Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: davids3511 on October 29, 2007, 08:49:27 pm
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I have been seting up my round since about August time. About 6 weeks ago I got a move on and have had 5000 leaflets dropped in my area in those 6 weeks. I go out at night to see prospective customers and use what I have read on here to keep me right. About 80% agree to my prices so I feel I am in the right ballpark for this area although I am the most expensive about. I have managed to pick up 100 new customers in the last 6 weeks and am now at the point of earning a decent wage from it.
Tonight I went along to see this lady who wanted a cleaner. It was a standard 3 bed semi, double bay at the front and I quoted £10.00 ( I know I know, but if I go higher I simply won't get the business in this particular area). The woman looked gobsmacked and said she paid nothing like that to her last cleaner. I said 'but did he clean the frames and sills' 'yes' she said, 'for ME he did' and he did the insides 3 times a year too. She got him 5 new customers around her and used to collect the money from them for him so I guess he was trying to keep her sweet.
Anway, I said 'well where is he then'. She said he was subcontracting from someone else but hadn't come back. The guy who owns the round came out once, promised to sort it out but never came back either. She was sick of ringing him. I said 'well, whatever you were paying them obviously wasn't enough to make a living if neither of them were interested in doing her windows'. She replied that I was just too expensive and I was exploiting people. I replied that I had 150 happy customers who would disagree with her, that I was better placed to judge as I was pounding the streets for months speaking to customers and that she was being rediculous with her exploitation comment. I then walked away leaving her standing there.
I think she has a set amount in her head that us lowly WC's should earn and I obviously exceeded that. I also think she got frustrated when I didn't crumble under her arguments and put quite reasoned arguments back to her. She ended up with nowhere to go other than be silly. She also mentioned she was self employed, I wonder if she calculated I was earning more than her and as she is obviously so much more important than me I must therefore be into the exploitation game.
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As soon as people say "that's way too expensive" and look like this: :o - I make a swift exit!
Andy
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How can you be exploiting people? They have a choice wether to use you or not. It's not like fuel, we all have to have it so if they stuck the price up to £2/litre we wouldn't have a choice....that's explotation.
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I've often found in the past that those who actually are self employed understand better the problems other self employed people have and make quite good custies.
Those who have been S/E a long time in the past are often a bit out of touch with current prices and therefore are not always the best custies as they are always comparing modern prices with the old.
I have found the odd ones though, who like your lady are willing to charge a good price for their services but want others to provide them a service for a pittance. If they won't listen to the voice of reason, I don't want them on my round.
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As soon as people say "that's way too expensive" and look like this: :o - I make a swift exit!
Andy
I just say you pay for quality, pay peanuts you get monkeys ;)
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I just say you pay for quality, pay peanuts you get monkeys
I like it. I must remember that one.
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haha u always say that...
i must be a monkey then lol
got another 6 customers tonight only 8 pound each but like i said before my mate was doing it them for 5 so will leave it till april and they will go up to nearer what i want
also started telling my old custumors it going up a quid no complaints so far ;D
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haha u always say that...
i must be a monkey then lol
got another 6 customers tonight only 8 pound each but like i said before my mate was doing it them for 5 so will leave it till april and they will go up to nearer what i want
also started telling my old custumors it going up a quid no complaints so far ;D
if you are charging £8 and there is 3 windows your not getting paid peanuts, every area is different some pay more some less, as long as you are happy with what you earn who cares what the others think. I am never happy lol
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this is very true only i wish there were 3 windows.take aprox 20 mins but all next door practically on an estate i had half of anyway.cant wait to get the microfibres out tomorrow
are lass thinks ive gone mental haha
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When I told my wife she said a. The woman obviously didn't understand what expoloitation was and b. it sounded like she was exploiting her old cleaner if he was doing the frames everytime and the insides 3 times a year at no extra charge just to keep her sweet because she got him other customers.
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I have been seting up my round since about August time. About 6 weeks ago I got a move on and have had 5000 leaflets dropped in my area in those 6 weeks. I go out at night to see prospective customers and use what I have read on here to keep me right. About 80% agree to my prices so I feel I am in the right ballpark for this area although I am the most expensive about. I have managed to pick up 100 new customers in the last 6 weeks and am now at the point of earning a decent wage from it.
