[paul rulton]

All this talk that you will be undercut and driven out of business if you charge high, if that is the case why do the likes of M & S, Sainsburys, BT, British Airways, Rolls Royce, Harrods, Chem Dry and the other many thousands of sucessfull businesses survive and all of them show healthy profits.

Price is a important part of the product, but quality and many other factors are normally more important to your average customer.

I personally charge high, if a customers says they can get it cheaper elsewhere, then they are quite welcome to go there, you might lose some but at the end of the day you will end up with customers who are willing to pay high if the service that they are getting is in their opinion worthwhile.

I also never give discounts to friends, there are customers and it is a business you are running.  

HERE HERE !!!

[rg1]

All this talk that you will be undercut and driven out of business if you charge high, if that is the case why do the likes of M & S, Sainsburys, BT, British Airways, Rolls Royce, Harrods, Chem Dry and the other many thousands of sucessfull businesses survive and all of them show healthy profits.

Price is a important part of the product, but quality and many other factors are normally more important to your average customer.

I personally charge high, if a customers says they can get it cheaper elsewhere, then they are quite welcome to go there, you might lose some but at the end of the day you will end up with customers who are willing to pay high if the service that they are getting is in their opinion worthwhile.

I also never give discounts to friends, there are customers and it is a business you are running.  

Exactly. Before you know it, everyone will want to be your friend and want a discount.

[Frankybadboy]

i have plenty of  bungalow that are £15 and more.

why cause they got more windows than some of the house i do.big convers on the back as well.

so i dont know how the hell you can say you cant charge that for a bunglow.
you want and come and do mine for less then feel free.we see how long you keep them.

[sullivan]

Cheers guys...

I'm gonna stick to what i'm doing 

Thanks for the helpful comments

[dazmond]

a guy i know lost 32 houses on a road to a guy who was charging half his price(£5)! : :(the first guy was chargin a tenner!)gutted!!

i have some very well priced work mixed with some very compact modestly priced stuff.its getting competitive though.lots of newbies and established WCs coming in from other areas leafleting and canvassing parts of my round etc.keeps us on our toes!i havent lost any yet by the way!!

[paul rulton]

fingers crossed it will stay that way n all daz

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

a guy i know lost 32 houses on a road to a guy who was charging half his price(£5)! : :(the first guy was chargin a tenner!)gutted!!

i have some very well priced work mixed with some very compact modestly priced stuff.its getting competitive though.lots of newbies and established WCs coming in from other areas leafleting and canvassing parts of my round etc.keeps us on our toes!i havent lost any yet by the way!!

well gutted ow did u get on wiv tescos lad

[awcs]

stick to your price, if word gets around that they knocked you down they will all try it. STICK TO YOUR GUNS !!!

[dazmond]

tescos lammy?i think youve got the wrong guy!!i only go in there to buy my weekly food shop!oh i got a smart flatscreen tv from there a few weeks ago!!

[Wizard]

The important thing is to decide were you will position yourself in your market. The question to answer is. Am I going to be cheap and try for volume or am I going to be a value for money. Take a good look at the last statement. Will your costumer focus on what you do or what you charge. If you go for cheap, price will always be a hurdle as there is always some one prepared to cut your price. In the race to be the cheapest and at the bottom of the pile.
Of course if you go for value all you need to do increase your value to your costumer Give more value in work quality, but remember your customer does not always know what that is . So you need to educate her. Tell her what you are doing more and when Mr cheapo knocks on the door she will question him on what she has learned form you as to quality. His live will be made difficult by her knowledge to instil her, as people always want to show how cleaver they are. What ever you do more, tell her and make a big thing of it. So that the value increases in her mind to what you charge.
 This is one of the reasons why there is so much conflicting  views on this form some time we are all right for the market we are in. But yet so wrong for someone else’s market positions. I hope this could help put some light on the subject. Keep growing and learning to add value not  just drop prices at the first sign of resistance to our offering.. There are times we just play into the custies hands of cheat. Good luck. Richard

[adixon]

If she has said this to you after the first clean then to me she would be a problem customer at some othe point and then say one of her mates gets it done for £8.00 where does it end drop her if the other guy does it for 10 then let him more fish in the sea this job would be great if it wasnt for customers lol 

[StanA]

All this talk that you will be undercut and driven out of business if you charge high, if that is the case why do the likes of M & S, Sainsburys, BT, British Airways, Rolls Royce, Harrods, Chem Dry and the other many thousands of sucessfull businesses survive and all of them show healthy profits.

