Too many cleaners in my area

[DS WC west midlands]

I am finding a lot of new cleaners in my area, like beyond the normal amount. Most of them are £12 rinse & go and they don't even do a good job, but ppl take them on, even if they leave the windows a right state... I have been called out a lot of late to sort out bad cleaner mess ups, of course i am more expensive than the average cleaner. Now these are the same customers who turned down cleans from me in the past because they thought i was too expensive.
So i went canvassing in those areas to see how bad it was and man ppl are telling me on the door step that their cleaner comes every six weeks charges £12 and spends less than five minutes at their house, i am like wow what a ripoff... Thing is there are three in my area and i really hate to say it but they are very poor actors, they are taking up a lot of the work, i don't mind too much but today really showed me that either i am too expensive and can not compete as well, because i spend time cleaning as I find customers walk when you don't.. so i am not sure what to do about it, seems like anyone can start a window cleaning round these days feel like i am failing but know that i am better than these noobs and it's just silly right now tbh Thoughts???

 

[Mowgli]

I am finding a lot of new cleaners in my area, like beyond the normal amount. Most of them are £12 rinse & go and they don't even do a good job, but ppl take them on, even if they leave the windows a right state... I have been called out a lot of late to sort out bad cleaner mess ups, of course i am more expensive than the average cleaner. Now these are the same customers who turned down cleans from me in the past because they thought i was too expensive.
So i went canvassing in those areas to see how bad it was and man ppl are telling me on the door step that their cleaner comes every six weeks charges £12 and spends less than five minutes at their house, i am like wow what a ripoff... Thing is there are three in my area and i really hate to say it but they are very poor actors, they are taking up a lot of the work, i don't mind too much but today really showed me that either i am too expensive and can not compete as well, because i spend time cleaning as I find customers walk when you don't.. so i am not sure what to do about it, seems like anyone can start a window cleaning round these days feel like i am failing but know that i am better than these noobs and it's just silly right now tbh Thoughts???

 

[Mowgli]

Are your prices on par with the decent cleaners in your area? Personally, I’d be inclined to find out. If you’re higher than them it might be worth coming down a little. You obviously take pride in what you do so make that part of your sales pitch. Anyone CAN start a window cleaning business. That’s part of the appeal, but not everyone can market themselves properly. Even if they do a good job at £12 they’ll soon drop those customers rather than ask to put prices up. Whenever I’m told “my previous cleaner was much cheaper” I make the points you have raised and explain my prices are based on taking my time to do a good job and the fact that I am regular and reliable. Also, don’t be afraid to quote high and negotiate down. It’s much easier than starting low and trying to increase prices.

 

[Nosey]

I am finding a lot of new cleaners in my area, like beyond the normal amount. Most of them are £12 rinse & go and they don't even do a good job, but ppl take them on, even if they leave the windows a right state... I have been called out a lot of late to sort out bad cleaner mess ups, of course i am more expensive than the average cleaner. Now these are the same customers who turned down cleans from me in the past because they thought i was too expensive.
So i went canvassing in those areas to see how bad it was and man ppl are telling me on the door step that their cleaner comes every six weeks charges £12 and spends less than five minutes at their house, i am like wow what a ripoff... Thing is there are three in my area and i really hate to say it but they are very poor actors, they are taking up a lot of the work, i don't mind too much but today really showed me that either i am too expensive and can not compete as well, because i spend time cleaning as I find customers walk when you don't.. so i am not sure what to do about it, seems like anyone can start a window cleaning round these days feel like i am failing but know that i am better than these noobs and it's just silly right now tbh Thoughts???

How busy are you? Do you need to take more work on? Do you have people working for you?

 

[DS WC west midlands]

Are your prices on par with the decent cleaners in your area? Personally, I’d be inclined to find out. If you’re higher than them it might be worth coming down a little. You obviously take pride in what you do so make that part of your sales pitch. Anyone CAN start a window cleaning business. That’s part of the appeal, but not everyone can market themselves properly. Even if they do a good job at £12 they’ll soon drop those customers rather than ask to put prices up. Whenever I’m told “my previous cleaner was much cheaper” I make the points you have raised and explain my prices are based on taking my time to do a good job and the fact that I am regular and reliable. Also, don’t be afraid to quote high and negotiate down. It’s much easier than starting low and trying to increase prices.

Other cleaners i know that clean well charge about the same as me if not more, the difference is i take my time, it's just that with so many cheap cleaners, that just rinse for five minutes and go it's almost impossible to make any headway even with the better clean i offer, eye sight to the blind springs to mind...

 

[DS WC west midlands]

How busy are you? Do you need to take more work on? Do you have people working for you?

could do with being a little more busy, like just a few more cleans not loads. no i do not employ ppl it's not worth it where i live

 

[Pjj]

As with most things in life cheap isn’t best buy cheap tools they don’t last and need replacing quickly, same with window cleaning cheap price poor quality most of the time , set yours above the dross do a decent job most will prefer to pay a little bit more for a quality service ,if they are driven by wanting a low price then they aren't the customer base you want move on to the next enquiry we don’t have a huge amount of competition but the number of window cleaners is rapidly growing but a lot are unreliable, and do a poor job there are only about 4 local firms that do a decent job , we are still getting work and I know we are 2-3 times dearer than some but the customer is happy to pay that most of the time for a reliable good job , we certainly won’t be reducing our prices to compete with anyone that’s a down ward spiral doing that .

 

[Dave B]

My prices aren’t cheap but I do work quick
Just because I may not hang about doesn’t make me a bad cleaner just means my 30 years practice has paid off lol

 

[Clean zero]

I would stick with your pricing if you start going cheaper it will make you think how far do I go and you probably get recommendations so I wouldn’t worry .Going cheaper in my opinion doesn’t get you anywhere usually customers you get you could soon do with out and why work for little reward these new ones in a while might disappear

 

[ched999uk]

Stick with your prices and promote on quality and reliability.

