Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Marc Stock on February 25, 2018, 10:29:39 am
-
Just had a new website enquiry today. So many people are opting now for quarterly window cleaning!
Its a bit of a two edge one really, because whilst quarterly window cleans command a higher price over bimonthly, it going to take a 3rd longer to fully book up the schedual.
Its interesting.
-
Quarterly is pretty much first clean every time.
-
Nope it isnt. I disagree.
-
Well wfp is branded as keeping windows cleaner longer! It would be a pita cleaning the square pane types on a 12 weekly, it would be a double clean and too much rinsing for me. (Think you might call them Georgian windows?)
-
Nope it isnt. I disagree.
Your bank balance would rather you agreed.
-
Well wfp is branded as keeping windows cleaner longer! It would be a pita cleaning the square pane types on a 12 weekly, it would be a double clean and too much rinsing for me. (Think you might call them Georgian windows?)
It's not branded that way, it's literally the case.
4 weekly = windows are usually still pretty clean
8 weekly = some extra effort required
12 weekly = treat them like a first clean and charge accordingly.
-
Don’t worry Marc if it’s £20 eight times a year make it 40 four x a year you’ll end up with the same in your pocket.
-
Im not worried. Lol. I just think its interesting how the market is moving.
-
Im not worried. Lol. I just think its interesting how the market is moving.
Up your price for quarterly and the market will move right back.
-
Don’t worry Marc if it’s £20 eight times a year make it 40 four x a year you’ll end up with the same in your pocket.
But people wouldn't pay double to have their windows cleaned at half the frequency. They're not that stupid. They'd cotton on pretty quick if not straight away.
-
Don’t worry Marc if it’s £20 eight times a year make it 40 four x a year you’ll end up with the same in your pocket.
But people wouldn't pay double to have their windows cleaned at half the frequency. They're not that stupid. They'd cotton on pretty quick if not straight away.
To me, that's the point. Make the option less attractive with pricing.
-
I already do quarterly window cleans, every friday throughout the month,every month so.. it.doenst bother me at all. I charge around 20% more for them so.in the days i am doing them they become very very good earners.
-
I charge 25% more for bi monthly now , if i was to ever do 3 monthly then i would want 50% more at least , some i would want double due to surroundings , as soupy says "Its like a first clean every visit" , and that aint really my bag !
-
Its really not like a 1st clean every time guys.
Perhaps im just used to them now...who knows lol.
Taking min price at £22 for monthly cleans. translates to £25 for bi monthly
and on to £30 for quarterly.
On average im charging around £48 for my quarterly cleans, bash through 10 or 11 of those on the day and your on track for a £500 day. Most i have on a single quartely day at the moment is 8 cleans. But thats increasing in popularity
-
I say you are interrupting my schedule by doing this if you require it half the frequency the price will be x2 or very near to it,I’ve had it over the years they soon say ok keep it as it is then. I had this with shops if it’s not cash it will be X they soon stick to the cash price although most these days are going with online even on smaller amounts I’m starting to think they ain’t worth the bother like a lot of commercial work.
-
I think there is a new gap in the market for shops.
You could sell them a service contract under dd.
-
I used to have a few 12 weekly cleans but I binned most of them off. I didn't price them enough so they become a problem, rather than a good earner. Also my schedule is 8 weekly, so trying to fit them in became a ball ache.
My fault; I was focusing on the problems rather than the opportunities.
Ironic too as I love doing first cleans and I like my windows how I like my women; 'the dirtier the better'! (I was thinking of putting that as a sticker on my van...probably best not).
So would this situation work...
Let's say my round is nearly full and it's all 8 weekly.
If I gave every customer the opportunity to go 12 weekly (at a higher price) and half took me up on it...
then i've upped the prices for half my round AND freed up some space to get more custies.
If I then gave every new custy the option for 12 weeks (at a higher price) and half again took me up on it then my round would be more based on 12 weekly (hopefully at a better hourly rate)...depending on how extra dirty the houses become.
So technically you could end up with a 12 weekly round at a better hourly rate?
So if the above is correct, my only concern would be...would you lose the 8 weekly bond, the 8 weekly interaction, that you have with the custy that helps build the relationship to stop them going elsewhere?
All interesting stuff.
PS I have snuck upstairs and the missus doesn't know. I am just in the process of taking the oven fan apart (knackered) and she thinks i'm ordering a new part. Don't tell her ;D
-
I think it’s up to us to promote the service we want we to do 4&8 weekly domestic and 6 weekly on commercial Ime not intrested in doing 12 weekly unless it’s beneficial to me I won’t travel distance to do stuff that’s a different frequency just to suite the customerits 4 or 8 weekly take it or leave it if it’s a substantial stand alone job then maybe but I agree I would view it as a one off and price accordingly if we did 12 weekly cleans down hear on the coast they wouldn’t be able to see through them , I provide the service I want to provide if that doesn’t suite the customer then that’s fine there are more window cleaners out there that are welcome to do it : I think this might be a regional thing as I have educated my customers for 4 weekly as most asked for 2 weekly I told them monthly should be fine
-
I have 3 that are 12 weekly, around 50 that are 8 weekly and the rest 4 weekly.
I dont offer 12 weekly and it's very rare I have been asked.
-
I used to have a few 12 weekly cleans but I binned most of them off. I didn't price them enough so they become a problem, rather than a good earner. Also my schedule is 8 weekly, so trying to fit them in became a ball ache.
My fault; I was focusing on the problems rather than the opportunities.
Ironic too as I love doing first cleans and I like my windows how I like my women; 'the dirtier the better'! (I was thinking of putting that as a sticker on my van...probably best not).
So would this situation work...
Let's say my round is nearly full and it's all 8 weekly.
