[macc]

I have read some posts on here in recent days about increasing our rates & do it now or later.

I decided to go for it. Last year i hit them prity hard but thats only because i was getting a bit cheap.

Yesterday mid morning i started a new area on my round so i started the increase. Mainly 50p but a few £1s. Results are great, no loses, £273 extra per year, i have not even started yet. 

I'm going to stick with mainly the 50p but some quite a few will be pounds, the increase will go into my savings account for my tax as i was happy with my prices & earnings,  .

It goes to show if your customers are happy with you & your service even a small increase of 50p they wont worry. To me thats about £1500 min in the bank saved for tax.

Macc

[LSB]

My prices are all going to go up approx £1 per house ( some slightly more )   its long overdue , and customers have been asking for a while when its going to happen . i dont expect to lose too many , but you never know !

I over-priced a quote yesterday on an office i didnt really want for various reasons , and 3 hours later when i finally finished cleaning it , i was hansomely rewarded ! ( i was also filthy and knackered )

[pjulk]

I took over another round at xmas and some of the prices were about £1 or so behind mine.
I put up 70 customers £2 each.
I lost 10 jobs in one road all charged at £7 well i don't work that cheap so i put them up to £9
This road some old dear collects all the money and found someone to do it cheaper.
Good riddence to them.

Still 60 customers at £2 extra a week that more than makes up for those lost 10.

Once these settle down my own round is going up in price.

Paul

[brett walker]

I never put my prices up less than a pound some have got to go up a pound and some have got to go up 2 pound this year.  Most customers dont mind when the prices go up they understand like you say Macc if youre doing a good job but i have had them cancel before just because its gone up 50p, because they are very tight and think the price should stay the same for 20 yrs or more :

Does anyone remember when window cleaners used to put the price up 20 or 30p a time?

Brett

[pjulk]

The price of window cleaning has not really gone up that much.
We i first started window cleaning 20 years ago it was 50p per window.
Now its only about £1 a window for a standard sized window.
Compared to how much other thing have gone up in 20 years i think our customers have a good deal.

Paul

[groundhog]

I have been putting off raising my prices for some time now, but after reading this thread I am going to do it straight away, min rise £1, I can afford to lose a few  

[Sunshine Cleaning]

Raised half my work by an ave of 18% last year. Lost 4 out of 200

This year the rest have gon up by about the same rate, again lost 4 but more likely end up loosing 10-20 out of 200.

However, I need to loose some work, so this is a good way to do it.

My monthly increase is about £280, if i loose 20 at £10 i'm up £80 per month and have time to fit more in.

Win Win situation.

[KarlJones]

something has just hit me.

So, you know during the summer this job is a nice one, during the winter it is not good.  The nature of the job means that you can clean more houses in the summer than you can in the winter.  Less lost work in the summer on easier to make it back by adding a few hours here or their on to the later evenings and warmer mornings.

The other thing about winters is you get a fair whack of rain, which some folks might like to canvass an hour or two during those wet days.

Bundle this lot together makes me wonder why on earth someone would lift their prices as the days get longer. 

October 21st is the start of the worst 6 months on a window cleaners calander.  Why not make your rises then?  If you lose some that is fine as the next 6 months are naturaly tougher to keep up.  Just replace any losses with natural new customers from being asked, word of mouth and the odd phone call.  Canvas for new work from Feb to start filling out those hours again if needed.

To me that makes sense, is it just my inexperience?

[matt]

put all of mine up last year by 1 quid each house, its not much, but its better in your pocket

[s.hughes]

When I put the price up its more than a £1, sometimes its £5 but I do big houses and I hardley ever put prices up. They keep the same price for years

[LSB]

I wouldnt put my prices up in oct ( previous quote ) as some wouldnt need much encouragement to say no problem , but can you leave it till spring to clean them again !   
my prices are going up next month , ! 

[KarlJones]

Customers saying Ok but leave it till the spring???

That is the customer losses I was talking about,  your getting rid of customers that you obviously feel make you walk on thin ice.  So much so that you will go out in probably all weathers to keep them and not rise your prices until the spring comes?!

So if you rise your prices in October, you lose the customers most likely to mess you about or leave you when you do eventually rise them, the only difference being that at least it is at a time of the year when you can work less hours.

Spring is a time of big winter bills, and paying for the xmas just gone, and saving for holidays.  Everyone starts looking at ways they can cut back and if the window cleaner starts demanding a pay rise...  Well, it just is not the best time in my opinion.  Mid Autumn is better.  Spring is better than nothing

[Chris - CBWC]

How do you go about telling your customers about the price increase?  Do you tell them or write a letter and post it?  If so, can you give examples of what you say or write please?

Next month I will have been window cleaning for exactly a year, and am looking forward to putting the prices up of the first customers I got as some are a bit low, but need to know the best way to do this.

Thanks

Chris

[AuRavelling79]

I put slips through my customers doors for payment when they are not at home and I alter the slip to add the following:-

Due to increasing costs over the last (year/eighteen months/whatever) it is necessary to add a modest increase to my rates. Therefore as of next "clean" your rate will be _____________(add a £1 or £2)

I'm sure you are aware of increasing financial demands of Health and Safety/ Insurance Premiums/Business Bank charges/Fuel prices (use as many as you feel are applicable at the time) and that this is acceptable to you.

______________

If the customer is usually at home I hand them a letter with much the same in it and start off with a paragraph that tells them I really value their custom etc.

[master cleaner]

heres the letter i used hope it helps

Dear Valued Customer

Due to the increase cost in running a small business ( mainly insurance and diesel costs ) i must unfortunately raise the cost of our service to you

We have avoided raising our prices for as long as possible, but we can no longer prolong the inevitable. I have listed our new price for your review which goes into effect on------------
and we will fix the price until ------------
We wish to thank you for your valued custom and know that you will understand the necessity for this price increase.

If you have any questions then please get in touch
+++++++++++++++

Thank You Gary

The new price for your property is

£

[KarlJones]

I like that one a lot Gary, you should shove it in the Docs section.