Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Scrimble on November 23, 2020, 11:21:34 am
-
Why is it there are so many clowns about charging peanuts, gutter vacs £20 per house, same day window cleaning £8, usually advertising on facebook with a picture of a tatty old van or barrels on the back seat of a old car next to a spotless water station,
-
Why is it there are so many clowns about charging peanuts, gutter vacs £20 per house, same day window cleaning £8, usually advertising on facebook with a picture of a tatty old van or barrels on the back seat of a old car next to a spotless water station,
It’s a race to the bottom mate!
I started just over 10 years ago. Set my stool out to charge high and get quality work. Glad I did.
We don’t get every job we quote for, but the ones we get are top quality customers who are more interested in who we are rather than how much we are.
The phone does ring less these days that’s for sure, but we’re still always picking up new work. Did some leaflets, good expensive ones and got the work I wanted. Not loads of customers, but definitely a good ROI.
If you set out looking better than the competition and back it up with being able to talk, and showing the customer they can trust you, a solid business will be built.
The cheap faceache customers can be cleaned by others and let them scrabble around getting annoyed.
-
People with an employed mentality, they took home £350 a week working in a factory, if they can earn the same for less hours and have the freedom of self employment then they see it as a win situation.
When you use £350 for a week to work out how much you should charge then low prices are the result
-
Fill the van up bit of shopping and 1 small bill there goes your 350 notes 😂
-
Why is it there are so many clowns about charging peanuts, gutter vacs £20 per house, same day window cleaning £8, usually advertising on facebook with a picture of a tatty old van or barrels on the back seat of a old car next to a spotless water station,
Never seen so many new wc at this time of year, Springtime when the weather starts improving could be a real eye opener next year.
-
People with an employed mentality, they took home £350 a week working in a factory, if they can earn the same for less hours and have the freedom of self employment then they see it as a win situation.
When you use £350 for a week to work out how much you should charge then low prices are the result
350 down south wouldn’t even get you to the point of boiling the kettle bills wise,why do you think so many lazy arses say I’m not gonna get a job I’ll be worse off and they would be if they took a job for that.
Of course there’s countless people on that amount of money but it won’t allow you to run a car-van pay rent or mortgage and have any sort of life.
-
I couldn't care less what other window cleaners charge. It's none of my business!
I just focus on what I do and the service I offer.
At the moment, I'm leafleting again and the phone keeps ringing.
About 50% of the enquiries are good.
That'll do for me.
-
You could work on a figure of £550 if they decide they will work only 6hrs a day they think £20 an hour, then ask on Facebook how long to clean the gutters on a a 3bed semi and they get told 1hr-1.5hrs so get a price of £35ish or get told it takes 15mins to clean the windows of the same size house so again use that to get their price of £6
But when the work doesn’t come in the start thinking it’s better to earn £12hr than just be sat at home so they lower theirs prices even further ::)roll
-
most of the new start ups tend to push more for gutter clearing, fascia cleaning , etc
They focus less on the window cleaning.
I see them constantly advertising on fb buy and sell pages.
I only do add ons for my regular window customers.... for me , the window cleaning is hastle free week in week out.
It must be a ball ache having to constantly seek these one off jobs at silly prices.
-
I couldn’t give a monkeys what others charge!
-
I couldn’t give a monkeys what others charge!
And they don’t give a monkeys that you don’t give a monkeys because you are not a potential customer for them. Who does give a monkeys is your customers who see their low price and decide to give them a go or worse think you are overcharging them.
Or a potential customer who sees these low prices and believes that’s the actual price.
Ps: When I say ‘you’ & ‘your’ I’m referring to established companies not you (KS) specifically
-
That’s why I always avoided customers like this the vast majority don’t care or want someone that’s gonna clean their windows for peanuts,it sets alarm bells ringing for a lot of people if money’s not a problem neither is paying a bit more,it’s like when I get a leaflet through my door for roof repairs etc it goes in the bin.
-
I couldn’t give a monkeys what others charge!
And they don’t give a monkeys that you don’t give a monkeys because you are not a potential customer for them. Who does give a monkeys is your customers who see their low price and decide to give them a go or worse think you are overcharging them.
Or a potential customer who sees these low prices and believes that’s the actual price.
