[chris@c.m.s]

Tosh do the 2 monthly cleans take you any longer than the monthly cleans they dont with me unless its a bird bombing area, The way I see it is customers without knowledge see it that first cleans, 2 monthly cleans or even 6 monthly cleans take the same time to deal with so in there opinion why should they pay more, Cant see any problem with offering that service though, Ross I think I'll be expanding into your area soon I've had people asking from Hangleton and it does seem that theres  more of a shortage that way than over here.      

[chris@c.m.s]

6 weekly cleans who started that one keep it 4 or 8 weekly please 6 weekly just doesnt fit.
 

[gaza]

CHRIS WITH DUE RESPECT 6wkly cleans x25%
would you like to wfp every 8 weeks?
you would be working at a higher rate per house for 1
you could easily justify it wfping for 2

Eg= £10 house now =£2.50p =£12.50p

12monthly = £120
52 divided by 6 weekly cleans = 8.66666666666 or 9 cleans =9 x £12.50p =£112.50
cheaper for customer by £7.50p
3xhouses £10.00p  per hr =£30 now
3xhouses £12.50p  per hr=£37.50p

get more work you are £7.00p per hr better off                copywrite gaza

[JohnL]

Tosh

If you want to go ahead with this scheme why dont you explain on the leaflet the monetory gain for them

ie   
  ''We also offer an every other month cleaning service.  This will cost you 50% more than your current cleaning price, but will save you money since you will receive six, rather than twelve cleans per year. If your existing price is £10 per month the alternative arrangement would cost you £15 every other month ie £90 per year thus saving £30''

The only problem I have is what is in it for you? You lose £30 per customer a year which you then have to replace. If 10 customers take up the offer you lose £300! I presume you are hoping to replace it with more profitable work.

JohnL

[chris@c.m.s]

Yep good point gaza cant argue with you on that, its when you work mostly 4 or 8 weekly it goes to pot, if your 6 weekly from the outset then its ok i guess.

[Londoner]

Look at it from the customers point of view. It feels to them like they are paying more for less.
In their eyes if it costs ten pounds to have you clean their windows then thats the price.
It doesn't really matter how often you turn up in the course of a year, but when you do its a tenner.

Trying to charge more just puts you on the wrong foot and be honest. Does it take you 50% longer?

[Moderator David@stives]

I think you are all going mad.

If you can get 50% more for a clean that means you are too cheap in the first place.

I have pushed all my prices to the limit and my customers wont stand much more , no matter how often they have them done.

And unless you are in a situation like Ross then you will have to find one extra customer for every one who takes you up on your offer.

Dave

[Londoner]

The trouble is that with WFPs the windows stay clean longer. This issue is going to come up more often.

We have to find a way of making it sound like the customers are getting a better deal by paying more. I can't see many of mine responding favourably to the idea as it stands at the moment.

[brett walker]

Im sure most will agree with me on this one, most customers are always complaining that when you have been to clean the windows it always rains after.
So if you can make them think wfp makes them stay cleaner til the windows are due again they should be happier as they seem to think they get dirty straight after it rains.
But as we have said we dont want them changing to 2 monthly, i have also explained to my customers its not the rain that makes them dirty its the dirt in the air.

We all know what customers are like we give them an explanation letter and most of them dont read it

Brett

[sunshine windows]

I tend to agree with the ones that are suggesting any clean is better than no clean. Unless of course you've been at it for years and your books are chocka block already.

I personally clean customers either monthly, 2 monthly, 3 monthly or 4 monthly. If a job would normally cost £10 it becomes £11-£12. For £13 jobs =£15. £20 jobs =£25


It's obviously very nice to be able to get 50% more for a 2 monthly clean but i do feel this is a bit on the steep side. I would imagine that the customers wanting this service are the ones that can't afford the monthly clean in the first place. If these customers are the sort of people that don't put money aside for things like the window cleaning then to be hit with a 50% increased bill every 2 months is going to put a serious dent in the household budget. Now i know that's not our problem, the fact that they are incapable of putting money aside but i'm a soft touch.

