[Scottish Cleaning Service]

I have a few cleans which take me 30mins for £20. They couldn't get anyone and now I know why. One owes me 2 cleans so I think its a good time to release them back on to the market. I'm trying to streamline my window work as I have more work coming in that I can handle. Just wondering if anyone does this from time to time.

[The Jester of Wibbly]

Yea put up your prices dude.   If they say no, nothing lost and if accepted, it's a bonus.   

I never do any further cleans if they still owe you from last time, offering to move them to payment up front if they want to continue.

Be strict or you'll get a reputation.

[jay moley]

I think you'd be surprised on what you can charge.

I'm down South so prices probably not comparable if you are in Scotland but I'm charging £30 as a minimum for 3 bed semi's and £15 for all front onlys. No one has ever questioned the price which tells me I could probably have quoted more.

I would also imagine that there are some window cleaners charging more than me.

I put all my prices up in Spring by £1-6. I only lost three customers. Again I probably could have put the prices up more. I'm now putting prices up every 2 years.

Just go for it. Quote some high prices that you may not feel comfortable with and see what the response is.

Putting your prices up on the examples you give may still not be worth it. May be better to just get rid.

Good luck.

[dazmond]

I have a few cleans which take me 30mins for £20. They couldn't get anyone and now I know why. One owes me 2 cleans so I think its a good time to release them back on to the market. I'm trying to streamline my window work as I have more work coming in that I can handle. Just wondering if anyone does this from time to time.

As long as you have a round you will need to tweak it from time to time....unfortunately I'm having to dump some long standing customers due to payment issues that previously were good customers for many many years(I'm talking the best part of 30 years)...

Remember even good customers can turn bad. They obviously have money problems but are too proud to tell me..sad really.🙄

[Scottish Cleaning Service]

I have a few cleans which take me 30mins for £20. They couldn't get anyone and now I know why. One owes me 2 cleans so I think its a good time to release them back on to the market. I'm trying to streamline my window work as I have more work coming in that I can handle. Just wondering if anyone does this from time to time.

As long as you have a round you will need to tweak it from time to time....unfortunately I'm having to dump some long standing customers due to payment issues that previously were good customers for many many years(I'm talking the best part of 30 years)...

Remember even good customers can turn bad. They obviously have money problems but are too proud to tell me..sad really.🙄

You are spot on by saying customers can turn bad. I had one old woman who was an angel until she got a terminal illness. She has turned into a witch, I couldn't believe it.
Thanks all, I think I'll dump the hard ones and put some prices up, not bothered if some leave.

[Slacky]

She's turned in to a witch because she has a terminal illness?

Charming.

I hope you explained to her that really isn't cricket, to behave like a witch when you've been told your days are numbered?

[KS Cleaning]

I actually find the comment quite offensive about a customer becoming a witch since being diagnosed with a terminal illness……Shame on you!….and you claim to be a church goer?

[Jay Le Huray]

what an awful thing to say, this person is slowly dying and you have the cheek to call her a witch,
as a fellow Christian I resent your comments,
shame on you!

as a customer you should be praying for her not calling her names

[Scottish Cleaning Service]

what an awful thing to say, this person is slowly dying and you have the cheek to call her a witch,
as a fellow Christian I resent your comments,
shame on you!

as a customer you should be praying for her not calling her names

Didn't put it correct. She isn't terminal but housebound. She has too much time on her hands. Accused me of fiddling her for £40 for taking too quick to clean their gutters out. I went back because they owed me £20 for windows and she bumped me for that and we started afresh. I get on with her husband so don't want to drop them. I'm quite good at understanding what a person who used to be out each day is going through so all her inbuilt frustration came out on me. You could say I'm a gluten for punishment but I'm quite thick skinned. 99% would drop them but I realise she is a poor soul who wants to return to her old way of life but its not going to happen. 

[Tam1872]

Having a terminal illness isn't a license to treat people badly.

