[stephen s]

I had a quote today in a rather affluent area where Ive been advertising and picking up quite a few nice jobs,       anyway I arrived at this cottage and the lady showed me round/

It had a conservatory with 12 large windows and 2 glass doors and the rest od the cottage had 12 double windows which were also sash windows and they looked like they hadn't been cleaned since the 60s

I thought it may take about an hour being in such a mess with lots of cobwebs and as I was gonna clean the frames   so that future cleans would take about half that time.

Was gonna give a price of £25 but decided on £20  but to my amazement when I told her she just said NO THANKS 

Maybe she wanted a 1960s price on her half million pound home 

thing was I couldn't help but smile as I drove off

[mci services]

thats why your losing work i would have done it for £12 to £15

[GWCS]

conny with a house for £20 first clean you wanna come work for me?

I need cheap guys

[stephen s]

 




and here was me thinking I was doing her a big fav 

[stephen s]

thats why your losing work i would have done it for £12 to £15

Stu

email sent

[dave.e]

I had a quote today in a rather affluent area where Ive been advertising and picking up quite a few nice jobs,       anyway I arrived at this cottage and the lady showed me round/

It had a conservatory with 12 large windows and 2 glass doors and the rest od the cottage had 12 double windows which were also sash windows and they looked like they hadn't been cleaned since the 60s

I thought it may take about an hour being in such a mess with lots of cobwebs and as I was gonna clean the frames   so that future cleans would take about half that time.

Was gonna give a price of £25 but decided on £20  but to my amazement when I told her she just said NO THANKS 

Maybe she wanted a 1960s price on her half million pound home 

thing was I couldn't help but smile as I drove off

round here that size house would be £25 just for the house with another £8 on top for the con

[Dean Taberner]

and here was me thinking I was doing her a big fav 

Ive been there myself mate,

Its a crazy world.

[mci services]

thats why your losing work i would have done it for £12 to £15

aye got it mate by the way £20 sounded fair to me. so you were probably too cheap






Stu

email sent

[stephen s]

and here was me thinking I was doing her a big fav 

Ive been there myself mate,

Its a crazy world.








thats why I was smiling when I drove away, bewilderment I suppose 

[Blue Frog Systems]

Ususally the ones with big houses that want the cheapest prices

[stephen s]

Ususally the ones with big houses that want the cheapest prices

hence the reason her windows were minging

[Londoner]

You have to look a little deeper than that. I am always suspicious of anyone who has bad windows and suddenly wants to get them cleaned. Usually find a for sale board appears soon after.

Either that or despite them saying they want a regular clean they cancel afterwards and leave them till they are terrible again and find another mug to clean them.

[ian1972]

and a lot depends on the area you are in mate you cant expect to get the same prices as they do down south cause you wont get away wit it,but from what you said seems a reasonable price

[stephen s]

and a lot depends on the area you are in mate you cant expect to get the same prices as they do down south cause you wont get away wit it,but from what you said seems a reasonable price

This is down south and in a very affluent area I may add,    maybe it was because I went in too cheap ? 

[user001]

Obviously i'm not a w/c so what do i know.. but...

when she said no thanks.. did you try to work out why? e.g.

- ok, if you do not mind me asking, why is that?
(wait for response!-  to expensive, worried as to cheap(!), blah blah)

If to expensive? then "Fair enough, out of interest, what would you expect to pay for that amount of cleaning?"

(response may be a stupid low price, in which case either walk away or start a haggle, ok, so you don't want to pay £15... i need to cover my overheads, so how about £17.50 as a gesture of good will and see how it goes"..)

She'll either say get lost, or ok...  that conversation only takes 2 mins... and then ur cleaning her house in the affluent area (therefore potential for more business) and some money (as long as its not stupid) is better than a wasted drive?

People have a stupid mentality where they feel they should never accept the first price they are given... if they think there getting a bargain, then that's half the battle..

As i said though, im not a w/c  - an ex salesman - who despite that, is very easily sold to 

[Skyglide]

to user 001
If you were a window cleaner you would find after lots of experience with domestic customers its not worth trying to 'sell' your services like that to a prospect.
If they baulk at the price, just forget it and move on. They will only be trouble further on down the line.
There are plenty of people out there who will want and appreciate a decent reliable window cleaner.
Best way is follow your gut feeling - do you want to clean their house? Do they seem like nice people? Do you think they will readily pay for your service for many years? Is the property up together? Do you think your charge is reasonable and you are earning enough and enjoying the job?
All yes's take them on. ANY doubts don't bother.
That way the customers are great, the money is right and you will continue to enjoy doing the job.

[user001]

good points and taken on board 

[gerard mcmanus]

I personally don't let people haggle with me, I just walk. If people think your just coming up with a random number, you will constantly be haggled down, even if they are ok with the price, people will always try it on if you let them think they will get away with it.

I have a set pricing system that reflects what it cost me to do the job, if someone doesn't want to pay for the true value, then you will probably loss them anyway, or lucky to knock the price up after a year and keep them. So I just walk.

What I would also watch user001 is if you go up to a house, that says my window cleaner last charged £15, they might have a WC and you are inevitably undercutting them, and all that will happen is they will come back and undercut you, and the people in that area end up expecting them done for next to nothing.

I find that more in large house areas, WCs obviously think big money in the big houses, and over the years plenty sniff round them, so to keep them the WCs have to keep it low.