Advice on pricing please

[scottish cleaning service]

I can believe that mate..What part of the country are you in fella ?.

I quoted for a house in a Private Park yesterday..gotta be £3Mill maybe more..not overly Big...

She wanted the house plus Conserv cleaned...£26 apparently was a previous quote?!...You cant run a business on fresh air!.These particular type of clients take the ****!.?...Sorry for the four letter word?‍...These people take us for mugs!...I dont know how these guys on here manage £200 upwards on a quote ??..But good luck to 'em.

I always tell them the value of their home and then they say, its nowhere near that. I check on zoopla before I quote for a house like that. These folk want the house and the address but don't want to pay so its better dodging them altogether.

 

[Pane]

I always tell them the value of their home and then they say, its nowhere near that. I check on zoopla before I quote for a house like that. These folk want the house and the address but don't want to pay so its better dodging them altogether.

Totally agree,with dodging them SCS...most of those types want something for nothing OR

Stealthy agree,then on the day - "While your here,could you ...."?.If they were decent with negotiating the price,i wouldnt mind a small amendment..As they get geady...Ta la,get another mug!?.

 

[Part Timer]

This whole thing gets me, I will never understand why people get upset, or surprised, why some people think our services are over priced. Yet then search around for cheaper insurances etc.

 

[Pane]

This whole thing gets me, I will never understand why people get upset, or surprised, why some people think our services are over priced. Yet then search around for cheaper insurances etc.

Eh ?.Part timer - Your comparing window cleaning services & cheaper insurances.

Completely different things entirely,or am i missing something ?.

 

[Part Timer]

Eh ?.Part timer - Your comparing window cleaning services & cheaper insurances.

Completely different things entirely,or am i missing something ?.

Both are services with multiple supplier options. Why do people get upset because someone doesn't value their services. Just move on because I'm 99.99% certain the very same people don't accept every quote they receive.

 

[Iron Giant]

I quoted for a 12ft x 12ft conservatory in South East London - Lots of algae/green stuff on glass mostly on pvc...Conserve hadnt been cleaned for ages (around 2.5/3 years)...

I quoted one last week for £120 in the North East doing it next Friday ?

 

[Chris34]

I can believe that mate..What part of the country are you in fella ?.

I quoted for a house in a Private Park yesterday..gotta be £3Mill maybe more..not overly Big...

She wanted the house plus Conserv cleaned...£26 apparently was a previous quote?!...You cant run a business on fresh air!.These particular type of clients take the ****!.?...Sorry for the four letter word?‍...These people take us for mugs!...I dont know how these guys on here manage £200 upwards on a quote ??..But good luck to 'em.

There is a bit (or maybe a lot) of psychology going on when doing your sales pitch, the main thing is confidence.  If you want to get the higher prices you have to believe yourself that that's the correct price.  Good sales people could probably get £500 for some jobs that many of us would charge £200.

I'm no sales person but I do concentrate and have a routine that I try and go through, throughout the sales process.  Basically, I don't just blurt out a price, I sell them the service and then tell them the price.  During the selling process I point out areas that are particularly bad or difficult to clean and explain why it's difficult, this then makes them aware that I'll be there for longer than 10 minutes which a lot of people seem to have come accustomed to with their old splash and dash brigade.  After I'm happy they understand everything I will be doing, I then give them the price.  Strangely sometimes they're quite surprised at how reasonable it is.

Just this month I've started charging double for first cleans instead of +50%, I must say that it seems easier to win them over.  They don't seem to mind paying higher for the first clean anyway and when you give them the regular clean being half the price of the first clean it sounds like a good deal.  So £40 then £25 doesn't sound as good as £50 then £25.  It also emphasises a bigger difference between the work carried out on a first clean compared to the work on a regular clean.

You do have to laugh sometimes though, I had a walk up from a local neighbour, went to do a quick quote, straight away she was saying I'm retired (she was in her late 50's), haven't got a lot of money... anyway I got to the conservatory and it was green with algae, I said yeah that's going to take a while, she said 'no you can leave that I'll do it myself it's dead easy', ha ha, I felt like just saying 'well you go for it then if it's dead easy'.  That's the thing, when I first started last year a comment like that would have threw me a little, would have added a little doubt to my ability, but after a year now, I'm building that confidence to know when somebody is bulls hitting me and rather than get upset I'm secretly laughing inside.  

 

[Part Timer]

I quoted one last week for £120 in the North East doing it next Friday ?

Add ons Mr G, didn't think you bothered doing them. You'll need 2 Double Maxim crates to do that ?