Ps: When I say ‘you’ & ‘your’ I’m referring to established companies not you (KS) specifically
Well yes, and no
Had a long standing customer called on by a canvasser who offered to clean the windows for half of what I charge, the guy said to him 'but what sort of job are you going to do for that price? not a good one'
It's been found that around 20% of people will only consider price before they buy, I don't really want those people as my customers.
There will be those who take advantage of the green newbie undercharging (we have all been that guy to some extent in the past) but most will stick with you.
-
The thing is some take the mick with pricing i have picked 3 new builds up on an estate at £10 a piece all ten minute jobs and they came to me because the other window cleaner couldn't clean windows properly and was charging nearly £20 an house ,I live in Yorkshire any Window cleaner in Yorkshire thats been running for along time would agree with me on pricing
-
Why is it there are so many clowns about charging peanuts, gutter vacs £20 per house, same day window cleaning £8, usually advertising on facebook with a picture of a tatty old van or barrels on the back seat of a old car next to a spotless water station,
Facebook is a race to the bottom
Leave the clowns to Facebook and Facebook prices
People will pay for a quality service,
-
Why is it there are so many clowns about charging peanuts, gutter vacs £20 per house, same day window cleaning £8, usually advertising on facebook with a picture of a tatty old van or barrels on the back seat of a old car next to a spotless water station,
Facebook is a race to the bottom
Leave the clowns to Facebook and Facebook prices
People will pay for a quality service,
When i was advertising on FB i found most were just penny pinching one off wonders....
-
Why is it there are so many clowns about charging peanuts, gutter vacs £20 per house, same day window cleaning £8, usually advertising on facebook with a picture of a tatty old van or barrels on the back seat of a old car next to a spotless water station,
The thing is some take the mick with pricing i have picked 3 new builds up on an estate at £10 a piece all ten minute jobs and they came to me because the other window cleaner couldn't clean windows properly and was charging nearly £20 an house ,I live in Yorkshire any Window cleaner in Yorkshire thats been running for along time would agree with me on pricing
Because the clowns think people charging more are taking the mick 😂
-
It makes no difference if it’s a 5-10 minute job this is when you get into the loads of hours a week for not a lot of money,you have to have a minimum amount of money you want per job.
If you personally want 25 quid a job that means for any job and you have to stick to it,before you know it you’ve got a tenner here and a tenner there when you sit down and look at what your doing it doesn’t make sense or you realise that you are a busy fool,I’ve seen it before it’s almost like you are working to do people a favour.
-
At the end of the day we can all charge what we want....invariably i find the really dirt cheap window cleaners dont do a great job and customers are willing to pay a higher price for a better job...
-
It makes no difference if it’s a 5-10 minute job this is when you get into the loads of hours a week for not a lot of money,you have to have a minimum amount of money you want per job.
If you personally want 25 quid a job that means for any job and you have to stick to it,before you know it you’ve got a tenner here and a tenner there when you sit down and look at what your doing it doesn’t make sense or you realise that you are a busy fool,I’ve seen it before it’s almost like you are working to do people a favour.
If the works very compact you can still make a decent days money with lots of smaller jobs.....I know I do....for short working hours too.....👍
-
It makes no difference if it’s a 5-10 minute job this is when you get into the loads of hours a week for not a lot of money,you have to have a minimum amount of money you want per job.
If you personally want 25 quid a job that means for any job and you have to stick to it,before you know it you’ve got a tenner here and a tenner there when you sit down and look at what your doing it doesn’t make sense or you realise that you are a busy fool,I’ve seen it before it’s almost like you are working to do people a favour.
How do you work that one out? If you hit a good hourly rate on compact work how does that equate to working loads of hours for not a lot of money? In simple terms 6 small houses cleaned next to each other cleaned in an hour @ £12 = £72, 1 big house takes an hour @ £72, same money for the same time worked. The six houses will all be reached with an 18’ pole with no awkward windows, the big house will maybe require a 25’ pole with awkward windows and a balcony.....I know which work I prefer.
-
I'm cleaning an estate this week...it takes me 4 days...no driving about,a couple of van moves each day..nice, steady bread and butter work......
-
It makes no difference if it’s a 5-10 minute job this is when you get into the loads of hours a week for not a lot of money,you have to have a minimum amount of money you want per job.
