[Smurf]

if its a drive away i charge £10 to get up the ladders and check them out,    i tell them this will be taken off the price if they need doing.
i dot get free fuel to go driving around town.
if its only a small area to be cleaned ill only charge for the time to do that.
REMEMBER,
you risk your life climbing at height, some prices seem high to them but you are also charging for this dangerous type of work  at height.
they wouldnt want to go up there.
i cleaned an Asian womans down pipes, x2  yesterday.    i told her £10 each downspout,   taken off and cleaned out as they were full of muddy moss,    i showed her them both,   when i done the work she started to say £20  is too much.
i told her a roofer would be charging about £50.
she got me down to £12.
shes a good paying window cleaning customer so i said OK.
DONT PRICE TOO CHEAP BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT THERE LONG,   its the type of job involved.

More fool you from dropping from 20 to 12 squid. Who the fook do they think they are when they agree on a price then say after the job is done no I'm not paying that.  Sounds like a real good paying customer that one.

You should have said it was 35 squid to unblock each downspout bend so 70 squid for the two take it or leave it attitude
Also you can probably gather I detest ppl like that and would have binned her if it was me.

 

[Joey Eastwood]

If the gutters don't need clearing which may I add is very rare then if you are good at what you do you simply upsell other services instead like the op did. Being honest goes a long way and all that 

Oh by the way you can see quite a long way with a camera on a stick you know  so next door you don't have to survey if all the guttering is shared

Either way your providing a service mate.  How much would it cost a customer to buy a gutter camera and a pole?  Or a set of ladders even?  Obviously you get yours for free if you don't charge to use them

I guess your the type of guy who does a £10 Window  clean and then the customer says can you do the Insides and you do it for free because it only takes 10mins?  Lol

[Shane sharples]

Lol no way! I'd charge an extra £2 to do inside !! Lmao

[Shane sharples]

if its a drive away i charge £10 to get up the ladders and check them out,    i tell them this will be taken off the price if they need doing.
i dot get free fuel to go driving around town.
if its only a small area to be cleaned ill only charge for the time to do that.
REMEMBER,
you risk your life climbing at height, some prices seem high to them but you are also charging for this dangerous type of work  at height.
they wouldnt want to go up there.
i cleaned an Asian womans down pipes, x2  yesterday.    i told her £10 each downspout,   taken off and cleaned out as they were full of muddy moss,    i showed her them both,   when i done the work she started to say £20  is too much.
i told her a roofer would be charging about £50.
she got me down to £12.
shes a good paying window cleaning customer so i said OK.
DONT PRICE TOO CHEAP BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT THERE LONG,   its the type of job involved.

I don't use ladders , just me sky vac and camera 

[Smurf]

If the gutters don't need clearing which may I add is very rare then if you are good at what you do you simply upsell other services instead like the op did. Being honest goes a long way and all that 

Oh by the way you can see quite a long way with a camera on a stick you know  so next door you don't have to survey if all the guttering is shared

Either way your providing a service mate.  How much would it cost a customer to buy a gutter camera and a pole?  Or a set of ladders even?  Obviously you get yours for free if you don't charge to use them

I guess your the type of guy who does a £10 Window  clean and then the customer says can you do the Insides and you do it for free because it only takes 10mins?  Lol

It's seems to me you don't have a clue about sales & marketing in gaining high value work by providing an added value service to customers.

For example an average pair of semis to clear the guttering is worth in the region of 200 if not more if guttering is on 3 sides which normally should take less than 2 hours to do.

Any numpty can sell on price alone but it takes balls to charge a good wack using the right kit and get away with it.   

[Shane sharples]

What area do you live in mr crapinion ?

[Smurf]

The posh part 

Anyway it don't really matter where you live as there will always be people willing to pay more knowing they will get the job done properly and more importantly done safely.

[Johnny B]

Recently I had one of my customers (an elderly, disabled, very sweet old dear) ask me to check one of her gutters as water had been pouring down from it when it rained. She had been quoted 200 euro to repair it! She's no fool so obviously declined the offer! I put the ladders up to have a look, found the bracket just needed clipping back in place and duly did so. No charge and a very grateful customer.

What I can't ever get my head around is why do some guys try to rip people off and price themselves out of work this way? If they get the job once they won't get it again once the victim realizes they've been conned. I lost nothing as I was there to clean the windows anyway!

John

[Smurf]

Recently I had one of my customers (an elderly, disabled, very sweet old dear) ask me to check one of her gutters as water had been pouring down from it when it rained. She had been quoted 200 euro to repair it! She's no fool so obviously declined the offer! I put the ladders up to have a look, found the bracket just needed clipping back in place and duly did so. No charge and a very grateful customer.

What I can't ever get my head around is why do some guys try to rip people off and price themselves out of work this way? If they get the job once they won't get it again once the victim realizes they've been conned. I lost nothing as I was there to clean the windows anyway!

John

It's nice to do a good deed once in a while for sure however some can take the mick if you are not careful as they are not daft as you say 

Did you do a water test afterwards as it may still leak from the joint all the same if the guttering is not seated in the joint properly and/or the rubber seal is perished or got tile grit between the two?

Most common reason for guttering coming apart is known in the trade as gutter creep. If this is the case you have to physically move the guttering along so it fits back into the joint properly ideally up to the stop lug or line.

The jobs you think are going to be simple are generally the ones the most pain in the arse then it becomes a real pain if you have to start replacing parts too.

