Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: supernova77 on November 30, 2011, 03:47:12 pm
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Hi All,
Got the email below in response to me chasing payment. I'm getting 1 or 2 customers per month wanting to change from 8 weekly to 12 weekly at the moment - A sign of the times I think... Is anyone else getting the same?
Andy
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Hi Andy,
Definitely not an error on your part, I've just tackled my paper mountain this morning and found the invoice, so apologies for that, will pay it now.
Please could we change the frequency to 4 times per year, ie every 3 months from now on.
Many Thanks/Anne
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Dear Anne,
Soz, no.
Luv Andy. ;D
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that is because people offer 8 weekly cleans, then as they are desperate offer 3 monthly, just say no, as the next thing will be every 6 months, then we will call you, i only do 1 8 weekly now, becasue it is next 2 a job i do and is a old women, use to do a few till started getting lods on the street, can we change to 2 months as no 7 has
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Dear Anne,
Soz, no.
Luv Andy. Grin
Ha ha, if it was a lower paid job I might have replied with that :)
I replied with the following:
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Hi Anne,
No problem, thanks for the payment.
Most customers are on an 8 week frequency. I can change your frequency to every 12 weeks, however this would involve a small price increase of £5 per clean as the windows will be dirtier each visit, plus your cleans will be out of sync with other customers in the area.
I'll change the frequency on my databse now.
Many Thanks,
Andy
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that is because people offer 8 weekly cleans, then as they are desperate offer 3 monthly, just say no, as the next thing will be every 6 months, then we will call you, i only do 1 8 weekly now, becasue it is next 2 a job i do and is a old women, use to do a few till started getting lods on the street, can we change to 2 months as no 7 has
The majority of my customers are every 8 weeks... I decided to offer this as the main frequency when I started as I target larger houses, and people just simply didn't want to pay £30, £40 or £50 + every month for their windows to be cleaned.
It took a lot of leg work to build up in the early days, but I think it's been worth it.
I don't mind changing people to 12 weekly if they accept a price increase per clean... I would drop anyone who wanted a longer frequency than that.
Andy
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i just dont agree with it, before you know it, in this business 8 weeks will become the norm and there will be more part timer window cleaners, who cant fill rounds up, then the prices start falling, as people get desperate, then the small houses will want 8 weekly, as there friend has it,
but each to there own
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Andy,
Did you get my email about the van grille?
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Andy,
Did you get my email about the van grille?
Hi mate,
I did try emailing you back, but got this response :(
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This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of
its recipients. The following addresses failed:
<info@h2ose.co.uk>
SMTP error from remote server after RCPT command:
host hermes.hosts.co.uk[85.233.160.21]:
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If I was starting again I would offer 6 weekly only
Most of mine are monthly 12 times a year but last few months been getting behind due to volume and most now 5 weeks - not had a "are you hear again" for months.
Having a sort out of customers and selling an area off in the near future so will be back to monthly after that
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i just dont agree with it, before you know it, in this business 8 weeks will become the norm and there will be more part timer window cleaners, who cant fill rounds up, then the prices start falling, as people get desperate, then the small houses will want 8 weekly, as there friend has it,
but each to there own
You may just have to learn to live with it.
A generation or so ago the norm seemed to be 2 weekly and still maybe up that there north.
But with cleaning materials like ecover and the wfp method leaving no residue on the glass, they do stay cleaner longer. There may also be less crap in the air also.
This generation are also far more savy with their money and providing the windows are cleaned every so often, they are happy.
If you can't offer and price accordingly, someone else will.
Art
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Monthly's get cleaned in Dec .
2 monthly's always get cleaned in Nov. Look after more frequently cleaned customers (monthly's) as top priority in the run up to xmas as they are the more frequent bread and butter work.
Charge more for 2 monthly work or longer work as inconvenienced from normal routine and to deter others from going onto a less frequent clean.
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Andy,
Did you get my email about the van grille?
Hi mate,
I did try emailing you back, but got this response :(
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This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of
its recipients. The following addresses failed:
<info@h2ose.co.uk>
SMTP error from remote server after RCPT command:
host hermes.hosts.co.uk[85.233.160.21]:
550 Rejected
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Strange...I'll look into it!
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If I was starting again I would offer 6 weekly only
Most of mine are monthly 12 times a year but last few months been getting behind due to volume and most now 5 weeks - not had a "are you hear again" for months.
