[geefree]

How many of you lads out there who work alone,..... put in a price for a decent commercial job ( ie a school ) ..... and get the job?

I never get them !!.... i may be overpricing as i have to make a daily wage, ....but i dont think so,

i think all the guys who have a few men on the books, get the jobs,  as its cheaper to throw 3 men on it and wipe it out, paying a small hourly rate to his employees???

[andyjm1]

Do you make a follow up call to the person that you gave the quote to,  and try to find out how far out you were with your price?

[geefree]

No the latest one is only a few days old, but i dont hold much hope,

good idea thank you , i will call them on monday.

[james44]

Gazzasp8,

You could be right, i used to do a care home for £45 outside only took about 2hrs i think,

Then another cleaner quoted £60 inside/outside i lost the job

He had a helper who i knew he payed £5hr cash in hand so he made £50 in the same to 2hrs  £5 more than me!

[mlscontractcleaner]

Well why didn't you offer the same price; they already knew you so you already had a head start

Why give up decent work so easily

[james44]

I didn`t they phoned to tell me they had a better quote and thanks for my services!

They had asked me to give them a quote for the insides as well,
being inexperianced at that time i quoted them £100 £45 out £55 in lesson learned,

I soon realised that if i got a helper then i could earn more in less time,

[CLEANCARE WC]

Its not a mistake to charge at least the same for insides plus a bit more for any internal glazing.

[Spruce]

Hi
When you go around to look at the job before putting your quote in, you can always try to casually ask "what am I up against?" or "whats the budget look like?"
The second one is always good as if they are truthful they will give you an idea of where the bottom of your pricing would need to be. You will soon know if they are taking a chance by the figure they give. If its way too low then you could mention that "at a glance that's a very tight budget you have to work with." If you start to get the feeling that this is the genuine figure and it's well below your estimate, then you don't need the job in the first place.
If the answer is about right then tell them that "you will look at the figures and see if you can come close to that."  Always quote a little higher but add value, will give the signs a quick clean etc.

But mostly expect them to tell you nothing.

I do a nursery school on a Saturday when the place is closed. I have often thought as I work that another business could easily undercut me and still make a profit as they would skip the frosted windows but clean the sills, won't clean the signs or the lights and probably leave the windows that are painted on the inside of the school classrooms. The receptionists windows would always be clean as would the manager's windows, but other windows could easily be skipped without anyone noticing.
The other thing is - as you care your prices must be higher as it's your reputation at stake. A big multi national employs people who don't care much about customer satisfaction and are masters at finding shortcuts.

You can't compete with them, so if you are up against them don't try too hard.

Spruce

[NJWindowCleaning]

Most of my commercial work I do myself and one unit took me 18 hrs for £440 for inside and out. And a old people home for just outside I get £250.00 for every other month.
I must bring my prices down a bit 

[darren clarke]

a lot of big companys are splash and dash,  if you ever watch them in town it is amazing how fast they fly through thte work,  there is a company who do st austell and have watched them  one stands there like he doesnt know what day of the week it is and the other just flys throught it,  but it looks like two are doing the work so they are going quicker

[Moderator David@stives]

Although price can come into it, It doesnt always.

The old saying is people buy off people.

In my experience the bigger firms charge more per hour not less.

[newbroom]

Hi Gazza  i have quoted several schools in the last couple of weeks, i'm probably more expensive than what they curently are paying. One that has said yes to  a clean 4 times per year i know for a fact i'm £100 more than guy currently doing it.

I do employ guys, what won it for me was the quote documentation i sent and presented a more professional image than the incumbent w/c.

Cheers Mark.

[traps7]

I think your whole tender package comes into. i.e presentaion etc. I'm learning it's not just about price.

[gordonswindows]

NJ you may laugh now but all you are doing is leaving it wide open for others to come in and pinch it on price

Better a lower price over a loooooooooong period of time than a quick smash and grab

Believe me someone will have it off you and when you lower your price to the client to keep it they will realise how high and how much you were taking advantage of their lack of experience

He who keeps client longest laughs hardest

Gordon

Ps especially as we are all aware of which home it is now and you fellow posters who are nearby are already licking their lips and counting your money

[mlscontractcleaner]

I'm with gordonswindows on this one.

I try to price jobs sensibly;high enough to be worth doing but not so high that we're an easy target for other firms.

Like he say's, it's better to earn £100 per month for years than £200 per month for three months!!!

[Sean Dyer]

not if your a one man band and it takes you all day you want 200 not 100. Gaz , if you want to stay a one man band then you probably want to just go for small to medium commercials shops to small units. Bigger stuff needs employees generally to pay. I have a school but its hard for one person to make a good day rate. But put 2 employees on and its great. Its just the way the pricing works with so much competition about

[NJWindowCleaning]

NJ you may laugh now but all you are doing is leaving it wide open for others to come in and pinch it on price

Better a lower price over a loooooooooong period of time than a quick smash and grab

Believe me someone will have it off you and when you lower your price to the client to keep it they will realise how high and how much you were taking advantage of their lack of experience

He who keeps client longest laughs hardest

Gordon

Ps especially as we are all aware of which home it is now and you fellow posters who are nearby are already licking their lips and counting your money

I don't think I am as the one buiding is over three storey's and 150 feet long frontage and have it on a regular basis.