Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: carl stanton on January 17, 2012, 08:02:31 am

Title: that will be £1 more....
Post by: carl stanton on January 17, 2012, 08:02:31 am
had a custy ask to go to every other month, so with that i said it would go up another £1
she did not see why it should be any different

how would you explain it
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: bobplum on January 17, 2012, 08:05:39 am
because you have two months of cleaning to do,more time ,more water,etc
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Ian101 on January 17, 2012, 08:07:47 am
Takes longer extra filth bird poo etc and time is money.

Take it or leave it love.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Inside Out on January 17, 2012, 08:08:30 am
Currently I maintain your windows cleanliness! When cleaning every other, I will be spending more time at your property to ensure the same results because of dirt having more time to build up on your windows.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Dave. on January 17, 2012, 08:08:47 am
the amount of time will hardly be noticible to the customer - but you will use more water - washing & rinsing
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: JackieW on January 17, 2012, 08:11:43 am
Because if I don't charge you more money  I'll be halving my income.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: dazmond on January 17, 2012, 09:03:30 am
more dirt,more water used(that costs you money to purify).more re-jigging round to fit them in(if most of your round is monthly).slightly more time spent on the job.simple.

i had an £8 monthly ask for 2 monthly recently so i upped them to £10.no problem.he still saving money.

i will not clean a 2 monthly for the same price as a monthly.slightly higher price or they dont get cleaned.some customers will try it on.if their struggling money wise then they better not have a window cleaner at all if they cant stump up another couple of quid to get them cleaned.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: carl stanton on January 17, 2012, 09:11:12 am
and i think there is the factor of buying power as well
i:e  if buy more resin i get it cheaper per weight than a smaller amount

wasnt in the mood for dealing with it yesterday bad start, and i was frozen!  :(
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: William McCafferty on January 17, 2012, 09:28:28 am
Carl

I think your customer objected because you just added £1, too them it could come across as you wanting more money for the same amount of work.

I don't know your prices but when any of my customers require 2 monthly cleans, I always increase the price by 50% and then explain that it is because the windows require more work and effort than a 4 weekly clean.

I also point out that per month they are still saving money, but you will get some who don't see this, and these I dump.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: AS Window Cleaning on January 17, 2012, 01:17:25 pm
as above.

I also point out the price quoted for 5 weekly is heavily discounted. ie one off price is 20 quid. 10 weekly as more regular is 12 pound. 5 weekly is cheaper still, 10 smackers. this way you have actually reduced price for regular, instead of putting up price for less regular. :)

or that's the idea!
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: John F on January 17, 2012, 01:24:45 pm
dont explain. just get so many customers that you dont have time to mess about with people who dont know if they need a window cleaner or not. when you have enough customers that you find it hard to keep up, would you even think about explaining anything?

the answer to most of these questions is get more customers. then these type of problems disappear.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on January 17, 2012, 02:08:59 pm
dont explain. just get so many customers that you dont have time to mess about with people who dont know if they need a window cleaner or not. when you have enough customers that you find it hard to keep up, would you even think about explaining anything?

the answer to most of these questions is get more customers. then these type of problems disappear.
well said there john! nice thoughts on the situation mate

george
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Steve Sed on January 17, 2012, 02:28:23 pm
dont explain. just get so many customers that you dont have time to mess about with people who dont know if they need a window cleaner or not. when you have enough customers that you find it hard to keep up, would you even think about explaining anything?

the answer to most of these questions is get more customers. then these type of problems disappear.

Spot on. I can't wait to be at that point.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Frankybadboy on January 17, 2012, 04:34:00 pm
but do you really put in any more effort than a normal clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Steve Sed on January 17, 2012, 04:37:13 pm
but do you really put in any more effort than a normal clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Depends on the location. On a busy road it would certainly take longer.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: carl stanton on January 17, 2012, 04:43:52 pm
yes you would take a bit longer , as more time for dirt to settle, and like said there is scheduling

and someone keeping you monthly or whatever you say thanks for your regular custom i can work a better price shared out over the year kind of thing, ya get me?  :D
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on January 17, 2012, 04:55:09 pm
but do you really put in any more effort than a normal clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes, especially if theres bird poo with an extra month to engrain itself in! and i find white upvc frames take i lot more time to clean also
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: windowswashed on January 17, 2012, 06:27:00 pm
Just inform the customer price increasing as their frequency reducing .....owing to have to rejiggle work on a full working route which messes up your consistent daily routine.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: H2GoKent on January 17, 2012, 07:00:02 pm
In that situation I have always just said "yes you can switch to 8 weeks but it will cost 20% more because it takes 20% longer". Very rarely had a problem.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: carl stanton on January 17, 2012, 07:03:58 pm
guess i just wasnt in the mood to deal with that little problem yesterday (must have been my weekly male monthly)
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Dave66 on January 17, 2012, 07:41:35 pm
nail on head johny boy
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Frankybadboy on January 17, 2012, 09:18:29 pm
you all know that windows stay cleaner longer with wfp. ;)
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: carl stanton on January 17, 2012, 09:35:57 pm
Frank can be  true, but i am trad  ;D
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on January 17, 2012, 09:43:53 pm
you all know that windows stay cleaner longer with wfp. ;)
nobody said they didnt frank  :) but the fact is they have accumulated twice the amout of dirt! how can one despute this fact?  ???
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Frankybadboy on January 18, 2012, 06:23:22 am
you all know that windows stay cleaner longer with wfp. ;)
nobody said they didnt frank  :) but the fact is they have accumulated twice the amout of dirt! how can one despute this fact?  ???
come on we all know that they dont get twice as dirty, :P :P :Pand never would you really spend any more time than you would than a normal clean. ;) :o :o :o :o :-* :-* :-* :-*
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Londoner on January 18, 2012, 07:02:27 am
I agree with Franky. I don't think it makes any difference to me. I clean the windows the same irrespective of whether they are 4,6,8 or whatever. I don't charge extra but I would if I were trad.

