Price increases is it wise?

[cleaniac]

Its very simple, if you need to put your prices up, just do it. You will lose customers over it, but its do that and stay profitable or be an apologetic bottom feeder and go out of business in 5 years I see it all the time. Its that simple. Keep your prices low, you will keep customers who do not respect you, value you, and you will loose heart, lose interest and your quality of work will decline.

I'm going back to work on the 18th April, and I have a very close friend who has been covering some customers for me who still insist on having the windows cleaned and paying him directly. On average I am 40-60% more expensive than him. 4 of my jobs are 10 or 11 of his, and they take less time. Its opened his eyes and he now sees the light, he put his prices up the same, lost a bunch but is making more money for less work.

 

[Pjj]

with those increases in fuel costs, bearing in mind your staff are doing roughly the same milage per day, per week,so thats a constant, i think your staff are popping a bit of fuel into a jerry can each time they fill up fuel hasn't gone up by 40% in the last few months but your bills seem to have.
i only know this because i used to do the same when i worked for a company, filled up three times a week and always topped the jerry can up or filled it up, they questioned the fuel increase but the van needs a service doesn't it? hence the fuel increase-that and everyone else in the company did the same thing helped

with those increases in fuel costs, bearing in mind your staff are doing roughly the same milage per day, per week,so thats a constant, i think your staff are popping a bit of fuel into a jerry can each time they fill up fuel hasn't gone up by 40% in the last few months but your bills seem to have.
i only know this because i used to do the same when i worked for a company, filled up three times a week and always topped the jerry can up or filled it up, they questioned the fuel increase but the van needs a service doesn't it? hence the fuel increase-that and everyone else in the company did the same thing helped

Hi Kevin , staff are honest , my own van that only I drive and fill up used to cost £55-65 per week on average , last week I put in £90 ,due to the fuel shortages still going on down gear I fill up every other day , but that’s what I put in over the week , might have done slightly longer working days and a few more miles but nothing much more than normal, prices are still £189 per ltr in a lot of places hear .

 

[cleaniac]

prices are still £189 per ltr in a lot of places hear .

Thank goodness they are only £1.75 here in surrey!

 

[Pjj]

Thank goodness they are only £1.75 here in surrey!

There are some places that it’s still over £195 per ltr , I have started using Tesco fuel as texaco hear are a complete rip off .

 

[Part Timer]

with those increases in fuel costs, bearing in mind your staff are doing roughly the same milage per day, per week,so thats a constant, i think your staff are popping a bit of fuel into a jerry can each time they fill up fuel hasn't gone up by 40% in the last few months but your bills seem to have.
i only know this because i used to do the same when i worked for a company, filled up three times a week and always topped the jerry can up or filled it up, they questioned the fuel increase but the van needs a service doesn't it? hence the fuel increase-that and everyone else in the company did the same thing helped

I've been doing my end of year accounts, April last year diesel was £1.247p a litre, so 40% is about right

 

[Poles Apart]

I am going ahead with price rises but only small ones my Website charges have rocketed again with another inflation busting price hike I won't get away with increasing prices above inflation.

 

[Pjj]

I am going ahead with price rises but only small ones my Website charges have rocketed again with another inflation busting price hike I won't get away with increasing prices above inflation.

I have never increased my prices with inflation , just pick a figure with straight pounds normally £2-3 increase on cheapest jobs every 2-3 years

 

[swc1]

I believe price increases are a nessary evil, if you don't increases your prices annually you will be making less then you did last year (we are not in business to make less yearly) with the cost of goods and everything, price increase is a nessity.

