[darren73]

i am trying to build up a window run,mostly canvassing country new builds i price these at 1 pound per climb,50-75 pence per bottom people generally are happy with this,im starting to think i am going to low but dont want to scare people off as you only get one chance when you knock,do u think my pricing is ok?

[supernova77]

I take a look around the property and work out roughly how long it will take to clean and quote accordingly.

I always charge a bit extra for first cleans too.

Andy

[darren73]

wat extra do you charge for first cleans i have been doing this for the same price as i am glad to get the regular customer i also do the frames to keep them sweet am i being to generous

[supernova77]

I clean the frames and sills EVERY clean.

I only normally add an extra £5 for a first clean.

Andy

[vwm]

first cleans is x2 x1.5 min remember it takes longer to do

by only charging the normal price you will get ripped off one day you see they have very dirty windows and frames and you make than lovely then all of a sudden they dont need cleaning when you next turn up. wasting your time. explain this and most will be ok about it and understand

[darren73]

hi do the bottom of frames everytime,whole frames the first time sometimes they are really bad,how do you price your country houses vwm(i use trad method)

[steve k]

the simple question is how much do you want to be earning per hour?
If you are achieving this, then you are fine, if you are not, then you are pricing too low.

It is better to get 20 houses at £10.00 than 40 of them at £5.00. Half the time, same money...the ones who say no will eventually come on board.

[vwm]

upvc frames= ground £1, 1st £1, 2nd £3, 4th £4.  a bay = £3

goegian type windows double up to 2nd floor also leaded windows

and hard to reach window from £2-3 doors £2-3

first clean very dirty x2  not so dirty x1.5 (de-oxidizing of frames wooden or alu coated x3)

these prices  includes the frame's every time as clean frames = spotless glass

[Londoner]

I think you are making it too complicated. I have tried all these ideas and now I just have price bands and work from there. A basic three bed semi is £x. If is bigger than a three bed semi the price goes up pro rata.

You are always going to wonder whether you could have got more. This is particularly true when the customer says "Oh, is that all? I thought it would be a lot more than that" ( actual quote said to me last year). In general don't lose sleep worrying about it.

Stage one of building a round is to get a good number of customers. As long as the price is reasonable thats enough. The time for experimenting with prices comes later. At the moment a bird in the hand etc.

[Clear Vision]

At the moment a bird in the hand etc.

is worth 2 in the bush! 

[LSB]

i find it much easier to have a price for a normal house in your area
i.e. £13 for a 3 bed house . if they want frames doing i charge another £13 .
i rarely charge extra for a first clean , as hopefully by now i can spot most timewasters coming a mile off !
i charge an extra couple of quid for those that have conservatorys ( up to £20 dep on size )
bigger houses you obviously have to charge more ( even though they dont always have that many more windows ) !!

[vwm]

I think you are making it too complicated. I have tried all these ideas and now I just have price bands and work from there. A basic three bed semi is £x. If is bigger than a three bed semi the price goes up pro rata.

You are always going to wonder whether you could have got more. This is particularly true when the customer says "Oh, is that all? I thought it would be a lot more than that" ( actual quote said to me last year). In general don't lose sleep worrying about it.

Stage one of building a round is to get a good number of customers. As long as the price is reasonable thats enough. The time for experimenting with prices comes later. At the moment a bird in the hand etc.

whats complicated about counting windows also looks more pro looking around and taking time pricing up and not a figure off the top of ur head.   

ie my dad and i both live in 3 bed semis.   dads house comes in at £23 mine £10  big big differance

yes building around of customers is important but how many times have we started on the first house say for a tenner (little under priced) then have 5 asking for price and they all now each other so you feel you got to charge the same a tenner. suddenly we have 6 underpriced houses.
i say start were you intend to finish so price correctly.

i also never price while i am at work take their name number address and make an appointment, then i can spend time with them explaining what we do point out maybe their price rose bush ect look so much more pro then hit then with the price after i have gone round assessing the the property go to the van do the sums and present the price on a  slip i all ready have made with all the details on it as well as company logo ect.
not saying i get every one but 8 out of ten i think ant bad. and they are well priced houses. (30-50p/h) and yes allways a first clean charge i find if they dont understand this charge they will drop you but find most customer fully understand and dont butter an eyelid and they are the customers you want.

every custy gets a letter on headed paper after the first clean expaining everything again including the fact sould they cancell on the day then 50% of their  price will be due again they will know your terms and conditions.

this has all been my policy and not for many off you on the forum but i never cold door knock, leaflet yes as i feel its better customer contact you rather then you knock.
this way it is they need you not you need them and also you target the areas you want do do ps. i stay away from housing ass, counsel extates ect as these to me are not worth it call me a snob but like someone else pointed out better better 20 £10 houses than 40 £5 houses.

many of my days consist of 10-15 houses aday @ £20-25 per house ( not every day mind but most and building on the other days) have even given away 10k off work to make room

   

[Mike 108]

vwm - I agree with everything you say!  Unless you've been window cleaning for years it makes sense to have a formula for working out a price, and it does look more professional.

