[sparklebright]

Had to cut the price on a large retail contract by 40% to keep it 

The main contractor was given a kick-in by the store over it's national contract.
They got their floor cleaning staff to price to clean it, (at £6 p/h) and then told main contractor to match it. They rolled over and did so.
Have told them I will cut out high level cleans but still gutted. It was touch and go whether to dump it, but I have other work on the same retail park so I'll do it for now.
Does anyone else have similar tales of woe?
Good job I have a variety of work types or I'd be worried

[windowwashers]

Had to cut the price on a large retail contract by 40% to keep it 

The main contractor was given a kick-in by the store over it's national contract.
They got their floor cleaning staff to price to clean it, (at £6 p/h) and then told main contractor to match it. They rolled over and did so.
Have told them I will cut out high level cleans but still gutted. It was touch and go whether to dump it, but I have other work on the same retail park so I'll do it for now.
Does anyone else have similar tales of woe?
Good job I have a variety of work types or I'd be worried

had simalar on on job in december, I had to drop 50%, didnt like it but jobs ok and have to insure I keep work, if it was under priced to start I would not have bothered

[STEVE-UK]

what will they say when you want to put the price back up ?

[NWH]

If i had to work at such a reduced rate i would say i`m sorry i can`t do it for that,it would make a joke of your original price.

[jaykie]

I thought the same, 50% is a massive cut, can you imagine if they happen to know someone else you work for and pass the info on.

[peter holley]

ONE WORD.........        DOMESTICS         

[mark dew]

I am wondering if and when one of my commercial type jobs gets cut.
I do it very quickly and have wondered what sort of hit, if any, i would accept if they wanted to renegotiate the price?
I came up with 15%.
Any more and i would offer a service that fits their new budget.

[windowwashers]

Losing 40% - 50% of the price is a big mistake. 

tbh m8, to me it shows you do not understand why I have done it, or you do not deal with this type of business. I have terms they are met I am happy, would have prefered the lot but I run a business and the business needs to survive.

[rhys11]

Losing 40% - 50% of the price is a big mistake. 

i agree in the end it will cost you money

[windowwashers]

Losing 40% - 50% of the price is a big mistake. 

lose 100% and not get the job back eh?

Yes of course, working for nothing or very little is pointless.  

I never said I was working for nothing did I ??

I also did not sy I was working for very little, I just wanted this job and I kept it. I am happy thats all that matters at the end of the day fella 

[NWH]

Window washers it makes no difference why you`ve done it you will never get the price you were even when things pick up,your showing your making a profit at 50% under the original price.You know the reaction you show when you see furniture shops with a 70% sale you think blimey there still making at 70% off.

[windowwashers]

Window washers it makes no difference why you`ve done it you will never get the price you were even when things pick up,your showing your making a profit at 50% under the original price.You know the reaction you show when you see furniture shops with a 70% sale you think blimey there still making at 70% off.

I know where your coming from, and maybe just maybe I need to look at my pricing on certain things, I never had this job before (certain parts I now have) I am in no way going to go backwards in did that in december when i wasnt here, and I am also not going to listen to people that dont have a clue what they are talking about. (that was not pointed at you by the way nhw), it is agasinst my nature in business to do this, but it got the result I wanted and adds to my rounds, I have made no loss, but have had an eye opener to make more in the long term

[luther1]

Had a big office block (takes all day) change from every other to quarterly.Price still the same so not so bad.Or will another months worth of grime take its toll?

[windowwashers]

Had a big office block (takes all day) change from every other to quarterly.Price still the same so not so bad.Or will another months worth of grime take its toll?

a little, but not to bad depending on how long the job takes youthe job

[ronnie paton]

well stan another months grime means unlike a regualar clean it willl take longer due to the fact its dirty......just cleaning pots a normal plate will be ok abut a cassorle dish that has been stiood will take far longer......... do you know get the point?


like a reliable service means turning up on time or there abouts

[windowwashers]

well stan another months grime means unlike a regualar clean it willl take longer due to the fact its dirty......just cleaning pots a normal plate will be ok abut a cassorle dish that has been stiood will take far longer......... do you know get the point?


like a reliable service means turning up on time or there abouts

im going to use that, good angle

[ronnie paton]

ewan get a life, droppping a job 50% could mean it was priced jut right

original price could bof been over the odds or even it could have extremly good prospects life is never so black and white so get off your high horse cowboy

[trevor perry]

sometimes dropping your price is needed so long as your not making a loss out of the work, we have often done this just to keep employees on wages so that when big well paying jobs come along we have the staff in place to cover them.
  the only problem i would have with dropping 40 or 50% is that your price must of been well over to begin with and the customer may feel they have been ripped off for a long time.
  no one can really comment on the decision ian has made as only he knows all the circumstances to the price cut and if he is still making a profit and is increasing the size of his business then it well could be a very good decision.

[luther1]

Dropping a price by 40 or 50% would maybe tell the business that the price was high initially,however,they do always have the option of getting more than one quote.Maybe they were using the cheapest priced person,which would show loyalty by the window cleaner as he was cleaning through the good times and will stick with them through this rough period! I have been cleaning a huge building who are in trouble and after seven years of a nice cheque dropping through my door every month,i would clean it for free for a while should it come to that.!You won't find a greater loss than that!.Showing a little bit of loyalty i hope.

[sparklebright]

All I said is dropping your price by 40% - 50% is a mistake.

I don’t have an issue with that, and I did give some small indication as to why never went into to much depth about it.

Your choice.

It's been interesting to hear what people have said.
I have cut the price by 40% but also cut the time I spend on the job by almost the same, 60% of something is better than 100% of nothing. I recall that I quoted an M & S store at the same site and the guy who won it was cleaning the whole store for a third of what I quoted, doing a very poor job, and getting away with it.
So if people reduce the price then reduce the quality is how I feel, i've been doing the contract at the higher price for a couple of years so I'm happy enough to lose it eventually, but in the meantime I will carry on doing an OK job instead of the perfect one I did before.