 

[Iron Giant]

Add ons Mr G, didn't think you bothered doing them. You'll need 2 Double Maxim crates to do that ?

I had sacked them off completely over the years, but my shoulder and elbow issues have improved, so just doing them for custys on my rounds as and when they ask, I'll happily quote and a £120 for what I estimate to be 2 hours or so at most I'll take that, 

Fetch the crates over early next week full of beer and I'll take them off ya ?

 

[Pane]

There is a bit (or maybe a lot) of psychology going on when doing your sales pitch, the main thing is confidence.  If you want to get the higher prices you have to believe yourself that that's the correct price.  Good sales people could probably get £500 for some jobs that many of us would charge £200.

I'm no sales person but I do concentrate and have a routine that I try and go through, throughout the sales process.  Basically, I don't just blurt out a price, I sell them the service and then tell them the price.  During the selling process I point out areas that are particularly bad or difficult to clean and explain why it's difficult, this then makes them aware that I'll be there for longer than 10 minutes which a lot of people seem to have come accustomed to with their old splash and dash brigade.  After I'm happy they understand everything I will be doing, I then give them the price.  Strangely sometimes they're quite surprised at how reasonable it is.

Just this month I've started charging double for first cleans instead of +50%, I must say that it seems easier to win them over.  They don't seem to mind paying higher for the first clean anyway and when you give them the regular clean being half the price of the first clean it sounds like a good deal.  So £40 then £25 doesn't sound as good as £50 then £25.  It also emphasises a bigger difference between the work carried out on a first clean compared to the work on a regular clean.

You do have to laugh sometimes though, I had a walk up from a local neighbour, went to do a quick quote, straight away she was saying I'm retired (she was in her late 50's), haven't got a lot of money... anyway I got to the conservatory and it was green with algae, I said yeah that's going to take a while, she said 'no you can leave that I'll do it myself it's dead easy', ha ha, I felt like just saying 'well you go for it then if it's dead easy'.  That's the thing, when I first started last year a comment like that would have threw me a little, would have added a little doubt to my ability, but after a year now, I'm building that confidence to know when somebody is bulls hitting me and rather than get upset I'm secretly laughing inside.  

I take on board all youve said Chris34.

Strangely enough,in my mind,i go through a routine too.I normally get asked/offered to look round the house.

It makes me laugh now mate,because when the potential client "Hasnt Yet ",mentioned theres a Conservatory,then i see one or they mention it at right last minute.This means,"We expect it to be priced as part of the house "OR "We want it cleaned for next to nothing!".

They think theyre clever?...Let the cheaper guy clean it,while he's cleaning,he's sussing the place out!.

Thats their problem then...

 

[Davy G]

There is a bit (or maybe a lot) of psychology going on when doing your sales pitch, the main thing is confidence.  If you want to get the higher prices you have to believe yourself that that's the correct price.  Good sales people could probably get £500 for some jobs that many of us would charge £200.

I'm no sales person but I do concentrate and have a routine that I try and go through, throughout the sales process.  Basically, I don't just blurt out a price, I sell them the service and then tell them the price.  During the selling process I point out areas that are particularly bad or difficult to clean and explain why it's difficult, this then makes them aware that I'll be there for longer than 10 minutes which a lot of people seem to have come accustomed to with their old splash and dash brigade.  After I'm happy they understand everything I will be doing, I then give them the price.  Strangely sometimes they're quite surprised at how reasonable it is.

Just this month I've started charging double for first cleans instead of +50%, I must say that it seems easier to win them over.  They don't seem to mind paying higher for the first clean anyway and when you give them the regular clean being half the price of the first clean it sounds like a good deal.  So £40 then £25 doesn't sound as good as £50 then £25.  It also emphasises a bigger difference between the work carried out on a first clean compared to the work on a regular clean.

You do have to laugh sometimes though, I had a walk up from a local neighbour, went to do a quick quote, straight away she was saying I'm retired (she was in her late 50's), haven't got a lot of money... anyway I got to the conservatory and it was green with algae, I said yeah that's going to take a while, she said 'no you can leave that I'll do it myself it's dead easy', ha ha, I felt like just saying 'well you go for it then if it's dead easy'.  That's the thing, when I first started last year a comment like that would have threw me a little, would have added a little doubt to my ability, but after a year now, I'm building that confidence to know when somebody is bulls hitting me and rather than get upset I'm secretly laughing inside.  

Good for you. Work ethics, confidence and the ability to look someone in the eye as you politely explain the reality are hugely important.