If I gave every customer the opportunity to go 12 weekly (at a higher price) and half took me up on it...
then i've upped the prices for half my round AND freed up some space to get more custies.
If I then gave every new custy the option for 12 weeks (at a higher price) and half again took me up on it then my round would be more based on 12 weekly (hopefully at a better hourly rate)...depending on how extra dirty the houses become.
So technically you could end up with a 12 weekly round at a better hourly rate?
So if the above is correct, my only concern would be...would you lose the 8 weekly bond, the 8 weekly interaction, that you have with the custy that helps build the relationship to stop them going elsewhere?
All interesting stuff.
PS I have snuck upstairs and the missus doesn't know. I am just in the process of taking the oven fan apart (knackered) and she thinks i'm ordering a new part. Don't tell her ;D
8 weekly to 12 would be difficult. But 6 to 12 or 4 to 8 would work.
Thought about this myself however I prefer 4 weekly work, just can build faster.
-
I now offer all new customers 3 frequencies-
Once a month is £x
Once every 2 months is £x + 50%
Once every 3 months is £x + 100%
Iv had quite a few take me up on 2 months recently
-
Im not worried. Lol. I just think its interesting how the market is moving.
The market isn't moving! Its window cleaners offering all different frequencies thats making it happen! If you opt to only offer regular 4 weekly work and your average price is what you say it is at £28 a clean then you only need 10 jobs a day! Thats just 200 jobs per month to maintain and service. Why make things more complicated? You want 2 vans out! Thats just 400 customers for your business complete.(infact 400 4weekly customers at £28 is 134k a year which would smash through your 80k target you have set)
I only have 2 domestic rounds now but both are all 4 weekly £10 fronts. I wont say how much my rounds bring in but believe me im happy with it.
4 weekly regular work i find All runs itself straight forward and hassle free where windows are always kept clean so no or next to no complaints, i wouldn't want to offer customers 3 monthly cleans, the amount of bird poo, birds flying into the glass, dust, dirt, spiders, slug trails to name a few would make the windows much more dirty throughout the year than clean?? It only takes a canvasser to knock on the customers door when they are filthy to talk them into a better service and frequency. I have done it many times.
-
Thanks Mick for bringing some simplicity and perspective to it all.
Not all timescales and methods of cleaning, suit all window cleaners and it's nice to have some different viewpoints.
-
I don’t give them the option unless it’s very give or money per clean,I will do 1/4 lys but not on standard houses they have to fit in round my working routine. It’s no different to leave me today please IMO or it’s on there terms,like I say if it’s worth while I’ll fit in.
-
Just had a new website enquiry today. So many people are opting now for quarterly window cleaning!
Its a bit of a two edge one really, because whilst quarterly window cleans command a higher price over bimonthly, it going to take a 3rd longer to fully book up the schedual.
Its interesting.
Most of my walk up's seem to ask for 6 weekly now (instead of monthly)
Maybe monthly is dead or dying out with the advent of WFP
I only do 2 monthly so it's that frequency or nowt, but I'm full and giving work away.
Like you say Mark interesting conundrum.
-
most of my work is 4 weekly/8 weekly with a few 6 weekly/12 weeklys and one church job every 26 weeks! ;D
i dont care what frequency as long as it fits into my schedule with minimal disruption and the price is right....
-
12 years ago we bought a biggish trad round on one housing estate. All were 2 weekly cleans. We have no 2 weekly cleans any longer. So in this way wfp has moved the market.
We did them wfp (mainly dormer houses) and we started to get, "leave it this time, they are still clean." We moved them onto 4 weekly and had a price increase. We lost a large portion of the round as they wouldn't accept the increase - 3 bedroom house from £4.50 to £6.50. (They apparently mutineered against the previous cleaners and through mass cancellations were able to blackmail them into keeping the original price. So we concentrated looking for other work. Slowly most came back to us over the next year and we got a lot of new customers on the same estate. )
-
When I first started I offered a choice of 1 or 2 monthly.
I carried on offering that until my round became overfull when I changed to 6 weekly. The few two-monthly customers I had were okay with that, and the monthlies seemed to not even notice. It was 6-weekly or nothing for quite a while.
Then I started to get requests for less frequent work. At first, I would only do this for the much larger jobs, but made sure that I charged well for them. I ended up turning away a fair bit of smaller work that wanted 12-weekly cleans.
In the end I relented, but started charging 50% more for them. This eventually settled down to charging 1/3 more, rounded up to the next pound. That's pretty much where I am today, but I had a couple of larger 6-weekly jobs that reduced frequency, but only tacked a fiver on because I really wanted to keep them (they would still have been excellent prices with no increase).
I do make it clear to everyone that 6-weekly may occasionally take a couple of months through a harsh mid-winter or if I'm on holiday or sick, and similar to the less frequent customers but say maybe around four months. So long as the frequencies are a multiple of each other, it means there's no need to drive around all over the place.
-
I've a few quarterly accounts. They're all very well priced and they're not like new cleans every time. They're all large accounts that are easy to do too and the customers are good, even though they pushed for quarterly.
I don't think I'd take on a quarterly job if all those variables weren't in my favour.
-
Trouble is people with the biggest houses and pay packets tend to be the shrewdest(mean😁).
They won't pay more than say £30 a month for windows cleaning, where I am.
I do have a few bimonthly cleans because it suits me.
But I tend to find they are the ones that muck about and try to re schedule, which results in me pushing the ejector seat button.
Did take on a 3 monthly job once against my better judgment, all day in and out.
Only took 3 cleans for goal posts to start moving 😁
2 further cleans and i dumped.
Customer was quite shocked from her voice message 😁
Think Mick Kent hits the nail on the head 👍