If you personally want 25 quid a job that means for any job and you have to stick to it,before you know it you’ve got a tenner here and a tenner there when you sit down and look at what your doing it doesn’t make sense or you realise that you are a busy fool,I’ve seen it before it’s almost like you are working to do people a favour.
How do you work that one out? If you hit a good hourly rate on compact work how does that equate to working loads of hours for not a lot of money? In simple terms 6 small houses cleaned next to each other cleaned in an hour @ £12 = £72, 1 big house takes an hour @ £72, same money for the same time worked. The six houses will all be reached with an 18’ pole with no awkward windows, the big house will maybe require a 25’ pole with awkward windows and a balcony.....I know which work I prefer.
You’re only charging £10 though.
-
Doing 1 house at leisurely pace is totally different to cleaning 6 smaller jobs ie arranging or texting each job to say I’ve been or I’m coming regardless of text software it’s more agro.
Trust me I’ve been there years ago when I started building what I already had,ask yourself would you prefer to clean 10 50 quid jobs or 50 smaller ones when you look at it like that the answer is staring at you.
-
2 companies around me using my company name as a keyword on google ads for gutter cleaning..
one of them quoted my house as £200 to clear the gutters
the other quoted £40
we would charge about £125
???
-
I couldn’t give a monkeys what others charge!
And they don’t give a monkeys that you don’t give a monkeys because you are not a potential customer for them. Who does give a monkeys is your customers who see their low price and decide to give them a go or worse think you are overcharging them.
We had the same experience in Seaford, probably the same Eastbourne based company
Or a potential customer who sees these low prices and believes that’s the actual price.
Ps: When I say ‘you’ & ‘your’ I’m referring to established companies not you (KS) specifically
Well yes, and no
Had a long standing customer called on by a canvasser who offered to clean the windows for half of what I charge, the guy said to him 'but what sort of job are you going to do for that price? not a good one'
It's been found that around 20% of people will only consider price before they buy, I don't really want those people as my customers.
There will be those who take advantage of the green newbie undercharging (we have all been that guy to some extent in the past) but most will stick with you.
-
2 companies around me using my company name as a keyword on google ads for gutter cleaning..
one of them quoted my house as £200 to clear the gutters
the other quoted £40
we would charge about £125
???
In that case click their ads, visit their page for 30 seconds then leave. Do that a few times a day and you will be costing them. The should soon realise that the key words with your company name don't generate any quotes and change keywords. Then might not be that clever and just keep wasting money. Also they might have very generic keywords that don't necessarily actually use your company name but I don't think there is anything stopping them using your name.
Just click their ads to cost them money as they shouldn't be using your name, that's not the game.
-
Yeah and anyone with any sense wouldn’t use the one that charges 40 quid would they,ive got no worries my customers wouldn’t use em 🤣🤣.
-
It makes no difference if it’s a 5-10 minute job this is when you get into the loads of hours a week for not a lot of money,you have to have a minimum amount of money you want per job.
If you personally want 25 quid a job that means for any job and you have to stick to it,before you know it you’ve got a tenner here and a tenner there when you sit down and look at what your doing it doesn’t make sense or you realise that you are a busy fool,I’ve seen it before it’s almost like you are working to do people a favour.
How do you work that one out? If you hit a good hourly rate on compact work how does that equate to working loads of hours for not a lot of money? In simple terms 6 small houses cleaned next to each other cleaned in an hour @ £12 = £72, 1 big house takes an hour @ £72, same money for the same time worked. The six houses will all be reached with an 18’ pole with no awkward windows, the big house will maybe require a 25’ pole with awkward windows and a balcony.....I know which work I prefer.
You’re only charging £10 though.
I clean more than 6 small houses in an hour though, I also don’t clean any houses @ £72. I was using these figures as an example
-
Come to west Yorkshire try n charge anymore than 60 quid to clear gutters out n 70 % of them would show you where the entrance to their property is honestly Yorkshire people are one off the tightest on the planet after the scotch 🤣🤣🤣🤣
-
Doing 1 house at leisurely pace is totally different to cleaning 6 smaller jobs ie arranging or texting each job to say I’ve been or I’m coming regardless of text software it’s more agro.
Trust me I’ve been there years ago when I started building what I already had,ask yourself would you prefer to clean 10 50 quid jobs or 50 smaller ones when you look at it like that the answer is staring at you.
