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UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Dean payne on August 04, 2011, 07:56:30 am

Title: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dean payne on August 04, 2011, 07:56:30 am
Does anyone think once every 8 weeks is to long? I was thinking 4 and 6 weekly might be better, does anyone do it another way as in every 4 weeks only, and if they don't want it every 4 weeks then drop them, it would be so much better and more simple that way, or one clean every 5 weeks. What have you found to be best?? Regards.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: mark311069 on August 04, 2011, 07:58:17 am
one clean every 5 weeks works well for me.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Caleb Morley on August 04, 2011, 08:23:29 am
Initially if your building up your round offer them a couple of options. Most will pick one or the other. If they really want a different frequency then just go for it, its all money. You can always change it later on or drop the customer.

Having said that if they want a longer time gap, say a clean once every 3 months I just price it up accordingly, ie a bit more.

Cheers,

Caleb
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: bobby p on August 04, 2011, 08:34:57 am
i say go for 6 ,  in my experience anybody wanting 8 or12 isnt serious about wanting clean windows .  this is for houses
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dean payne on August 04, 2011, 08:48:27 am
A 6 weekly service only? Yeah sounds good I was thinking every 5 weeks, most seem to do 4 and 8 weekly, but I deffo feel every 8 weeks is not enough.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: steven ainger on August 04, 2011, 08:57:27 am
I dont do 4 wkly anymore, too regular imo, i clean 6 & 8 wks.
Never get any, not todays or not you again
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: combat1 on August 04, 2011, 09:28:52 am
Most of mine were on 8 weekly, this is too long and an error on my part. Its like starting over again.
I've managed to reschedule them all on 7 and in a while will come down to 6.
Alll new customers going on 6
The difference is amazing in time saved.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: gary999 on August 04, 2011, 09:35:52 am
i offer 4,6 and 8 weekly cleans.
4 weekly used to be most popular now its 6 weekly
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dean payne on August 04, 2011, 10:00:06 am
Maybe a 4 and a 6 as I have some who like it every 4 weeks. Unless I talk them into having it every 6 weeks.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: lee_dewing on August 04, 2011, 10:01:20 am
hi dean,

I've asked this before,

I basically say monthly (every 4 weeks and your in danger of showing up twice in the same month :o)


I tell custy monthly but i can be upto 6 weeks with bank hols, holidays, and lost time to heavy rain, but i do work all year and in light rain/drizzle.

i have my george program set to 5 weeks sometimes i'm ahead of schedule but never do custy earlier than monthly i.e done on 4th august not again til earliest 4th sept.


6 weeks feels right to me but i don't want to set things in concrete as i would need more work and there will always be someone saying your late, your early.

As said when you first start you have to grin and bare it.

when you've got a good size round inform all custy's it's monthly or six weeks.

I have a handful of jobs at 8 weeks they are on their own and are £25 upwards.

In my experience the custy will try it on and suggest 8 weeks especially say it's a £20 allround detached,

I say sorry monthly, if they still dig their heels in then i say i can just do front/side £10 and back when they want.

If asked why i just say i can only run one frequency as things get compliated and petrol is too expensive and i have keep driving to minimum
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Londoner on August 04, 2011, 01:53:40 pm
When you do 4 weeks it feels like you are never away from the place. Even you start to think its not right.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: dazmond on August 04, 2011, 02:04:31 pm
the guy who cleans my girlfriends windows comes round supposedly fortnightly but hes been coming early lately!more like 11-12 days!!unbelievable!!he only charges £3 though!! ;D ;D


as for me its 4 weekly mostly with a few scattered 6 weeklies and 8 weeklies here and there.ive got one job thats 26 weekly but its a good earning job!! ;) ;D ;D
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: mlscontractcleaner on August 04, 2011, 03:24:07 pm
4 weekly is the norm for us; very few on 8 weekly.

As for those saying 4 weekly is too often; you're mad. If I could get my customers to all go to weekly cleans I would as I'd be earning a lot more ;)
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on August 04, 2011, 03:33:13 pm
4 weekly is the norm for us; very few on 8 weekly.

