[lee_dewing]

hi, anyone got any good pricing methods I price on £20 p/hr i.e 15mins be £5, got  5000 l/lets going out wonder if there's anyway of trying to gauge a price on phone to customer as travelling to property pricing and waiting for yes or no time consuming. or any other sales techniques
thanks lee dewing

[pjulk]

I would never price over the phone been caught out a couple of times doing that.
If you do you need to ask a few questions.
How many windows ?
What type of windows ?
Are they average sized windows ?
Is there any hard to reach windows ?
anything obstucting the windows ?

When someone rings me i always ask how many windows they have and if it's not many i tell them i have a minimum charge of £xxx.
People who just want someone cheap usually puts them off so you saved yourself a journey.
Then i always say i need to look at your property to give you a firm quote.

Paul

[Grafters Cleaning Services]

as paul says pricing on the phone is out coz you will get caught out big time........ £20 per hour is about right so yes £5-00 for 15mins........ i work on the basis that an average 3 bed semi takes about 20mins - 25mins so i charge £7-00 - £8-00

[The Bear]

Never price on the phone.

Customers "forget" windows. Always go and see the job first.

[windows_chepstow]

Lee,

I too used to give quotes out over the phone, when I first started, not too long ago.  I made some bad mistakes.

Now I've learnt from them, it's rare I give quotes out without viewing the property.  In fact I'll only do it for an Army married quarter estate where all the houses are exactly the same.

One of my most favourate telephone quotes was when a woman described a normal three bed semi.  I gave her an average quote.  Then when I turned up it was a mini mansion, leaded front and back.

I might tell a potential customer who presses me for a price that our average for a three-bed semi is £7.50 - but if yours is harder or takes longer than our average, then we'll charge more.

What you should do is, over the course of your working week, note down all the addresses that require quotes and then go out on a Saturday morning and price them up. 

Then, phone the potential customers that weren't in and tell them your quote.  On another thread, you said it takes too much time to view and then wait for an answer; but remember, it might take say, 20 minutes to travel, price the house and speak with the customer; but you may have that customer for the next 20 years and get thousands of pounds out of that job (over the years, obviously).

Don't price blindly is my advice too.

[matt]

if the customer is real keen and wants a price over the phone, i tell them a normal sized window is 1 quid, BUT if they are smaller or bigger the price will change,  they can then go and count them up and get back to me knowing a ROUGH price

at 1 quid a window you know you will be fairly close to the mark

on the subject of prices, if i price a job on site its 75p a window now, and that pays ok

[Duke]

yes, me too...about 75p a window is right. That's assuming a standard sized peice of glass, and with wfp, the frame too....but if they are bigger or awkward for some reason, it's more. Consevatories are the same...a lot of glass normally....and don't forget to consider access dificulties. If it's awkward to get at or over a gate or wall...that's extra too...time is money.

[matt]

im afraid i dont touch the frames

will i do the bits inbetween the glass, BUT not the outside bits

[Duke]

I just do the lot...it's ok the second time,and I even do the whole door on some of the UPVC ones...only takes a sec...and they love it...

[pjulk]

at 1 quid a window you know you will be fairly close to the mark

on the subject of prices, if i price a job on site its 75p a window now, and that pays ok

Matt you tell your potentual customers over the phone a normal sized window is £1
And then you say if you price a job up on site it's 75p
Why do you charge less for pricing a job up on site, Why not just charge everyone £1

Paul

[gaza]

HI PAUL have you got any spare work a squid a window up here north of Watford,its a pound a house  you southerhers seem very expensive to us,think Ill move the traditional north /south divide line to just above NOTTINGHAM.mind you when I went to Tucker to have my system fitted,Iwent for a pint, the amount the bar staff told me was suppose to be special offer price,still seemed expensive even then,so I asked if that included lights and fittings,explaining that I only wanted a pint not to by the place
Dont know what you pay for a pint but Idrink I.P.A. 2POUND 10,WHICH MANY YEARS AGO YOU COULD GET A WOMEN OF THE NIGHT  {so the football chant goes} John Smiths is 2 squid,8 window house =4 pints ill work half a day spend the rest in the pub

[The Bear]

I live north of Nottingham, £1.00 per window is about right.

