[amayze]

I agree with dazmond, agree to put your prices up at the 31st March, and just inform your customers between then & now. I would simply place a small note through the door when you do their next clean.

[AuRavelling79]

I did a small timing survey on a section of compact work out in one of my villages:-

House One: Start 8:58 Finish 9:20
House 2: Start 9:21 Finish 10:00
House 3: Move van Start 10.03 Finish 10.20
House 4: Start 10.22 Finish 10:40
Have a coffee
etc

Then divide the minutes by the amount to get the hourly rate. If it's not what you want then raise it proportionately.

You then get a house rate and a day rate and see how many hours you are working, driving, scratching your backside etc and adjust accordingly.

Sometimes a good payer might be marred by a gate climb or a chatterbox and so address those issues if possible.

This way you will put up prices where you think necessary.

You also might identify what your gut tells you - that this is a poor (or good) paying section of your round and so you write a note putting their prices up. If you really don't think it's worth doing then really up the prices  You'll enjoy it then! 

[dazmond]

im starting to introduce a bare minimum 3 bed semi charge,a minimum front only charge and a minimum house with a conservatory charge.ive made big mistakes with not charging much more for houses with conservatories in the past hence the reason why ive put some up £4 and £5.thing is ive got another 60 or so to put up by said amount!! :.i know ill prob lose a few but still earn the same or more and ill enjoy cleaning them then as gold says!!all my custys bar about 20 are going up in price in april 50p/£1.small increase on most work every year now as i never put up prices for years before that!! : :

[dazmond]

i am aware that i monopolise certain areas that are v.compact and other window cleaners cant get a look in as ive cleaned these for years!i dont want to push my look too much as i dont want to leave gaps for other window cleaners to fill!!BUT i need to up the prices!150 houses one after another!ive built up trust and reliability over years so i think most will stay with me!!this is just one part of a round thats covers a 3 mile area.ihave another 100 or so accounts in this area ranging from 4/5bed houses,converted barns,a few bigger houses,nurserys,childrens home etc then ive got a days work about 5 miles away,granny flats,various other houses a few minutes away from where i live.a good mixture.

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

My prices will go up in April. I usually do it every 2 years but last year I decided to leave it due to enconomic issues.

My approch is to do them individually, if its a good customer who I want to keep and is priced well they may get a less of a % increase. However, if it's a problem house they will go up by a higher %. It depends on how much they are 'worth' to me and how much I enjoy cleaning their windows.

If you have £2000 worth of work per month and you add £200 value to your round you can 'afford' to loose £200 worth of work and find customers to replace the ones you lost. Obviously the new customers will be charged peak rates.

[wizard]

My veiw has always been the same up by 10% AND IF YOU LOOSE 10% OF YOUR CUSTIES ( WHICH YOU WILL NOT ) THEN YOU ARE BETER OFF AS YOU CAN FILL UP THOSE SPOTS WITH CUSTOMER WHO WILL PAY.    Simples !!

[geoffreyspecht]

gonna charge a £i a house next year

[Scrimble]

i'm jackin some of mine up in april defo!

[advanced]

Has any one got good letter saying why prices are going up e,c,t  , i feel to lazy at mo to  write one  thanks in advance.

[KESSA]

WINDOWCLEANERS

Dear Customer,



WINDOW CLEANING – PRICE INCREASE

We have increased our price for the monthly cleaning of your property from

£________ to £ ________.  This increase will be effective at our next clean.

It is realised that this is a sharp increase in price, however when I first quoted for your property, I severely underestimated the price.  It is hoped that this will not deter you from being one of our valued customers and if you wish to discuss the above, please do not hesitate to phone me.  You may (of course) also ask other window cleaners for a quote and I am sure you will find that we are still extremely competitive.

[sparklebright]

I'm not sure I would invite them to look for another price! Though if they like you they probably won't look

I have always just said:
Due to ever increasing costs and inflation (might not apply this year  :) it has become necessary to increase my prices. From next month the price to clean your windows will be _. I have kept the increase to minimum and will hold this price for a minimum of twelve months.

Increase the same time every year and people can't say it's only just gone up a couple of months ago.

