[captain lard]

Are there any forummers here from the north east? I ask because I read about prices lads in other parts of the country are able to charge but my inexperienced gut instinct is in our part of the world we cant get near some of the prices quoted.
I am at the moment trying to devise a better pricing strategy and I want to keep it relatively simple but wondered if any NE cleaners would give me a rough idea of what or how they charge.I do a lot of ex council semis,with between 8 and 11 windows and to be honest I think some are underpriced from my perspective but maybe not from my customers.
I was thinking of charging a basic 50 p per window from now on and tweaking this depending on wether there was any leaded/georgian/difficult access or a conservatory.
What do folk think?
Around my part I think there is a tendency for low prices,wether this is because the customers wont go for bigger prices or if dole cowboys have stagnated the market I am not sure but because I am legit,insured,clean the frames and glass as best I can and am honest I want my prices to reflect this but not rip anyones eyes out,all I want is an honest rate.

[james cairns]

captain it is a hard one as the area and cleaner in it dictate the prices

how are guys cheap

well the following is carried out

bathrooms are missed due to frosted glass, sills are not wiped and edges are not detailed, this is common on council areas and the guys fair rattle the numbers , and the prices stay low

if customer are happy to pay a bit extra for a more satisfied job then go for it

but sometimes the quality does not come into it and the price commands the quality

its down to if you want to go that route

jinky

[captain lard]

Hi jinky
see exactly what you are saying there mate,its not what I want to do but its early days for me and I want to keep me standards up,problem is so far the folk who you might think will pay for a better job, ie posher houses,more affluent, dont seem too keen to pay for it.

The past couple of weeks it has dawned on me that I might as well be on the dole and doing a dead basic job as quick as possible because I dont think being legit/insured etc is paying any dividends at the minute,I am hoping long term it will but at the minute just feel I am off the pace and not getting back what I could,frustratingly customers dont seem to pick up on the fact that I am legit,regular,reliable,trustworthy and only seem interested in a very low price.
I am feeling a bit of a mug at the minute rightly or wrongly.
Having said that tomorrow is a new day and if asked to quote I will do so realistically from my perspective and stress the benefits I bring then it is up to the customer.

[james cairns]

captain not trying to be nosey but maybe can help

how many customers do you have at the moment

let me know then I can come back with a reply

jinky

[captain lard]

At the minute I have 77 customers,all summer I have been planning a push for more customers but for one reason or another it did not happen,tried a bit last week but to be honest became a bit discouraged and am currently trying to give meself a kick up the backside to get back out there.I have been picking customers up along the way mind,I just wish about 10 or 15 decent priced jobs would come along now-but thats up to me.Picked up a £25 monthly job on a big house with Georgian windows last week.
The pricing thing is haunting me.
54 of my jobs are semis and I am only charging £3 and its what I started my round on in March,my wife felt strongly that I would not get more than that.I want to up the price to £3-50 next April/May.
My other 23 jobs generate about £130 between them and is my better priced stuff that I have picked up after setting up so I suppose that is a good sign in that as I have progressed I have charged more.Looking at that breakdown I think I need to move into areas with bigger houses.On another council estate a few hundred yards from me I have managed to pick up 10 houses in the past 6 weeks and am charging £4 for these semis so maybe I need to push there as well.4 of them are fortnightlies as well.
With my £3 houses there are about 120 houses in 5 streets and I have 61 of them and am still picking some up as I clean but I dont think there is any point canvassing these as I have doe before and leafleted twice but any new customers will be charged £3-50 or £4.
Am actually feeling a bit better seeing how my more recent work is priced up better.I am just going to have to bite the bullet and try harder.

[james cairns]

captain increase the prices about march but not by 50p but by 80p
once you have set the increase to 80p you will get this every year bringing your prices up to more a realistic working wage

still under the quid and they will be ok with it

you may need to do a little cheating on this work as you are not getting paid
for the standard that you would like to give, i know its hard when you have a certain standard but sometimes you need to bite the bullet

place your work into weekends this allows you to get part time work with some of the bigger window cleaning companies, they are always looking for good honest reliable lads, by working in a squad your speed will come upto scratch
and you will know what you can get away with and what you cant
you can still put out a high standard to the customers, and have little cheats that helps to increase your speed relating on doing  more in a day

forget about these 5 streets the price is set and move on in a different direction with new realistic prices

hope this helps jinky

[captain lard]

Thanks for that jinky ,something to mull over,from what you say and from some other posts on other threads was thinking I might have to find a way to speed up the £3 jobs to get through them faster,can almost do three in an hour if I crack on and having broken down my jobs can see where my better paid work is coming from and will head into that direction.Did try last week to get into some terraced housing at only £3 a go in the hope I could nail a few and be able to rattle them off but only got three initially so it might not work but it might take off over a little bit of time.
Anyway,am trying to improve my leaflet to get stuck in again.Am also having a hard think over pricing to develop a formula of sorts so I can be consistent in my prices and price the job whereby I am getting a reasonable return.

[james cairns]

captain just looked ay my post I did not mean get rid of the 5 streets but simply dont build your rouns around it

just incase you read it wrong

I remember years ago a window cleaner was chucking it and gave me a list of customers, after the first clean and realising his priceswere half my prices i thought I cant afford to do this work and make a living,

So I went back around the customers and told them that I was putting the price up to double what it was as I was finding it hard to make a living,

they all turned around and said -- yes I thought you were a bit cheap, and said thats fine, I did not lose a single customer

and the moral is if you dont ask you dont get

just food for thought

jinky

[Malcal]

captain where are you in co durham ?, I'm in newcastle. I know of wc's in darlo & NA who get £5 for small 1970's council houses and £2 for terreced house fronts. You need to keep your ears to the ground to find an area where the cleaner has given up. Do not be influenced by "the last window cleaner only charged £1.40" keep to your prices it will come. Clean new house on a Sat so people see you in & take your time so they think your carefull.
Good luck
Mal

[a-r window cleanin]

We have not been cleaning windows for long (about 12 months) and we still only do mon - sat 1pm until 5 ish but we decided we would not take on any jobs less then £10 which is the advice given to us from a local wc. From the first day we have stuck to that and now we are too busy to take on new customers. We have our set prices we take our time and do a good job. Keep at it the work will come just dont lower your prices as you will regret it later on

[valroyb]

captain why dont you charge per glass e,g you say 50p per window now that window might have one fixed and one opener so in my eyes that would b 2 lots of glass to clean ,this is what i do and it works fine i charge 30p a glass that way you are getting the most out of that contract hope this helps mate ,stick with it