Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Dougaldum on March 14, 2012, 07:16:17 pm

Title: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Dougaldum on March 14, 2012, 07:16:17 pm
i know i should put up prices but don't get round to do it bit of a chicken i do get my customers say still the same price or some put up the price for me  do you get the same or is it just me scared of losing customers your thoughts

   
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Gav Camm lammy 283 on March 14, 2012, 07:21:51 pm
bang em up ;D ;D
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Dougaldum on March 14, 2012, 07:26:16 pm
bang em up ;D ;D
i know should
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: steve rix on March 14, 2012, 07:31:09 pm
We've put our prices up 10% every 2years for the past 6 years = 33.1%
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: LWC on March 14, 2012, 07:32:20 pm
You used to make me tell em the bins were 50p more andy  ;D
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: CLEANCARE WC on March 14, 2012, 07:32:29 pm
£2 on all the ones you have had for 10 yrs. and a quid on the more recent ones at least
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: richard jagger on March 14, 2012, 07:32:41 pm
You just a business wimp.Without are backbone to run a business.Pass the milk. ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: simonr on March 14, 2012, 07:35:24 pm
i brought a round off a mate who i worked for 10 yrs ago & he hadn't put the prices up since i was with him £3.50 for a 3 bed  terrace with a bay at front & extended kitchens at back 18 of them, i put em up £1 right off & 3 cancelled lol . got em up to £5 now & i'm wfp them so they're not too bad now but 1 lass went 2mth cos of the price, they forget their wages have been going up yearly
you need to put em up now before a good run becomes a crap one & you'll hate doing it
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Jackal on March 14, 2012, 07:38:25 pm
10 years surely you must have some underpriced jobs by now,

you got a full round?

think its a good idea imo to take more work than you can actually clean in a month so you have more confidence to put prices up as you aint to fussed if a few cancel,

iv been going just over 2 years now built alot of work myself so them prices arnt to bad (some i underpriced but still ok for now),i brought some at first and them are bit less than i now charge but will put them up this year or next,iv put 4 up this year as they were real grudge cleans and they were by a £1 still got them,theres some tight wods out there but im sure most will realise you have to put them up,sort it out mate
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Smudger on March 14, 2012, 07:42:06 pm
i think you have made it hard for yourself - prices that are 10 years out of date will be difficault to bring upto a decent level in 1 or 2 goes and will more likely as not cause problems

i would say that you need to be brave and get on with the price rise however how does your prices compare with others in the area ?  (if your at the low end then raise the price to be at least mid way)

if you give good customer service and do a good job you wont lose hardly any customers and the rise would easily cover the losses. - work smarter not harder

our price review is in thirds - new customers ( less than a year ) - not increase - established customers who were increased last year ( no increase ) established customers where the rise was 2 years ago - now due for another - this way price increases are regular ( but not so much the customer gets pee'd off ) and are reasonable from 50p to £3 depending on the job.

it's easy to justify a rise when you say to the customer - it has been 2 years since the last rise... etc...

last year their was a % that were under priced from when i very first started and they just got a letter with the increase be it 2 or 3 quid or £10 - if they didn't like - too bad i wasn't prepared to work at those low rates anymore

if you work to cheaply they dont value you or your service

Darran
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Dougaldum on March 14, 2012, 08:03:08 pm
You used to make me tell em the bins were 50p more andy  ;
i know like i said that was 10 years ago
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: richard jagger on March 14, 2012, 08:08:55 pm
This a factor when a round is sold. All and sundry say x 5  x10 the value but if this work was sold it would be nearly worthless due to the length of time that prices were static.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Dougaldum on March 14, 2012, 08:09:25 pm
We've put our prices up 10% every 2years for the past 6 years = 33.1%
thirs going tobe time where windows are going up and up  that they can't afford you because they don't get a pay rise like we do in window cleaning
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Dougaldum on March 14, 2012, 08:14:17 pm
This a factor when a round is sold. All and sundry say x 5  x10 the value but if this work was sold it would be nearly worthless due to the length of time that prices were static.
my prices are still not bad just haven't
put them up in yearsi
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: mgba_78 on March 14, 2012, 09:26:53 pm
Put um up!!!

Work smarter not harder!