Tonight I went along to see this lady who wanted a cleaner. It was a standard 3 bed semi, double bay at the front and I quoted £10.00 ( I know I know, but if I go higher I simply won't get the business in this particular area). The woman looked gobsmacked and said she paid nothing like that to her last cleaner. I said 'but did he clean the frames and sills' 'yes' she said, 'for ME he did' and he did the insides 3 times a year too. She got him 5 new customers around her and used to collect the money from them for him so I guess he was trying to keep her sweet.
Anway, I said 'well where is he then'. She said he was subcontracting from someone else but hadn't come back. The guy who owns the round came out once, promised to sort it out but never came back either. She was sick of ringing him. I said 'well, whatever you were paying them obviously wasn't enough to make a living if neither of them were interested in doing her windows'. She replied that I was just too expensive and I was exploiting people. I replied that I had 150 happy customers who would disagree with her, that I was better placed to judge as I was pounding the streets for months speaking to customers and that she was being rediculous with her exploitation comment. I then walked away leaving her standing there.
I think she has a set amount in her head that us lowly WC's should earn and I obviously exceeded that. I also think she got frustrated when I didn't crumble under her arguments and put quite reasoned arguments back to her. She ended up with nowhere to go other than be silly. She also mentioned she was self employed, I wonder if she calculated I was earning more than her and as she is obviously so much more important than me I must therefore be into the exploitation game.
You should have asked her if you could bring a kiddie along to sweep her chimney.
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I've had this a few times when people have asked me to quote - they fall down in shock at your price because their 'current' window cleaner or last window cleaner only charges £8 when I've quoted £15. When you push them on why they're asking for a quote if they've already got a window cleaner, it's because they're not happy with them. They miss windows, or generally do a bad job.
So I say to them (as above) - 'you pay peanuts - you get monkeys'!
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A friend of mine a good trad window cleaner is dropping an entire estate as for 2 reasons, first he's having trouble keeping up with his commercial and second he's never put the prices up in well over 10 years. He's still doing the same places for a fiver. He also used to be very late on occasions sometimes 3 months.
He's passed my number on and they've all had a shock at the price, £9. These people know he was low, they know he never put his prices up in well over 10 years but they still whine about the price. We just tell them it's the going rate and they can take it or leave it (and get a monkey if they can find one) ;).
Simon.
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JUST ASK THEM IF THEY ARE STILL GETTING THE SAME WAGES OR PAYING THE SAME FOR WATER/FUEL/ELECTRIC/FOOD/RENT/MORTGAGE/GAS AND COUNCIL TAX AS THEY WHERE PAYING 10YEARS AGO AND SAY IF THEY ARE YOU WILL CHARGE THE SAME £5 IF THEY NOT YOU ALSO HAD THE SAME INCREASE IN COSTS THAT THEY DID AND AS SUCH THAT WILL REFLECT ON THE PRICE ;D
opps, sorry for caps :-[
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She replied that I was just too expensive and I was exploiting people.
It sounds like she exploited her last window cleaner and wanted to exploit you too!
Was she extremely attractive?
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Providing you do a good job you will get more or less what you want,most of them know theres WCS out there but they also know theres a lot of c*** ones that do them a couple of times and then there off.
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Was she extremely attractive?
It can have a bearing on the price ;D
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Providing you do a good job you will get more or less what you want,most of them know theres WCS out there but they also know theres a lot of c*** ones that do them a couple of times and then there off.
Have to agree with that 99% only probs is they will not let me have £100 for a 3 bed semi house :'(
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No, not in any way attractive but I know what you mean ;)
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Providing you do a good job you will get more or less what you want,most of them know theres WCS out there but they also know theres a lot of c*** ones that do them a couple of times and then there off.
Have to agree with that 99% only probs is they will not let me have £100 for a 3 bed semi house :'(
:)
Maybe you should offer to throw a free website into the deal then
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;D ;D ;D ;D.Don`t do 3 bed semis then.
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Providing you do a good job you will get more or less what you want,most of them know theres WCS out there but they also know theres a lot of c*** ones that do them a couple of times and then there off.
Have to agree with that 99% only probs is they will not let me have £100 for a 3 bed semi house :'(
:)
Maybe you should offer to throw a free website into the deal then
now thats a good idea ;D
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hi guys i love exploiting my custs ,exploit or be exploited.
lol
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£10 mininum, no ifs no buts and if i am expensive you can wait for the polish or bosnians to quote for you, eventually they will.