Actually I wouldn't say they look much different. I think its a good business move. I know I have picked up customers off other cleaners because I am flexible. Quite a lot of new customers want 12 weeks now. Again, no problem, its all money in my pocket.

I just load them into George and when they are due I do them 
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Window Washers on January 18, 2012, 09:07:27 am
if you dont charge more for 4/6/8 weekly cleans you are leaving money on the table and you are costing yourself more time.

I will point out a few things for the people that say it does not take longer:

if you do it less often you:

You need to use more water, marginaly more not much but more scrubbing, there is possibility of twice the bird muck (you have to allow for this or it cost you time, time is money

You will have to do 2 houses instead of one to make the same money, this without doubt takes more time traveling, (collecting if you do that) wear and tear on the van, equipment, clothes and your shoes :) admin time as there are double the amount of people to account for.

You will also have to pay double the cheque charges if you run it as a business and not a personal account.

there is a list I could sit typing about why doing it less often costs more money, good for you if you dont charge extra but now you cannot say it doesnt take any more time as I have just shown you only a few things that we all need to do.

Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Pj on January 18, 2012, 10:56:33 am
Don't say any more than you really have to.  The more you say the less credible you sound.
If you judge that it will cost them £1 more for your services by them dropping back to 8 weeks or every other month, well, that is your price, that's the end of it, no further explanation is necessary.

When you first price a job for £15 do they say, "Why isn't it £14?  No, that's your price and you wait to see if they accept. 

You go in to the supermarket and get a £4 bag of charcoal for the BBQ and it's priced at £5, do you go to the checkout and protest, "I only want this in the Summer so why has it gone up?"  No, you either pay or you spend £3 in petrol driving somewhere else to try and get it cheaper.

Have confidence, price it right, and that's it!


Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: AS Window Cleaning on January 18, 2012, 03:33:54 pm
good point pj.

regardless of wether it takes longer or not. the lower price for 5 weeks (or 4 weeks) is an inventive to be more regular. look at it as reducing the price for 5 weeks, not increasing it for 10.

that being said, if your happy not increasing it for less regular (so to speak), then it's your business. but the OP here wanted to and was asking how best to explain to customer. so saying you shouldn't, ain't really helping him! (with all due respect to anyone that differs in opinion!)  :) :-\
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Frankybadboy on January 18, 2012, 04:13:28 pm
i didnt say i dont charge more, ;)


but i did say they dont take any longer, ;D
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: GB Window Cleaning on January 18, 2012, 04:19:18 pm
i didnt say i dont charge more, ;)


but i did say they dont take any longer, ;D
;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: Window Washers on January 18, 2012, 04:30:02 pm
i didnt say i dont charge more, ;)


but i did say they dont take any longer, ;D
hahaha  ;D
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: AS Window Cleaning on January 18, 2012, 05:34:27 pm
bah humbug.

but spot on frankie. I accuse wrongly  ;D  >:(
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: DMK115 on January 19, 2012, 05:22:48 pm
Because if I don't charge you more money  I'll be halving my income.

Not if you're only losing £1 you won't, unless you're only charging £1 for the house in the first place!
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: John F on January 19, 2012, 05:26:19 pm
Because if I don't charge you more money  I'll be halving my income.

Not if you're only losing £1 you won't, unless you're only charging £1 for the house in the first place!

i think what he means is that if all his customers did this then he would halve his income.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: DMK115 on January 19, 2012, 05:44:49 pm
Because if I don't charge you more money  I'll be halving my income.

Not if you're only losing £1 you won't, unless you're only charging £1 for the house in the first place!

i think what he means is that if all his customers did this then he would halve his income.


Quite probably, should have put my thinking head on really.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: AS Window Cleaning on January 19, 2012, 06:00:45 pm
Because if I don't charge you more money  I'll be halving my income.

Not if you're only losing £1 you won't, unless you're only charging £1 for the house in the first place!

i think what he means is that if all his customers did this then he would halve his income.


Quite probably, should have put my thinking head on really.

 ;D ;D  way to go for your 25th post  ;) ;D
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: JackieW on January 19, 2012, 06:05:06 pm
''i think what he means is that if all his customers did this then he would halve his income.''

My mistake for not clarifying.
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: CLEANCARE WC on January 19, 2012, 06:19:28 pm
The first price coming out of my mouth on new quotes will be for 8 wkly @ 33% more than 4 wkly I will then offer 4 wkly If they switch frequency later we will both know where we are.

Basically Im not charging more for less frequent, Im discounting for more frequent
Title: Re: that will be £1 more....
Post by: carl stanton on January 19, 2012, 10:04:38 pm
Basically Im not charging more for less frequent, Im discounting for more frequent
like that  ;D

i spoke to the customer again, said thanks for custom an all that, and checked she and my work ok
she has been going through breast cancer so i am glad i did not get forceful or any thing