I watched a windy today that was working the other side of a hedge to me. He was terrible, missed 50% of the glass and about 80% of the frame, didn't even touch the sill, only rinsed the top third!
No idea what he charges but I bet it was cheap.
It's difficult to get across to a customer that you do a better job that the cheap windys - not all cheap windys are bad but customers need to know they get what they pay for. That said how many people get multiple quotes? Not many I would guess.

 

[DS WC west midlands]

My prices aren’t cheap but I do work quick
Just because I may not hang about doesn’t make me a bad cleaner just means my 30 years practice has paid off lol

facts.. if you are not spending at least 30 minutes per clean on a regular monthly clean, then you are not rinsing enough and are likely leaving a mess behind after you leave, that's science babe water needs time to drop dirt down. Experience means nothing if your cleans look bad minutes after the fact.. I see it all the time i get calls about these cleaners everyday, you say you have 30 years experience, but if you haven't learned that it's 30 minutes plus to clean, in the 30 years you have been working, then something may not be right with your cleans. I have been cleaning 14 years even i know that...

 

[Iron Giant]

that's science babe

 

[DS WC west midlands]

 

[Clean zero]

Depends on your water flow some have 2 jets some 4 you should be able to do a good job and fit 3 in a hour with out complaints especially if they are monthly

 

[DS WC west midlands]

Depends on your water flow some have 2 jets some 4 you should be able to do a good job and fit 3 in a hour with out complaints especially if they are monthly

We tried 3 an hour many years ago, that model is very risky, our cleans were ok doing it that way, but we lost a lot of customers over going too quick at 3 an hour, maybe it's the area i live in, but i know that most of the customers here get very upset if you leave before the 30 minute mark.. But then again there are a lot of customers that won't pay more than £10 for a clean, if you do cleans of less than 30 minutes... It's mostly because cleans of less time leaves bits on the glass and the cills

 

[scottish cleaning service]

facts.. if you are not spending at least 30 minutes per clean on a regular monthly clean, then you are not rinsing enough and are likely leaving a mess behind after you leave, that's science babe water needs time to drop dirt down. Experience means nothing if your cleans look bad minutes after the fact.. I see it all the time i get calls about these cleaners everyday, you say you have 30 years experience, but if you haven't learned that it's 30 minutes plus to clean, in the 30 years you have been working, then something may not be right with your cleans. I have been cleaning 14 years even i know that...

All windys would be bankrupt spending 30mins on every clean unless it's Mayfair. Sure you are a window cleaner?

 

[Iron Giant]

It's about been thorough and methodical, I can be fairly quick and methodical I was talking to another cleaner I know today he is about as quick as I am but not as thorough and I know he gets complaints

 

[Pjj]

We tried 3 an hour many years ago, that model is very risky, our cleans were ok doing it that way, but we lost a lot of customers over going too quick at 3 an hour, maybe it's the area i live in, but i know that most of the customers here get very upset if you leave before the 30 minute mark..

Depends on a number of factors we clean 4-6 3 bed semis per hour per man and if we get 4 complaints in 2-3 years it’s been a very bad few years , usually the complaints we do get are marks are on the insides . The customer is paying for there windows to be cleaned the time taken is irrelevant, I have no idea what you are doing taking 30 muinits to clean one house and how much water are you are using ?. I regularly do spot checks on the work we have done and cannot remember the last time I ever found a problem, if your water is 000 and you clean the job thoroughly on the initial clean the maintenance cleans are very easy .

 

[DS WC west midlands]

All windys would be bankrupt spending 30mins on every clean unless it's Mayfair. Sure you are a window cleaner?

Really well i have found doing cheap quick cleans would make anyone bankrupt very quickly indeed, 30 minutes makes for a better clean, so if your saying i should cut my time down to 5 minutes per clean and charge less, i could do that but i would loose so many customers and be bankrupt in a week... This is the problem i am trying to get at, that speed cleaning makes the customer feel like they have been robbed by bilbo baggins.

You might make a lot, but i bet you get a lot of complaints & messers on your rounds doing it that way. we did and when we were doing speed cleans, i looked at those complaining there was nothing really wrong with the cleans they were ok but there were bits left behind & that's what lead to me really starting to see what worked better, this silly culture of speed cleaning is whats given us all a bad name as window cleaners... Beer money prices no thank you... ppl who are desperate for money charge cheap and speed clean instead of slowing down and doing a quality clean... quality can not be done in less than 30 minutes..

 

[Clean zero]

When I clean ours 4bed with con can clean in less then 20 minutes have checked over numerous times always ok my wife is very fussy she would soon let me know if it wasn’t right ? what better test!!

 

[DS WC west midlands]

Depends on a number of factors we clean 4-6 3 bed semis per hour per man and if we get 4 complaints in 2-3 years it’s been a very bad few years , usually the complaints we do get are marks are on the insides . The customer is paying for there windows to be cleaned the time taken is irrelevant, I have no idea what you are doing taking 30 muinits to clean one house and how much water are you are using ?. I regularly do spot checks on the work we have done and cannot remember the last time I ever found a problem, if your water is 000 and you clean the job thoroughly on the initial clean the maintenance cleans are very easy .

I say this with the upmost respect Pjj it is 30 minutes a rinse and i charge £20 per month per clean, i take my time, as rushing like that crashed my round in the past, I value your input and see what your saying, but i would never do cleans that quick it would breed cat kittens and dogs to boot where i live....