[Ian101]

working away today and chap comes over and says those immortal words "how much do you charge?"

he points to a house over road ... 3 bedder no conny but before i can give him my price he starts telling me how bad his current window cleaner is.

turns up when he feels like it
charges either £8 or £9 never the same 2 cleans running
found him and his 3 lads having lunch on his garden furniture a few months ago
charged him £80 for some gutter work that his missus apparently asked for but didnt
etc etc etc .... worst window cleaner ever etc etc

when he finished I tells him my price is £12 monthly
"hmmmmmm can you do every other month?"
no .... £12 monthly
"hmmmm more than the fella I got now"

was gonna tell him we do frames etc and would not take lunch upon his garden furniture but thought cant be a rsed with him ............. as I drive off he shouts "I will talk to the missus and let you know" 

what ever 

[C o z y]

Sounds like a right plonker mate 

[Ian101]

Sounds like a right plonker mate 

yup thought that as well .......... I thought if you want to argue over 2 or 3 quid a clean then stick with the other guy who uses your deck chair for lunch 

[robertphil]

if he rings you up, remember to go higher on the price

[weetot]

Tell him you'll do it for a tenner if he knocks up a picnic for you and the lads on a monthly basis, whilst taking advantage of said garden furniture!

[dazmond]

you should of said £14 every other month!why dont you offer this ian?i have quite a few customers on 2 monthly now that didnt want me there every month and they are good earners when they come around!!

they pay up no problem as well(in the main!).



regards



dazmond

[rosskesava]

I had similar just before Christmas.

While cleaning windows a lady asks how much etc etc. She was happy with the price and it was in the street where I was doing 9 places already and I thought lovely jublee and a nice easy bungalow as well.

Her main complaint about her window cleaner was he wasn't regular, also that he missed windows out, and never phoned her the night before even though she had kept asking him to and she'd seen me there every month, etc, etc. She said her neighbour, whose house I was doing at the time, had recommended me.

Her window cleaner hadn't been round since mid October and she wanted her windows cleaned monthly and she was very insistent about that.

I didn't do her windows there and then because her husband had been nagged into doing them the day before. I said will be back around 3rd week in January and I'll phone the night before.

4 weeks later when I phone her to say I'll be round the next day, she said that her old window cleaner had turned up 'out of the blue' so she wouldn't be needing me.

After I put the phone down I thought is it me or are some people just plain stupid?

[bradboy]

just smile  there loss

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

just smile  there loss

where was it ian 

[Ian101]

just smile  there loss

where was it ian 

St matthews est mold

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

no me then lol,

[Tom White]

you should of said £14 every other month!why dont you offer this ian?i have quite a few customers on 2 monthly now that didnt want me there every month and they are good earners when they come around!!

they pay up no problem as well(in the main!).



regards



dazmond

Yeh, I've been doing this for some years and have many well priced every-other-month accounts.  They're my favourite jobs.

[dazmond]

ian if you had said something like "look i do all frames,sills and doors as well as glass every other month and you ll be SAVING MONEY(eg £4 )if the other guy charges £9 a pop every month you could of had the job i bet.

i agree with tosh that by being flexible on frequency you can charge more and earn more for time taken to clean the property.they pay up promptly(most of the time)and seem pleased to see you IMO.

they build up these jobs over time so when they come around your quids in.

there is lots of people out there who want a window cleaner but not calling every month esp bigger accounts.

DONT BE SO INFLEXIBLE!!

there are some guys near me that wont take you on unless you have your windows cleaned FORTNIGHTLY!

they always seem to be scrapping around for extra work and dont have enough and struggle to make a living.their usually dirt cheap as well.


regards



dazmond

[Ian101]

ian if you had said something like "look i do all frames,sills and doors as well as glass every other month and you ll be SAVING MONEY(eg £4 )if the other guy charges £9 a pop every month you could of had the job i bet.

i agree with tosh that by being flexible on frequency you can charge more and earn more for time taken to clean the property.they pay up promptly(most of the time)and seem pleased to see you IMO.

they build up these jobs over time so when they come around your quids in.

there is lots of people out there who want a window cleaner but not calling every month esp bigger accounts.

DONT BE SO INFLEXIBLE!!

there are some guys near me that wont take you on unless you have your windows cleaned FORTNIGHTLY!

they always seem to be scrapping around for extra work and dont have enough and struggle to make a living.their usually dirt cheap as well.


regards



dazmond

agree with what you say and normally I would have said something like above but i was sensing a future messer so wanted to put a stake in the ground as it were that I do things my way ... not being billy big b******s or mr tough guy but with some types give em an inch and they can mess u about no end ... may be wrong but after 3 years i tend to follow my gut instincts now.

plus was a little incrudulous (think thats the word ?) that for a few quid he may stick with the sun lounger gang 

[Johnny B]

... the sun lounger gang 

 

John

[bobplum]

you did right,even if you had £20.00 every 2 months you would have been messed about and hated doing the job
dont want it,dont need it

[Tom White]

agree with what you say and normally I would have said something like above but i was sensing a future messer so wanted to put a stake in the ground as it were that I do things my way ... not being billy big b******s or mr tough guy but with some types give em an inch and they can mess u about no end ... may be wrong but after 3 years i tend to follow my gut instincts now.

plus was a little incrudulous (think thats the word ?) that for a few quid he may stick with the sun lounger gang 

I have (and still can) be like that, if I think someone is a 'messer', but I've often taken on customers who I assumed would mess me about and they've turned out to be brilliant customers.  Sometimes I think they're just a bit nervous and us window cleaners don't often have the best reputation, but once they get to know you and they like you, they become better customers.

I try to give them the benefit of the doubt these days, not always - I'm not stupid - but I'm less hard headed than I used to be.

[Steve Sed]

I had a call today from someone complaining that their wc had just stopped coming. She said she wants them cleaning on Thursday. I said do you want them regularly, to which she said she isn't sure, it would depend on the standard of my work. 

I said ok, £40. She said she would just go back to her old windowcleaner who only charged £15 (sounds about right). I said fine, then she said ok, please clean them on Thursday.