Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Londoner on June 06, 2008, 07:08:50 am
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Had a good customer phone up yesterday and cancel. She says her husband is going to do them. They run a business doing interior design. It looks like the recession is starting to bite.
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Out of interest if say in a years time she phoned up and said can you start doing them again would you take her back on?
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Out of interest if say in a years time she phoned up and said can you start doing them again would you take her back on?
If she was a good custy and I believed her, then I would ... at my new rates of course! ;D
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Out of interest if say in a years time she phoned up and said can you start doing them again would you take her back on?
If she was a good custy and I believed her, then I would ... at my new rates of course! ;D
I personally wouldn't because whilst I feel for people who through no fault of their own have hit hard times I'd know that if ever money gets tight for them sometime in the future I'm top of the redundancy list.
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Recession ?
In the last 2 days we have picked up 3 hotels/guest houses , 2 nursing homes and 2 houses and 2 gutter jobs and builders clean on a shop
But lost a £6.00 bungalow, not a bad swap really.
The key to beating the recession if there is one, is to pick up more work than you lose
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It's a funny thing. I have found the opposite happening lately instead of losing customers due to the "recession" I have had work pouring in. In this case I wouldn't go back to them for the same reasons as Simon. If money got tight for them again you would be top of the list to get the chop. If you start to lose to many customers in this way then canvass a couple of nights a week as Dave says the key is to pick up more work than you lose. It may be you have to work harder to replace them but you will. If you think about it a £10 house thats cleaned monthly will only cost the owner £2.50 per week. Not a lot of money for them what would they get for that. The other option would be to offer them cleans bi monthly. Charge 50% more than the monthly clean. That way they will still save money over the year and you will get more per clean. If you then find another bi monthly customer to balance out the cleans you will actually be better off. Everyones happy!
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I had a blip a few weeks ago when my leafletter was last out. I picked up loads of work but quite a few wanted 2 monthly which I put down to recession and money worries.
However, he was out again last week, again picked up quite a few new customers but this time that were all ok with monthly. I also had jacked my minimum price up from £10.00 to £11.00 and still had only one out of 15 say bugger off.
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Lost one today because she had lost her job, and in her words (which some on here will take issue with) Window cleaning is a luxery and I could do it myself. She did say she would restart again when she gets a job but just take this as a warning.
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Lost one today because she had lost her job, and in her words (which some on here will take issue with) Window cleaning is a luxery and I could do it myself. She did say she would restart again when she gets a job but just take this as a warning.
You dont have to lose your job to be able to do them yourself ::)
Of course anyone can do them, the good thing for us is that they don't want to, or can't be bothered to.
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I've got customers on benefits that are good customers and I've got customers with good jobs who mess me about.
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I've got customers on benefits that are good customers and I've got customers with good jobs who mess me about.
Of course the customers who are on benefits are good customers because it's not them who are bloody paying ;D
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I had a blip a few weeks ago when my leafletter was last out. I picked up loads of work but quite a few wanted 2 monthly which I put down to recession and money worries.
However, he was out again last week, again picked up quite a few new customers but this time that were all ok with monthly. I also had jacked my minimum price up from £10.00 to £11.00 and still had only one out of 15 say bugger off.
does everybody else have a minimum price of £10/£11 or am i the only one who has houses that are a fiver and will still quote a house at £5 if it makes me a decent wage..
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I try not to bother with em now. I target houses on the basis of the bigger the better! One £20 house = Four £5 ones but four £5 ones will take up more time than the one £20 one.
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Hi Kris
I didn't explain it very well. Most of my houses are very similar, out of 240 customers about 215 are basically different variations of the same house. I meant the £10/£11 as a minimum for them. I have a few houses at £5/£6 and would quote £5/£6 again it it made a decent hourly rate. Moneys money in my book.
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sorry mate,
wernt having a dig at your prices, just seems people on here seem to charge more than me and just wondering if i was doing something wrong...
kris
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I had a blip a few weeks ago when my leafletter was last out. I picked up loads of work but quite a few wanted 2 monthly which I put down to recession and money worries.
However, he was out again last week, again picked up quite a few new customers but this time that were all ok with monthly. I also had jacked my minimum price up from £10.00 to £11.00 and still had only one out of 15 say bugger off.
does everybody else have a minimum price of £10/£11 or am i the only one who has houses that are a fiver and will still quote a house at £5 if it makes me a decent wage..
Nope, I do houses for a fiver. Nice little terrace of 7 houses...2 up 2 down...fronts only...takes 40 mins (trad) if I'm feeling lazy....£35...luvvly jubbly...and because it's only a fiver none of the "not today thanks" nonsense.
Would love all my round to be like this!