As for those saying 4 weekly is too often; you're mad. If I could get my customers to all go to weekly cleans I would as I'd be earning a lot more ;)

ditto
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: supernova77 on August 04, 2011, 03:37:22 pm
Quote
i say go for 6 ,  in my experience anybody wanting 8 or12 isnt serious about wanting clean windows .  this is for houses

Thats a bit of a sweeping statement!

All of my customers (apart from the odd few 12 weeklys) are every 8 weeks, they have been since I started from scratch... It may take a little longer to build up a round, but you can charge more per clean so in the long run your quids in!

Andy
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Scrimble on August 04, 2011, 04:36:13 pm
i offer 4 or 8 weekly but if i was starting over i would offer 6 weekly only or if they insisted 12 weekly price would be 50 percent extra!

i am considering notifying all my customers and telling them the frequency will be all 6 weekly, i hate driving to an area and missing out a few jobs then the next time i go missing out a few others, i think its more profitable to have every single job on the same frequency, saving time and diesel, i wish from day 1 i offered 6 weekly only
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Londoner on August 04, 2011, 05:15:24 pm
Quote
i say go for 6 ,  in my experience anybody wanting 8 or12 isnt serious about wanting clean windows .  this is for houses

Thats a bit of a sweeping statement!

All of my customers (apart from the odd few 12 weeklys) are every 8 weeks, they have been since I started from scratch... It may take a little longer to build up a round, but you can charge more per clean so in the long run your quids in!

Andy

I would say exactly the opposite is true. The 8 or 12 weeklys are less likely to dump you as a luxury they can do without when the money gets tight
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dave Anderson on August 04, 2011, 05:17:49 pm
8 weekly is the norm for me and it's a nice balance between clean and really dirty..When I arrive I can see they need cleaning which is what the customer must see also...so at least they can see a difference..On a different note this window cleaning lark bores me to tears and going every 4 weeks would tip me over the edge.

Cheers
Dave.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Londoner on August 04, 2011, 05:19:59 pm
8 weekly is the norm is me and it's a nice balance between clean and really dirty..When I arrive I can see they need cleaning which is what the customer must see also...so at least they can see a difference..On a different note this window cleaning lark bores me to tears and going every 4 weeks would tip me over the edge.


Cheers
Dave.

Seeing some of the customers that often would tip me over the edge.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: A & J Owen Window Cleaning on August 04, 2011, 05:38:34 pm
6 weeks is normal cleaning schedule here unless they want 4 wks.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Frankybadboy on August 04, 2011, 05:47:53 pm
every 5weeks for us,if we are on time,but this goes to 6wk ish,but we get there when we get there.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: david watts on August 04, 2011, 07:55:37 pm
mix and match as long as i make£ 500 a day
do em evry 10 yrs ;D
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: mlscontractcleaner on August 04, 2011, 08:11:25 pm
i offer 4 or 8 weekly but if i was starting over i would offer 6 weekly only or if they insisted 12 weekly price would be 50 percent extra!

i am considering notifying all my customers and telling them the frequency will be all 6 weekly, i hate driving to an area and missing out a few jobs then the next time i go missing out a few others, i think its more profitable to have every single job on the same frequency, saving time and diesel, i wish from day 1 i offered 6 weekly only


You'll still get the " Not today " customers; they'll be like new cleans when they get done!!!
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: mac74 on August 04, 2011, 08:32:34 pm
I reckon you should start off with a 6 weekly rota, because i think it sounds longer to the client than just "another montlhy bill" type of thing - but then when u get really full expand it to 8 weeks. If your wfp and are cleaning mainly off major roads thats a fair time imo, it will take u longer to establish the biz but you will have more eggs in baskets so to speak.  :)
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Richard iSparkle on August 04, 2011, 09:50:30 pm
we come every 4 weeks.  means the windows are easier for us to clean and we maximise our income as more frequent.  never caused us a problem with customers complaining its too frequent.  they ask how often we come, we say every 4 weeks, and they say fine.  perfect!
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: bobplum on August 04, 2011, 10:40:22 pm
we come every 4 weeks.  means the windows are easier for us to clean and we maximise our income as more frequent.  never caused us a problem with customers complaining its too frequent.  they ask how often we come, we say every 4 weeks, and they say fine.  perfect!

take no notice of this man.............his own sister wont let him near her windows,she as  to employ a proper cleaner............

