1st Job Done... 150ltrs and 3 hours : )

[steve garwood]

I honestly think people make to much of a big deal on first cleans.

In the 11 years that I’ve been using WFP, I’ve just told the customer that there might be the odd speck here and there on the first clean.

I charge them double and clean them twice without using any chemicals, ladders, customers tap etc etc.

Never had a single issue 

 

[wezza13]

I honestly think people make to much of a big deal on first cleans.

In the 11 years that I’ve been using WFP, I’ve just told the customer that there might be the odd speck here and there on the first clean.

I charge them double and clean them twice without using any chemicals, ladders, customers tap etc etc.

Never had a single issue 

Totally agree.

Double the price for a first clean. Only ever had one customer question the price, so knocked a tenner off for her and she was happy.

I'd always recommend charging double. It takes you at least double the time and the customers will judge how good you are (and whether they would like you to continue) on that first clean, so make every effort to leave it in the best condition that you can.

Double the price (usually) covers this.

 

[Stevieboy]

I honestly think people make to much of a big deal on first cleans.

In the 11 years that I’ve been using WFP, I’ve just told the customer that there might be the odd speck here and there on the first clean.

I charge them double and clean them twice without using any chemicals, ladders, customers tap etc etc.

Never had a single issue 

I nearly totally agree. Apart from always use the tap if there is one  why waste pure if you don’t have to???

 

[Chris34]

I've just been doing a cash flow forecast for the next 6 months.  For the first 3 months the majority of the money comes from first cleans, after that then the regular clean income exceeds the first clean income.  So to keep my head above the water I haven't got the luxury of giving a regular price for the first clean, they have to be double or nearly double to make it viable.  After 6 months then the picture looks a lot more rosy but to begin with it's a real eye opener / wake up call.

I've set my drop off rate at 10% per month (1 in 10 cancel) does this sound ok?

 

[Iron Giant]

First cleans using clients tap and cleaning with tap water is a no-no in my books doesn't look professional at all and for what pure costs to make you might save yourself a £0.50 using tap water ?, I have done a few quotes this past week and not got one with a double charge for a first  clean thinking some are watching the pennies at this time of year ?

 

[steve garwood]

First cleans using clients tap and cleaning with tap water is a no-no in my books doesn't look professional at all and for what pure costs to make you might save yourself a £0.50 using tap water ?, I have done a few quotes this past week and not got one with a double charge for a first  clean thinking some are watching the pennies at this time of year ?

Plus if it’s a sunny day, there’s a chance the tap water will start to dry leaving limescale spots

 

[Iron Giant]

Plus if it’s a sunny day, there’s a chance the tap water will start to dry leaving limescale spots

Never thought of that with living in a soft water area, but yes totally agree then someone would be getting up a ladder and applying Vikal shifting limescale and the conclusion is to use pure water ?

 

[Stevieboy]

I think it’s just called changing your working method to suit conditions. ?

 

[Davy G]

For first cleans, I weigh up the house and especially the customer carefully. If the house is filthy, and, or, I feel that the customer is unlikely to stay a regular, I will charge extra, but never double as I don't think I would have as many customers if I did. If the house isn't too bad or I get a good feeling about the customer, I might charge a little more but not much more than a maintenance wash. Example : if I assess the price will be £20, 6 weekly, I might charge an extra £5-£10, or, no extra, depending on my initial assessment. No ladders, cloths, hand brushes, or tap water will be used. At the most and only if it's really bad, a squirt of soapmix on the brush. Spread it quickly on the top wìndows and lather it well in with a tiny squirt of water mixed in. The dirtier it looks at this stage the better for the customer to see. Same with the downstairs. Leave it no longer than a couple of minutes. Then normal wash, starting again on the top of course, with a little more elbow grease and water than a maintenance wash to get it thoroughly clean. The few minutes with filthy soapy wìndows really impresses the customers. I wouldn't stay there titivating it any longer than necessary. Get it done collect the payment and move on.

I cannot emphasis enough the need for speed as well as quality if we want to thrive. Do the sums, an extra £15 job fitted in each day on a five day week=£75. Then times 4 odd working weeks in a month =£600. Times 10 months, taking into account, holidays, weather etc =£6000 by my estimate. Now think, not one but 2 extra houses a day =£1200. Don't mess about, get stuck in. Do it quick, do it right, and move on. Not trying to lecture. Just want to help people earn what they should for their hard work, without it being harder than necessary. ?

 

[Incheck]

The whole sill flushing business is easily avoided. All the little specs that endlessley flush out will never dissapear by just flushing. My solution is screwfix microfibre cloths. (Blue ones you can buy them in bulk)  Leave all the specs on the sills, carry on cleaning, & then at the end quickly wipe over each sill with a dry micro fibre cloth job done. Much less time and pure water being wasted ? Work trousers have many pockets, i utilize them by stuffing them to the brim with microfibre cloths and magic sponges. That way you havent got to keep running to the van every time you need these little items

 

[Iron Giant]

I use old towels cut up as sill cloths as needed and wipe around doorways if the clients home and is a cash payer which I also use to wipe pole hose I am old school after almost 19 years old towels work best plus I carry a bronze wool pad and a magic sponge in my Moerman side kit pouch along with calling cards and a pen, I really don't get the new school of microfibers or no cloth's at all a guy I know uses CLX's and never wipes the pole hose until he gets back to the van 

 

[Nathansmyth1991]

Yeah I'm very aware of that and definitely don't want to be cheap.  I've set my target at £35 to £40 per hour which is a hell of a lot more than the minimum wage I get at some of the work I do at the moment.  

With regard to the first clean, well I was thinking about it last night, this house would have to be about a £20 house for a 30 minute 4 week clean, my first clean price would have been quoted at £25.  If I had charged £40 maybe £50 for the first clean then I really don't think they would have agreed a clean.  I'm thinking that the first clean needs to be discounted in order to get them on board and then it would be a case of you win some you lose some.  

If the regular clean price would be £20 what would everybody else charge for the first clean price?  It is a hell of a lot of work compared to say cleaning it again in 4 weeks, I can see it's a bit of a ball ache .  I can imagine the regular cleaning being a lot faster, I'm going to clean my parents again to see how it compares.

Thanks again for the advice guys, now it's back out to the low paid stuff, hopefully not for too much longer  : )

I charge 1.5 x the normal price for a first clean and just explain the reason we charge this is because it takes a lot longer Cleaning all their frames doors sills and glass. We charge this so we can afford to take the time and make the first clean 100 percent. No issues as of yet 

 

[Incheck]

I’m one of the few that makes a big deal of first cleans. We Charge good money for them although we don’t do them in particularly high volume as many are put off by the price. When we built our rounds we did it the hard way by not charging extra for first cleans. It was painful but thats what got us there. 

Now we charge what should be charged for them. Magic sponges and pink stuff come out to restore sills and doors wherever possible as i now include the restoration work as part of the first clean. Gives a very good impression to the customer and earns you wedge rather than £10 here, £15 there, etc etc. a lot of recommendations also come that way. If they join the round its a bonus but im not afraid of predominantly doing ad ons or first cleans every day, its less time spent on the road travelling from A to B, less payments to track, less customer correspondence as you’re dealing with less people.