 

[kevinc250]

There are some places that it’s still over £195 per ltr , I have started using Tesco fuel as texaco hear are a complete rip off .

up here its 1.76 at morrisons and 1.79 at shell, i forgot your using hot all the time so i guess apart from running the van the heater is burning eight litres a day

 

[Pjj]

up here its 1.76 at morrisons and 1.79 at shell, i forgot your using hot all the time so i guess apart from running the van the heater is burning eight litres a day

Yes it does make a difference see the prices today of local garages !!!!!???and that’s after it’s been reduced

 

[kevinc250]

well, for once, its not that grim "up north" , energy and fuel prices will come down within the next six months to a year if everything in the world returns to normal ie russia, inflation isn't helping but that can be largely blamed on covid and goverments printing money to shore things up, its not going to be an easy ride for anyone for a while although it will get better in the long term.

 

[Poles Apart]

I've been a little worried as I'm having a pretty major price rise next month. I was supposed to put them up in 2020 but held off with the lockdown. Now it's been 4 - 5 years since my last rise (6 or 7 on one round).
Usually I don't have issues with customers cancelling but the last few months, I've had more cancel than ever, due to cutting costs for the most part.
So I was preparing for a bigger loss of customers than I was expecting but it helps to hear the experiences of others on here that it hasn't been too bad.

I'm in the same boat some of mine haven't gone up for 7 years.

 

[kevinc250]

if i'm honest, i'm holding off for a while, my work mostly consists of the larger homes who will have bigger heating bills and bigger council tax bills than me.
we are all suffering to some degree whether its fuel, food, or energy.
for our part at home we are cutting back on the heating a bit putting a jumper on when its cold instead of the heating, i guess some of you southerners might have to wear socks with your flip flops for a while trousers instead of shorts hoodie instead of the hawaian shirt, at the moment yes, my deisal price has gone up but only by about £10 per week i can handle that my home bills will take time to filter through and we'll judge where we can cut back on things.
summers on the way so less gas to use for heating no lights on no tumble drier going all the time so we'll be using less energy, shorter shower times instead of the half hour ones i'm used to will help with our use of gas.
for me, i think the most important thing is not to panic, look if you increase prices to cater for your increased prices in gas electric at home and van fuel, are you going to reduce that price to the customer when prices fall? no, probably not, the customer is feeling the pinch too, maybe i run my business differently to some on here but i make plenty and i'm happy with what i earn for me, theres no need to be greedy when times are hard and i feel they'll be getting harder quite soon, when the times get better then i'll be looking at increases, @Poles Apart your prices haven't gone up in seven years, some would say thats bad business or others may well think that actually you are still making a profit at those prices only you'll know that one. if you have nothing on finance then your outgoings business wise will be quite small its those with financed vans and equipment who will be suffering as the need to keep up with the payments with customers cancelling all the time must be worrying.
what i'm trying to say and, quite badly i think is, try and take a step back, we are all in sh*t street at the moment and increasing prices may be "the straw that broke the camels back for some households" and it may be prudent to hold back a while and not panic and see where it goes in the next few months.

 

[Chris34]

if i'm honest, i'm holding off for a while, my work mostly consists of the larger homes who will have bigger heating bills and bigger council tax bills than me.
we are all suffering to some degree whether its fuel, food, or energy.

You see this is what I thought I was going to do, however something happened today which I had not considered. I was discussing it with a customer of mine, the cost of the gas going up and they said they couldn't understand the reason for it going up... etc, they then said that they're ok until May as they're prices are fixed in until then. This I hadn't even thought of, I thought everyone was up to speed with the latest cost, but it appears that many might still be on the cheap tarrifs. I'm now thinking that mid April when the dust has settled a little bit from the April 1st rise is when I'll put all the prices up. I want to get in first before all the other increases.

It's like trying to stay under the radar and not bring attention to the cost of the window cleaning, the moment you make them consider the price is the moment they work it all out.

I don't think there will be a perfect time to increase the price, but the busiest time of the year is probably a good time and mid April I reckon is as good a time as any.

They won't notice the energy costs until next winter, that's when we might find lots of cancellations so we've just got to be well prepared for what's coming, try and save up a bit and work a bit extra over the summer to flatten out any troughs.