Put 100 customers up £1 and you can afford to lose £100 worth of work and still earn the same £££££'s   8)

We've just put a load of ours up, and yeah we lost a couple but we're still way way better off even though we lost some!
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Window Washers on March 14, 2012, 09:49:23 pm
i know i should put up prices but don't get round to do it bit of a chicken i do get my customers say still the same price or some put up the price for me  do you get the same or is it just me scared of losing customers your thoughts

   
I think your asking a question you already know the answer to.

if they have not gone up in 10 years I dread to think how much money you have left on the table to date, increse the prices over a couple of year period some this year some the next, for the low priced more now than later.

at the end of the day its your business, but things are nowhere near as cheap as they were 10 years ago, your losing money not doing this and working harder to pay your bills.

Increase them and do this soon (before the budget)
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Llaaww on March 14, 2012, 09:54:12 pm
I never ever put the price up. It is not good for business.

My way around this is to offer to do more work for more money.

I can grow a £5 per month job into one that happily pays £15-20 by adding small jobs bit by bit.

Windows       £5
door mat       50p
door step      £1
Garage door £2
Lights           50p
gate             £2
Bin                £2
short length of gutter £5
etc etc etc

There are a hundred and one little jobs that need doing, I always have a drop of oil for squeak hinges (£2), and a pot of brasso for a plaque (£5), I pimped my ladder the other day for half an hour (£x).

There is no need to put the price up, just find another way to make them to produce a buck.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: CLEANCARE WC on March 14, 2012, 09:56:38 pm
I never ever put the price up. It is not good for business.

My way around this is to offer to do more work for more money.

I can grow a £5 per month job into one that happily pays £15-20 by adding small jobs bit by bit.

Windows       £5
door mat       50p
door step      £1
Garage door £2
Lights           50p
gate             £2
Bin                £2
short length of gutter £5
etc etc etc

There are a hundred and one little jobs that need doing, I always have a drop of oil for squeak hinges (£2), and a pot of brasso for a plaque (£5), I pimped my ladder the other day for half an hour (£x).

There is no need to put the price up, just find another way to make them to produce a buck.

I HEAR WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT THE PRICE STILL HAS TO GO UP LLAWW
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: simonr on March 14, 2012, 09:56:49 pm
Put um up!!!

Work smarter not harder!

Put 100 customers up £1 and you can afford to lose £100 worth of work and still earn the same £££££'s   8)

We've just put a load of ours up, and yeah we lost a couple but we're still way way better off even though we lost some!

thats a brilliant way to think of it
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: mgba_78 on March 14, 2012, 10:06:35 pm
I never ever put the price up. It is not good for business.

My way around this is to offer to do more work for more money.

I can grow a £5 per month job into one that happily pays £15-20 by adding small jobs bit by bit.

Windows       £5
door mat       50p
door step      £1
Garage door £2
Lights           50p
gate             £2
Bin                £2
short length of gutter £5
etc etc etc

There are a hundred and one little jobs that need doing, I always have a drop of oil for squeak hinges (£2), and a pot of brasso for a plaque (£5), I pimped my ladder the other day for half an hour (£x).

There is no need to put the price up, just find another way to make them to produce a buck.

Id rather clean 1 house for £18 than do all them jobs mate, sorry!
And im a window cleaner, that list of jobs is more odd job man.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Jackal on March 14, 2012, 10:12:17 pm
I never ever put the price up. It is not good for business.

My way around this is to offer to do more work for more money.

I can grow a £5 per month job into one that happily pays £15-20 by adding small jobs bit by bit.

Windows       £5
door mat       50p
door step      £1
Garage door £2
Lights           50p
gate             £2
Bin                £2
short length of gutter £5
etc etc etc

There are a hundred and one little jobs that need doing, I always have a drop of oil for squeak hinges (£2), and a pot of brasso for a plaque (£5), I pimped my ladder the other day for half an hour (£x).

There is no need to put the price up, just find another way to make them to produce a buck.

this a joke or what   ;D no thanks
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Window Washers on March 14, 2012, 10:21:50 pm
I never ever put the price up. It is not good for business.

My way around this is to offer to do more work for more money.

I can grow a £5 per month job into one that happily pays £15-20 by adding small jobs bit by bit.

Windows       £5
door mat       50p
door step      £1
Garage door £2
Lights           50p
gate             £2
Bin                £2
short length of gutter £5
etc etc etc

There are a hundred and one little jobs that need doing, I always have a drop of oil for squeak hinges (£2), and a pot of brasso for a plaque (£5), I pimped my ladder the other day for half an hour (£x).

