Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Richard iSparkle on September 20, 2016, 09:42:38 am
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6 years in business and I'm finally putting my prices up for all customers (who've been with us more than 12 months)
i'm feeling a bit nervous, but i know that it's something i have to bite the bullet and do to keep my business healthy long term...
i'll let you know how it goes...
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I approach it with the mind set that I'm putting the prices up x% so I can afford to lose x% of the customers.
Same money for less work. Then you fill in the gaps.
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Well its a simple truth, nothing stays the same price and esp not for six yrs. But this gives you the advantage, simply state /remind tbem, that youve not had a price increase for six yrs. Infact if your like me, alot of your customers will probably be asking if its still same price or not. Because they are expecting prices to have gone up by now.
Any you loose, as u no doubt know already will soon be replaced any ways...so its a win win :)
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I approach it with the mind set that I'm putting the prices up x% so I can afford to lose x% of the customers.
Same money for less work. Then you fill in the gaps.
I'm putting my prices up 100% and so I can afford to lose 100% of my customers. ;)
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Seriously though at the lower percentages it works fine.
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look at it this way - 100 custys at £10 brings in a grand , price increase to £12 , now brings in 1200 . You lose 15 customers, your bringing in 1020 ! Less work more money!! happy days
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I approach it with the mind set that I'm putting the prices up x% so I can afford to lose x% of the customers.
Same money for less work. Then you fill in the gaps.
What can I say.. The thing is Soupy is right :)
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The thing is Soupy is right.
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Soupy is right! Again ;D
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look at it this way - 100 custys at £10 brings in a grand , price increase to £12 , now brings in 1200 . You lose 15 customers, your bringing in 1020 ! Less work more money!! happy days
I like your thinking shrek, okay i definitely need to put my prices up soon!
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ive put mine up twice in 7 years.always in april(tell em in feb/march).only ever lost 2 or 3 customers each time.a lot of my older established work will be going up again next april.
the hardest work to put up is work you ve had for 20+ years!(they dont like it!) ;D
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6 years in business and I'm finally putting my prices up for all customers (who've been with us more than 12 months)
i'm feeling a bit nervous, but i know that it's something i have to bite the bullet and do to keep my business healthy long term...
i'll let you know how it goes...
are your prices not already really high?(like £15-£20 for 3 bed semis?).i might be getting you mixed up with someone else on here.apologies if i have! :)
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6 years in business and I'm finally putting my prices up for all customers (who've been with us more than 12 months)
i'm feeling a bit nervous, but i know that it's something i have to bite the bullet and do to keep my business healthy long term...
i'll let you know how it goes...
are your prices not already really high?(like £15-£20 for 3 bed semis?).i might be getting you mixed up with someone else on here.apologies if i have! :)
hey daz,
our prices aren't high really for our area. i think when i started we pushed prices up a little.. a 3 bed semi is £13-21 depedngin on whether they have conny or extension, or both.
after 6 years tho some of our early clients are a bit low though, and they'll just get worse.
I've spent the last 2 years getting all of them onto DD's so we can finally put them all up a little. we had loads on standing orders which have been an effort to convert them all over to DD's. but finally done it. only 9 left on SO's tonight, and about 10 pay us by cheque.
i'm going to be 100% DD for domestics by end of October. from then on i'll do a price rise every alternate year i reckon
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it's squeaky bum time...
sent out letters to all my customers due a price increase last thursday and the changes to their DDs happened overnight on saturday...
had 3 cancel so far, but not sure if they're just normal cancellations or related to the price rise? also i'm going to give them a call to see if i can save any of them....
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(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1474974783_s-l300.jpg)
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(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1474974783_s-l300.jpg)
:-* :-*
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I wouldnt have put them up before Christmas, people are already stressed out over if they have enough money for Christmas without you putting prices up i would wait till feb or march
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There is never a good time to put prices up, if they need to be upped or your not happy at the current price of a particular job simply put it up.
