[stuartb]

Hi folks,
I’m about to increase my prices. I’ve not done this for a few years, in fact about six years. I don’t know what other people’s prices are compared to mine. I suppose I’ve lots of customers around the £10-£13 mark and some higher £14-£15-£16 area and a handful of houses round £18-£20-£23-£25 when the properties are large. My price increase is clearly due and I’d like to add £2 to every house but am thinking £1 to the majority of houses and £2 to a select few is safer? What do you guys think? Anyone else had the £1 or £2 dilemma?

Stu

[Smudger]

For a start it's your biz - so the decision is yours...

we price increase every other year - usually on a sliding scale depending on the size of the property

from my experience people accept the rise no problem - maybe lose the odd one or 2 out of 1200

Darran

[Richard Groves]

Test it. Take a Street you have several on, raise them £2. If nobody cancels and accepts the rise then youre quids in. Say it s 10 houses at a tenner each, one cancels, you're still £8 up for less work. Only you know your round and customers but this can help you guage an acceptable price rise easier, stagger the increase throughout your round without the risk of losing too much work.

[johnwillan]

Hi folks,
I’m about to increase my prices. I’ve not done this for a few years, in fact about six years. I don’t know what other people’s prices are compared to mine. I suppose I’ve lots of customers around the £10-£13 mark and some higher £14-£15-£16 area and a handful of houses round £18-£20-£23-£25 when the properties are large. My price increase is clearly due and I’d like to add £2 to every house but am thinking £1 to the majority of houses and £2 to a select few is safer? What do you guys think? Anyone else had the £1 or £2 dilemma?

Stu

Nope but.. Annual inflation x 6 years compounded is around 19% hence that's the increase you should be looking for in order to keep up with inflation so... using your extremes £10 would become £12 and £25 rises £30.

We adjust ours inline with inflation each year.

HTH

John

[dazmond]

im putting most of mine up from april........  £1,some £2 and larger domestic jobs a fiver this year.....either text,face to face or a letter....

[jay moley]

I need to do the same.

I was thinking of 10% across the board.

[NWH]

I just put them up when they need it usually every couple of years,I’ve never pre warned them I’ve just done it with little to no trouble.
If you make a big issue of it like put a note through etc people will cancel that gives them an excuse,5% every 2 years is a good guide imo.

[dazmond]

I just put them up when they need it usually every couple of years,I’ve never pre warned them I’ve just done it with little to no trouble.
If you make a big issue of it like put a note through etc people will cancel that gives them an excuse,5% every 2 years is a good guide imo.

i disagree....i never put a customers price up without notifying them first....its just common courtesy IMO.....

[NWH]

I’ve always done it if it’s due to go up and they say I’ll pay you this evening how much is it again,if it’s 45 I say it’s 47 now never had a problem just putting it up it’s a logistical nightmare unless you are running a business with 1000s of customers on gocardless where you have every contact detail under the sun.

[dazmond]

its easy if you use a round software program  like cleaner planner......i just input the new price on the phone app worksheet and it gives you an option to save it as the new ongoing price!...... job done!its that easy!it takes literally seconds!

[NWH]

If you want to give anyone any reason to ever cancel there window cleaning do it by text or email.

[dazmond]

If you want to give anyone any reason to ever cancel there window cleaning do it by text or email.

most are price rise notification letters...ive just got 500 printed.....all i need to do is put their new price on them and post them with their bill/slip next time i clean their windows....easy....

[NWH]

I’ve got lots of work it wouldn’t be an issue for me but it might be for others.

[dazmond]

im spending this afternoon looking through all my jobs on cleaner planner......its amazing how some jobs havent gone up in 5 or 6 years...i think as i get older i lose track of time as the years seem to fly by.....this makes my decision to put up their prices much easier...i have got around 200 or so that i put up 3 years ago which will also be going up from april(but these are cheaper smaller jobs).

im also dumping a couple of jobs due to having to use ladders for flat roofs,very late payment EVERY time(or they still want me to collect in the evening! )or just an annoying dog that chews up my bill every time i post one through.......dont need them,wont miss them and makes my working day easier and relatively hassle free....

i washed my van this morning and done all housework and washing  so i can have a chilled out afternoon while the rains lashing on my windows.......its a nice feeling!

[Shrek]

Iv got a customer who set up a standing order about a year ago. They moved in December, I said to them cancel your standing order and she said ok will do. I deleted her number from my phone and her standing order is still coming in ... what do I do 

[nathankaye]

A mistake i did, was not to put my prices up for many years.  Each time i gained new work, I would obviously price accordingly and so collectively, i used to be content with the amount. However, the price range between them was too great and with a better business head on, I amended this and hiked the prices up. Many were increased by £5 and more. The lowest increase was around £2 and it was more these ones who complained and not the £5 increases.
Since then, i now aim to increase prices every 2 years as it trains your customers to expect it as well, more than anything. This is because I lost a small handful as I had conditioned them into thinking cheap prices for window cleaning. It was my fault. Lol i still gained financially but it was a lesson learnt, not to wait so long next time.

[NWH]

Remember Nathan if you travel further a field you must listen to the more senior members on here and charge more though lol,good grief there’s some switched on people on here lol.

[nathankaye]

Iv got a customer who set up a standing order about a year ago. They moved in December, I said to them cancel your standing order and she said ok will do. I deleted her number from my phone and her standing order is still coming in ... what do I do 

Ive just sold a small section of work on and wrote a card explaining that mr smith is now taking over and to cancel their standing orders (for ones who do )(yep new customers in last 2 yrs pay on gocardless but no need to switch regular standing orders over n pay a fee for the privilege, before ones try n argue the point)) 
Im still expecting one or two to not do this and will tackle that later. Thank fully i have their contact details which I will keep hold of.  However if you contact the bank, im sure they can help

[dazmond]

Iv got a customer who set up a standing order about a year ago. They moved in December, I said to them cancel your standing order and she said ok will do. I deleted her number from my phone and her standing order is still coming in ... what do I do 

dont you use a software program like CP or aworka?this stops this kind of thing from happening in the first place.....

[Shrek]

No don’t use software , just excel . How does cleaner planner stop someone’s standing order coming in?