Having a sort out of customers and selling an area off in the near future so will be back to monthly after that
Ian i would go the other way if i was you...increase your customer base and turn your existing round into a 6 weekly round.I reckon most people will be glad to see you every 6 weeks rather than every 4......wfp certainly leaves the windows staying cleaner for longer,and with the current and future economic climate it could well be a good move...
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I'm with iconic
I've just had an 8 wkly ,was messing around, so offered 12 weekly at additional £5.00
She's happy, I'm getting extra for same clean
Mr B
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If I was starting again I would offer 6 weekly only
Most of mine are monthly 12 times a year but last few months been getting behind due to volume and most now 5 weeks - not had a "are you hear again" for months.
Having a sort out of customers and selling an area off in the near future so will be back to monthly after that
Ian i would go the other way if i was you...increase your customer base and turn your existing round into a 6 weekly round.I reckon most people will be glad to see you every 6 weeks rather than every 4......wfp certainly leaves the windows staying cleaner for longer,and with the current and future economic climate it could well be a good move...
Yep agree
I started off doing 4 and 8 weekly then switched to 6 and 12 custys are definately more happy to see you :)
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4 or 8 wkly for me, anything else is a one off!
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I'm with iconic
I've just had an 8 wkly ,was messing around, so offered 12 weekly at additional £5.00
She's happy, I'm getting extra for same clean
Mr B
you minght be getting extra for the same clean but over the year how much have you lost due to going from 8 to 12 week cleans ?
youve made £20 extra per year with the additional £5 but if it was a decent priced house say £20 youve lost out on around £60 over the year .
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Tell em it's monthly like your mortgage payments ;)
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im getting a lot of people wanting 3 months rather than the 8 weekly that they were on, they do get a price increase though. better than losing them altogether.
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3 months!!? :o :o 6weeks ;D
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Monthly for me. Wouldn't want it any other way.
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most of my work is calender monthly now with some 2 monthlies at good prices.6 weekly for a few stand alone commercial jobs and one 26 weekly(twice a year!)big church!!
the cheaper estate customers are happy with monthly.with just a few 2 monthlies here and there.
i offer 2 monthly as a standard clean frequency for work outside the estates at higher prices these days.9 times out of 10 they go for it making my time per job more profitable! ;) ;D ;D
still plenty of guys doing fortnightly work near me.tradders with fairy liquid!!windows get dirty very quickly!! :P :P
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It doesn't matter to me, not even in the slightest. What the "no way" brigade don't realise is you get more customers this way and you keep the ones you have for longer and you can charge a bit more.
Windows don't need cleaning that often.
I just set them up in George as 12 weeks instead of 6 or 8 then they come up when they are due. Where is the problem in that? George makes it simple
Somebody will be coming on here any minute now saying you do that for one customer and "word gets round" well if it does it will be in your favour. I must have picked up lots of customers from other window cleaners over recent years for being more flexible.
Once a month just doesn't ever get asked for any more. I have 450 customers more or less and I think 3 are on 4 weeks and 1 is on 2 weeks
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i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return. it sorts the wheat from the chaff with no hard feelings
if they do later ring up i say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list mrs mcguffin
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Seems crazy to me. Why would you do that? There are some right funny attitudes on here. A messer is one thing, dropped one yesterday but just asking to change frequency?
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I offer 2 monthly as a standard clean frequency for work outside the estates at higher prices these days.9 times out of 10 they go for it making my time per job more profitable! ;) ;D ;D
Well done that man, soon as we can get them all on £100 once a year we are made
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Seems crazy to me. Why would you do that? There are some right funny attitudes on here. A messer is one thing, dropped one yesterday but just asking to change frequency?
I've become a bit more flexible about this too Vince. It used to be monthly quite a few years ago. Volume of work and too many "not todays" led me into 6 weekly. I would do larger jobs 12 weekly though if requested. These days, anyone can go 12 weekly - if they are prepared to pay 50% more. It can turn a moderately paid job into a well paid job and a low paid job into a fairly decent one. Also, the customer saves 25% on their over all bill. Yes, I have had the conversation that it doesn't take me 50% longer too. I just agree with them, tell them that I prefer not to supply a 12 weekly service so I make sure that it's worthwhile for me to do so. I'm just being honest (though polite) about it. If someone doesn't like my brand of honesty they are as free to get the service elsewhere as I am to withdraw it. Indeed, a few did choose to go elsewhere and a few others chose to pay more. If the economy (and my workload) deteriorates to the point where I have to review this strategy, then I will. At the moment though, it isn't necessary.