[DAVID WARD]

my prices shouldv gone up last may .  i put them up every 2 years  1 pound . for most   , but with the credit crunch and all that left them this year . still unsure wether to put them up or not this year,

[mileslake]

I can't understand why anyone would have 25p, 50p 75p etc as part of a price.

Anyway happy new year.

[jeff68]

The problem with putting up prices in 2010 is that we don't know if the economic outlook will improve significantly to justify an increase!!With vat being raised it means everything will increase in price,cost of living will increase etc etc.Yes it will mean we will not be making as much profit as we were a few years ago but don't forget the custies will be feeling the pinch too and I am sure they will be reveiwing thier finances and seek ways to save money.So luxuries like having the windows cleaned will have to be cut back.
Also due to the fact that poeple have been loosing thier jobs left,right and centre it means there are a lot more window cleaners starting up(seeing as its the easiest and cheapest trade to start up in) who could potentially tempt your customers away from you with cheaper prices.I have seen several cars with ladders and scrim in the back windows in the last few weeks in my area and a few new vans also.
So if you are quite happy to potentially lose some customers then yes put up your prices but don't be too surprised when you can't fill there gap with new ones.
Good luck out there and I qoute''The window cleaning bussiness is filled with dark holes,cheaters,scroungers,liars and blaggers, there to suck you in and chew you up and spit you out into the gutter.Then there's the bad side!!''

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

The problem with putting up prices in 2010 is that we don't know if the economic outlook will improve significantly to justify an increase!!With vat being raised it means everything will increase in price,cost of living will increase etc etc.Yes it will mean we will not be making as much profit as we were a few years ago but don't forget the custies will be feeling the pinch too and I am sure they will be reveiwing thier finances and seek ways to save money.So luxuries like having the windows cleaned will have to be cut back.
Also due to the fact that poeple have been loosing thier jobs left,right and centre it means there are a lot more window cleaners starting up(seeing as its the easiest and cheapest trade to start up in) who could potentially tempt your customers away from you with cheaper prices.I have seen several cars with ladders and scrim in the back windows in the last few weeks in my area and a few new vans also.
So if you are quite happy to potentially lose some customers then yes put up your prices but don't be too surprised when you can't fill there gap with new ones.
Good luck out there and I qoute''The window cleaning bussiness is filled with dark holes,cheaters,scroungers,liars and blaggers, there to suck you in and chew you up and spit you out into the gutter.Then there's the bad side!!''

I'm underwhelmed by you 'positive' outlook.

If your time is worth more than you are currently charging then you need to charge more. In every walk of life there are people out there willing to pay top price for a good job. If you never increase your work, you will never know who these customers are.

[jeff68]

I agree with what you are saying,but is it the right time to increase prices?Would it not be better to wait till the goodtimes come back again and people have more money to throw around and have a more positive outlook on things.
Good things come to he who waits.....

[1wayno]

this time next year we'l be millionaires!  lol

[elite mike]

gonna charge a £i a house next year

hope you dont start round here

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

I agree with what you are saying,but is it the right time to increase prices?Would it not be better to wait till the goodtimes come back again and people have more money to throw around and have a more positive outlook on things.
Good things come to he who waits.....

If your time is undervalued now it will be undervalued in 6-12 months time x the number of cleans you do that are undervalued. If you wait till the good times return you could be waiting for a long time. Plus you want to catch people before they decide to spend their extra cash as YOU want it.
If you have bad paying work increase it. If you loose some, replace them with better customers. You will find they all come out of the woodwork in spring and if you dont have time to do them because of servicing low priced jobs you WILL miss out.

[dazmond]

im sorry jeff but i dont agree at all.most of my prices will be going up in april.in fact ive put a few up by £4and £5 recently and YES JUST BEFORE XMAS!!its all about confidence.ive been cleaning a lot of my custys for years.quite a lot are underpriced.i dont think ill lose many if at all over 50p/£1!dont get sucked in by all the news and hype!if uv already got good priced work then fair enough but mine are going UP EVERY YEAR!

its a case of" better the devil u know" scenario methinks.why would my custys get someone else whos marginally cheaper who they dont know or trust to be reliable?i dont think so somehow.FEAR will keep me earning less.i deserve more hence price rise!

regards dazmond