Price is a important part of the product, but quality and many other factors are normally more important to your average customer.

I personally charge high, if a customers says they can get it cheaper elsewhere, then they are quite welcome to go there, you might lose some but at the end of the day you will end up with customers who are willing to pay high if the service that they are getting is in their opinion worthwhile.

I also never give discounts to friends, there are customers and it is a business you are running.  

Exactly. Before you know it, everyone will want to be your friend and want a discount.

Oops!!  I've got three friends who I do an occasional freebie for.  They don't seek it and I don't offer it as a regular arrangement.  It's just a couple of times a year and only if I have time spare.  However, when I say friends, I do mean real, proper friends.  Not superficial stuff.  The sort of people who let me have a spare bed for the night after a hospital procedure when they didn't want me to go home on my own.  The sort of people who gave me a lift for a 70 mile round trip to collect a repaired vehicle and wanted nothing for it.  I don't mind an occasional freebie for friends like that.

[StanA]

I have a bungalow I charge £25 for and another one that I charge £6 for.  Both are priced about right for what they are.  Some bungalows have lots of glass, awkward access and might take quite a while to clean.  Some are a doddle.  I do have a £10 minimum these days for new work but I have some cheaper than that from before I started the minimum charge.  The £6 bungalow belongs to a lady in her 90s who gets very muddled these days - even to the point of putting salt in my coffee (not had one there since LOL).  She's probably not going to be around much longer and I'm OK doing her bungalow for £6 as it doesn't take very long really.
Business with a bit of compassion thrown in too I think.

[simon knight]

The thing is not to worry too much now as to whether you're too cheap or too expensive. You're building your round and as you say money is money and in all fairness pricing isn't an exact science in window cleaning. Keep at the job for bit and 2 things seem to just naturally happen:

1) You price at what the market in your area will tolerate.
2) You tend to dump the stupidly underpriced stuff. And don't fret about dumping the underpriced customers as a newcomer will come along eventually and clean their windows at an underpriced rate, thus preserving the circle of life  

[Smudger]

Wizzard -  what a great post

Darran

[Wizard]

 Thanks Smugger. I will always try to share my expertise with all my mates on here.

[Ian B]

In this situation, if I think my price is reasonable, I tell them "you can't put a price on quality"!!!

[Wizard]

If a custy says cheaper. I would says "so, you want a half job do you............” at half price?
Never let them think for themselves put the thoughts in there mind and create dough of the competition. But be matter of fact not nasty. These techniques must be practiced so they roll of your tongue. Always be confident and dont fluster,Look them straigt in the eye. Act like a winner and you will be one.

[Ian Mason]

If a custy says cheaper. I would says "so, you want a half job do you............” at half price?
Never let them think for themselves put the thoughts in there mind and create dough of the competition. But be matter of fact not nasty. These techniques must be practiced so they roll of your tongue. Always be confident and dont fluster,Look them straigt in the eye. Act like a winner and you will be one.

I am glad you decided to return Wizard, you have a great logic & way with words.

[Johnny B]

If I ever get a potential customer haggling over the price, I tell them what they get for the price, ie frames, sills and doors (as well as the windows obviously).
9 times out of 10 the job is mine.

The last time I didn't get the job on price was when a chap said 'I don't want to pay that much', which was £20 for a 3 bed semi with a large conservatory. I said 'OK, I'll leave it with you' and thanked him for his enquiry. I hope he doesn't ask again because it seems to me that anyone who has this attitude will drop you the minute someone cheaper comes along.

John.