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UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 02:10:17 pm

Title: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 02:10:17 pm
Customer: How much do you charge to clear gutters?

Me: How long is a piece of string?

Customer: Eh?

Me: Depends how much c**p is in them, and how long it takes me. Looking at your house, worst case senerio is £40


IN A NUT SHELL, THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONVERSATION I HAVE ON A DAILY BASIS


Curious to know how you go about 'quoting' for gutter clearing?!


Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: bobplum on January 04, 2014, 02:22:23 pm
Customer: How much do you charge to clear gutters?

Me: How long is a piece of string?

Customer: Eh?

Me: Depends how much c**p is in them, and how long it takes me. Looking at your house, worst case senerio is £40


IN A NUT SHELL, THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONVERSATION I HAVE ON A DAILY BASIS


Curious to know how you go about 'quoting' for gutter clearing?!





"heres the number for richard at isparkle" ;)
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 03:09:10 pm
Customer: How much do you charge to clear gutters?

Me: How long is a piece of string?

Customer: Eh?

Me: Depends how much c**p is in them, and how long it takes me. Looking at your house, worst case senerio is £40


IN A NUT SHELL, THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONVERSATION I HAVE ON A DAILY BASIS


Curious to know how you go about 'quoting' for gutter clearing?!





"heres the number for richard at isparkle" ;)


 ;D

Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: MATT BATEMAN (OWC) on January 04, 2014, 03:26:56 pm
Customer: How much do you charge to clear gutters?

Me: How long is a piece of string?

Customer: Eh?

Me: Depends how much c**p is in them, and how long it takes me. Looking at your house, worst case senerio is £40


IN A NUT SHELL, THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONVERSATION I HAVE ON A DAILY BASIS


Curious to know how you go about 'quoting' for gutter clearing?!




It annoys the tits off me as well.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 03:31:44 pm
Customer: How much do you charge to clear gutters?

Me: How long is a piece of string?

Customer: Eh?

Me: Depends how much c**p is in them, and how long it takes me. Looking at your house, worst case senerio is £40


IN A NUT SHELL, THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONVERSATION I HAVE ON A DAILY BASIS


Curious to know how you go about 'quoting' for gutter clearing?!




It annoys the tits off me as well.


I guess you can only say 'worst case senerio will be...' and then say if the back stretch is completly clear then you will adjust the price accordingly.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: Richard Shepherd on January 04, 2014, 04:52:43 pm
if it annoys you that much, give them your "worst case scenario price".

If they say yes, result!

If they say no, who cares.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: telfordwindowclnr on January 04, 2014, 05:34:08 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.   
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: elite mike on January 04, 2014, 05:51:00 pm
this is a firm close to me , check out the gutter cleaning prices  :o   ::)roll

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jemoba-pressure-washing-services/546203012058002
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: hasti on January 04, 2014, 05:52:21 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.   


Hi Steve
How about if the elbows on the down pipe is stuck or wont come off ?
That would be hard to get off, because its happen to us before, and it wasn’t easy.

The pitch we use is that (WE CLEAN YOUR GUTTERES AND MAKE SURE ITS ALL CLEAR  AND CHECK IT WITH OUR SPECIAL REMOTE CAMERA) That sell very good.
Our minimum price for back & front is £60 depending on had much gung in the gutters.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: Flash.. on January 04, 2014, 05:54:06 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.  

Yep this is my thinking too not worth the trouble for anything less and they sure aint going up there  I also clear the swan necks and make sure the customer knows how blocked they were ;)

I price the job for gutters being badly blocked and if they aren't its a bonus to me, otherwise you will need to go up ladders to look in gutter to see how badly they are blocked when quoting
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: MATT BATEMAN (OWC) on January 04, 2014, 06:35:36 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.   


Hi Steve
How about if the elbows on the down pipe is stuck or wont come off ?
That would be hard to get off, because its happen to us before, and it wasn’t easy.

The pitch we use is that (WE CLEAN YOUR GUTTERES AND MAKE SURE ITS ALL CLEAR  AND CHECK IT WITH OUR SPECIAL REMOTE CAMERA) That sell very good.
Our minimum price for back & front is £60 depending on had much gung in the gutters.


Whats the difference between a special remote camera and a remote camera?
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: hasti on January 04, 2014, 06:43:34 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.   


Hi Steve
How about if the elbows on the down pipe is stuck or wont come off ?
That would be hard to get off, because its happen to us before, and it wasn’t easy.