Nothing worse than working and feeling that you are worth so much more.
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I worked with my friend on his round, every 4wks for about 10 yrs. My friend has moved away from area and i simply took over (after a small fee of course).
This particular job was 2monthly and my friend kinda let her dictate the price and didnt settle for a good price even when he increased it. Which he did 6 months before i took over. A large mansion home and a massive conservatory, my friend finally got the price upto £30 every 2mnths.
After 2 cleans of me doing it (i never liked the price for the work being done. Ill post a picture next mnth when im cleaning it) i spoke to the owner and made it my work. I explained i could not justify the price as i did smaller work for same price. Therefore the house alone was 30 and the conservatory was 20. I explained one clean be the house and every 4mnths house n conservatory. She agreed!!!
I messaged my friend and he couldnt believe it!!
So stick to your guns and be happy with the price increase. Especially well thought out plans.
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I recently bought a grand of underpriced trad work and have put some up by nearly £10 and havnt lost any since the 2 cleans i have done, was doing semi houses in Orpington/Pettswood for £10/12 and prices have been the same for 12 odd years, now they are all £20/25 which i put up before doing the first clean and swapped to wfp and all were as happy as Larry as now all there frames look like new as well as pure clean glass.
Turned the underpriced grand into nearly 2 grand and all for the low price of £500. :)
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I recently bought a grand of underpriced trad work and have put some up by nearly £10 and havnt lost any since the 2 cleans i have done, was doing semi houses in Orpington/Pettswood for £10/12 and prices have been the same for 12 odd years, now they are all £20/25 which i put up before doing the first clean and swapped to wfp and all were as happy as Larry as now all there frames look like new as well as pure clean glass.
Turned the underpriced grand into nearly 2 grand and all for the low price of £500. :)
;D
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I recently bought a grand of underpriced trad work and have put some up by nearly £10 and havnt lost any since the 2 cleans i have done, was doing semi houses in Orpington/Pettswood for £10/12 and prices have been the same for 12 odd years, now they are all £20/25 which i put up before doing the first clean and swapped to wfp and all were as happy as Larry as now all there frames look like new as well as pure clean glass.
Turned the underpriced grand into nearly 2 grand and all for the low price of £500. :)
brilliant Mick! thats inspiring. I'm always scared to buy work off other WCs because its priced too low and think i'll loose them if i take over and hike the prices
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I worked with my friend on his round, every 4wks for about 10 yrs. My friend has moved away from area and i simply took over (after a small fee of course).
This particular job was 2monthly and my friend kinda let her dictate the price and didnt settle for a good price even when he increased it. Which he did 6 months before i took over. A large mansion home and a massive conservatory, my friend finally got the price upto £30 every 2mnths.
After 2 cleans of me doing it (i never liked the price for the work being done. Ill post a picture next mnth when im cleaning it) i spoke to the owner and made it my work. I explained i could not justify the price as i did smaller work for same price. Therefore the house alone was 30 and the conservatory was 20. I explained one clean be the house and every 4mnths house n conservatory. She agreed!!!
I messaged my friend and he couldnt believe it!!
So stick to your guns and be happy with the price increase. Especially well thought out plans.
thanks Nathan.
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I increase prices every other year without fail. Doesn't have to be much, but it has to be something, even if it's only 50p.
That way you don't end up with having to impose large rises on customers.
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I increase prices every other year without fail. Doesn't have to be much, but it has to be something, even if it's only 50p.
That way you don't end up with having to impose large rises on customers.
that's really interesting pete. I;ve just put them up by 80 p each, wth the aim to have regular small price rises every 3 years.
i read somewhere that people say they prefer less frequent larger price rises than more frequent small ones (but who knows what people say they prefer and what their actual behaviour is)
with 50p every 2 years do you get much cancelling? what is their response to it and how do they pay you?
we're (almost) 100% DD now so i wrote to them explaining and then just added the price rise as a bulk DD update
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I worked with my friend on his round, every 4wks for about 10 yrs. My friend has moved away from area and i simply took over (after a small fee of course).
