[dai]

Like most guys that have been doing this for a few years, I have a mixture of long standing and newish work.
I have been struggling of late with some of these long standing jobs, and yesterday I walked round some and priced them up as if it was new work.
Guys it was one hell of a shock, I am doing jobs for £12, and in terms of what I now charge for new clients, some of them are worth at least £17.50.
It is so easy to fall behind when you don't increase prices on a regular basis.
How do your rounds measure up in this respect, I bet some of you will get a bit of a shock too.
If you don't have regular price revues, you may well find yourself in the position that I'm in, when you have to consider dumping nice work, because there is no way the customer will stand the kind of price rise required to make them viable.

[dazmond]

sounds like your doing ok dai.dont forget older custys are much more likely to stay loyal to u than newer custys if a new guy comes round ur way!I have alot at half the price of yours.about 150 3 bedders at 5 or 6 quid a pop with 200 other better priced scattered bigger house.the cheap ones are v.compact.im trad and live in the north west where cost of living cheaper.i still do quite well!price rise in april every year for the underpriced stuff.ive put some up last week by 4 and 5 quid!i was ready to dump but gave them an ultimatum!all were fine with the new price!

[dai]

I have loads of those £5.50  and £6 compact jobs too, I can do 4 an hour all day, but these are not the problem houses, It's the 4 bed detached ones with a con that are the source of my problems.
If you broke the windows down to £1 units some have 18 to 20 of them, the £5.50 houses only have 7.
A sure guide is the amount of water you are getting through. some days I can earn 25% more using the same amount of water. I am not counting prime commercial stuff here, just domestic.
Conservatories are one obvious source of problem, I can't be charging enough for them, because on the days I do lots of them, I use loads more water for the same day's pay or less.

[dazmond]

i can well understand the houses with conservatories dai!these are the ones ive bit the bullet with lately!i underpriced them big time.ive still got about 60 to give them the ultimatum treatment!along the lines of;im sorry but i will have to stop cleaning ur windows unless i put them up by 4 or 5 pounds starting from next month as i charge even more than im putting them up on new work as if im doing them a favour!gona leave the rest till next year now.i will probably lose the odd one but ill still be earning more money!ive been too soft in the past!im slowly changing!

[dai]

i can well understand the houses with conservatories dai!these are the ones ive bit the bullet with lately!i underpriced them big time.ive still got about 60 to give them the ultimatum treatment!along the lines of;im sorry but i will have to stop cleaning ur windows unless i put them up by 4 or 5 pounds starting from next month as i charge even more than im putting them up on new work as if im doing them a favour!gona leave the rest till next year now.i will probably lose the odd one but ill still be earning more money!ive been too soft in the past!im slowly changing!

It's a legacy from the past mate, I chaged less for conservaory window because I did'nt need to use the ladders to do them. Once you switch to WFP, they are no easier to do than tops.

[Sean Dyer]

Im doing some serious price rising between new year and spring

already done some 

still if you are earning a good day rate i wouldnt be too down hearted but if your not happy then get rising

[Milltown Cleaning]

whats a round??

i sure would love to have one of those!

[leapstallbuildings]

Like most guys that have been doing this for a few years, I have a mixture of long standing and newish work.
I have been struggling of late with some of these long standing jobs, and yesterday I walked round some and priced them up as if it was new work.
Guys it was one hell of a shock, I am doing jobs for £12, and in terms of what I now charge for new clients, some of them are worth at least £17.50.
It is so easy to fall behind when you don't increase prices on a regular basis.
How do your rounds measure up in this respect, I bet some of you will get a bit of a shock too.
If you don't have regular price revues, you may well find yourself in the position that I'm in, when you have to consider dumping nice work, because there is no way the customer will stand the kind of price rise required to make them viable.

I seem to have fallen into this trap too.  It's been partially hidden due to me switching to WFP in '05 and being able to get around the work more quickly.  However, WFP does cost more money to run - a lot more.  I bottled it last year due to the financial squeeze.  However, I'm starting to feel that squeeze myself.  I've slashed my spending, work a few more hours, and try to work faster - all in order to maintain disposable income.  Well this year, it's time for the custies to poke up with a small rise.  Not all of them of course.  The jobs I've taken on in the last couple of years I factored in a bit for avoiding increases early on but many of those older jobs need to have a price review (upwards).
The fact is that, even though there is a financial squeeze, I do still find it easier to get new work at the right prices than to increase the older ones.  I sometimes wonder if I should just have a blitz on getting new work and quietly dropping the lower priced jobs - or even consider selling some off.  The trouble is that it's not laid out neatly in areas.  I have well priced work and less well priced work in the same areas.
And let's face it, when alls said and done, those few basic semis I still do for £8 can still be zoomed around in 10 - 12 minutes if I put myself out.