The pitch we use is that (WE CLEAN YOUR GUTTERES AND MAKE SURE ITS ALL CLEAR  AND CHECK IT WITH OUR SPECIAL REMOTE CAMERA) That sell very good.
Our minimum price for back & front is £60 depending on had much gung in the gutters.


Whats the difference between a special remote camera and a remote camera?

When ever we get the remote camera out, The customer gets an amazing surprise as how its working, so the customer gets a whaaa factor.  :)
Therefore I thought I try the pitch as a special remote camera and it sells itself every time.   :)
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: dazmond on January 04, 2014, 07:01:54 pm
i refuse them!i cant be bothered going up a ladder anymore and i cant be bothered getting a gutter vac! ;D ;D
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 07:12:34 pm
i refuse them!i cant be bothered going up a ladder anymore and i cant be bothered getting a gutter vac! ;D ;D


Getting old bud  ;)
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: James Bulton on January 04, 2014, 07:37:01 pm
I find this gutter cleaning by the bedroom just plain stupid. SURELY THE ONLY WAY SHOULD BE BY THE METERS.
I charge 5 quid a meter which includes down pipes. I also find cleaning windows by the amount of bedroom just crazy as one can also have 3 living rooms a study a large kitchen with many windows and 2 bathrooms and two sep loo `s with a sun porch and hall with two windows,and 3 beds so how the hell do you price that as a 3 bedda.CRAZY. ??? ??? ??? ???
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 07:43:10 pm
I find this gutter cleaning by the bedroom just plain stupid. SURELY THE ONLY WAY SHOULD BE BY THE METERS.
I charge 5 quid a meter which includes down pipes. I also find cleaning windows by the amount of bedroom just crazy as one can also have 3 living rooms a study a large kitchen with many windows and 2 bathrooms and two sep loo `s with a sun porch and hall with two windows,and 3 beds so how the hell do you price that as a 3 bedda.CRAZY. ??? ??? ??? ???



So what do you if when you climb up 25 metres are empty?

This is my point, I could quote by metre, but what do you do if 3/4 of the house gutters are empty...

ok - yes you could still charge your quote, but that would be crimimal in alot of cases
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: MATT BATEMAN (OWC) on January 04, 2014, 08:01:37 pm
I find this gutter cleaning by the bedroom just plain stupid. SURELY THE ONLY WAY SHOULD BE BY THE METERS.
I charge 5 quid a meter which includes down pipes. I also find cleaning windows by the amount of bedroom just crazy as one can also have 3 living rooms a study a large kitchen with many windows and 2 bathrooms and two sep loo `s with a sun porch and hall with two windows,and 3 beds so how the hell do you price that as a 3 bedda.CRAZY. ??? ??? ??? ???


+1. I think we should be allowed to shoot custards who ask us such stupid questions. I'm going to next time I get an enquiry along these lines. I'll keep u posted as to the outcome. ;0)
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PoleKing on January 04, 2014, 08:06:07 pm
I find this gutter cleaning by the bedroom just plain stupid. SURELY THE ONLY WAY SHOULD BE BY THE METERS.
I charge 5 quid a meter which includes down pipes. I also find cleaning windows by the amount of bedroom just crazy as one can also have 3 living rooms a study a large kitchen with many windows and 2 bathrooms and two sep loo `s with a sun porch and hall with two windows,and 3 beds so how the hell do you price that as a 3 bedda.CRAZY. ??? ??? ??? ???



So what do you if when you climb up 25 metres are empty?

This is my point, I could quote by metre, but what do you do if 3/4 of the house gutters are empty...

ok - yes you could still charge your quote, but that would be crimimal in alot of cases

I disagree.
Regular 4 bed new build detached, no conservatory, I charge £30 a side to clear. Regardless of how much crap is in them.
Some jobs would take ages, others would be quick.
You wouldn't be able to come down and say to the customer "they were a lot worse than i thought, it'll be an extra £20" so why would you knock money off.
Chances are, if they've asked you to clear them, they know they're full anyway.
Lol @ 'criminal' btw. Price quoted, quote accepted, job done. end of.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: elite mike on January 04, 2014, 08:07:49 pm
Quote from: jamesmilton04 link=topic=180628.msg1534527#m
[/quote


So what do you if when you climb up 25 metres are empty?

This is my point, I could quote by metre, but what do you do if 3/4 of the house gutters are empty...

ok - yes you could still charge your quote, but that would be crimimal in alot of cases


why is it criminal , you have got to go there get ladders out and check ,then wash it all down check down pipes etc, some are easy some are not  ;)
its not criminal. your spelling is criminal tho   ;)  ;D
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 08:11:58 pm
5 bedroom house - quoted £150 to clear all guttering...

