This is where I differ from the norm.
I offer a service giving the customer the frequency they want, and I have a good number who will phone me when they want an ad-hoc clean.
I now have a fairly large customer base, so if I do get a 'not today', I dont care what the reason is, I'll see them next time and just go to the next job pn my list. If they do it 2 or 3 times in a row, I just ask them to call me when they need me and I'll schedule them in for when I'm in their area the next time. I still make money from having them on the books so there's really no issue to deal with as both parties benefit.
John
But that defeats the object of having different frequencies unless they’re payments change when they skip cleans. Some people like skipping cleans because they don’t want to pay the monthly payment and don’t want to pay extra for an 8 weekly clean either.
I had 2 customers txt me back this month saying they want to skip this months clean, so I txt them both back saying yeah that’s fine it’s an extra 50% for every other month service.
1 customer said yeah that’d be great il go 8weekly from now on, the other didn’t bother replying- and she’s the 1 who has 15 chickens in her back yard so it’s difficult enough cleaning it 4weekly with all the crap the gets all over the back door and she expected me to skip this month because she can’t be arsed- so Iv dumped her, I don’t run a business like that
I just keep my prices the same, irrespective of frequency. First cleans obviously take longer than regular maintenance cleans, but I see first cleans as investing time in the customer. Whether they subsequently want me on a regular basis is up to them and unless they ask for a specific frequency I always assume they are one offs or ad-hocs, so they're under no pressure or obligation to have cleans that they don't want or ask for.
It works very well for me because I am never short of work, customers are happy because they get cleans when they want them and I'm happy with the money I am making. Everyone's a winner.
John