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Seems crazy to me. Why would you do that? There are some right funny attitudes on here. A messer is one thing, dropped one yesterday but just asking to change frequency?
i always allow them to change frequency because if i told them i cannot it would create ill feeling and maybe theyd cancel on me and theyd stop tipping im sure . i prefer to cancel quietly and move on at that point.
i remember when i first started in this biz,i promised myself not to let it become a place where people play mind games with me . its suprizing how many mindgamers are out there
perhaps 10 % of society is my guess
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 . still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid. ok he says the wife says go ahead . that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too
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i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return. it sorts the wheat from the chaff with no hard feelings
if they do later ring up i say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list mrs mcguffin
Posted by: bobby p p
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 . still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid. ok he says the wife says go ahead . that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too
Im as confused as you.
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surely it doesn't matter what frequency people are on they will always want to move it along.
if you look back other other threads and this one its a common trend,4 goes to 8,8 goes 12 or 16 and so on and so on
i must admit was toying with the idea to change from 4 to 5/6 but is it worth it?
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If I came into a lump of work,(it would have to be another full 2 weeks worth) I might consider going from 4-6 weekly and then provide a service for the tightarses on a 12 week rota at a premium price. so they think they are saving money but in reality not alot because the price would be higher even if the cleans are less frequent.
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I was listening to the Money Program on Radio 4 the other day and the emphasis for businesses was to go all out for customer service in a time of recession.
As this one will last a bit longer and may even get worse, I would recommend being big on customer service. If they require a longer gap then go with it.
Added to that it will encourage us to have a larger customer base which is better for business anyway.
You are better having 200 customers looking forward to you calling rather than 100 who think you call too often.
Along with the above it also makes good business sense to increace the price along with frequency, with WFP it doesn't really take much longer so the value is greater.
Customer service all the way.
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most of my work is 8 weeks, so usually they are stinking the time i redo them. they do pay a premium for that time period anyway, unless they are really small jobs
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Quartery cleans for me are the most profitable.
Im charging min prices for quarterlies around the 35 quid mark. Its turning out to be a very very good earner on the day they are done.
My motto is give what the customer wants.
thats what good business practice is all about.
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email working now Andy..if you want to try again
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email working now Andy..if you want to try again
Just re-sent it again mate :)
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i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return. it sorts the wheat from the chaff with no hard feelings
if they do later ring up i say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list mrs mcguffin
Posted by: bobby p p
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 . still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid. ok he says the wife says go ahead . that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too
Im as confused as you.
the point is ,you should set your stall out and then stick to it. if i went in and ordered at kfc 30 seconds before closing time everytime i went in ,id be considered a bloomin nuisance and thats what these extenders are ,they know it too
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Quartery cleans for me are the most profitable.
Im charging min prices for quarterlies around the 35 quid mark. Its turning out to be a very very good earner on the day they are done.
My motto is give what the customer wants.
thats what good business practice is all about.
That works until it reaches the point where what the customer wants is not viable for the service provider to provide. So I would qualify that I think. e.g. if I have a row of £12 houses at six weekly and one wants 12 weekly, if I don't charge a premium (50% extra = £18), then the others in that row will soon want the same. They can have the same if they are prepared to pay extra. However, if I alow it at the same price, I will lose out.
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i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return. it sorts the wheat from the chaff with no hard feelings
if they do later ring up i say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list mrs mcguffin
Posted by: bobby p p
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 . still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid. ok he says the wife says go ahead . that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too
Im as confused as you.
the point is ,you should set your stall out and then stick to it. if i went in and ordered at kfc 30 seconds before closing time everytime i went in ,id be considered a bloomin nuisance and thats what these extenders are ,they know it too
However, if KFC charged you 50% extra, you would either stop doing it or they would no longer regard you as a nuisance (well the management wouldn't anyway).
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Paul are you doing that yourself, smiling broadly as soon as you get a request for an extend ? im having a problem getting my head around that idea ,but i see you might be forcing the price increase in your favour so that you are the winner ,i like that idea