[lee_dewing]

been wfp 15 months,
probably got 250 customers
trouble is i made classic mistake of under pricing, i'd say 30% under priced.

Was thinking of putting out some home made leaflets in really nice areas offering a free clean for the front of prospective customer.
hopefully they become regular.
Reason being if i could build up some better priced work fast then go back to original work and hit customers with letter explaining i under priced at the beginning.

If they dump me it won't matter as hopefully would have picked up new work anyway.

Am i crazy has anyone ever offered a free clean to get customers?
does it work or do you just get exploitecd?
lee

[pingu]

personally I would steer clear of that type of promotion...but it may work for you..

Dave.

[Captain Scarlet]

If your going to target rich properties then why do it for free? They already have enough money. Don't ever work for nothing, you will still get the jobs even if you charge first time! And also people are very weary of that type of offer as they dont believe you get "something for nothing" Luke

[bluez]

You could always do both, put your price up and do a bit of aggressive marketing at the same time.

You could try a 25% discount off your first two /three cleans at least this way they know the full price and won't be surprised when you put it up at the end of the promotion.

If you use an envelope system for payment just put the price up on the payment slip and deal with the fallout. ie if they dont ring up complaining then you have your price rise and if they do you can explain the reasons but tell them this time its ok but next time it is a bit more.( this will only work if it is a small increase imo).

[Jon-scwindows]

i wouldnt do it for free  i would soon realise what allot of effort for a potential customers, when you can pick them up easy enough without doing it free. Today i went to do a new customer who contacted me through my website, this was only a £13 pound one as it wasnt very big, then she said next door might want theirs done too, so i went over and got that one too at £15. I then flyered the whole road. People are willing too pay, if you do a good job ive found, and for some of them whatever you would have charged would have been fine, after doing these two today i realise i could have done the second one for £25 maybe.
Ive got a few underpriced ones, but i still do them anyway, and just try and pick up more work and go for the bigger prices, they can only say no or yes and if not then go to somewhere else.
By some of the prices ive seen others on here charge, all of my properties are underpriced, so im aiming for the better ones.

[Clear Vision]

lee.

Im in the same position as you with a lot of underpriced work.

What I am going to do in the new year is this.

(all quotes are for argument sake)

1) 200 customers in total.
2) Ditch about 30 of the underpriced/lowest paying jobs
3) Say that 30 jobs ditched comes to a total of £170 per month
4) Then put all the rest up by £1. That now covers the ones you lost

You are now left with very few underpriced jobs and you are still taking in the same ammount each month after the £1 increase and you have more time on your hands to go after better work.

But dont do a free clean!

If you do this once a year you should be left with a very nice earning round

[NWH]

The key is no 1,the price must be right.no 2 the customers must be human and understand how much it costs to run a business and make a profit,and last but not least good access front and back.If you have all of the above you have the perfect round.

[Nathanael Jones]

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Don't do it mate,.... attract customers who value your service and the quality of your work,.. NOT the ones who are attracted only by the price!!

I think the 25% discount on the first couple of cleans would work a lot better,... but personally I'd go for an "introduce a friend and get £5 off your next clean" type offer. Get the custies to do the canvassing for you!

[windowwashers]

been wfp 15 months,
probably got 250 customers
trouble is i made classic mistake of under pricing, i'd say 30% under priced.

Was thinking of putting out some home made leaflets in really nice areas offering a free clean for the front of prospective customer.
hopefully they become regular.
Reason being if i could build up some better priced work fast then go back to original work and hit customers with letter explaining i under priced at the beginning.

If they dump me it won't matter as hopefully would have picked up new work anyway.

Am i crazy has anyone ever offered a free clean to get customers?
does it work or do you just get exploitecd?
lee

how much are they under priced ?

This is a classic mistake that can take years to put right, I did the same and so will many people if they are honest.

put all the prices up by £1 to start on small houses £1.50/£2 on big ones, and do it once a year till your price is good.
is scary doing it but if you lose a few so be it , I will be highly surprised if you lost alot.

Free window cleaning,  : ouch that hurt just reading it, IMO dont do that. And the reason if you are giving it free it normally means you havent got enough work then leaving yourself open for them to knock you down on price or just get a free clean. A discount maybe but never free!

[LWC]

free clean?

ok "yes id like you to do my windows"
do them for free...next month
"no thanks not this month" and so on...bad idea buddy

if someone can get something for free they will...theyll have no intention of taking you on...just the free clean

[ian m]

I know  can be very tempting to ditch underpriced work.
 But I only do that if they wont agree to a price hike.

 As for offering free cleans... if they already have a w/c this may only cause you aggro, if they dont have a w/c then they dont need to be won over by an offer of a free clean.


Ian

[Paul Coleman]

Why stop there?  Why not offer to pay them for letting you clean their windows?  I think it's very nice of them to let you clean their windows and you should be very grateful and offer to pay them for the privilege.

[Captain Scarlet]

Just remember Lee was just suggesting this idea so don't be hard on him. It's just some speculation! Luke

[windowwashers]

Just remember Lee was just suggesting this idea so don't be hard on him. It's just some speculation! Luke

from the reply's I guess he will not go down that route then lol.

[Paul Coleman]

Just remember Lee was just suggesting this idea so don't be hard on him. It's just some speculation! Luke

I wasn't being hard on him really Luke.  I was just having a bit of fun.  Maybe I should have put a smiley in there.
Seriously, it is a business tactic that may just work.  Even if 60% of those taking up the offer decide not to continue with the service, that still leaves 40% who probably will.  I think the numbers continuing the service could well be greater than 40% too.  So it would cost Lee money at first but it could well net him some decent work which he keeps.  If going down this route, I think at first it would be important to set a strict time limit on it so that he doesn't end up with a liability for doing free cleans too far into the future.  I suppose he could even set a limit on the number of qualifying customers (first 25 responders get a free clean).  However, people would be sceptical about this as there is no way of them being able to check up on this so that could backfire.  Another way could be to say first clean free - up to a value of £x.  That way, at least he could charge something if a clean was over a certain value and wouldn't end up with huge jobs to do and then be told "on your bike mate".  The idea does have some merit IMO and is worth a try for a limited time only.

[Captain Scarlet]

I didnt think you were being hard Shiner, I just thought the thread could go that way........................lots of smileys from me

[Tim Rose]

See below!

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

Print off a leaflet showing what services you do, like sofit and cladding cleaning as well as window cleaning with a few really good pics of before and after and then offer a free demonstration, but only demo on a window or a meter of guttering.

Simon.

[matt]

under priced work

put them up 1 or 2 quid, some might ditch you, some will be happy

i allways found, if you explain " i was starting out, i underpriced your house, it will have to go up by 2 quid " , most understand and admire you being honest

[mark dew]

Yes don't clean for free. Maybe offer to do a front window as a demo but doing work for nothing would i think demoralise me.
Also, don't dump your worst work straight off. Try giving them an increase that will bring them in line. If they stop you've lost nothing. Any kept on is a bonus.

i allways found, if you explain " i was starting out, i underpriced your house, it will have to go up by 2 quid " , most understand and admire you being honest

I think this is a good approach. If you explain as above you will probably be ok with them.