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I try not to bother with em now. I target houses on the basis of the bigger the better! One £20 house = Four £5 ones but four £5 ones will take up more time than the one £20 one.
Hi WCE true 4 houses at a fiver will take more time than one at twenty, but the flip side to this is if you lose one house thats a fiver or two then thats a tenner, wheras(is that a word) if you lose one thats twenty squid and two be forty quid.
Steve
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I try not to bother with em now. I target houses on the basis of the bigger the better! One £20 house = Four £5 ones but four £5 ones will take up more time than the one £20 one.
Hi WCE true 4 houses at a fiver will take more time than one at twenty, but the flip side to this is if you lose one house thats a fiver or two then thats a tenner, wheras(is that a word) if you lose one thats twenty squid and two be forty quid.
Steve
True but do you know what the answer is? Don't lose em!!! Being serious, I am in the position where if I lose 1 or 2 then it is no real problem. I have reached the stage where I am able to look for better paid work. I understand I am lucky to be in such a position but I am after the quality work. Yes there is a bigger risk that you will lose a bigger amount of income if you lose just one customer but IMO the hourly rates are better and it's worth the risk. Of course the commercial work I do is better paid but thats a different story........
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im in the same boat i can afford to loose customers and was wondering how you (WCE) go about getting the higher priced jobs..
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got work pouring in as well , try being positive it really does work
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WCE I was just being objective mate, I have a lot of well priced commercial.
Paul hughes31 as prestige says. be positive and don't be frightened of losing/missing out on a contract or two if the price is not right as there will be another one round the corner.
But always remember there is a limit to what a sane person will pay. (but it may be higher(alot higher) than you imagine). ;D
Steve
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im in the same boat i can afford to loose customers and was wondering how you (WCE) go about getting the higher priced jobs..
Well it is mainly down to advertising. I don't canvass anymore I let customers come to me. Then (residential wise) when I go to quote them I go there on the basis of bettering my work. Most people who I go to see tend to seem desperate to find a window cleaner. I don't understand why as they got my number out of the yellow pages/the web etc and there are many window cleaners in/on there. I don't need the work so I just price to improve my work. I don't get every one but I do get most. When I take on a new customers they only actually replace another customer after the new one has proved they are not time wasters (usually 3 months no hassle). The other thing is I never just drop good customers. In my area I have so far had luck in finding less established window cleaners who are grateful for the work. I pass them the work FOC. So far they have been reliable so no problems however, the work is only given to them on the understanding that they are reliable and if not then I will find someone else to do it. The customer is kept up to speed with all that is going on and they are grateful of this. In short what I am saying is that canvassing is great for generating work and producing the numbers but you will rarely get the top prices you wish for because you are cold calling your customers. I find that if they come to you they are actively searching for a window cleaner and are more receptive to higher prices.
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WCE I was just being objective mate, I have a lot of well priced commercial.
Paul hughes31 as prestige says. be positive and don't be frightened of losing/missing out on a contract or two if the price is not right as there will be another one round the corner.
But always remember there is a limit to what a sane person will pay. (but it may be higher(alot higher) than you imagine). ;D
Steve
Thats ok I know was just saying that if you can afford it then you can pick your customers although I do agree with what your saying - Very True!
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i have never advertised in my life and have never canvassed, i have a customer base of over 1300 and my customers have always come too me, just lately i have realised that my new customers are going to have more seriouse prices (dont get me wrong my prices arnt bad and make me good money) but say for a 3 bed semi 4 windows on front 4 back 1 side how much would you charge?
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where I am between six fifty and nine quid.
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£12- 15 you might not be able to get the same in your area but I do here. A good tip is that if a customer thinks the price is just ever so slightly high then you have got it right. Remember I don't get everyone I quote. If I did I would know I was to cheap!
i have a customer base of over 1300 and my customers have always come too me, just lately i have realised that my new customers are going to have more seriouse prices (dont get me wrong my prices arnt bad and make me good money) but say for a 3 bed semi 4 windows on front 4 back 1 side how much would you charge?
The thing to work out is whats the average price of each house any less than £10 and you are losing out compared to me. Hope that answers your question! :)
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where I am between six fifty and nine quid.
So you charge abot 20-25% less than me then
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i have never advertised in my life and have never canvassed, i have a customer base of over 1300
So how many people have you got working for you?
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i have never advertised in my life and have never canvassed, i have a customer base of over 1300 and my customers have always come too me, just lately i have realised that my new customers are going to have more seriouse prices (dont get me wrong my prices arnt bad and make me good money) but say for a 3 bed semi 4 windows on front 4 back 1 side how much would you charge?
So how did you get that first customer?