[Don Kee]

what an awful thing to say, this person is slowly dying and you have the cheek to call her a witch,
as a fellow Christian I resent your comments,
shame on you!

as a customer you should be praying for her not calling her names

Didn't put it correct. She isn't terminal but housebound. She has too much time on her hands. Accused me of fiddling her for £40 for taking too quick to clean their gutters out. I went back because they owed me £20 for windows and she bumped me for that and we started afresh. I get on with her husband so don't want to drop them. I'm quite good at understanding what a person who used to be out each day is going through so all her inbuilt frustration came out on me. You could say I'm a gluten for punishment but I'm quite thick skinned. 99% would drop them but I realise she is a poor soul who wants to return to her old way of life but its not going to happen.

Don’t be silly, there’s loads of options for coeliacs these days; no need to punish yourself.

[Stoots]

Anything that takes £1 a minute is borderline acceptable, anthing more than that and it need to go up or in the bin.
Im always refining, got 6 first cleans this week just took a couple of pitas off.

[AuRavelling79]

Anything that takes £1 a minute is borderline acceptable, anthing more than that and it need to go up or in the bin.
Im always refining, got 6 first cleans this week just took a couple of pitas off.

I'm in the position where I am looking to up my refining game as gradually I cut back to a day a week over the next 2/3 years.

What do you class as a PITA? Rate per hour? Pre-notifying? Set times? Or what?

[Stoots]

Anything that takes £1 a minute is borderline acceptable, anthing more than that and it need to go up or in the bin.
Im always refining, got 6 first cleans this week just took a couple of pitas off.

I'm in the position where I am looking to up my refining game as gradually I cut back to a day a week over the next 2/3 years.

What do you class as a PITA? Rate per hour? Pre-notifying? Set times? Or what?

I think it evolves over time. I think no matter how good your round is it can always be improved.

Parking
Tendency to leave gates locked
slow payers
Dogs

But more recently

3 storey houses
Juliet balcony
Velux windows
Rate per hour
Any awkward windows

Pain per hour to me is more important than rate per hour to some extent. I'd rather do 50 quid an hour of easy semi that 60 quid an hour on some big house with a lot of 3 storey windows/connys/velux etc.

My ideal job is

Pull up nice and easy to park semi/small detached
No obstacles to pull the hose round/no long pulls down  alley ways etc
Can be done with an 18ft pole
Gates always unlocked
No bay/ velux/awkward windows etc
No having to knock the door/wait about to get dog in etc
Pays on time


Just fast efficent work than can be spanked out and done with little fuss and minimal strain on the body.

[Spruce]

Anything that takes £1 a minute is borderline acceptable, anthing more than that and it need to go up or in the bin.
Im always refining, got 6 first cleans this week just took a couple of pitas off.

I'm in the position where I am looking to up my refining game as gradually I cut back to a day a week over the next 2/3 years.

What do you class as a PITA? Rate per hour? Pre-notifying? Set times? Or what?

I think it evolves over time. I think no matter how good your round is it can always be improved.

Parking
Tendency to leave gates locked
slow payers
Dogs

But more recently

3 storey houses
Juliet balcony
Velux windows
Rate per hour
Any awkward windows

Pain per hour to me is more important than rate per hour to some extent. I'd rather do 50 quid an hour of easy semi that 60 quid an hour on some big house with a lot of 3 storey windows/connys/velux etc.

My ideal job is

Pull up nice and easy to park semi/small detached
No obstacles to pull the hose round/no long pulls down  alley ways etc
Can be done with an 18ft pole
Gates always unlocked
No bay/ velux/awkward windows etc
No having to knock the door/wait about to get dog in etc
Pays on time


Just fast efficent work than can be spanked out and done with little fuss and minimal strain on the body.

I have probably got half a dozen customers on our round that fit your description.

[Stoots]

Anything that takes £1 a minute is borderline acceptable, anthing more than that and it need to go up or in the bin.
Im always refining, got 6 first cleans this week just took a couple of pitas off.

I'm in the position where I am looking to up my refining game as gradually I cut back to a day a week over the next 2/3 years.

What do you class as a PITA? Rate per hour? Pre-notifying? Set times? Or what?

I think it evolves over time. I think no matter how good your round is it can always be improved.

Parking
Tendency to leave gates locked
slow payers
Dogs

But more recently

3 storey houses
Juliet balcony
Velux windows
Rate per hour
Any awkward windows

Pain per hour to me is more important than rate per hour to some extent. I'd rather do 50 quid an hour of easy semi that 60 quid an hour on some big house with a lot of 3 storey windows/connys/velux etc.