There is no need to put the price up, just find another way to make them to produce a buck.
do you smoke wacky baccy ?  :o
There is every need to put the prices up, say that to your electric company, the water company the council tax, insurance, fuel blah blah blah,
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: windowswashed on March 14, 2012, 10:22:00 pm
find your lowest 33% and increase them on your next visit dramatically and gauge the response from those that have been increased.
Adjust other 66% to be increased accordingly. No point being a busy fool.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: matty72 on March 14, 2012, 10:47:45 pm
I'm exactly the same as you mate, if i put my prices up some will leave, have decided i will though when i get some more work to cover any i lost only problem is finding it difficult to pick up new work but when i do some of my work will go up but not all of it got to be realistic and make sure you dont loose to much, the ones that are really difficult customers do their windows in half the time and that will make up the difference if they complain price rise, im drunk right now but thats what i think.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: poleman on March 14, 2012, 10:54:42 pm
Can I just add to this post....

I started my window cleaning business in 1988! and 15 years later I only put my price up 50p each customer!

I just could not continue with such low prices and when we had some bad weather (rained for weeks) I had to give my round away!

So in short you have to put your price up each year or every other year as you have to keep up with the cost of living! everything goes up! (fuel, insurance, road tax, raw goods)

Last year I put my prices up by 10% and didn't lost one customer! next year I will go with 5%

Hope this helps...
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: davids3511 on March 14, 2012, 11:26:38 pm
I haven't put my prices up in 5 years as I was afraid I would lose customers. As I took on new work my price increased every year but just not the old ones. It was a decent price to start with so is still ok now. I have just started putting them up 10% and no losses so far.

The thing that showed me was I took on a franchisee and had to fill him with work quickly. I have managed to gain 2k of monthly work since the 3rd week of January. His are better prices than mine and about 60% will pay by online banking. It taught me there are more customers out there willing to pay your asking price (within reason) so if you lose a few, go get some more.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Tom White on March 14, 2012, 11:32:06 pm
I never ever put the price up. It is not good for business.

Strongly disagree.

Just put your prices up where they need putting up.  As someone pointed out, if you stick your prices up to an overall increase of £100, you can afford to lose £100 worth of work (you won't though).  However, the poster who posted this failed to mention that you'll be earning that £100 for DOING LESS WORK, giving you more scope to add more to your existing stuff.

Are you still going to have the same prices in 10 years time?  By then, once you've ran out of stuff to clean, you'll be ironing for them and walking their dog.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: dazmond on March 14, 2012, 11:42:03 pm
ive put 150 customers up this year.kicking in next month.not lost one!i also put most of these up 2 years ago.new work is priced much better out of the estate work i clean.wfp has made me faster as well.

ive never had it so good!!

years ago i simply didnt have the confidence to put up prices.i did a pretty bad job sometimes as well if im being honest.ive upped my game over the last 3-4 years and i attract good customers most of the time.i also dont care if i lose the odd job as i have plenty of work.

you really need to bite the bullet and put them up mate.most of the fears are all in your head mate IF you do a good job and more importantly KNOW you give a quality service!!
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: matty72 on March 14, 2012, 11:50:47 pm
i think if you have enough work itsnot a problem if your on the border line with work you have to bite the bullet until your ready to rise prices when you have more work
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: dazmond on March 15, 2012, 12:12:36 am
as for llaaww saying  he never puts his prices up im sure he s just winding everybody up!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: AS Window Cleaning on March 16, 2012, 11:40:37 am
just go for it, without doubt. all of above (with the exception of odd job man) is spot on.

but don't make mistake of putting up a small amount, in 10 years things have doubled, trebled, or even quadrupled in price. I would suggest putting it up by at least 30 or 40 percent, if you do a small increase it's a wasted opportunity. you have every reason to put price up, so make it worthwhile. nxt time (unless it's in another 10 years lol) you won't have excuse and be harder to get prices more up to where they should be.

also, love the 10 percent (or 1 pound, can't remember which it was) increase comment, I have 350 odd customers, would have 350 quid a month more approx, if I lost 5 (and that's very doubtful) I'd still be mega quids in, and as tosh pointed out. less work for it.
Title: Re: not put my pricecs up for 10 years
Post by: Paul Coleman on March 16, 2012, 05:46:47 pm
I reduced a price a couple of years ago.  Mind you it was fair enough because the outbuildings that I cleaned were demolished  ;)