This particular job was 2monthly and my friend kinda let her dictate the price and didnt settle for a good price even when he increased it. Which he did 6 months before i took over. A large mansion home and a massive conservatory, my friend finally got the price upto £30 every 2mnths.
After 2 cleans of me doing it (i never liked the price for the work being done. Ill post a picture next mnth when im cleaning it) i spoke to the owner and made it my work. I explained i could not justify the price as i did smaller work for same price. Therefore the house alone was 30 and the conservatory was 20. I explained one clean be the house and every 4mnths house n conservatory. She agreed!!!
I messaged my friend and he couldnt believe it!!
So stick to your guns and be happy with the price increase. Especially well thought out plans.
This sums up CIU to a tee.
Some people don't believe - they never even try
Some do believe.
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I worked with my friend on his round, every 4wks for about 10 yrs. My friend has moved away from area and i simply took over (after a small fee of course).
This particular job was 2monthly and my friend kinda let her dictate the price and didnt settle for a good price even when he increased it. Which he did 6 months before i took over. A large mansion home and a massive conservatory, my friend finally got the price upto £30 every 2mnths.
After 2 cleans of me doing it (i never liked the price for the work being done. Ill post a picture next mnth when im cleaning it) i spoke to the owner and made it my work. I explained i could not justify the price as i did smaller work for same price. Therefore the house alone was 30 and the conservatory was 20. I explained one clean be the house and every 4mnths house n conservatory. She agreed!!!
I messaged my friend and he couldnt believe it!!
So stick to your guns and be happy with the price increase. Especially well thought out plans.
This sums up CIU to a tee.
Some people don't believe - they never even try
Some do believe.
More nonsense, Nathan wasn't happy with the amount of work he had to do for the price so decided to up it or walk
away, its nothing to do with belief.
Now maybe if he hadn't been in the position where he didn't need the work he might not have been so confident and the customer may have picked up on this as they did with his mate.
I don't get any FSG cleans and gutter clearing jobs now simply because my quotes are declined as I'm too expensive
that doesn't mean I'm full of self importance or have more belief in myself it just means I don't need the work and can price
confidently not caring if I get it or not.
No harm to Nathan but It wasn't that far back where he posted a picture and got slated for his pricing by the usual suspects on
here, strange that he's now turned into Mr Confident.
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I worked with my friend on his round, every 4wks for about 10 yrs. My friend has moved away from area and i simply took over (after a small fee of course).
This particular job was 2monthly and my friend kinda let her dictate the price and didnt settle for a good price even when he increased it. Which he did 6 months before i took over. A large mansion home and a massive conservatory, my friend finally got the price upto £30 every 2mnths.
After 2 cleans of me doing it (i never liked the price for the work being done. Ill post a picture next mnth when im cleaning it) i spoke to the owner and made it my work. I explained i could not justify the price as i did smaller work for same price. Therefore the house alone was 30 and the conservatory was 20. I explained one clean be the house and every 4mnths house n conservatory. She agreed!!!
I messaged my friend and he couldnt believe it!!
So stick to your guns and be happy with the price increase. Especially well thought out plans.
This sums up CIU to a tee.
Some people don't believe - they never even try
Some do believe.
More nonsense, Nathan wasn't happy with the amount of work he had to do for the price so decided to up it or walk
away, its nothing to do with belief.
Now maybe if he hadn't been in the position where he didn't need the work he might not have been so confident and the customer may have picked up on this as they did with his mate.
I don't get any FSG cleans and gutter clearing jobs now simply because my quotes are declined as I'm too expensive
that doesn't mean I'm full of self importance or have more belief in myself it just means I don't need the work and can price
confidently not caring if I get it or not.