ME ;D

i agree i would go for 4 weeks and maximise your income and if you go for longer periods it just means more canvassing :P
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Richard iSparkle on August 04, 2011, 10:41:49 pm
my sister just feels sorry for the friendly old chap who does her windows  ;)
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Window Washers on August 05, 2011, 01:23:06 am
give the customer what they want.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: H S and Son on August 05, 2011, 02:00:46 am
Like not today?  ;D
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: bobplum on August 05, 2011, 07:55:30 pm
my sister just feels sorry for the friendly old chap who does her windows  ;)

touche ;D
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Perfect Windows on August 05, 2011, 08:03:38 pm
One problem I can see with offering 4 and 6 is that you're going to be all over the place to do it.  4 and 8 I can understand; you do the same roads but you miss some out.  If you're doing 6-weekly, you must be coming back out of cycle.  So, it makes sense to offer x and 2x intervals.

We offer 6-weekly and 12-weekly (at 50% higher price).  Half of our customers now take the 12-weekly clean option.  It makes building a round slower, but the limiting factor in how much you earn is your total hours.  Fill them with work at a 50% price premium and you'll be very happy.  As for:

in my experience anybody wanting 8 or12 isnt serious about wanting clean windows

well, in my experience, half my customers are serious enough to pay 50% more for it.

Vin
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Steve Sed on August 05, 2011, 10:47:18 pm
4 weekly is the norm for us; very few on 8 weekly.

As for those saying 4 weekly is too often; you're mad. If I could get my customers to all go to weekly cleans I would as I'd be earning a lot more ;)

My average price is £17. can't imagine ANY of my customers paying £64 a month. You make more money out of 8 weekly cleans as you charge more.

Think. £10 for 4 weekly or £15 for 8 weekly. Unless on a busy road, an 8 weekly clean takes no longer. Assuming 15 houses  a day it is £150 or £225. £750 a week or £1,125.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on August 06, 2011, 09:02:27 am
4 weekly is the norm for us; very few on 8 weekly.

As for those saying 4 weekly is too often; you're mad. If I could get my customers to all go to weekly cleans I would as I'd be earning a lot more ;)

My average price is £17. can't imagine ANY of my customers paying £64 a month. You make more money out of 8 weekly cleans as you charge more.

Think. £10 for 4 weekly or £15 for 8 weekly. Unless on a busy road, an 8 weekly clean takes no longer. Assuming 15 houses  a day it is £150 or £225. £750 a week or £1,125.



i like what your saying there mate, i think i might try and get more 8 wklys from now on! or at least give new custys the choice of 4 or 8 weeks! e.g 4 wks £10 or 8 wks £15
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: monkeyboy950 on August 06, 2011, 09:35:46 am
Work on a 4 weekly basis,rarely get a not today and when i do I usually drop unless there is a decent reason,but then again most my work is £5 a house so folk don't really miss it and I'm usually doing over 40 houses a day so it works for me,managed to drop majority of time wasters and folk who don't like wfp,I have 4 days a week full days and a day commercial,and never really have any problems
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on August 06, 2011, 09:55:59 am
Work on a 4 weekly basis,rarely get a not today and when i do I usually drop unless there is a decent reason,but then again most my work is £5 a house so folk don't really miss it and I'm usually doing over 40 houses a day so it works for me,managed to drop majority of time wasters and folk who don't like wfp,I have 4 days a week full days and a day commercial,and never really have any problems

40 houses a day?  :o do you do frames sills and doors? and are these small semis?
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: gary999 on August 06, 2011, 10:03:51 am
40 houses a day,i average 10  a day make a decent living
and pretty relaxed.

i couldnt do 40 houses and neither would i want to i didnt
start window cleaning to turn my self into a overworked slave ;D
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Perfect Windows on August 06, 2011, 11:08:43 am
i like what your saying there mate, i think i might try and get more 8 wklys from now on! or at least give new custys the choice of 4 or 8 weeks! e.g 4 wks £10 or 8 wks £15

Do it!

When I kicked off with that pricing, I thought no-one would take it but I offered it anyway.  It costs you nothing to offer it and it gives your customers an easy way to reduce their annual spend with OK windows most of the time.  In return, you earn more each day but you have to wait a little longer for a full round.  Winners all round.

Vin
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dave Turley on August 06, 2011, 10:59:57 pm
I offer 4, 8 or 12 weekly.

