Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Mo on November 05, 2007, 05:31:59 pm

Title: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: Mo on November 05, 2007, 05:31:59 pm
Hi guys
Can anyone help
I've got to price up my first big job, and I'm not sure how to go about it.
 
If any one can give me some advice it will be much appriciated.
 
these are the spec's
 
Large block of flats
 
Front 5 floors high & basement
Back 4 floors high
 
total amount of window is 189 + 2 large front doors
 
Easy access all round water tap on side for refill if required 
 
 
Many Thanks
 
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 05:35:05 pm
If the job is a must have then you might go in cheaper but i would go ground floor £1.50 2nd £2.00 and then 50p per floor after that,easy to price by counting the window`s on each floor.If you have lots like this to price it`s a quick easy method to use.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: need a cleaner on November 05, 2007, 06:26:54 pm
Hi guys
Can anyone help
I've got to price up my first big job, and I'm not sure how to go about it.
 
If any one can give me some advice it will be much appriciated.
 
these are the spec's
 
Large block of flats
 
Front 5 floors high & basement
Back 4 floors high
 
total amount of window is 189 + 2 large front doors
 
Easy access all round water tap on side for refill if required 
 
 
Many Thanks
 


Hi Jose, out of curiosity are you Portuguese?
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: Mo on November 05, 2007, 08:59:45 pm
No Spanish but The Afonso is Portugese
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: Mo on November 05, 2007, 09:04:02 pm
Thank you NWH
Thats what I had in mine :o
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: gsw on November 05, 2007, 09:12:52 pm
If the job is a must have then you might go in cheaper but i would go ground floor £1.50 2nd £2.00 and then 50p per floor after that,easy to price by counting the window`s on each floor.If you have lots like this to price it`s a quick easy method to use.

so does that mean £2.50 for 3rd floor and £3.00 for 4th floor....sorry if i'm being thick here!!
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 09:16:00 pm
Yes 50p extra per window per floor.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: gsw on November 05, 2007, 10:21:35 pm
good luck if you can get those prices, i have just had a bartering session over a contract for a four storey block, basically it worked out at roughly just over £1.00 a window regardless of height and I wasn't the cheapest!! do you increase prices for different cleaning schedules, ie monthly, bi monthly quarterly etc?

I wouldn't have even got a call back if i went over £2.oo per window, be it second floor or fifth floor!!
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 10:24:36 pm
Like i said i don`t need the work,if i take it on just for the sake of it i`d regret having it.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: stevekennedy on November 05, 2007, 10:49:46 pm
Like i said i don`t need the work,if i take it on just for the sake of it i`d regret having it.

Hi NWH. Out of interest, would you apply this principle to employees as well?

Quote
I wouldn't have even got a call back if i went over £2.oo per window, be it second floor or fifth floor!!


We have found this too in our area. We tend to go in quite a bit cheaper. We work it out on how much time it takes, plus a bit for wear and tear and finally we add on for hassle factor. Usually works out around 80p for ground and first and £1-£1.50 for 2nd to 5th on medium size jobs (1-2 Hours). We do charge big money for anything above that though.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: macmac on November 05, 2007, 10:51:52 pm
Like i said i don`t need the work,if i take it on just for the sake of it i`d regret having it.

To be fair, that statement from nwh (no offense mate) does make a big difference to what someone who does need the work might price up at.

In nwh's position you can afford the luxary of choosing & pricing your work, however i wouldn't risk loosing a good job by going in overly expensive if your not in the same position. it can be tricky if your not experienced at pricing this kind of work- go in too dear & lose it, or go in too cheap & regret it. It's a fine ballance, when i price something like this up i start in my head with the minimum i would happily do the job for. then, i will start negotiating above this figure to try to get the best price i can ( & usually do ) but if all else fails & i do indeed want the job then this minimum figure in my head i'll give but won't go below. Below this figure is where the regret comes in!

tony
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 10:52:42 pm
What do you mean if i take someone on i`d regret having them,i`ve done that before LOL.Not enough grafters out there,to many tossers i`m looking for a mini me. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: stevekennedy on November 05, 2007, 10:54:39 pm
What do you mean if i take someone on i`d regret having them,i`ve done that before LOL.Not enough grafters out there,to many tossers i`m looking for a mini me. ;D ;D ;D ;D

If you are on your own, then, yes you need cream work only or it's not worth it. But if you are employing I think maybe you can go in a bit cheaper. What would you say?
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 10:57:32 pm
In my experience when you turn up to quote without writing anything down and working anything out on paper you instinctivley know how much it should be maybe it`s gut feeling,years of getting it wrong teaches you.As Tony says never go in to low,it will take you years to get it back up to what it should be.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 11:02:38 pm
That`s a bit like saying if your WFP and it`s quicker you can be cheaper,wrong.The way your going to make serious money employing is having someone out on there own working to your prices,why take on work just for works sake.I always go for quality work theres plenty of ordinary work out there,that dosen`t make it a good business having loads of work,doing these types of jobs for the right money could mean that you only have to do 2 of them a day and not 3.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: windowwashers on November 05, 2007, 11:06:35 pm
What do you mean if i take someone on i`d regret having them,i`ve done that before LOL.Not enough grafters out there,to many tossers i`m looking for a mini me. ;D ;D ;D ;D

If you are on your own, then, yes you need cream work only or it's not worth it. But if you are employing I think maybe you can go in a bit cheaper. What would you say?
if you think about that comment the answer is already there.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 05, 2007, 11:08:55 pm
Say what you see. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: gsw on November 06, 2007, 07:19:48 am
do you increase prices for different cleaning schedules, ie monthly, bi monthly quarterly etc?


??
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: geoffreyspecht on November 06, 2007, 06:02:48 pm
be lucky to get £200 for that job where i live
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: NWH on November 06, 2007, 06:19:48 pm
I don`t know why people go in cheaper when quoting for jobs WFP,the whole idea is that you`ll do the job quicker for trad money.With WFP your now doing frames etc i`m sure you`ll find most customers will be pleased to pay a bit more for it,they now also know that those difficult will be cleaned.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: stevekennedy on November 06, 2007, 11:42:35 pm
All the main firms in Aberdeen have been WFP since 97/98. We are seldom taking over from trad now. We are almost always competing against other WFP operators. They are working to margin. If we want the work we have to be competitive. We are not usually the cheapest, but we need to be in the same ball park. Maybe it's different in other cities.

After we have won the work, some companies have shown me the other quotes. (Some have shown them to me BEFORE I quote, but that's another story  ;) )
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: bluez on November 07, 2007, 03:13:08 pm
I don't have much to add to the price discussion except that every area will be different and trad or wfp the end result is the same to the client, clean windows, so in this age where wfp is not new anymore and is pretty much the in dustry standard imo just price it at what you need to earn in the amount of time it will take you based on your earnings from your other work.

I do have a question relating to competition for commercial work, why is it acceptable to win commercial work based on price but unacceptable to win retail or domestic work on price (commonly refered to as undercutting) is this not a double standard?

by the way just to state where I stand on the issue I do not know what others charge In my area and I don't care too much. I base my prices on achieving a decent return on time invested either by myself or my staff and if that causes some people to lose work to me or me to lose work to others then thats just business.
Title: Re: Pricing Block of Flats
Post by: stevekennedy on November 07, 2007, 05:23:37 pm
bluez

I agree with you. This is just business. But, personally, we prefer not to aggresively undercut.

What we have found is that companies have sacked or are about to sack the existing cleaners so they call about 3 new win cleaners.

Or the work comes up for tender so it's up for grabs to anyone. The existing cleaner has the advantage though, as he knows all the shortcuts ;)