No harm to Nathan but It wasn't that far back where he posted a picture and got slated for his pricing by the usual suspects on
here, strange that he's now turned into Mr Confident.
its definitely about confidence with me. obviously its easier to make changes when things are going well, or if money isn't an issue, but confidence plays a large part in my handling of my business.
i see a business coach now and it really helps me to be able to talk ideas and problems through with him, and he helps me to look at things realistically and positively. its made a huge difference to my business over the past 3 months.
definitely due to confidence for me, and i know i am not the only one
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blasé (don't know how to add an inflection). (MOD NOTE ALT + 0233) ;D
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blasé (don't know how to add an inflection). (MOD NOTE ALT +0233) ;D
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
yep. as a wise man once said... “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”― Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich:
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blase (don't know how to add an inflection).
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
blasé ;D
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blase (don't know how to add an inflection).
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
It sure is, a bit like the rich ugly bloke dating the hoty, in his mind he's got her because of his looks and charm.
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blase (don't know how to add an inflection).
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
blasé ;D
If I had nothing else to do I date say I'd have worked it out too. ;)
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blase (don't know how to add an inflection).
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
It sure is, a bit like the rich ugly bloke dating the hoty, in his mind he's got her because of his looks and charm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj-9lSEBBm0
;D ;D
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It's quite interesting though because obviously on average I pick up x number of new jobs in a week, but every so many weeks it's a bit quieter and in those quieter times I do tend to price lower to secure the work. When work is flooding in, I'm much more blase (don't know how to add an inflection).
I have just picked up our biggest job ever which is a twice a year school, but now I'm thinking I priced it too low and that's why I got it. The mind is a funny thing eh?
It sure is, a bit like the rich ugly bloke dating the hoty, in his mind he's got her because of his looks and charm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj-9lSEBBm0
;D ;D
LOL.
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I never have sent out a letter explaining this I just include the increase in the ticket or tell them when I see them,they accept it will go up I wouldn't bring it to there attention to much by way of headed paper lol,you do that every 2-3 years they'll soon think blimey is it going up again.
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I never have sent out a letter explaining this I just include the increase in the ticket or tell them when I see them,they accept it will go up I wouldn't bring it to there attention to much by way of headed paper lol,you do that every 2-3 years they'll soon think blimey is it going up again.
if they pay by DD you have to inform them, with i think 5 days notice minimum, its on the DD guarantee.
i dont do the windows, and most of our customers are out at work when we arrive so we have to write
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The ones on DD I wait till like I say see them or ticket them to inform them but I would never send out a letter informing them some would say un professional but IMO less chance in upsetting them by making a statement about it,2 years will come round quicker in there head than yours,some of my customers I only see them 3/4 times in 2 years.
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I increase prices every other year without fail. Doesn't have to be much, but it has to be something, even if it's only 50p.
That way you don't end up with having to impose large rises on customers.
that's really interesting pete. I;ve just put them up by 80 p each, wth the aim to have regular small price rises every 3 years.
i read somewhere that people say they prefer less frequent larger price rises than more frequent small ones (but who knows what people say they prefer and what their actual behaviour is)
with 50p every 2 years do you get much cancelling? what is their response to it and how do they pay you?
we're (almost) 100% DD now so i wrote to them explaining and then just added the price rise as a bulk DD update
why 80p and not a quid?
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I increase prices every other year without fail. Doesn't have to be much, but it has to be something, even if it's only 50p.
That way you don't end up with having to impose large rises on customers.
that's really interesting pete. I;ve just put them up by 80 p each, wth the aim to have regular small price rises every 3 years.
i read somewhere that people say they prefer less frequent larger price rises than more frequent small ones (but who knows what people say they prefer and what their actual behaviour is)
with 50p every 2 years do you get much cancelling? what is their response to it and how do they pay you?
we're (almost) 100% DD now so i wrote to them explaining and then just added the price rise as a bulk DD update
why 80p and not a quid?
just trying to get it as high as i can, without upsetting people. i though i'd keep it just under a quid. i guess its like shops advertising things for £1.95 rather than £2.