 

[Pjj]

I had 4 customers today in one area ask If I was going to increase the price as everything else is going up , I think they had all been talking together , so I said how did they feel about a price increase they all said they expected it so they were quite happy all went up by £3 , I do wonder if we are our own worst enemy in situations like this . Theses were all estate houses not mansions all working class people and one retired couple .

 

[Iron Giant]

No point beating around the bush, if they want to go 8 weekly they'll ask if they want to cancel they will, I have been increasing prices in recent weeks just the ones that need to go up, most have been just fine 2 asked to 8 weekly which comes with an additional increase one cancelled within minutes the other went 8 weekly with an extra £7 on top of the increase another told me it was out of the question and I best think again. I replied politely and explained the reasons 24 hrs later he text me and proposed going 8 weekly again an extra increase on the already increased price he was happy enough with that as he could still see the saving

The one that cancelled asap would have saved over £72 without the extra 8 weekly charge after the extra charge she would have saved £48 over the year which I pointed out to her, IMHO she was always going to cancel

 

[helene84]

We've been putting prices up over the last few months, usually £2-3 for 4 weekly and £5 for 8 weekly.
Most people are fine, we've had a few that have complained but once we've explained why we need to put prices up they have been okay about it.
We've got one certain area that we are having to put up more than others as it was underpriced when we got it from a mate and we've never really increased prices, its going to be a case of pay the increase or go else where as its not worth our while travelling there anymore as we have better priced jobs nearer home. I think most people will be okay with it as we have cleaned them for 12 years +.
We are now at a stage that if we lose jobs it's not really going to affect us too much as we are fairly full and have been getting quite a few enquiries over the last couple of months.

 

[Chris34]

No point beating around the bush, if they want to go 8 weekly they'll ask if they want to cancel they will, I have been increasing prices in recent weeks just the ones that need to go up, most have been just fine 2 asked to 8 weekly which comes with an additional increase one cancelled within minutes the other went 8 weekly with an extra £7 on top of the increase another told me it was out of the question and I best think again. I replied politely and explained the reasons 24 hrs later he text me and proposed going 8 weekly again an extra increase on the already increased price he was happy enough with that as he could still see the saving

The one that cancelled asap would have saved over £72 without the extra 8 weekly charge after the extra charge she would have saved £48 over the year which I pointed out to her, IMHO she was always going to cancel

That sounds positive, did you tell them to their face, over the phone, via text or by letter? I could live with around 1 in 8 cancelling if the other 7 don't.

 

[Chris34]

I think the difficulty also is that if you don't increase the price and the prices never come down of other goods then it becomes even harder to catch up as the longer you leave it the bigger the increase will need to be.

Also, if everyone excepts the increases then that means that we as window cleaners can now afford the 'new' higher prices of food, energy etc because we have raised our prices. Those that are selling the food, energy etc will also be able to afford the 'new' higher prices that they have to pay because we are paying them higher prices. So it's only those who are late to the increases that will struggle and get left behind. I'm thinking public sector workers, pensioners etc. Although pensioners have been well looked after via the triple lock increases over the past years. It's the nurses and other health workers that are going to be hit really hard by all the increases.

We are lucky in the fact that we can up our rates within a minutes decision, employed workers can ask their bosses for a rise, public sector workers have to wait a year or two for any rise.

 

[Iron Giant]

That sounds positive, did you tell them to their face, over the phone, via text or by letter? I could live with around 1 in 8 cancelling if the other 7 don't.

Cant be chewed with letters, a mix of face to face and text but mostly I just write the price increase on my calling card,

As of now, I say I can't be chewed with letters when I do a lot more increases either next year or the year after when it will have been 3 years since the last increase a letter may work better as they will be going up £2-3 as on average it's usually £1 every 2 years some a bit more.

 

[David K]

This critical subject seems to get avoided on here, is anyone worried about losing customers I know some who will be in denial, there used to be a poster on here called Onion Man he used to write essay's saying his business was booming during all the recessions and financial crashes.

Ive raised this new year and raising again by summer, fuel and food is only going up.