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my mate who is now my business partner bought a round off one of our other mates who diddnt have a clue what it was worth, he paid £1000 it was worth at least 5 times that. the guy he had working for him quit so he asked me and i took the job, then i couldnt be bothered (crap money) ask him for buy in he said yes.. i get my self a v good deal for £500.. since then picking up a lot of work and i think we have bought another 3 rounds (but wont do that agiain).. up until about six weeks ago we were trad and there was 3 of us now there are 2 because the other lad left, went wfp now i feel like i have a new job (better job)
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i have never advertised in my life and have never canvassed, i have a customer base of over 1300 and my customers have always come too me, just lately i have realised that my new customers are going to have more seriouse prices (dont get me wrong my prices arnt bad and make me good money) but say for a 3 bed semi 4 windows on front 4 back 1 side how much would you charge?
I would have said the average price down here (Kent) would be £10 - £12
But if you believe you are better than the other window cleaners around ( I am!) ;D
I would be asking for £15-17 depending on customer 8)
Someone said earlier...
"when I go to quote them I go there on the basis of bettering my work"
This is my attitude! 8)
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surely from time to time window cleaners will lose customers, and gain more than they lost in any given period...
just because one customer is lost does not mean the crunch is affecting....
stop panicking, think positive, canvass, leaflet drop and up your game.
:)
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surely from time to time window cleaners will lose customers, and gain more than they lost in any given period...
just because one customer is lost does not mean the crunch is affecting....
stop panicking, think positive, canvass, leaflet drop and up your game.
:)
Crunch is for the negative people on here, I seem to be picking up work everywhere and I know full well loads of others are all over the UK as I speak to quite a few people all over the UK daily.
Negative input = negative output
Be positive ;)
Ian
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im feeling really positive at the moment now are emplyee has left, things are looking up ive gone wfp picking up more work than we can handle and i am under no circumstances worrying about the crunch..
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im feeling really positive at the moment now are emplyee has left, things are looking up ive gone wfp picking up more work than we can handle and i am under no circumstances worrying about the crunch..
Good on you Paul ;) you will find you will be doing more work in less time aswell
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I lost quite a few at the beginning of this year.
I tried to replace each one with better work.
Didn't realise until now that I've got too much work again so it's time for a payrise again.
Customers will be informed next week so I tailor my round down to a manageable level again at better prices than before just to keep up with inflation and rising fuel costs.
Trouble with this job is nothing ever stands still, have to keep moving forwards or run out of work.
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Recession ?
In the last 2 days we have picked up 3 hotels/guest houses , 2 nursing homes and 2 houses and 2 gutter jobs and builders clean on a shop
But lost a £6.00 bungalow, not a bad swap really.
The key to beating the recession if there is one, is to pick up more work than you lose
That's pretty much how it's been for me so far Dave. Lost a few more than usual in recent times but the work coming in far exceeds it.
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What im finding is that the present economic situation means people are staying put, hence the usual trickle of lost customers due to moving has stopped, Ive lost one or two down to things being tight, but the amount of new custys is outweighing the loss. An unexpected bonus of the credit crunch, hope I havent spoken too soon.
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Finding that quite a few of my custys are having extensions or loft conversions done for the extra space because it works out cheaper than moving. Down side is while the builders are there my services are not required. Up side is when it's done the house is bigger therefore I can charge more ;D
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I have said this in a previous thread on the "recession", people are staying put and just concentrating on improving on what they have already got. This normally means things looking nice and clean.
On the subject of losing customers. I dropped one today as he mucked me about 3 weeks on the trot. As I was doing next door 3 people came up to me and asked me to do theirs. So down 8 quid, up 37 quid. ;D
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On the subject of losing customers. I dropped one today as he mucked me about 3 weeks on the trot. As I was doing next door 3 people came up to me and asked me to do theirs. So down 8 quid, up 37 quid. ;D
Do you mean you clean weekly? Or you went back three times to clean and got knocked back?
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where I am between six fifty and nine quid.
So you charge abot 20-25% less than me then
Yeah, its harder to get good money/prices up north a bit, especially around my area as we have a glut of WCers.
But i'm on about residential the commercial side of things is a lot more lucrative and i'm mainly commercial and WFP, mainly apartment blocks, office blocks, retail parks and LCC work.
We are not a large company but we give the personal touch.
Steve
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On the subject of losing customers. I dropped one today as he mucked me about 3 weeks on the trot. As I was doing next door 3 people came up to me and asked me to do theirs. So down 8 quid, up 37 quid. ;D
Do you mean you clean weekly? Or you went back three times to clean and got knocked back?
Nah 4 weekly but, he kept saying come back next week.
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be positive i lost 1 this week but picked up 18 new customers a con clean and some facia cleaning , happy days regards alan