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I increase prices every other year without fail. Doesn't have to be much, but it has to be something, even if it's only 50p.
That way you don't end up with having to impose large rises on customers.
that's really interesting pete. I;ve just put them up by 80 p each, wth the aim to have regular small price rises every 3 years.
why 80p and not a quid?
That's exactly what I was thinking! If I'm going to put the price up then a £1 is the starting point. It would drive me nuts having to carry loads of 20p for a start ;D
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I increase prices every other year without fail. Doesn't have to be much, but it has to be something, even if it's only 50p.
That way you don't end up with having to impose large rises on customers.
that's really interesting pete. I;ve just put them up by 80 p each, wth the aim to have regular small price rises every 3 years.
why 80p and not a quid?
That's exactly what I was thinking! If I'm going to put the price up then a £1 is the starting point. It would drive me nuts having to carry loads of 20p for a start ;D
every pays by DD so not a problem... but yeh.. i can see what youre saying
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Update..
Firstly thanks for your support on here :) It definitely makes a difference
Price rise has all gone through. All customers it applied to sent a letter and direct debits increased with a bulk update.
Our number of cancellations this month has been no different from usual, and none related to the price rise.
We had 2 customers who said they would cancel if we put the price up, but when i spoke to them I agreed to keep their prices the same. They are both pensioners and both good customers.
One more customer queried the price rise, she thought we had put her price up last year (we hadn't) and I talked her through what we had done.
So thats a massive relief for me. The rise pays for my wage increases over the past couple of years, and it also gives me more confidence in the longevity of this business. It is so easy to worry what will happen if you put up your prices, but in this instance, all that has happened is i feel happier, and my bank balance is more healthy..
I have diarised another price rise for 36 months time
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I've been at this a while so I've been through loads of price increases. Never had any issues really until last year. The economy here is on the way down - big style. Of course the downturn didn't happen until just after I put the prices up. A year later and the arse clenching amount of customers I lost are now all replaced.
Indecently I didn't start to lose any until the following month, I'm sure that won't happen to you though....
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Update..
Firstly thanks for your support on here :) It definitely makes a difference
Price rise has all gone through. All customers it applied to sent a letter and direct debits increased with a bulk update.
Our number of cancellations this month has been no different from usual, and none related to the price rise.
We had 2 customers who said they would cancel if we put the price up, but when i spoke to them I agreed to keep their prices the same. They are both pensioners and both good customers.
One more customer queried the price rise, she thought we had put her price up last year (we hadn't) and I talked her through what we had done.
So thats a massive relief for me. The rise pays for my wage increases over the past couple of years, and it also gives me more confidence in the longevity of this business. It is so easy to worry what will happen if you put up your prices, but in this instance, all that has happened is i feel happier, and my bank balance is more healthy..
I have diarised another price rise for 36 months time
Not wishing to "rain on your parade", but you may yet lose a few. You will get a few when they get their new bill say they never received/saw the letter. You will get a few that cancel a few weeks down the line when you upset them about any little thing - for example not getting an impossible to clean velux absolutely perfect. It's still important to increase prices though and overall it will be very worthwhile.
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Update..
Firstly thanks for your support on here :) It definitely makes a difference
Price rise has all gone through. All customers it applied to sent a letter and direct debits increased with a bulk update.
Our number of cancellations this month has been no different from usual, and none related to the price rise.
We had 2 customers who said they would cancel if we put the price up, but when i spoke to them I agreed to keep their prices the same. They are both pensioners and both good customers.
One more customer queried the price rise, she thought we had put her price up last year (we hadn't) and I talked her through what we had done.