Out of all my customers I only text a hanfull, and even then they tend to be the larger jobs ( yes I have large jobs as well )😂 I get that you prefer to clean big properties, but you have to realise that you are working in a completely different marketplace to me. You might get away with charging someone 60-80 quid an hour down there for what is essentially semi skilled work, but that certainly isn’t going to happen on a big enough scale up here. Whereas cleaning multiple houses means that my hourly rate, although high, slips under the radar of the customers.
-
We can only give an example of the way each of us do things but as far as cleaning 20-30 jobs a day goes that’s not something I’d want to do in any part
Of the country.
-
It makes no difference if it’s a 5-10 minute job this is when you get into the loads of hours a week for not a lot of money,you have to have a minimum amount of money you want per job.
If you personally want 25 quid a job that means for any job and you have to stick to it,before you know it you’ve got a tenner here and a tenner there when you sit down and look at what your doing it doesn’t make sense or you realise that you are a busy fool,I’ve seen it before it’s almost like you are working to do people a favour.
How do you work that one out? If you hit a good hourly rate on compact work how does that equate to working loads of hours for not a lot of money? In simple terms 6 small houses cleaned next to each other cleaned in an hour @ £12 = £72, 1 big house takes an hour @ £72, same money for the same time worked. The six houses will all be reached with an 18’ pole with no awkward windows, the big house will maybe require a 25’ pole with awkward windows and a balcony.....I know which work I prefer.
You’re only charging £10 though.
I clean more than 6 small houses in an hour though, I also don’t clean any houses @ £72. I was using these figures as an example
My experience is that pricing is a mindset. The local guy I was talking about the other day once said to me “who’s going to pay more than a fiver for that?”. My price would have been £20 for the one he was pointing at. He hadLoads on that street and he was welcome to them all at that price. The point is that he had a mindset that he was only worth a fiver and didn’t value his work.
-
The Monkeys charging peanuts will either fail, or learn and move on and up. I'd rather earn peanuts than say... buy a round for £10K or summat then work for five months with no wage just to try to get your investment back , then hope you've a solid custy base left.
-
My experience is that pricing is a mindset. The local guy I was talking about the other day once said to me “who’s going to pay more than a fiver for that?”. My price would have been £20 for the one he was pointing at. He hadLoads on that street and he was welcome to them all at that price. The point is that he had a mindset that he was only worth a fiver and didn’t value his work.
[/quote]
I completely agree with this.
I am nearing full capacity, for what I am prepared tom work. I am pricing higher on all my new work, because It doesnt matter if they say no.
I think my body language goes hand in hand with mind set.
however , I am now putting up my prices on customers I have had for years to bring them into line with the new work.
I think I am more confident now , and the confidence and mind set seems to be working.
-
The thing is some take the mick with pricing i have picked 3 new builds up on an estate at £10 a piece all ten minute jobs and they came to me because the other window cleaner couldn't clean windows properly and was charging nearly £20 an house ,I live in Yorkshire any Window cleaner in Yorkshire thats been running for along time would agree with me on pricing
They must be tiny houses to do at £10 each and take ten minutes to do. I suggest they came to you more because the other guy does a crap job than his price.
-
The thing is some take the mick with pricing i have picked 3 new builds up on an estate at £10 a piece all ten minute jobs and they came to me because the other window cleaner couldn't clean windows properly and was charging nearly £20 an house ,I live in Yorkshire any Window cleaner in Yorkshire thats been running for along time would agree with me on pricing
They must be tiny houses to do at £10 each and take ten minutes to do. I suggest they came to you more because the other guy does a crap job than his price.
One of the first questions I ask is , how much did he used to charge you?
Then if I think it’s fair , I add a couple of quid on. I would never in a million years say ok il do it 50% cheaper knowing they’ve been paying the other guy 50% more .
This example from jk is exactly how you shouldn’t run a business. You haven’t realised it but you are part of the problem. Then you say everyone would agree with your pricing- well obviously not the guy who’s charging 50% more than you!!!!
-
The thing is some take the mick with pricing i have picked 3 new builds up on an estate at £10 a piece all ten minute jobs and they came to me because the other window cleaner couldn't clean windows properly and was charging nearly £20 an house ,I live in Yorkshire any Window cleaner in Yorkshire thats been running for along time would agree with me on pricing
They must be tiny houses to do at £10 each and take ten minutes to do. I suggest they came to you more because the other guy does a crap job than his price.