Dont work for peanuts gazza, you turn into a monkey!

Having said that I have just read your fight thread, so maybe it's too late for you>

[geoffreyspecht]

the enlish cleaning ,there min charge is £35 t5hats for the first seven windows inside and out,they are in london .

[rosskesava]

We charge 75p a window for straight forward builders cleans for new windows plus 20p a window if there's stickers on them.

If it's a job like after the roofers have done their work and the frames need a serious good clean then it's £3.50 a window.

For shops it's £1.50 a window plus £1.50 per door.

Obviously we take into account the size and location but by and large, the above is what we start of with and add or subtact according to each job and the amount of work.

Plus, what mood I'm in makes a difference and if the work is really grotty, then the price is sky high because we don't want it but will do it if the price is right.

[matt]

at 1 quid a window you know you will be fairly close to the mark

on the subject of prices, if i price a job on site its 75p a window now, and that pays ok

Matt you tell your potentual customers over the phone a normal sized window is £1
And then you say if you price a job up on site it's 75p
Why do you charge less for pricing a job up on site, Why not just charge everyone £1

Paul

good question, i allways say £1 a window over the phone as i know that way if they have bigger windows etc i will stil be ok

I priced up a a house that have a series of 2 ft square windows on the upstairs rear, as we know WFP takes seconds to do them, i said a £1 a window and the jobs a right earner lol

[matt]

oh and i also have a "rich tax" anything over 20 quid priced work gets a fiver added to it  hey if they live in a big enough house, then i can do with the extra

[pjulk]

I like the leaded windows as i charge about £1.30 a window but round of to the nearest pound for all the windows.
When i was traditional the price was justified as they took longer to clean, But now i Have changed over to WFP they are a right good earner as i don't think they take any longer than a standard window really.
So now i really want customers with leaded windows.

Paul

[rosskesava]

Hi Paul

We use traditional methods and leaded glass is the pits. When we go over to using WFP's that is one type of job I will not miss.

Hi Matt

The 'rich tax'. Oh yes I agree. We add £5 for every £15 normally priced work. When it gets to £60 we add £10 for every extra £15.

We've not had a complaint yet. We sell the fact that we are the best and expect to pay for it.

[texas girl]

Hey Gents!

I am like all of you; pricing on the phone has bitten me before also. :

On the other hand if someone thinks you should be charging next to nothing for the whole job you may waste your time going over to look.

I have begun to give basic prices over the phone; then if they are interested they can call back and I will go over to be more exact.

I tell them between $8. to $10 per window.  In and out. Rough estimate only.  More for upstairs. Stain removal. Storm windows double.

$7 for out only. That is where most of the work is.

So that way you get more interested clients and less time wasted.

Hugs,

Texas Girl

[Ian Rochester]

Big hole in wall for window - £1.00 - £1.50, more for bay windows

Small hole in wall for window - £0.50

Leaded - 100%  extra

Georgian - 9 panes /£1.00

Not an exact science but seems to work out fine

Always try and do first cleans traditionally if possible, as still don't find WFP gets rid of baked on fly sh*t, paint spots, and other nasties.  Then we make a decision as to which method it will be in the future. 

Today we have got a first clean on our biggest domestic job ever, over 2500 panes of glass (all georgian) every 8 weeks, its at a local country hall.  Met the Lord and Lady of the house last week to price it up, we've got the Main house and the East and West Wings to do .  Gave them a price and they didn't bat an eyelid.

Expect it will take two people about 4-5 hours on first clean, then less than 2 hours when we start doing them regular with WFP.  It is a place that is also open to the public daily, so we will have to be on best behaviour, clean polo tops are called for I think!!