So thats a massive relief for me. The rise pays for my wage increases over the past couple of years, and it also gives me more confidence in the longevity of this business. It is so easy to worry what will happen if you put up your prices, but in this instance, all that has happened is i feel happier, and my bank balance is more healthy..
I have diarised another price rise for 36 months time
Not wishing to "rain on your parade", but you may yet lose a few. You will get a few when they get their new bill say they never received/saw the letter. You will get a few that cancel a few weeks down the line when you upset them about any little thing - for example not getting an impossible to clean velux absolutely perfect. It's still important to increase prices though and overall it will be very worthwhile.
true.
i know i'm not out of the woods yet, but i did send everyone a hand addressed letter so i think that the most people who had a problem with it would have got in touch within a couple of weeks of that, and some more when they got an email saying their DD was going up...
fingers crossed still
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I've been at this a while so I've been through loads of price increases. Never had any issues really until last year. The economy here is on the way down - big style. Of course the downturn didn't happen until just after I put the prices up. A year later and the arse clenching amount of customers I lost are now all replaced.
Indecently I didn't start to lose any until the following month, I'm sure that won't happen to you though....
I'm sorry to hear about the economy in your area.
i'll give another update next month then
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Update..
Firstly thanks for your support on here :) It definitely makes a difference
Price rise has all gone through. All customers it applied to sent a letter and direct debits increased with a bulk update.
Our number of cancellations this month has been no different from usual, and none related to the price rise.
We had 2 customers who said they would cancel if we put the price up, but when i spoke to them I agreed to keep their prices the same. They are both pensioners and both good customers.
One more customer queried the price rise, she thought we had put her price up last year (we hadn't) and I talked her through what we had done.
So thats a massive relief for me. The rise pays for my wage increases over the past couple of years, and it also gives me more confidence in the longevity of this business. It is so easy to worry what will happen if you put up your prices, but in this instance, all that has happened is i feel happier, and my bank balance is more healthy..
I have diarised another price rise for 36 months time
Have you made enough to pay for your business coach?
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Update..
Firstly thanks for your support on here :) It definitely makes a difference
Price rise has all gone through. All customers it applied to sent a letter and direct debits increased with a bulk update.
Our number of cancellations this month has been no different from usual, and none related to the price rise.
We had 2 customers who said they would cancel if we put the price up, but when i spoke to them I agreed to keep their prices the same. They are both pensioners and both good customers.
One more customer queried the price rise, she thought we had put her price up last year (we hadn't) and I talked her through what we had done.
So thats a massive relief for me. The rise pays for my wage increases over the past couple of years, and it also gives me more confidence in the longevity of this business. It is so easy to worry what will happen if you put up your prices, but in this instance, all that has happened is i feel happier, and my bank balance is more healthy..
I have diarised another price rise for 36 months time
Have you made enough to pay for your business coach?
ha! good question... and yes is the answer. I am well up on that investment.
i'm still seeing him, though less frequently at the moment.
I've had a couple of coaches in my time and it's always paid off many many times over. I'd recommend it to anybody :)
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Oh Lord ::)roll
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Richard just out of interest what is the alternative company you use as opposed to GoCardless that you mentioned for taking payments?
Also, on the business coach topic, what would you typically discuss & how has it helped you? Do you think it has helped more than just posting your questions you'd ask him on here? I am just curious as I don't see the point myself however each to there own and if he's genuinely helped your business then fair enough.
I would have rounded up to £1 for the price increases as well. I just up prices as and when they need uping as I go round whenever during the year, that way if you do lose some it is steadily spaced out too. Although I do like the idea of one big price increase across the board.
The majority won't bat an eyelid and some will have been expecting a price increase especially those you've done for a few years. Everybody loses a few so I wouldn't worry about the odd one you'll still be better off, good luck with it hope it goes well.
Tom
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Richard just out of interest what is the alternative company you use as opposed to GoCardless that you mentioned for taking payments?
