area then chances are the £20 you charge could be earned in regular customers during the travelling time alone.

[Blue Frog Systems]

I dont do one offs in streets i already clean in just because if my regulars found out i risk loosing them.

Woman came to me yesterday while i was cleaning a customers windows asking me to clean her mums windows. Asked how often and she said every 4 months. Told her i couldnt fit it in my round. My customer told me after that they only have the womans windows cleaned every couple of years, so i did right

[DG Cleaning]

Would it be better to trad a one off? I'm new to wfp but i find first cleans take a lot longer than trad

[Mike #1]

Thats because you are cleaning the frames mate , If I was doing a one off I would not touch the frames . Mike