8 weekly costs approx 25% more than 4 weekly.

12 weekly costs 50% more than 4 weekly.

If you offer 6 weekly you will end up going into an area for a few odd houses which is inefficient. 

I find monthly makes planning your work difficult
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dean payne on August 07, 2011, 10:33:21 am
I have nothing under 10 quid, I have a min charge, and stick to it, I always tell them I'm prob more expensive than some others, and I'd rather not do it if less than 10 quid, but if your making a living doing it at 5 quid a house then fair play to you, me myself I would rather do less houses, for more money than loads for less. Regards.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Paul Coleman on August 07, 2011, 11:29:07 am
Does anyone think once every 8 weeks is to long? I was thinking 4 and 6 weekly might be better, does anyone do it another way as in every 4 weeks only, and if they don't want it every 4 weeks then drop them, it would be so much better and more simple that way, or one clean every 5 weeks. What have you found to be best?? Regards.

I do 6 and 12 with a 50% hike for 12.  IMO it's better to work it so the the numbers add up to doing a clean every time you are in an area or every other time.  i.e. 4 & 8, 5 & 10, 6 & 12 etc.  This avoids having to break with your schedule and returning to an area for a small amount of work.
I do make it clear that 6 weekly means 6 - 8 weekly and 12 weekly means 12 - 16 weekly.  This allows me to take a break, be ill, not get too stressed about bad weather, be a bit lazy when motivation is in short supply etc.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Paul Coleman on August 07, 2011, 11:35:35 am
i offer 4 or 8 weekly but if i was starting over i would offer 6 weekly only or if they insisted 12 weekly price would be 50 percent extra!

i am considering notifying all my customers and telling them the frequency will be all 6 weekly, i hate driving to an area and missing out a few jobs then the next time i go missing out a few others, i think its more profitable to have every single job on the same frequency, saving time and diesel, i wish from day 1 i offered 6 weekly only


You'll still get the " Not today " customers; they'll be like new cleans when they get done!!!

I have far less of this since i started cleaning a bit less frequently.  However, it's also true that I became a lot less tolerant of this some years ago and moved on from customers who do this.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Paul Coleman on August 07, 2011, 11:37:42 am
give the customer what they want.

If I had adhered to that 100%, I would have closed my business years ago - or been nutted off for trying to jump to too many needs.  ;D
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Paul Coleman on August 07, 2011, 11:38:33 am
One problem I can see with offering 4 and 6 is that you're going to be all over the place to do it.  4 and 8 I can understand; you do the same roads but you miss some out.  If you're doing 6-weekly, you must be coming back out of cycle.  So, it makes sense to offer x and 2x intervals.

We offer 6-weekly and 12-weekly (at 50% higher price).  Half of our customers now take the 12-weekly clean option.  It makes building a round slower, but the limiting factor in how much you earn is your total hours.  Fill them with work at a 50% price premium and you'll be very happy.  As for:

in my experience anybody wanting 8 or12 isnt serious about wanting clean windows

well, in my experience, half my customers are serious enough to pay 50% more for it.

Vin

Yep.  What that man said
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Dave Mills on August 07, 2011, 11:47:10 am
give the customer what they want.

If I had adhered to that 100%, I would have closed my business years ago - or been nutted off for trying to jump to too many needs.  ;D

I think he may mean "give the customer what they want and charge enough for the service".
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: AuRavelling79 on August 07, 2011, 05:13:21 pm
I offer a five week and four days service and a sixteen week and five day service. This keeps my brain cells active working out when they align for a bumper month.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Richy essex on August 07, 2011, 06:43:46 pm
40 houses a day??? are they in a row  i thought that the windows on coronation street looked well!
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: Paul Coleman on August 07, 2011, 06:51:53 pm
I offer a five week and four days service and a sixteen week and five day service. This keeps my brain cells active working out when they align for a bumper month.

You've got more than one?  ;D
I've been trying to find a second one to keep the first one company.
I've not had much luck yet though.
Title: Re: 4 or 8 weelky or 4 and 6 weekly?
Post by: craig rob allin on August 14, 2011, 02:10:19 pm
i clean every 3 week , originally it was every 4 then it turned to every 3 , no complaints and my customers are happy with that