[Clive McDonald]

I liked your ideas vwm, and I think this will help me. I always listen to what Vince has to say too but he has a lot more experience and  has probably developed better natural judgement.

I need a few rules to make me consistent.

[Londoner]

I've tried all this formula stuff and the trouble is that the windows don't conform to the formula. When does a small window become a big window for example? Does three small windows side by side price the same as one big one ? which is effectively what it is? Do you charge for those titchy little pantry windows on the side of older houses? etc etc.
When I tried using it I found some houses come out far too high and others way too low.

You can still make a good show of going round and looking at all the windows etc. In fact it is essential.
The truth is that now I am using WFP I am looking at a totally different set of criteria by which I judge the price. When I was trad, cleaning the frames and sills doubled the time taken to do the job. Now they are done anyway.

With a WFP I can walk along the back of a big house and clean three or four seperate upstairs windows like they were one. All that is required is a few side steps each time. Before each window was a separate climb.  Big difference !

My pole reaches over things that would have been major problems in the past and I don't have flower beds to worry about because I don't have to place my ladder.

This is not a trad v WFP discussion, all I want to illustrate is how the two systems differ and how that should impact on pricing.

You can try using formulas for a while but if your experience is anything like mine you will find its too hit and miss and you start adding ifs and buts into the equation.

When I look at a house now I still have a very good inspection but the thing I am assessing is time more than counting windows. I find that is better, but don't get the impression that I don't have a very good look and weigh everything up.

Also, nobody said that banded prices have to be low. My minimum price is £14  and provided I can do the house within the set time I allocate per house thats what I charge. That works for me.

[Paul Coleman]

I've tried all this formula stuff and the trouble is that the windows don't conform to the formula. When does a small window become a big window for example? Does three small windows side by side price the same as one big one ? which is effectively what it is? Do you charge for those titchy little pantry windows on the side of older houses? etc etc.
When I tried using it I found some houses come out far too high and others way too low.

You can still make a good show of going round and looking at all the windows etc. In fact it is essential.
The truth is that now I am using WFP I am looking at a totally different set of criteria by which I judge the price. When I was trad, cleaning the frames and sills doubled the time taken to do the job. Now they are done anyway.

With a WFP I can walk along the back of a big house and clean three or four seperate upstairs windows like they were one. All that is required is a few side steps each time. Before each window was a separate climb.  Big difference !

My pole reaches over things that would have been major problems in the past and I don't have flower beds to worry about because I don't have to place my ladder.

This is not a trad v WFP discussion, all I want to illustrate is how the two systems differ and how that should impact on pricing.

You can try using formulas for a while but if your experience is anything like mine you will find its too hit and miss and you start adding ifs and buts into the equation.

When I look at a house now I still have a very good inspection but the thing I am assessing is time more than counting windows. I find that is better, but don't get the impression that I don't have a very good look and weigh everything up.

Also, nobody said that banded prices have to be low. My minimum price is £14  and provided I can do the house within the set time I allocate per house thats what I charge. That works for me.

I assess things differently with WFP than I did with a ladder as well.  The higher expenses of running a WFP system are more than offset by the faster working speed on most jobs I find.  My minimum is £10, though that is for pretty small jobs.  It doesn't take much for me to start looking above that.
Like you, I do tend to think in terms of time rather than frame numbers now.
I also think of each place individually.  At one time, if I had a lot of work compacted into an area, I would use that keep the price down.  However, I have had a couple of situations where conmpact work became isolated work due to thew usual stuff re moving, losing jobs etc.  That made my "compact" discount into a poor price (the custies weren't aware that I did this).

[vwm]

i used to do 8 houses for a management company and all though it only took 1.5 hours to (£60) which to me is a good price i only did then untill they were sold.

now each house had 10 windows 2 doors and when they were all sold had a letter from the company saying thanks ect for cleaning windows and i go round to see the customers of all 8 because they would like me to carry on.

they all said yes to me cleaning the windows so i just carried on with the price of £60 but now it was taking longer to do 3 hours. errrr not so good now and why well before the gardens were plain could park were i please and had no money to collect but 6 mths down the line the gardens have all changed cant park were i did before and the worse thing is collecting the money as before i just sent an invoice and got one cheque (within 14 days ) but now it can be up to 5 cheques (28p each) and sometimes have to wait till next time to get paid.  to make matters worse 3 of them have since moved on so now i am doing 5x £7.5 (37.5) and i just take too long.

i have learnt my lesson here so now i look in the future when i price these types up because they are great at first but in the long run end up being poorly priced up .  i now price per unit not a job lot because the houses above should be £14 each