[williamx]

williamx read my last post then you may get abit more info about my work

right one more question:how many of yous on here have a really compact round and by really compact i mean next door next door next door and so on then when you get to the end of that street you start the next street not just a handful of houses in a street then a 5min drive and a couple more?

It looks like I will have one road which is going to be very compacted but most of my work is spread out.

This I quite enjoy as it breaks the day up, I use to work in a factory once and it use to do my head in doing the same thing all the time, the same can happen when you are cleaning one house after the other that are identical.

[davids3511]

everybodys got different ways of looking at some firm windowcleaner coming onto "there patch" i bought my round and build it up putting alot of unpaid work in i.e pricing jobs etc thats personally why i dont like it.

ive have canvassed a couple of times on new houses and when i knock i would say do you want your windowscleaned blah blah and if there said ive already got one id say ok thanks for your time.dont mind that but when people undercut aaaaarrrrrrrrrr

question:why would you want to canvass an area/street/house knowing that its already getting cleaned?

no silly answers

I canvassed an area on thursday night with my leaflets that you put in your window if you want me to call back and give you a price. On only the second house an old lady came chasing me out to tell me there was already an existing window cleaner and there was no point in leafletting. I said ok, thanks for the information but I leafletted anyway, about 40 houses. This morning I have had 10 leaflets in the windows and got 6 new jobs from that estate. The all said they would not use the existing window cleaner because it was a 2 week clean take it or leave it situation. They just didn't want a 2 week turn around. Am I in the wrong, for the record, I do not believe I am.

David

[williamx]

David

No your not wrong.

We all have to remember that we are in the service industry and its the customers that matter, if they want a different cleaning package than what we offer, then we have a choise, to adapt or lose out to someone who is willing to offer them what they want.

The days when there use to be a shortage of window cleaners is now ending, its time to change you business practices or someone else will move in and take over.

[andyp]

david

 i would say your not doing nothing wrong unless your undercutting.if the ex windowcleaner cant clean monthly/6weeks to keep the customer happy hes knows there will want another cleaner simple as that

[williamx]

Andy

You kept saying so long as you are not undercutting on price.

What would you do if a customer was being overcharged? would you quote more for the job? or would you quote your normal price? which just happens to be cheaper than the other cleaner.

[andyp]

when i say undercut i mean no silly prices.ull neva no if the customer was ben ova charged unless u pop the question to them how much did the last cleaner charge?and if it was high i would go in at the same/more coz thats wot there r paying anyway.this depends on the property tho but on the otha hand you mite think a tena is a good price swings in roundabouts

[williamx]

What about the cleaner who is overcharging, you know that he charges say £10.00 for a house but because the customers has a merc or roller he now charges £25.00, is that what a professional cleaner is? or is he a cowboy?

What if its a pensioner who's a bit confused? he now charges her more and she will be happy to pay this because she trusts him.

Every window cleaner has his set rate for the job, but now he see ways of making more money from the vunerable or desperate people who want a cleaner and can't find one.

We are all in business to make money and pricing your jobs correctly is very important, underprice and you will go bust, overprice and you won't get the work, but to overcharge because you can get away with it, is this the professional image we are happy with.

Do Sainsburys or Tescos charge the same prices or do they charge more because thats what the other shop was charging, no they don't, they try to offer their products at the cheapest rate possible.  The reason for this is they want the customers, they want to make the maximum amount they can, they know that if you charge a little less but sell more then you make more of a profit.

The same applies to every other sucessful business that are trading.

So why is Window Cleaning different?  if a legal cleaner wants to offer an excellent service at the cheapest price, why shouldn't he? it's his business after all.     

[davids3511]

Hi

No, I am not undercutting. One woman nearly expired on the spot when I names my price.

David

[Terry_Burrows]

you did the right thing I to am a Black Belt in karate and wont think twice about something thats worth actualy fighting for,if its right and correct,
or if its family,my son is a black belt,but got turned over had his phone taken,
the sad thing is he was more then 5 to one out numberd
and you always keep a keen eye if they should pull a weapon
well done!

[andyp]

david you can look at this a few different ways but if you know you can get a good price coz the nice motors there would you not try for more? rite o

your example:
Do Sainsburys or Tescos charge the same prices or do they charge more because thats what the other shop was charging, no they don't, they try to offer their products at the cheapest rate possible.  The reason for this is they want the customers, they want to make the maximum amount they can, they know that if you charge a little less but sell more then you make more of a profit.

wot about aldi

my example:
you go to buy a car out of the autotrader for £££ but if you went to buy the same car from a garage(forecourt) youll end up paying more

this could go on for awhile just nip it in the bud to many example.it depends which way you look at it

[davids3511]

Hi andyp

I am not certain what you mean but I try to charge a good price for my services, I believe doing the frames and doors is a substanital increase in the service offered over doing glass only and charge accordingly.

About 80% accept and about 20% look at me as if I am mad and give the old 'ooooh, well I have your number'. I am happy with that. Any more saying yes and I am too cheap, any more saying no and I am too expensive. I would rsather do 10 houses and make £120 than 15 to make the same money.

