[jo5hm4n]

So we have been using a local door knock canvasser recently.  This is his 3rd canvas for us.

2 lots of canvassing so far no issues with underpriced jobs at all.

Today though he was in an area with large bay windows old style houses, i did explain to him but he still underquoted.  5 jobs in total underpriced by £4 at least.  Priced at £22 when they should be £26-£27 etc.

Hes already agreed to to either knock those customers off the bill, or just give them to me at discounted rates.

Hes back out tomorrow and said lesson learned and he will try and get higher prices for these style houses.

Anyway my thoughts are this.  Yes the jobs are underpriced by £4, but what is the best way to try and convert these into regular priced jobs.   My thoughts are as follows.

A) i text all 5 customers explain that sadly the jobs have been slightly underpriced and that we can still clean for them, but the price will be X amount extra and we apologise for this mistake on our end when quoting the job.

B) do the cleans at agreed price, do say 2-3 cleans so the customer builds trust with us, gets to know our cleaners, the service we offer and is happy with us, and then after a few cleans i text them and explain that after a few cleans we have realised we slightly under priced the job, we do apologise for this but if they wish to continue using our service it will be £2 extra per clean etc.

I dont want to just bin the customers off, we are doing lots of growth and canvassing so ideally i would like to try one of the above options or something similiar just to see more than anything what is possible with customers, so that should we get any more underpriced work in future, if i know a better way to deal with it and get a good outcome then its happy days.

Thoughts?  Any other ways to do it? 

[Smudger]

that's the problem with a "Quote" rather than an estimate - strictly speaking you should honour the price where an estimate can result in the price going up or down.

If it were me I would carry out the cleans - £4 x 5 properties is hardly breaking the bank is it ? - do 6 cleans then increase the price to bring them into line with your other work - depending on the canvasser agree he only receives 50% for them or nothing  or gets full price but provides replacement FOC - I'm sure that would more than cover the "loss"

[james peters]

same as above..... Also, I always charge more for the first clean, this usually covers it.
some of my older work , is underpriced.  however it is also some of my best , because its compact.

[AuRavelling79]

Always remember that sliding sash or other 'big framed' windows need pricing accordingly.

[jo5hm4n]

that's the problem with a "Quote" rather than an estimate - strictly speaking you should honour the price where an estimate can result in the price going up or down.

If it were me I would carry out the cleans - £4 x 5 properties is hardly breaking the bank is it ? - do 6 cleans then increase the price to bring them into line with your other work - depending on the canvasser agree he only receives 50% for them or nothing  or gets full price but provides replacement FOC - I'm sure that would more than cover the "loss"

Hes requoted one of the jobs at a higher price, the other ones ive agreed to do at agreed price but will increase after 3 cleans.  Hes discounted all the jobs that were under price.  The work is really compact, so its not breaking the bank.  Yeah the jobs are £4 under, but all said and done its compact canvassing, so hourly rates should still be pretty good as virtually no travel time between jobs.

We do lots of work where jobs are priced £5+ higher but its because theres like 2-5 mins driving between each job, so again i can allow for lower pricing on the condition thats its compact, and again ill just up the prices after a few cleans worst case!

[jo5hm4n]

same as above..... Also, I always charge more for the first clean, this usually covers it.
some of my older work , is underpriced.  however it is also some of my best , because its compact.

Ive never charged more for first cleans, just not my thing.  Plus sending out door knock canvassers so first clean prices dont go down as well, but its fine for us.

Ive trialled charging 50% and 100% more on first cleans, but conversion rates were much lower and customers expected way higher expectations, almost like builders clean type results so we binned this off and back to normal pricing on first cleans. 

[Smudger]

most of our customers come to us - so I am happy/comfortable to charge a first clean

when canvassing only those that are really bad are charged extra - when approaching a customer I'm less comfortable to charge a first clean

[Phil J]

We always charge more on a first clean, as you never know if they are gonna mess you around.

[tlwcs]

I think most reasonable people expect to pay a little extra for the first clean if they’re really dirty. It also helps on the second clean when your only there 15 minutes.
I always say the first clean is £35 and your 6 weekly maintenance clean is £23.
If they question the initial price, it shows me that they’re not going to be with me long.
You need to be confident in the quote.
I do this only to enquiries, never canvassed work.