One of the first questions I ask is , how much did he used to charge you?
Then if I think it’s fair , I add a couple of quid on. I would never in a million years say ok il do it 50% cheaper knowing they’ve been paying the other guy 50% more .
This example from jk is exactly how you shouldn’t run a business. You haven’t realised it but you are part of the problem. Then you say everyone would agree with your pricing- well obviously not the guy who’s charging 50% more than you!!!!
100% more
-
The thing is some take the mick with pricing i have picked 3 new builds up on an estate at £10 a piece all ten minute jobs and they came to me because the other window cleaner couldn't clean windows properly and was charging nearly £20 an house ,I live in Yorkshire any Window cleaner in Yorkshire thats been running for along time would agree with me on pricing
They must be tiny houses to do at £10 each and take ten minutes to do. I suggest they came to you more because the other guy does a crap job than his price.
One of the first questions I ask is , how much did he used to charge you?
Then if I think it’s fair , I add a couple of quid on. I would never in a million years say ok il do it 50% cheaper knowing they’ve been paying the other guy 50% more .
This example from jk is exactly how you shouldn’t run a business. You haven’t realised it but you are part of the problem. Then you say everyone would agree with your pricing- well obviously not the guy who’s charging 50% more than you!!!!
100% more
(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1606243313_819B0C23-85AA-403B-9536-E51F07001A32.gif)
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
If people are contacting you from other areas because their local guy is “expensive“, has it occurred to you that perhaps you’re underpriced? And if you’ be been going 35 years, why feel the need to be 50% cheaper than the competitors?
-
If you get every single job you quote you are too cheap,I had a couple last month I quoted and didn’t get them they won’t get rid of a cheap window cleaner and think I’m the next mug.
Same old same old he just stopped coming etc well he would do for the price of a pint and a pork pie,sometimes I like shocking em 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
-
each to their own.......i try and find the middle ground somewhere with pricing......not the cheapest window cleaner in the area but not ridiculously expensive either...
-
each to their own.......i try and find the middle ground somewhere with pricing......not the cheapest window cleaner in the area but not ridiculously expensive either...
So you know all your competitors pricing ?
I haven't got a clue what others charge in my area nor do i care.
-
each to their own.......i try and find the middle ground somewhere with pricing......not the cheapest window cleaner in the area but not ridiculously expensive either...
So you know all your competitors pricing ?
I haven't got a clue what others charge in my area nor do i care.
yes.....i do actually!some are unbelievably cheap and other are more expensive than me on some types of work
-
I havnt got a clue what others charge either and couldn’t give a monkeys. My sole aim when pricing each job is getting as much as I can for that job.
If I’m winning all of my quotes I’ll keep upping the cost until I’m getting around 60-70%. That’s the sweet spot I find.
Also, I’m not really looking for the type of customer who is getting multiple quotes for a ~£20 regular job.
-
People aren't contacting me it People that are visiting family and friends of my customers and to be honest I'm not the cheapest window cleaner in my area ,there is a guy who charges half the price I do 🤣🤣🤣🤣
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
You said you "hear it every day" ... now you say "people aren't contacting me" just "People that are visiting family and friends of my customers".
If you've been going 35 years I reckon you are in danger of a "stuck in my ways" and "no-one can advise me different as 'eck as like" mindset! ;D
-
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
You said you "hear it every day" ... now you say "people aren't contacting me" just "People that are visiting family and friends of my customers".
If you've been going 35 years I reckon you are in danger of a "stuck in my ways" and "no-one can advise me different as 'eck as like" mindset! ;D
this happened to me.....I have been going 29 years....
I was stuck in tjhe mindset of not being able to charge any higher.
I have changed that mindset now , because I have gained thoughts and ideas from this forum.
It makes my job more enjoyable. I wish there was forums like this when I started....
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
I'm on Teesside and the same mentality exists as in Yorkshire with regard to pricing.
I also don't take the Mick with pricing as I've watched and learnt from fellow window cleaners. They have a high rate of customer turnover because they try to charge maximum pricing. I found it very difficult to get to £10 a 3 bed semi no conservatory in our area. There are still guys charging a fiver for the same type of house and using wfp. The further East you go into Loftus the worse it gets price wise.
When I bumped prices up for £9 to £10 I found that was the tipping point for some.