Obviously I am no expert having been in the game only 3 months but that is the kind of numbers I am happy with (until you all tell me I am mad  )

David

[andyp]

sorry david that post wasnt ment for u(started drinking early)plus im not out the nite ??

the message was for williamx

sorry mate

[williamx]

david you can look at this a few different ways but if you know you can get a good price coz the nice motors there would you not try for more? rite o

Maybe I am different, I treat all of my customers the same and charge all of them the same on a like for like basis.

I personally would feel like a conman if I overcharged because they had a nice house-motor or were richer than Mrs Jones down the road, or overcharge them because their previous cleaner was doing so.

I think that if I did this, then I would be no better than the benefit cheats who want to earn a bit of extra cash for their kids for christmas, they might me morally right in some people eyes but at the end of the day they are crooks.

I know that I can look my customers in the eye, when they say I am a honest and reliable window cleaner.

[andyp]

may be in the same area but if you go to a posh area and you know there have money why you going to charge the same price as the others why??

ok a nice house in a ok estate £100 thousand the same house in a posh estate £200 thosand

the price also depends on the area and how much you can make out of them its business why charge £10 when you can get £15/£20

[williamx]

If that the case thats its alright to overcharge, then you really can't complain if someone undercuts your price.

[Paul Coleman]

What about the cleaner who is overcharging, you know that he charges say £10.00 for a house but because the customers has a merc or roller he now charges £25.00, is that what a professional cleaner is? or is he a cowboy?

What if its a pensioner who's a bit confused? he now charges her more and she will be happy to pay this because she trusts him.

Every window cleaner has his set rate for the job, but now he see ways of making more money from the vunerable or desperate people who want a cleaner and can't find one.

We are all in business to make money and pricing your jobs correctly is very important, underprice and you will go bust, overprice and you won't get the work, but to overcharge because you can get away with it, is this the professional image we are happy with.

Do Sainsburys or Tescos charge the same prices or do they charge more because thats what the other shop was charging, no they don't, they try to offer their products at the cheapest rate possible.  The reason for this is they want the customers, they want to make the maximum amount they can, they know that if you charge a little less but sell more then you make more of a profit.

The same applies to every other sucessful business that are trading.

So why is Window Cleaning different?  if a legal cleaner wants to offer an excellent service at the cheapest price, why shouldn't he? it's his business after all.     

I'm not so sure that the supermarket analogy holds true.  Do they really charge as little as they can or do they charge as much as the marketplace will bear?  If the supermarket were the only shop for many miles around, I suspect that prices would creep up due to lack of competition.  When I worked in a supermarket, they would go around labellng the special offers and also go around upping the prices of other goods at the same time,

[Paul Coleman]

first you  have 2 part with some cash and buy a small round work is always 4 sale in my local window cleaning suppliers[bradford ladders] and if you do a good job  you will always pick up more work as 4 new estastes its  up 4 grabs

Then I would never have got started then.  I had an old banger and about £100 left when I first started with no ready access to credit.  Even so, if someone already had a cleaner,  I just moved on to the next house.

[williamx]

If that the case thats its alright to overcharge, then you really can't complain if someone undercuts your price.

why undercut I never work for less money just to get a job, I dont need too as have more than enough work. undercutting just makes the new work harder and for less money IMO not good business sence
do you work full time as a window cleaner or just part time?

Ok you have enough work and you don't want any more so you can kept your prices high, but what ablout the newbie or the cleaners who employs and want to expand.

They see a house which in their view is overpriced do they leave it alone or do they quote their price which happens to be lower.

Window cleaning is a business and every other window cleaner in your area is your competitor, yes you can be on good terms with them, yes you can help them with problems, you can borrow them equipment if they need it in a emergence, but when it comes to pricing jobs, if you want or need the work then its ok to charge the least amount to secure it.

I only work 4 days plus some saturdays window cleaning, then I clean carpets in the afternoon and at night, so I'm almost part-time. 

[mark dew]

They see a house which in their view is overpriced do they leave it alone or do they quote their price which happens to be lower.

heeheehee still going. 

I think if anyone knows the price of a house then they know they already have a cleaner and if they have canvassed it, it is better left alone .
However, if they have had a call from a customer to come and quote then it is fair game.
I say this cos i got a call 6 months ago from a neighbour of an existing job who asked me to clean their windows. They told me they had another wc before but he didn't turn up each month as agreed.
12 windows and doors. I charged £12. 10 minutes work. He told me the other wc charged £15 and pays me £15 as well. I didn't canvass the job, i was sought out as i do the neighbours regularly.
Last year i got a call to clean a conservatory roof. The lady asked me if i could do the windows on a regular basis and for her neighbour as well because the existing wc didn't clean the frames.
She told me her wc only charged a fiver!! I told her that it was very cheap and i would have charged a tenner for this type of job which she was happy with. But i felt uncomfortable at the time and told her that she should offer her wc £8 - 10 to include the frames and if he still won't then to call me again.
She thought that was a good idea and we left it at that.
I've never heard back and the frames are clean when i look nowadays.

If i knew i was cheaper than the previous wc, i would raise my quotes for the area accordingly.
I do think some slack has to be given to new wc though as they don't have the luxury of comparison. Better to help than to get the hump with them.
We were all new once and didn't know any better.