[geefree]

Hi,

Thinking of increasing prices, i feel i would be better off telling them as i see them...

But if i write a letter i dont feel saying.."we have not increased our prices for 3 years "...etc etc...

as that would put the buffers on another increase later.

and i dont want to bore them with economics, fuel prices and the rest of what would be a long boring explanation.

Anyone done a nice polite "we provide a first class sevice, cleaning all glass ,frames and doors , and hope to serve you well in the future.........unfortunately we are having to bring the cost of cleaning your house into line with other similar detached properties.....bla bla?

[geefree]

i will use the above type letter then.

[p1w1]

Last time i put my prices up last year by £1 i just kept it short and sweet along the lines you mentioned. I did not leave any contact details on the letter my thinking was if there is a number to call on it some people may just see price increase and hastily ring up to cancel however if there is no number or contact details it gives them time to realise they are still getting a great service at a fair price and the ones who think they will cancel next time they saw me would hopefully forget when that time came. Only had 2 cancelations out of it.

paul

[Paul_Rolfe]

face 2 face evry time.

[MNWC]

face to face

an ideal opportunity will be when you go back after new year......new year new price.

[dazmond]

gazza i always put my prices up 50p every april but tell them the month before.keep it simple.no need for explanations.usually get a few that moan and lose the odd one but still make more money.i always raise my bigger houses by a quid every 2 years.50p for 3 bedders.

regards dazmond

[jeff1]

Face to Face every time.

[Mike #1]

face to face i always find it's better you can give custys all the reasons and patter if nessacary in the past i only raised prices by 50p now i have gone to a pound

[Paul_Rolfe]

Don't deal with 50p for gods sake.

£1 each time.

[Mike #1]

totallly wolfie i think been on forum has upped my confidence and has made me realise my potential to grow the business and get good prices for the work i do

[vision tech]

face to face   and then i say if it dosnt suit just ring me before your next clean ,you have my number, no one has rung me yet.

[dazmond]

i know WCs round here[manchester] who raise prices 20p .its a lot cheaper to live up here.rent on my flat 66quid a wk

[EZclean]

face to face
i always find i know before hand which ones will cancel
same as when i changed to wfp

[Nathanael Jones]

I go face to face with custies who are home, but I have letters printed for any who are out,.. I'm not going to wait till I see them, it could be years!

[[GQC] Tim]

I barely see half my round face to face, they are all out.

What then?

[dai]

Face to face every time.
Now is the time to tell them that prices will have to go up next year. Next year is still too far away for them to worry about.
Hit them with the increase from 1st of January. This has worked very wll for me over the years, and hardly lost a one.

[AuRavelling79]

Both - if in then face to face if out a paragraph on their payment slip.

[Totus]

Put prices up last month and dropped off letters to all 500. Took half a day as i posted half when cleaning in the month of July. Had generic letters with blanks for price increase to be filled in as some of them i'd under priced and some were under-priced from the guy I bought the round from so not an across the board price rise.
Also made sure that I explained that i was able to keep increases low because i spread it evenly across the customer base.

Can email you what i've got if you like.

Only lost one customer and 6 went on to every other month, but these were the under priced ones so not to bad.....lost about £38 in all but gained £400 in the increase. 

[tony talbot]

i think i'll increase my prices in the new year after reading these posts, all houses under £10 = 50p rise all houses above £10 -  £1.00 rise

[Totus]

Look at your hourly rate and look to increase this by about £3 P/H

8 HOUR DAY ..... £24
1 WEEK (ON AN 8 HOUR DAY) ..... £120
4 WEEKS (LEAVING THE EXTRA 2 OR 3 DAYS LEFT IN THE MONTH FOR RAIN) ..... £440

£4840 EXTRA A YEAR !!!!!! (INCLUDING 2 WEEKS HOLS AND 2 WEEKS AT X-MAS DOWN TIME)