Also, on the business coach topic, what would you typically discuss & how has it helped you? Do you think it has helped more than just posting your questions you'd ask him on here? I am just curious as I don't see the point myself however each to there own and if he's genuinely helped your business then fair enough.
I would have rounded up to £1 for the price increases as well. I just up prices as and when they need uping as I go round whenever during the year, that way if you do lose some it is steadily spaced out too. Although I do like the idea of one big price increase across the board.
The majority won't bat an eyelid and some will have been expecting a price increase especially those you've done for a few years. Everybody loses a few so I wouldn't worry about the odd one you'll still be better off, good luck with it hope it goes well.
Tom
Hi Tom,
I use smartdebit. considerably more expensive than gocardless but i can sign people up over the phone.
the basic idea is you get a business coach to help you work at your potential. like you might get a personal trainer to help you loose weight and get fit, or a footballer has a coach.
business coaches are different from speaking to other window cleaners. he's not a window cleaner or anything similar, so he doesn't know the stiff i know about how to run a window cleaning business. his role is to help me to set and achieve my goals. so for instance there are all things in our own businesses that we find easy to do, and some we find harder to do. my coach helps me develop myself and my business and helps me to get around, or through blocks in my thinking. so for instance he's done a lot of work wth me relating to my bookkeeping, payment methods offered etc etc. it has been something of a problem for me for a number of years, where i was stuck worrying about what would happen if i changed my book keeping, got VAT registered, insisted all my customers pay me by DD, put up prices etc etc. they were all linked together in my head (e.g. if i went VAT registered i need to put up prices, if people pay me by Standing Order i can't put up their prices so i need to change them to DD, if i change them to DD they may refuse and cancel therefore making it unaffordable to put go VAT registered.. etc etc). my coach has helped me clarify my thoughts on it, helped me understand what i need to do and what order to approach it in, and has helped me understand and process the emotions (anxiety and worry) i had around the whole lot that was stopping me do it.
that's all stuff you aint really going to get on clean it up! you get plenty of advice one equipment, some ideas on marketing, some useful ideas on specialist stuff, and some support from other chaps on here too. all stuff i don't get off my coach (except of course support!)
i have really good support off julie and carl at concept2o regarding specialist industry business advice, and of course here too.
i put up prices by 88p because that was what Julie recommended. if she hadn't said that i would have gone for £1 too!
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I had a business mentor which I got for free from the business gateway for 1 year. It's basically the same idea. He was great, he didn't really teach me anything as such, more like adjusted my approach to running my business. I took him on thinking that where I was lacking and needed improvement was on the employment side of my business, through speaking to him it quickly became apparent that I am in fact pretty good at employing people and I was actually lacking in other areas that I hadn't thought about.
I don't think I'd pay for a business coach but if there is a government funded mentor near you I'd definitely recommend it. Sometimes it's a good idea to get an outsiders view from someone cleverer than you.
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I had a business mentor which I got for free from the business gateway for 1 year. It's basically the same idea. He was great, he didn't really teach me anything as such, more like adjusted my approach to running my business. I took him on thinking that where I was lacking and needed improvement was on the employment side of my business, through speaking to him it quickly became apparent that I am in fact pretty good at employing people and I was actually lacking in other areas that I hadn't thought about.
I don't think I'd pay for a business coach but if there is a government funded mentor near you I'd definitely recommend it.
yes, i got a free business mentor at startup too, and they were pretty good.
the chap i'm seeing now is brilliant so he' well worth the £70 a session i pay him for me.
the chap i'm seeing now is qualified as a coach, and has hypnotherapy experience, life coaching qualifications, and that sort of thing. he suits my current needs very well.
it's not for everyone, for sure, but it's very normal in the business world. apparently most CEOs and MDs have a business coach nowadays. there was a program on radio 4's 'the bottom line' about it. Evan Davies was interviewing executives who use coaches and they were talking through what they get from it.