We have a business that wanted to charge £15 a clean on a newish estate. He got a couple of houses but not for long as his customers started to talk to others who had other window cleaners. Now I think he only has 2 customers left from the batch he had.
I wish we could all get those prices but customer perception dictates otherwise.
The other issue we have is our Job Center. They have been blatantly encouraging job seekers to become window cleaners and take low level bungalows off existing window cleaners by undercutting. They have been told the established window cleaners can afford to loose a few of their customers.
What this does is get someone off their books into employment and then let family credit (or whatever its called) to top his earnings up. Is it 16 or 24 hours he has to work a week to claim these benefits?
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
I'm on Teesside and the same mentality exists as in Yorkshire with regard to pricing.
I also don't take the Mick with pricing as I've watched and learnt from fellow window cleaners. They have a high rate of customer turnover because they try to charge maximum pricing. I found it very difficult to get to £10 a 3 bed semi no conservatory in our area. There are still guys charging a fiver for the same type of house and using wfp. The further East you go into Loftus the worse it gets price wise.
When I bumped prices up for £9 to £10 I found that was the tipping point for some.
We have a business that wanted to charge £15 a clean on a newish estate. He got a couple of houses but not for long as his customers started to talk to others who had other window cleaners. Now I think he only has 2 customers left from the batch he had.
I wish we could all get those prices but customer perception dictates otherwise.
The other issue we have is our Job Center. They have been blatantly encouraging job seekers to become window cleaners and take low level bungalows off existing window cleaners by undercutting. They have been told the established window cleaners can afford to loose a few of their customers.
What this does is get someone off their books into employment and then let family credit (or whatever its called) to top his earnings up. Is it 16 or 24 hours he has to work a week to claim these benefits?
I think you have the same mind set as jk. The example used above shows the customer was paying around £20. Jk came along and said he’d do it for £10- the customer would’ve probably have been happy with £15 . When I used to get my windows cleaned, I didn’t have a clue what my neighbours were being charged and I certainly didn’t go round bringing it up into conversation. The problem lies within the window cleaners IMO . If all you window cleaners in Yorkshire seem to know each other and clearly know what each charges per property then why don’t you all stick together and everyone ups their minimum price to £10 no ifs no buts.
-
If I’m winning all of my quotes I’ll keep upping the cost until I’m getting around 60-70%. That’s the sweet spot I find.
yes exactly this. agreed! :)
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
I'm on Teesside and the same mentality exists as in Yorkshire with regard to pricing.
I also don't take the Mick with pricing as I've watched and learnt from fellow window cleaners. They have a high rate of customer turnover because they try to charge maximum pricing. I found it very difficult to get to £10 a 3 bed semi no conservatory in our area. There are still guys charging a fiver for the same type of house and using wfp. The further East you go into Loftus the worse it gets price wise.
When I bumped prices up for £9 to £10 I found that was the tipping point for some.
We have a business that wanted to charge £15 a clean on a newish estate. He got a couple of houses but not for long as his customers started to talk to others who had other window cleaners. Now I think he only has 2 customers left from the batch he had.
I wish we could all get those prices but customer perception dictates otherwise.
The other issue we have is our Job Center. They have been blatantly encouraging job seekers to become window cleaners and take low level bungalows off existing window cleaners by undercutting. They have been told the established window cleaners can afford to loose a few of their customers.
What this does is get someone off their books into employment and then let family credit (or whatever its called) to top his earnings up. Is it 16 or 24 hours he has to work a week to claim these benefits?
That sounds anecdotal. (I'm not saying things anecdotal aren't based in fact) I would love to know your source for it because it also sounds that it has been exaggerated before reaching you.
Blatantly = "Done openly and unashamedly"
-
I refuse to go to work and worry about being undercut my philosophy is why worry about something that hasn’t happened,I’d rather deal with the problem if and when it arises.
-
Before we know it we will be looking back at this Virus saying blimey that was 10 years ago,life is short don’t spend it worrying.
-
I didn't do the price at 50%cheaper those are my prices if I want to I could do six an hour times that by five hours in Yorkshire thats good money but I have been doing this job 35 years now with a very good customer base ,put it this way I will be one of those Window cleaners that will hardly lose any customer to the covid because I don't take the mick with pricing, I make a good living through this job and I'm not about to rip people of ,I hear it every day people saying to me my window cleaner is expensive do you cover my area answer normally is sorry no I don't cant be bothered with the hassle 😅
I'm on Teesside and the same mentality exists as in Yorkshire with regard to pricing.
