[George Gardner]

Yeah fair enough, its tough to start, and if he is reading this then trust me dont cement yourself to these low prices for 2 years!

Of if this is your lead in prices, marketing plan, get a call and go and quote and then say well you have a few more than expected of this and that and can make it up to what the house would normally be then fair play 

[elite mike]

amazing 

[Tom White]

amazing 

Me?  Well, thank you!  Wor Lass certainly thinks I am on a Friday night when she's feeling all frisky!

But what do you think about the pricing structure? 

I think the guy is making a rod for his own back.

[mci services]

Thing is he does have a small print, i.e. 12 windows including doors £6 so 50p a window will still make him £15/£20 an hour sometimes more, and at those prices he may well pick up good compact work as long as he is good and fast like us jock window cleaners and folk will not quibble about having them done monthly.

I think tosh has it easy with high prices strolling around taking his time and now he feels threatened.

[L.J.Thorpe]

that is the second most ridiculous pricing structure i have seen since i started
the only qualifying statement is that a "house" is up to 12 windows!!!!!
and the gutter and fascia work is priced per side
unbelievable how common sense seems to go out the window when people are trying to build a round
and if anyones interested the MOST ridiculous one i saw was a business card which simply said
HOUSES £4
BUNGALOWS £3

yes really!!!

[mci services]

On gumtree glasgow there was one saying any house £1

[Tom White]

I think tosh has it easy with high prices strolling around taking his time and now he feels threatened.

Hmmmm.  Nope.  Leaflets don't work.  I was given this leaflet in a place where I do all the bungalows in the cul-de-sac apart from three (I do nine of the remaining ones) and no-one has dumped me.  That's how effective a shiny leaflet is offering cheap prices, explaining exactly the same cleaning method as myself.

For all my run-of-the-mill type semis I charge at least a tenner, and no-one (or hardly anyone) says 'Oh, that's too expensive!'.  They say stuff like, "Fine.  Can you do them now?", and this guy is offering to do the same work at nearly half the price.

That's daft.

Tomorrow I'm off to price a business unit (offices) and the owners house.  He got my number by recommendation from an existing customer of mine, and he wanted to know if I've got insurance.  I have and mentioned that I will also provide him with a risk assessment and method statement (it takes about fifteen minutes to do and print off).

I'll charge well, based on the knowledge that he's looking for a professional window cleaner, whose safe and whose been recommended.  There's many many other window cleaners around here who could provide EXACTLY the same as myself, but I'm banking that his perception is that most window cleaners are a dodgy lot, uninsured, do a shoddy job (he asked me if we did 'frames'  ), and I reckon I've got a good chance of getting a well priced job(s) out of it.

Now, in my opinion (and my experience because I've done it), to offer your services at a rate below the market average is just making a rod for your own back.

I'm helping the guy out, if he read this post! 

[L.J.Thorpe]

spot on with that,good advice,we have all been there when starting up but you do yourself no favours in long run

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

what if???
he is paying minimum wage and has loads of window cleaners working for him??
his ££££ per hour would mean he is on to a good thing!!!!
I have that in my town!
IF he is cleaning your mothers windows to a good standard whats the problem?
I just clean all the customers who dont like ex con looking window cleaners on here property!

[mci services]

I was only joking Tosh I am well aware of the price difference on properties down south and up here, guy does my street would do my house for £3.50 and I have 9 windows and two doors( not that he would do the doors) or the sills or frames.

but then again I would only take 5 to 6 quid for it unless it was further afield, but I can clean it in under ten minutes

[Tom White]

but I can clean it in under ten minutes

But that gives the impression that we can do six-houses-per-hour.  Possible?  Yes of course if they were all close together, but in the real world, Mrs Jones wants to tell you about her hip operation, then Mr Brown - whom you've cleaned his windows for the past five years - waits for you to knock on the door, and when he answers and you bid him good day and request payment, he looks at you for a moment and then thinks, 'Oh, where's my wallet?' and then you stand their stroking his Labrador dog while he takes what seems like four hours to find his money.  Then Mrs Bell wants you to clean the inside of her kitchen window - she's like a zillion years old - so you do it for free, and...

It works out at four-houses-per hour, tops, on compact work.  And WFP - SLX or not - it's still physically demanding work; or at least it is for me.

And then you pack up, drive to the next job, maybe spend some time stuck in traffic, arrive have a coffee, then rinse and repeat.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

lol. I thought it was just me tosh why do all my custies want to chat ?

[Tom White]

lol. I thought it was just me tosh why do all my custies want to chat ?

Winter is good; they're less willing to stand there with their doors open when it's ruddy freezing.

[mci services]

but I can clean it in under ten minutes

But that gives the impression that we can do six-houses-per-hour.  Possible?  Yes of course if they were all close together, but in the real world, Mrs Jones wants to tell you about her hip operation, then Mr Brown - whom you've cleaned his windows for the past five years - waits for you to knock on the door, and when he answers and you bid him good day and request payment, he looks at you for a moment and then thinks, 'Oh, where's my wallet?' and then you stand their stroking his Labrador dog while he takes what seems like four hours to find his money.  Then Mrs Bell wants you to clean the inside of her kitchen window - she's like a zillion years old - so you do it for free, and...

It works out at four-houses-per hour, tops, on compact work.  And WFP - SLX or not - it's still physically demanding work; or at least it is for me.

And then you pack up, drive to the next job, maybe spend some time stuck in traffic, arrive have a coffee, then rinse and repeat.

yes I agree but to someone staring up 4 per hour sounds good at £6 PER house that is £24 per hour, ok it isn't always realistic, but possible. I have moaned about leaflets going out with low prices, but at least one is now running a good business now, the others disappear, it hasn't effected me in the slightest. and even if he is only doing three that is £18, to someone that has been employed that sounds good, he will learn over time to up it slightly, we all start somewhere

[Tom White]

I agree, Stu.  However, it's important to highlight for the benefit of any potential window cleaners out there thinking that even £18 an hour is good money, just wait till we have three weeks of NO WORK due to some extreme weather event, which seems to happen at least once-per-year.  Or a spell of illness; no-one knows if they're going to get sick or have an injury (just look at Daz and his twisted ankle, not long after that Winter we had).

And then there's vehicle breakdowns, flat tyres, and broken shoe strings, and there's times when we can get demotivated and just can't be bothered.  Some are maybe more disciplined than me, but I know I'll turnover less when I'm feeling this way.

And that £18 an hour - based on what we've said - is earned while working, not travelling from job-to-job.

[Frankybadboy]

tosh iam glad you found trippys new flyers.
 


we did warn him.but you know trippy.