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Customers very rarely tell you the real reason why they cancel some think it's money for old rope I'm not paying that now he's not going up a ladder the list is endless,I think TBH you put your prices up fine but with every job you increase you risk losing it some people it just gives them the excuse to cancel you. I increase my prices about every 3 years or so more or less across the board at varying times if I happen to come across a job I do that's below what I want I speak to them and explain why if I want to keep the job,I can remember doing jobs years ago that were half what they should have been hardly anyone got rid of me. I find WCs that increase every year or so are pushing there luck on average sized domestics commercial jobs almost expect it.
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i was stuck worrying about what would happen if i changed my book keeping, got VAT registered, insisted all my customers pay me by DD, put up prices etc etc. they were all linked together in my head (e.g. if i went VAT registered i need to put up prices, if people pay me by Standing Order i can't put up their prices so i need to change them to DD, if i change them to DD they may refuse and cancel therefore making it unaffordable to put go VAT registered.. etc etc).
Hi Richard
Pleased to hear all is going well.
One thing I've learn't along the way is not to worry about the "what if's" just deal with the "hear and now". Yes you need a considered approach before taking action but "what if" often leads to no action at all.
HTH
John
Ps. I increase rates based on inflation, Aworka has a superb function that enables you to round up or down to the nearest "X", some clients are not affected as the increase does not fulfil the requirement but it is recorded/remembered for next time therefore enacting the increase (it makes sense when you use it LOL!)
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i was stuck worrying about what would happen if i changed my book keeping, got VAT registered, insisted all my customers pay me by DD, put up prices etc etc. they were all linked together in my head (e.g. if i went VAT registered i need to put up prices, if people pay me by Standing Order i can't put up their prices so i need to change them to DD, if i change them to DD they may refuse and cancel therefore making it unaffordable to put go VAT registered.. etc etc).
Hi Richard
Pleased to hear all is going well.
One thing I've learn't along the way is not to worry about the "what if's" just deal with the "hear and now". Yes you need a considered approach before taking action but "what if" often leads to no action at all.
HTH
John
Ps. I increase rates based on inflation, Aworka has a superb function that enables you to round up or down to the nearest "X", some clients are not affected as the increase does not fulfil the requirement but it is recorded/remembered for next time therefore enacting the increase (it makes sense when you use it LOL!)
Thanks John,
You're quite right.. I do spend time worrying about what might happen if.. and you're right its better not to worry about what might or might not ever happen... the trick is changing that behaviour isn't it..
i'm getting better at it though.. i'm learning to focus on the here and now rather than the what ifs...
interesting to hear you say commercial clients almost expect annual price rises. would they just be the rate of inflation?
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Ps. I increase rates based on inflation, Aworka has a superb function that enables you to round up or down to the nearest "X", some clients are not affected as the increase does not fulfil the requirement but it is recorded/remembered for next time therefore enacting the increase (it makes sense when you use it LOL!)
How do you access this function?
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It's not about inflation it's about knowing your customers,you need to use your brain when increasing prices you should know the ones that'll take it and the ones that won't. Just because it's due a rise don't mean they'll pay it and a bit of software can tell you what it likes it can't read people's budgets.
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interesting to hear you say commercial clients almost expect annual price rises. would they just be the rate of inflation?
Not sure that's my quote as I'm mainly residential. As stated I generally increase prices in line with inflation.
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Ps. I increase rates based on inflation, Aworka has a superb function that enables you to round up or down to the nearest "X", some clients are not affected as the increase does not fulfil the requirement but it is recorded/remembered for next time therefore enacting the increase (it makes sense when you use it LOL!)
How do you access this function?
Jobs > Prices
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It's not about inflation it's about knowing your customers,you need to use your brain when increasing prices you should know the ones that'll take it and the ones that won't. Just because it's due a rise don't mean they'll pay it and a bit of software can tell you what it likes it can't read people's budgets.
Perhaps it's a combination of the two.