I also don't take the Mick with pricing as I've watched and learnt from fellow window cleaners. They have a high rate of customer turnover because they try to charge maximum pricing. I found it very difficult to get to £10 a 3 bed semi no conservatory in our area. There are still guys charging a fiver for the same type of house and using wfp. The further East you go into Loftus the worse it gets price wise.
When I bumped prices up for £9 to £10 I found that was the tipping point for some.
We have a business that wanted to charge £15 a clean on a newish estate. He got a couple of houses but not for long as his customers started to talk to others who had other window cleaners. Now I think he only has 2 customers left from the batch he had.
I wish we could all get those prices but customer perception dictates otherwise.
The other issue we have is our Job Center. They have been blatantly encouraging job seekers to become window cleaners and take low level bungalows off existing window cleaners by undercutting. They have been told the established window cleaners can afford to loose a few of their customers.
What this does is get someone off their books into employment and then let family credit (or whatever its called) to top his earnings up. Is it 16 or 24 hours he has to work a week to claim these benefits?
That sounds anecdotal. (I'm not saying things anecdotal aren't based in fact) I would love to know your source for it because it also sounds that it has been exaggerated before reaching you.
Blatantly = "Done openly and unashamedly"
Directly from the ex customer of the bungalow I lost. It was his neighbour who took up cleaning his windows. That same window cleaner then later complained to me that I was canvassing on his patch.
I know he was unemployed for a long time, but you are right, I wasn't in the actual conversation loop with the Job Center clerk.
I did also hear the same story from another local window cleaner complaining to me about loosing some of his bungalows he was saving up to clean after he retired.
So I gave it some credence.
When I was registered with the job center it was suggested I became a window cleaner. The conversation didn't continue as I informed them I had standards. ;D
We have 3 bungalows left on the round now and one of them is mother-in-laws. She insists she pays me for her clean which I do for a pittance. She's had guys knocking on her door offering to do it cheaper than I'm doing it for.
I've lost a number due to cheaper window cleaners but I have no clue if they were job center related. Some old retired pensioners will change ship for a £1 difference.
-
each to their own.......i try and find the middle ground somewhere with pricing......not the cheapest window cleaner in the area but not ridiculously expensive either...
So you know all your competitors pricing ?
I haven't got a clue what others charge in my area nor do i care.
Well you should
Basic stuff that
-
Shreck I already said I never undercut the other window cleaner they just came out and asked what I charged I told them a tenner without any conservatory ,never new they had someone else before until a few cleans in ,to be honest im not in this job to get rich or rip people off customers have outgoing s aswell so if the price is to much which payment do you think they are gonna get rid off first eh ,I'm an in-between price man not cheap but not dear ,I earn enough to pay everything I owe each week and still enough to save and live a comfortable life
-
each to their own.......i try and find the middle ground somewhere with pricing......not the cheapest window cleaner in the area but not ridiculously expensive either...
So you know all your competitors pricing ?
I haven't got a clue what others charge in my area nor do i care.
Well you should
Basic stuff that
Its all BS, I charge £5 for a four bed detached, what I mean is that's what I tell other shiners I charge because its none of their business, charge what you need to charge to make the work pay for you and stop listening to BS from braggers, no matter what you say you charge there will always be somebody on here who will tell you its not enough.
-
It’s not enough 🤣🤣
-
Shreck I already said I never undercut the other window cleaner they just came out and asked what I charged I told them a tenner without any conservatory ,never new they had someone else before until a few cleans in ,to be honest im not in this job to get rich or rip people off customers have outgoing s aswell so if the price is to much which payment do you think they are gonna get rid off first eh ,I'm an in-between price man not cheap but not dear ,I earn enough to pay everything I owe each week and still enough to save and live a comfortable life
I never said you undercut anyone , I thought they had sacked the other guy off so they were window cleaner less. But now we know you undercut him :) .
Just because there are people out there charging more than you and not following the pack like you and spruce seem to be doing , it doesn’t mean they are ripping customers off.
-
It wouldn’t bother me if someone was charging less and getting away with it but it would if they were charging more lol,more fool people charging ridiculously low prices i won’t be doing it anytime soon to try and keep work.