For example I charged xxx amount to clear the guttering and downspouts on one property then additional  labour of 35 per joint x 2 plus parts.  Then water tested the lot again afterward so to make sure the customer could see and was happy the guttering & downspouts were free flowing without any leaks before I left.

If you’re going to do the job properly then you should charge accordingly in my book and it's not a case of ripping people off as they can decide for themselves if they want the work done or not.

Under valuing services and selling on price alone is what most cleaners seem to do a lot.

[Joey Eastwood]

Recently I had one of my customers (an elderly, disabled, very sweet old dear) ask me to check one of her gutters as water had been pouring down from it when it rained. She had been quoted 200 euro to repair it! She's no fool so obviously declined the offer! I put the ladders up to have a look, found the bracket just needed clipping back in place and duly did so. No charge and a very grateful customer.

What I can't ever get my head around is why do some guys try to rip people off and price themselves out of work this way? If they get the job once they won't get it again once the victim realizes they've been conned. I lost nothing as I was there to clean the windows anyway!

John

It's nice to do a good deed once in a while for sure however some can take the mick if you are not careful as they are not daft as you say 

Did you do a water test afterwards as it may still leak from the joint all the same if the guttering is not seated in the joint properly and/or the rubber seal is perished or got tile grit between the two?

Most common reason for guttering coming apart is known in the trade as gutter creep. If this is the case you have to physically move the guttering along so it fits back into the joint properly ideally up to the stop lug or line.

The jobs you think are going to be simple are generally the ones the most pain in the arse then it becomes a real pain if you have to start replacing parts too.

For example I charged xxx amount to clear the guttering and downspouts on one property then additional  labour of 35 per joint x 2 plus parts.  Then water tested the lot again afterward so to make sure the customer could see and was happy the guttering & downspouts were free flowing without any leaks before I left.

If you’re going to do the job properly then you should charge accordingly in my book and it's not a case of ripping people off as they can decide for themselves if they want the work done or not.

Under valuing services and selling on price alone is what most cleaners seem to do a lot.

You say under valuing services then bang on about doing stuff for free lol. Same as the average know it all/nothing.  You say you would charge £200 for 2 hours work but say I'm a con man charging a £5 note for a ten minute check to give a customer peace of mind lol?  Should change your name from crapinion to contradiction hahaha

[Smurf]

If you want my honest opinion I don't care what you think

[Smurf]

Joey here is a typical example why a gopro type camera on a stick has its advantages over trying to see into awkward guttering as ladders would not be a viable option. No I did not charge for the gutter cam survey either as it only took seconds to do whilst there on the quote but still charged 65 to clear just the back guttering out there and then using a guttervac that took less than half an hour to do including setting up, clearing, doing a water test and packing away.

Customer was delighted with the work too which was the main thing.

Like I said before no I would not charge just take a look even if they did not need doing as forms part of the quotation process and the customer could also see for themselves from the vid/pics if the guttering/downspouts needs clearing/fixing or not.

If others want to charge to take a look then that's up to them be it by ladders if it's a viable option or by using a gutter camera but I've found no real need to.

Regarding methods and kit to be able to gain high value work be it window cleaning, gutter clearing etc then it helps if you invest in right kit for the job especially if you want to tackle the awkward ones.

[Joey Eastwood]

Joey here is a typical example why a gopro type camera on a stick has its advantages over trying to see into awkward guttering as ladders would not be a viable option. No I did not charge for the gutter cam survey either as it only took seconds to do whilst there on the quote but still charged 65 to clear just the back guttering out there and then using a guttervac that took less than half an hour to do including setting up, clearing, doing a water test and packing away.

Customer was delighted with the work too which was the main thing.

Like I said before no I would not charge just take a look even if they did not need doing as forms part of the quotation process and the customer could also see for themselves from the vid/pics if the guttering/downspouts needs clearing/fixing or not.

If others want to charge to take a look then that's up to them be it by ladders if it's a viable option or by using a gutter camera but I've found no real need to.

Regarding methods and kit to be able to gain high value work be it window cleaning, gutter clearing etc then it helps if you invest in right kit for the job especially if you want to tackle the awkward ones.

 
 Yeah I do see your point mate, if it helps you get high value jobs then it's worth it, but for example your cleaning a large detached house, next door come out and say can you check my gutters please they might need cleaning... You don't do their Windows and have no connection to them, you stop work, get camera/ladders/whatever kit needed out to have a look, you have to check a hard to reach bit above a big conservatory, there's a big flat roof at the back you have to climb on to even see the top guttering, you spend 20 mins doing all this including kit out/in van and talking to them... And the gutters are empty. No high value  job... I do £25 - £35 an hour average on the Windows so the time took has cost me  a third of an hours pay so roughly £10..... I'd then say your gutters are clear, good news you have saved £100, it will just be £10 for my inspection and your peace of mind, don't hesitate to ask again next year. See my point?

[Smurf]

Joey I get where you are coming from but you don't need to use ladders  to take a looksee as you can see into the most award gutters from the ground when you carry the right poles to use and it don't take long at all to wiz around unlike using ladders. 

Like I said before it's up to the individual if you charge or not if all the guttering & downspouts are clear but from experience that is very rare. 

You will often get walkups interested in a quote whilst there and end up doing quite a few jobs in the street which  is a lot more profitable than window cleaning so is a good add on service to offer.

I'm assuming by your posts you just do trad and focus on window cleaning and the occasional easy gutter jobs?