[Mike #1]

i know the feeling leapstallbuildings the village where i live is underpriced by £1.50 a house if i put them up they twist and i cant sell them ,  But next year i am going to raise the prices by £1.00 if i lose out i lose out its got to be done,    If they drop me they know the other window cleaner is crap and does it for beer money

[Ste M]

i have had my main round for 7 years, and always did it trad. I have put the prices up once in that time, i know i should do it more often but i make what i need to per hour so ive always been happy. i have just switched to WFP with a backpack. Yesterday i did 10 houses, 9 of them big 4/5 detached with conservatories on some, this would usually take me about 3 and a half hours, i did them in just a tad over 2 hour. So in one way im now earning nearly double an hour, ok my overheads go up a bit but i can get more done.

For the first time ever i worked in the rain yesterday as well, it wasnt torrential rain but its a first, usually at the first sign of some rain i pack up and go home. WFP is the future

[daniel worgan]

Approx 4 detached 4/5 beds plus conservatory per hour with backpack......here we go again

[Ste M]

an your problem is?? i was doing around 4 an hour no problem. if access is good and there all next to each other you must be a bit slow to not do them. I aint no fly by night cleaner and i also dont see the point in making up stories about how many i clean, i can do them traditional at the rate of around 2-3 an hour, are you now going to say im making that up as well? oh and ive never had one single complaint of these customers only compliments

[pingu]

Pricing..started in Oct 06...have not raised any prices yet....will consider this in the spring of 2011....by this stage the round will be ready for it....I just would not trust a price yet....too many people are getting 'jittery'.

but I have to admit most of my prices are not that bad, have around 20 jobs that are low or are just too much service for the price.

Another 80 customers by the mid 2011 will do me fine

Cheers
Dave

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

i try not to dobigger houses some wont pay the cash so i stick to smaller flats and 2 bed hses £5 in charge in and out per hse 7mins timed to perfection

[daniel worgan]

an your problem is?? i was doing around 4 an hour no problem. if access is good and there all next to each other you must be a bit slow to not do them. I aint no fly by night cleaner and i also dont see the point in making up stories about how many i clean, i can do them traditional at the rate of around 2-3 an hour, are you now going to say im making that up as well? oh and ive never had one single complaint of these customers only compliments

Good luck to you mate....your 4/5 bed detached places must be smaller than round here then...lol

[Ste M]

Maybe they are maybe there not, does it really matter. I just commented on what i could do and you jump on the old 'oh here we go again' bandwagon. yippe do if you live and clean in beverly hills, good luck to you with it all :

[AuRavelling79]

Approx 4 detached 4/5 beds plus conservatory per hour with backpack......here we go again

Daniel. I must be getting old!

4 "big" detached houses with cons, in an hour with a backpack does seem to be very fast to me. Even if I was capable of it, it would be right at the edge of my limit on a "prove a point" here comes the rain, leave the frames and upper cills this time, mega-rush. I couldn't sustain that type of workrate! And my custies would rightly think I was taking the "mick". The time taken to refill the backpack would kill it for me!

Anyhoo back to the topic. A bit like Paul (leapstall) I have allowed the credit crunch to stop me from increasing prices but I think I may have a window of opportunity to do this in the first sunny days of February/March as spring begins to arrive with Xmas over - and before whichever government gets voted in and really shows what it is going to do to balance the books....  

[daniel worgan]

Approx 4 detached 4/5 beds plus conservatory per hour with backpack......here we go again

Daniel. I must be getting old!

4 "big" detached houses with cons, in an hour with a backpack does seem to be very fast to me. Even if I was capable of it, it would be right at the edge of my limit on a "prove a point" here comes the rain, leave the frames and upper cills this time, mega-rush. I couldn't sustain that type of workrate! And my custies would rightly think I was taking the "mick". The time taken to refill the backpack would kill it for me!
Anyhoo back to the topic. A bit like Paul (leapstall) I have allowed the credit crunch to stop me from increasing prices but I think I may have a window of opportunity to do this in the first sunny days of February/March as spring begins to arrive with Xmas over - and before whichever government gets voted in and really shows what it is going to do to balance the books....  

Need i say any more...lol

[Ian W]

I bought a large chunk of my round to get me started full time a couple of years ago. Anything I have priced is about right in my opinion. The stuff I bought is mainly underpriced, so in the spring I will be putting those up. I guess I will lose a few, but the higher prices will make it worthwhile still.

[JRDEasiReach]

Ive already started to alter my prices with new work im getting, some of the earlier stuff i was pricing at 6 a house for 7 windows in them, most are family anyway, i also have a big 19 window house family member and he gets his for 10 which if it was anyone else it would be 15 but ive learnt fast.  My last new custie this week i charged him 12 and hes happy enough but when i was doing the door knocking in the area the week before his next door neighbour informed me that another wfp man is doing his house(same size) for 10 so im glad i got the neighbour, surely a house of that size cant be paying him at 10, when theres about 16 windows in the house thats including doors i may add.  Theres no way i could match that, undercutters i hate them grrrrr. I just hope he doesnt get talking with the neighbour and either try and push me down or bin me for the 10 cleaner, i was thinking though that maybe hes new too and was taking the job on just to get it, could that me the reason?