My ideal job is

Pull up nice and easy to park semi/small detached
No obstacles to pull the hose round/no long pulls down  alley ways etc
Can be done with an 18ft pole
Gates always unlocked
No bay/ velux/awkward windows etc
No having to knock the door/wait about to get dog in etc
Pays on time


Just fast efficent work than can be spanked out and done with little fuss and minimal strain on the body.

I have probably got half a dozen customers on our round that fit your description.

Mines probably 75% there. It will never be perfect. There's always one job that ruins the flow, you can be flying along knocking houses off and you get one where it's hard to get parked or they haven't unlocked the gate or that window that you can just about reach at full stretch over the conny or it takes you 5 mins to drag your hose in round 3 cars and 6 wheelie bins into a heap of tangled hose...these jobs can stop you in your tracks and ruin the day.

[Slacky]

This is why you’re not cut out to be a window-cleaner. Unagreeable parking doesn’t ruin your day. It’s simply a minor inconvenience, at worse.

How do you describe a day if a customer has forgotten to unlock the side gate, warfare?

[dazmond]

This is why you’re not cut out to be a window-cleaner. Unagreeable parking doesn’t ruin your day. It’s simply a minor inconvenience, at worse.

How do you describe a day if a customer has forgotten to unlock the side gate, warfare?

Window cleaning is one of the least stressful jobs you can do....locked gates,occasional parking issues is all in a days work and very minor in the working day....

It's about adapting and accepting that things are just not gonna run ultra smooth every day.

It's the same in the gym🏋️‍♂️ ...I might have a certain workout planned in my head before I get there but someone might be on the piece of equipment/machine I want to use so I'll just adapt and use something else and often have a different,more interesting  workout.

[Stoots]

This is why you’re not cut out to be a window-cleaner. Unagreeable parking doesn’t ruin your day. It’s simply a minor inconvenience, at worse.

How do you describe a day if a customer has forgotten to unlock the side gate, warfare?

Window cleaning is one of the least stressful jobs you can do....locked gates,occasional parking issues is all in a days work and very minor in the working day....

It's about adapting and accepting that things are just not gonna run ultra smooth every day.

It's the same in the gym🏋️‍♂️ ...I might have a certain workout planned in my head before I get there but someone might be on the piece of equipment/machine I want to use so I'll just adapt and use something else and often have a different,more interesting  workout.

Well this is where we differ, if something annoys me i`ll try to remove the annoyance rather than just put up with it.

I went to the gym earlier this year but got sick to death of waiting for machines and having to do other exercies that i didnt really want to do because of it. Hence why i packed it in and went back to my home gym, problem solved.

[dazmond]

This is why you’re not cut out to be a window-cleaner. Unagreeable parking doesn’t ruin your day. It’s simply a minor inconvenience, at worse.

How do you describe a day if a customer has forgotten to unlock the side gate, warfare?

Window cleaning is one of the least stressful jobs you can do....locked gates,occasional parking issues is all in a days work and very minor in the working day....

It's about adapting and accepting that things are just not gonna run ultra smooth every day.

It's the same in the gym🏋️‍♂️ ...I might have a certain workout planned in my head before I get there but someone might be on the piece of equipment/machine I want to use so I'll just adapt and use something else and often have a different,more interesting  workout.

Well this is where we differ, if something annoys me i`ll try to remove the annoyance rather than just put up with it.

I went to the gym earlier this year but got sick to death of waiting for machines and having to do other exercies that i didnt really want to do because of it. Hence why i packed it in and went back to my home gym, problem solved.

If someone is spending ages looking at their phone(which seems to happen a lot these days in commercial gyms)in between sets I'll politely say 'how many sets you got left' or 'can I work in with you on this machine"...this often leads to them doing another half arsed set then their off or they just get off it immediately and go somewhere else.🤣👍.

Me and this other guy were talking the other day how we were the hardest working guys in the gym(he's 67 now)and I'm 53...

Most young people are just glued to their phones and not working anywhere near hard enough with enough intensity and proper form to see any progression