Every gutter EMPTY


Still charging £150 is CRIMINAL!


FACT
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: elite mike on January 04, 2014, 08:17:22 pm
5 bedroom house - quoted £150 to clear all guttering...

Every gutter EMPTY


Still charging £150 is CRIMINAL!


FACT

no way james fact , i dont think you have seen some of the tv programs like rogue traders where custys have been charged £700 plus for a really crap job on the  gutters, that is criminal fact .

we are in this biz to make money its not a charity .
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PoleKing on January 04, 2014, 08:20:03 pm
James, whilst I admire your ethics, that's not the way i work.
I hate putting the roof rack on.
Customer pays for me putting it on, the time spent travelling, going up/down on each side.
The actual clearing is only part of the job.
You're using the word 'criminal' incorrectly. Unethical perhaps...
But each to their own.
All the best
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 08:28:04 pm
5 bedroom house - quoted £150 to clear all guttering...

Every gutter EMPTY


Still charging £150 is CRIMINAL!


FACT

no way james fact , i dont think you have seen some of the tv programs like rogue traders where custys have been charged £700 plus for a really crap job on the  gutters, that is criminal fact .

we are in this biz to make money its not a charity .


So you dont see walking up and down a ladder about 4 times, taking best part of 4 minutes, and charging £150 for it criminal?

You carry on pal...

Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: elite mike on January 04, 2014, 08:33:03 pm
5 bedroom house - quoted £150 to clear all guttering...

Every gutter EMPTY


Still charging £150 is CRIMINAL!


FACT

no way james fact , i dont think you have seen some of the tv programs like rogue traders where custys have been charged £700 plus for a really crap job on the  gutters, that is criminal fact .

we are in this biz to make money its not a charity .


So you dont see walking up and down a ladder about 4 times, taking best part of 4 minutes, and charging £150 for it criminal?

You carry on pal...


i will cheers £150 sounds like a fair charge to me for checking possibly repairing and a wash down to me, deffo not criminal.
4 times up and down the  ladder in 4 minutes , ha ha you must be fast  ;)
 
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: MATT BATEMAN (OWC) on January 04, 2014, 08:37:28 pm
£150 for a 5 bedder. Criminal?

You bet.


It's £210 round here.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: elite mike on January 04, 2014, 08:40:08 pm
£150 for a 5 bedder. Criminal?

You bet.


It's £210 round here.

nice one i am impressed  , must  up my charges
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: Aqua Power Solutions on January 04, 2014, 09:16:09 pm
We all price jobs up as we see fits ,we may or may not reduce a quote once it has been given . Personally I would reduce the price hoping that the good gesture would give repeated custom. That said , I would not condone ebenezer scrooge ! Ed
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: telfordwindowclnr on January 04, 2014, 09:52:41 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.   


Hi Steve
How about if the elbows on the down pipe is stuck or wont come off ?
That would be hard to get off, because its happen to us before, and it wasn’t easy.

The pitch we use is that (WE CLEAN YOUR GUTTERES AND MAKE SURE ITS ALL CLEAR  AND CHECK IT WITH OUR SPECIAL REMOTE CAMERA) That sell very good.
Our minimum price for back & front is £60 depending on had much gung in the gutters.

Hi Hasti.

If the bottom of the down pipe is visible, we blast them out with a hose attached to a mains tap if possible. If the pipe goes into the floor, we ask the customer if they want us to do the above, then we are clear of the responsibility, should something go wrong. We've never had a problem like that though.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: telfordwindowclnr on January 04, 2014, 09:58:42 pm
I find this gutter cleaning by the bedroom just plain stupid. SURELY THE ONLY WAY SHOULD BE BY THE METERS.
I charge 5 quid a meter which includes down pipes. I also find cleaning windows by the amount of bedroom just crazy as one can also have 3 living rooms a study a large kitchen with many windows and 2 bathrooms and two sep loo `s with a sun porch and hall with two windows,and 3 beds so how the hell do you price that as a 3 bedda.CRAZY. ??? ??? ??? ???



So what do you if when you climb up 25 metres are empty?

