[Klean07]

Monthly for me. Wouldn't want it any other way.

[dazmond]

most of my work is calender monthly now with some 2 monthlies at good prices.6 weekly for a few stand alone commercial jobs and one 26 weekly(twice a year!)big church!!

the cheaper estate customers are happy with monthly.with just a few 2 monthlies here and there.

i offer 2 monthly as a standard clean frequency for work outside the estates at higher prices these days.9 times out of 10 they go for it making my time per job more profitable!

still plenty of guys doing fortnightly work near me.tradders with fairy liquid!!windows get dirty very quickly!!

[Londoner]

It doesn't matter to me, not even in the slightest. What the "no way" brigade don't realise is you get more customers this way and you keep the ones you have for longer and you can charge a bit more.

Windows don't need cleaning that often.

I just set them up in George as 12 weeks instead of 6 or 8 then they come up when they are due. Where is the problem in that? George makes it simple

Somebody will be coming on here any minute now saying you do that for one customer and "word gets round" well if it does it will be in your favour. I must have picked up lots of customers from other window cleaners over recent years for being more flexible.

Once a month just doesn't ever get asked for any more. I have 450 customers more or less and I think 3 are on 4 weeks and 1 is on 2 weeks    

[bobby p]

i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return.   it sorts the wheat from the chaff  with no hard feelings

  if they do later ring up  i  say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list    mrs mcguffin

[Londoner]

Seems crazy to me. Why would you do that? There are some right funny attitudes on here. A messer is one thing, dropped one yesterday but just asking to change frequency?

[Londoner]

I offer 2 monthly as a standard clean frequency for work outside the estates at higher prices these days.9 times out of 10 they go for it making my time per job more profitable!

Well done that man, soon as we can get them all on £100 once a year we are made

[Paul Coleman]

Seems crazy to me. Why would you do that? There are some right funny attitudes on here. A messer is one thing, dropped one yesterday but just asking to change frequency?

I've become a bit more flexible about this too Vince.  It used to be monthly quite a few years ago.  Volume of work and too many "not todays" led me into 6 weekly.  I would do larger jobs 12 weekly though if requested.  These days, anyone can go 12 weekly - if they are prepared to pay 50% more.  It can turn a moderately paid job into a well paid job and a low paid job into a fairly decent one.  Also, the customer saves 25% on their over all bill.  Yes, I have had the conversation that it doesn't take me 50% longer too.  I just agree with them, tell them that I prefer not to supply a 12 weekly service so I make sure that it's worthwhile for me to do so.  I'm just being honest (though polite) about it.  If someone doesn't like my brand of honesty they are as free to get the service elsewhere as I am to withdraw it.  Indeed, a few did choose to go elsewhere and a few others chose to pay more.  If the economy (and my workload) deteriorates to the point where I have to review this strategy, then I will.  At the moment though, it isn't necessary.

[bobby p]

Seems crazy to me. Why would you do that? There are some right funny attitudes on here. A messer is one thing, dropped one yesterday but just asking to change frequency?

i always allow them to change frequency because if i told them i cannot it would create ill feeling and maybe theyd cancel on me and theyd stop tipping im sure .  i prefer to cancel quietly and move on at that point.
  i remember when i first started in this biz,i promised myself  not to let it become   a place where people play mind games with me .  its suprizing how many mindgamers are out there
  perhaps 10 % of society is my guess

heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 .  still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid.  ok he says  the wife says go ahead .   that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too

[Halfadaylee]

i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return.   it sorts the wheat from the chaff  with no hard feelings

  if they do later ring up  i  say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list    mrs mcguffin

Posted by: bobby p p
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 .  still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid.  ok he says  the wife says go ahead .   that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too

Im as confused as you.

[bobplum]

surely it doesn't matter what frequency people are on they will always want to move it along.
if you look back other other threads and this one its a common trend,4 goes to 8,8 goes 12 or 16 and so on and so on

i must admit was toying with the idea to change from 4 to 5/6 but is it worth it?

[CLEANCARE WC]

If I came into a lump of work,(it would have to be another full 2 weeks worth) I might consider going from 4-6 weekly and then provide a service for the tightarses on a 12 week rota at a premium price. so they think they are saving money but in reality not alot because the price would be higher even if the cleans are less frequent.

[SunShineCleaning]

I was listening to the Money Program on Radio 4 the other day and the emphasis for businesses was to go all out for customer service in a time of recession.

As this one will last a bit longer and may even get worse, I would recommend being big on customer service. If they require a longer gap then go with it.

Added to that it will encourage us to have a larger customer base which is better for business anyway.

You are better having 200 customers looking forward to you calling rather than 100 who think you call too often.

Along with the above it also makes good business sense to increace the price along with frequency, with WFP it doesn't really take much longer so the value is greater.

Customer service all the way.

[PureClean Window Cleaning Ltd]

most of my work is 8 weeks, so usually they are stinking the time i redo them. they do pay a premium for that time period anyway, unless they are really small jobs

[StockClean]

Quartery cleans for me are the most profitable.

Im charging min prices for quarterlies around the 35 quid mark. Its turning out to be a very very good earner on the day they are done.

My motto is give what the customer wants.

thats what good business practice is all about.

[DaveG]

email working now Andy..if you want to try again

[supernova77]

email working now Andy..if you want to try again

Just re-sent it again mate

[bobby p]

i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return.   it sorts the wheat from the chaff  with no hard feelings

  if they do later ring up  i  say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list    mrs mcguffin

Posted by: bobby p p
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 .  still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid.  ok he says  the wife says go ahead .   that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too

Im as confused as you.

the point is ,you should set your stall out and then stick to it. if i went in and ordered at kfc 30 seconds before closing time everytime i went in ,id be considered a bloomin nuisance and thats what these extenders are ,they know it too

[Paul Coleman]

Quartery cleans for me are the most profitable.

Im charging min prices for quarterlies around the 35 quid mark. Its turning out to be a very very good earner on the day they are done.

My motto is give what the customer wants.

thats what good business practice is all about.

That works until it reaches the point where what the customer wants is not viable for the service provider to provide.  So I would qualify that I think.  e.g. if I have a row of £12 houses at six weekly and one wants 12 weekly, if I don't charge a premium (50% extra = £18), then the others in that row will soon want the same.  They can have the same if they are prepared to pay extra.  However, if I alow it at the same price, I will lose out.

[Paul Coleman]

i usually agree to them wanting less frequent but then dont return.   it sorts the wheat from the chaff  with no hard feelings

  if they do later ring up  i  say ,oh yes ,i know you,you asked to be bypassed on the list so i struck you off and i can only look at my list    mrs mcguffin

Posted by: bobby p p
heres an example- i was cleaning this house every 6 weeks and he asked me to drag it out, so i changed it to 7 .  still he asked to extend so i said howsabout we go to 12 but increase it a few quid.  ok he says  the wife says go ahead .   that evening i struck him off my list. we were doing a damn good job at his awkward house too

Im as confused as you.

the point is ,you should set your stall out and then stick to it. if i went in and ordered at kfc 30 seconds before closing time everytime i went in ,id be considered a bloomin nuisance and thats what these extenders are ,they know it too

However, if KFC charged you 50% extra, you would either stop doing it or they would no longer regard you as a nuisance (well the management wouldn't anyway).

[bobby p]

Paul are you doing that yourself, smiling broadly as soon as you get a request for an extend ?  im having a problem getting my head around that idea ,but i see you might be forcing the price increase in your favour so that you are the winner ,i like that idea