With a lot of these jobs you need to use your discretion. Some customers can clearly afford the increase and some can't. Like i said from the top, as i'm just beginning to build a decent round up i don't want to go turning customers down and losing money and business to the opposition.

I would however like to point out that it's always the price that i quote them and never get haggled down a quid or 2.

Sunshine

[dai]

Tosh, I have recently put another of my estates on bi-monthly cleans, that's 3 estates now. It's the only way I can get my under priced jobs to pay the right price.
I explained to all of them face to face that it was no longer economically viable for me to continue at the old price. They pay 50% more and I am happy with that.
The vast majority of domestic customers want a regular service, and they would prefer a bi-monthly one than none at all.
How many times a day do you hear,"God is it four weeks gone already".
I find this really easy to sell, as you said they save on their annual cleaning costs, and you get the right price for the job.
 It's a win win situation. I make a point of telling them that even with the increased price I am still cheaper than some of my competitors, I couldn't afford a holiday last year, and any other sympathy inducing comments you can come up with.
I also tell them that I appreciate many of my customers are feeling the pinch too. What with increased fuel and energy costs, especially those on fixed incomes.
The bi-monthly route is the only route you can go down, that is fair to both parties.
THIS IS REALLY WORKING FOR ME. Dai

[Jago]

For me i do the majority of my houses 4 weekly but if a customer asks for 8 weeks then I just say no prob and tell them that it will be a few quid more.

Never had a problem yet but I will never start splitting them into 6 weeks just for my own convenience.

If they want you to clean there windows then they do it on my terms.

Just the other day I have had customers find me more customers in the same area as themselves. But they are having to wait the 3 weeks for me to return to that road as i will not split.

If they were in a new area I will put them on a day when i am closest to that area and canvas like Bugg3ry to get more in that area. I also leave cards with the new customers so they can recomend me to others.

Seems to work for me.
Just have to price right to not upset anyone.

[windows_chepstow]

After reading the above posts, coupled with my own views, I still wish to go down the 50% extra, for every other month cleans.

I clean calandar monthly (which is awkward I know; since months have differing amounts of days in them), but this works for how I administrate my accounts.

I also have around 30 to 40 accounts too many. 

Each month I've been missing out less-lucrative areas to keep on top of the bulk of my work and so I can clean my customers who pay by standing order.

So I/we have too many customers.  I'm still taking new ones on - especially this time of year - at a good rate of knots.

I've spent a couple of hours today pushing letters through letter boxes, putting my prices up.

But I still think 50% extra every other month is a good thing; I just have to 'sell' it better.

It also puts the 'not this month' brigade off from asking.

[dai]

The bi-monthly cleaning is the way to go for those of us with full to bursting rounds.
Once you have as much work as you can do in 4 fine weeks, that's all you can do.
We don't stop taking new customers on though do we? Before long we find that it's taking 22 working days instead of 20. Once you get to this stage, you are losing money every time you service your under priced jobs.
 Looking at it from a business prospective you either put the price up, dump them, or go down the bi-monthly route.
The obvious one at first site is bump the price up by 50%. If you go down this road you will inevitably lose some. So what? You have plenty of work, Yeah but your losing some from a compact round. You don't want to be replacing them for higher paid work if you have to travel a mile down the road to your next job.
 But, dumping them doesn't make sense either, without first giving them the chance to pay what you want for the job. This is where the bi-monthly scheme works.
I have now put two full  days work on a bi-monthly basis. When I do them now I'm on top rate.
The problem that's yet to be solved are the estates where I have more than a days work. I have one that takes 6 days to complete. Doing them bi-monthly would leave a big hole in the round every other month.
Ah well, I'm due for my pension next year anyway. Dai

[gaza]

DAI: IM GOING TO DOUBLE MINE: get someone to clean them and then retire with you and take that long holiday Ive promised myself since becoming a w/c
Self employed work 12hrs per day but they didnt say which 12 hrs

Never seem to be away from it,but will miss it when I retire,will you miss it DAI?

 GAZA

[dai]

Gaz, With a 28 year old wife and two little Indonesian girls to support, I will
be working untill I drop. Got to go to an immigration appeal tribunal on weds to try and get visas for the kids. fingers crossed. Dai