This is my point, I could quote by metre, but what do you do if 3/4 of the house gutters are empty...

ok - yes you could still charge your quote, but that would be crimimal in alot of cases
Why is it criminal? One side might be empty, but the other side rammed. One side might be empty, but the other have a blocked down pipe which you take 15 mins to disassemble, unblock and re-build.
Every service we offer is about value for money for the customer. If you canvassed 10 houses in a street, none of which had a window cleaner and quoted £10 to each one, you would not likely get the whole row because some would feel £10 is too much. It would not be good value in their eyes. To either risk your life or that of your husband OR pay a professional company £70, the £70 seems good value in their eyes. Some may even pay £30 just for an inspection because they feel that is value for money. It's not criminal, it's charging what your market sees as value.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 04, 2014, 10:07:50 pm
STEVE  - READ WHAT I SAID!

You are suggesting work to be carried out... I WAS'NT APART FROM A COUPLE TRIPS UP A LADDER!



If I charged a customer £150 to do f**k all, then Im sure I would not get anymore custom off them.




Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: telfordwindowclnr on January 05, 2014, 08:08:35 am
STEVE  - READ WHAT I SAID!

You are suggesting work to be carried out... I WAS'NT APART FROM A COUPLE TRIPS UP A LADDER!



If I charged a customer £150 to do f**k all, then Im sure I would not get anymore custom off them.





If the customer asks me for a price, I assume work is to be done, hence my price. No need to swear.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: hotsteam on January 05, 2014, 12:28:19 pm
So if you booked in a full day of gutter clearing and they were all clear, would you charge nothing ?  ::)roll
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: ben M on January 05, 2014, 01:04:57 pm
£3 a meter, no less no more
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: mufcglen on January 05, 2014, 01:18:48 pm
wow cant believe some of the prices here lol, im only charging £20-40 for front and rear on most houses, thats just clear gutters though without cleaning the outside of them down though!
ive gotten even quicker too with the pro gutter tool, i just think its swings and roundabouts with gutters, some you get there put the ladders up and you clear a handful of leaves out if your lucky while others you have to fill the bucket about 8 times!
i find they even themselves out though and they all take me an hour or so, so im happy if i earn anything over £20 an hour.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: PurefectWindowCleaning on January 05, 2014, 03:03:58 pm
£3 a meter, no less no more


Is that guess work Ben, or do you get the tape measure out?
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: rg1 on January 05, 2014, 05:16:20 pm
We don't do anything less than £75 front and back, we go up from there.  It's worth every penny of that because the home owner is not going to go up and do it themselves.

Part of the pitch is that for the price, we take apart any elbows in the downpipes which may be blocked, unblock them and re-build them.  It's a useful part of the pitch and I'd say we get 9 out of 10 jobs that we price for, including commercial.   


Hi Steve
How about if the elbows on the down pipe is stuck or wont come off ?
That would be hard to get off, because its happen to us before, and it wasn’t easy.

The pitch we use is that (WE CLEAN YOUR GUTTERES AND MAKE SURE ITS ALL CLEAR  AND CHECK IT WITH OUR SPECIAL REMOTE CAMERA) That sell very good.
Our minimum price for back & front is £60 depending on had much gung in the gutters.


Whats the difference between a special remote camera and a remote camera?

One's special, the other isn't.
Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: rg1 on January 05, 2014, 05:18:03 pm
£3 a meter, no less no more


Is that guess work Ben, or do you get the tape measure out?


The average distance between brackets is a metre, so it's fairly straight forward to quote.


Title: Re: Pricing gutter CLEARING
Post by: hasti on January 05, 2014, 08:47:05 pm
I find this gutter cleaning by the bedroom just plain stupid. SURELY THE ONLY WAY SHOULD BE BY THE METERS.
I charge 5 quid a meter which includes down pipes. I also find cleaning windows by the amount of bedroom just crazy as one can also have 3 living rooms a study a large kitchen with many windows and 2 bathrooms and two sep loo `s with a sun porch and hall with two windows,and 3 beds so how the hell do you price that as a 3 bedda.CRAZY. ??? ??? ??? ???



So what do you if when you climb up 25 metres are empty?

This is my point, I could quote by metre, but what do you do if 3/4 of the house gutters are empty...

ok - yes you could still charge your quote, but that would be crimimal in alot of cases
Why is it criminal? One side might be empty, but the other side rammed. One side might be empty, but the other have a blocked down pipe which you take 15 mins to disassemble, unblock and re-build.
Every service we offer is about value for money for the customer. If you canvassed 10 houses in a street, none of which had a window cleaner and quoted £10 to each one, you would not likely get the whole row because some would feel £10 is too much. It would not be good value in their eyes. To either risk your life or that of your husband OR pay a professional company £70, the £70 seems good value in their eyes. Some may even pay £30 just for an inspection because they feel that is value for money. It's not criminal, it's charging what your market sees as value.


Well said steve, this my view too  :)