Big Price Rise Time

[P4dstar]

I last increased my prices a couple of years ago. That was to counteract the impact after vat registration. Since then inflation is through the roof. I'm pricing new stuff so much higher than the existing jobs it's ridiculous. On top of all that Rishi has told everyone they can have a pay rise in April.In order to keep people the same amount above minimum wage they currently are will set me back £2k per man.

Currently we run on 4, 6 & 8 week cycles. This is run as 2 separate rounds so the 6 seekers don't impact the 4 weekly round. That is across 3 vans, one of which is now 11 years old and in need of replacement soon. I've more customers that I know what to do with and have really struggled to get staff this last year. The one fella who works for me has been a windy since 1991 and is spot on! We've another lad in training, he's doing ok but it will be a while before be can be out on his own.

With all this in mind I decided I've no other choice but to fire out some big price rises. I have a cunning plan though. Firstly I'm gonna tie in the price rise with a move to 6 & 12 weekly. This way a 4 weekly customer on £20 going up to £30 isn't actually paying any more than they were. With the work spread out I'll let the third van go. The reduced running costs will help towards anyone we lose during the price rise. Being on 6 & 12 only also insulates me a little from losing staff. If they both walk tomorrow I can just get in a van and crack on as usual. I can shorten the area I go to or something but it really won't affect me too much at all.

Interested if anyone else has any thoughts on price rises that are most definitely needed this year.

 

[steve garwood]

I last increased my prices a couple of years ago. That was to counteract the impact after vat registration. Since then inflation is through the roof. I'm pricing new stuff so much higher than the existing jobs it's ridiculous. On top of all that Rishi has told everyone they can have a pay rise in April.In order to keep people the same amount above minimum wage they currently are will set me back £2k per man.

Currently we run on 4, 6 & 8 week cycles. This is run as 2 separate rounds so the 6 seekers don't impact the 4 weekly round. That is across 3 vans, one of which is now 11 years old and in need of replacement soon. I've more customers that I know what to do with and have really struggled to get staff this last year. The one fella who works for me has been a windy since 1991 and is spot on! We've another lad in training, he's doing ok but it will be a while before be can be out on his own.

With all this in mind I decided I've no other choice but to fire out some big price rises. I have a cunning plan though. Firstly I'm gonna tie in the price rise with a move to 6 & 12 weekly. This way a 4 weekly customer on £20 going up to £30 isn't actually paying any more than they were. With the work spread out I'll let the third van go. The reduced running costs will help towards anyone we lose during the price rise. Being on 6 & 12 only also insulates me a little from losing staff. If they both walk tomorrow I can just get in a van and crack on as usual. I can shorten the area I go to or something but it really won't affect me too much at all.

Interested if anyone else has any thoughts on price rises that are most definitely needed this year.

Sounds like you’ve got it sussed mate, well done ?.
I personally don’t agree with 4 6 and 8 week cleans.
It’s either 4 and 8, or 6 and 12. That tightens it up nicely.
I put all my prices up in January. One moaned, one dumped.
It has to be done

 

[steve garwood]

Your post has been on here for over half an hour now without a reply from Pjj or part timer.
Might be worth a pm to them to see if they are ok ??

 

[P4dstar]

Sounds like you’ve got it sussed mate, well done ?.
I personally don’t agree with 4 6 and 8 week cleans.
It’s either 4 and 8, or 6 and 12. That tightens it up nicely.
I put all my prices up in January. One moaned, one dumped.
It has to be done

When I started out I was all about offering things that others didn't. That's where the 4, 6 & 8 came from. It's gone alright for 7 years on the whole. If I was starting again I would go straight for the 6 & 12 route. It's a nice selling point offering more flexibility but it's not worth the hassle that comes with it. Particularly when you can't find the staff!

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

I got a message from EE this week telling me my bill was going up. What was interesting was, rather than saying ‘your bill will now be X’ they said ‘it will increase by X’. I’m thinking of doing the same myself this year. I think a message that says ‘your clean is going up by £2‘ is better than ‘your clean will now be £22’. But interested to hear what others think about this.

 

[Crystalalan]

I put mine up every year to two years. As a general rule of thumb its a £1 increase up to a £30 clean. £2 up to a £40 clean . 2-£3 for a £40 upwards clean. Get a couple of moaners but on the whole people are very understanding as to why I am increasing my rates.

 

[P4dstar]

I got a message from EE this week telling me my bill was going up. What was interesting was, rather than saying ‘your bill will now be X’ they said ‘it will increase by X’. I’m thinking of doing the same myself this year. I think a message that says ‘your clean is going up by £2‘ is better than ‘your clean will now be £22’. But interested to hear what others think about this.

I like that. It’s a really good idea. Well done Al!

 

[P4dstar]

I put mine up every year to two years. As a general rule of thumb its a £1 increase up to a £30 clean. £2 up to a £40 clean . 2-£3 for a £40 upwards clean. Get a couple of moaners but on the whole people are very understanding as to why I am increasing my rates.

My first few years while building up I didn’t do any. The prices on the website were always increasing which in turn meant new customers were always increasing. We went vat registered in 2021 and I had no other choice so I put them up in 2022. The problem is I was too conservative with them. I gave people the sob story about going vat registered but didn’t even put the prices up by 20%. It was all through fear of losing customers while trying to grow. Now I’m looking at it differently, we’re the most reliable and highest rated company in my county. There is no reason I shouldn’t be charging a premium for a premium service. If it causes a few to drop us then we’ll likely end up with the same money for a smaller workload. We get enough enquiries that we can replace whatever we lose anyway.

 

[Iron Giant]

I did nominal price increases on almost 300 of my jobs this time last year at that point I had just over 450 jobs with my increases plus the cost of living I lost a fair few jobs and the losses have continued over the year,

Job total is currently 425 so I'm down around 7% of jobs, I have been increasing the rest this year around 160 jobs to increase seen some losses again but turnover is up quite a bit for less work,

For you it will be how you deliver the message with a brief explanation either by text or postcard sized flyers maybe, as customers need to fully understand the changes and the benefit to them per annum,

I had some wanting to cancel then offered them 8 weekly and explained the higher price and the benefit to them as they are saving money over the year, but I am still getting decent money out of the jobs as they don't take any longer to clean.

If you are going to be getting the same annual income from every job you increase then it's a win win all round

 

[P4dstar]

I did nominal price increases on almost 300 of my jobs this time last year at that point I had just over 450 jobs with my increases plus the cost of living I lost a fair few jobs and the losses have continued over the year,

Job total is currently 425 so I'm down around 7% of jobs, I have been increasing the rest this year around 160 jobs to increase seen some losses again but turnover is up quite a bit for less work,

For you it will be how you deliver the message with a brief explanation either by text or postcard sized flyers maybe, as customers need to fully understand the changes and the benefit to them per annum,

I had some wanting to cancel then offered them 8 weekly and explained the higher price and the benefit to them as they are saving money over the year, but I am still getting decent money out of the jobs as they don't take any longer to clean.

If you are going to be getting the same annual income from every job you increase then it's a win win all round

I started the process recently with customers on the fringes of the round. The thing is they were all on 6 week cycles and I was taking them from £11 to £22… when I then said £27 for 12 weekly it almost caused a coronary ? I was happy to lose them though. They were jobs that were so far out the way that doubling the price was about the only way to make it profitable.

 

[Iron Giant]

I started the process recently with customers on the fringes of the round. The thing is they were all on 6 week cycles and I was taking them from £11 to £22… when I then said £27 for 12 weekly it almost caused a coronary ? I was happy to lose them though. They were jobs that were so far out the way that doubling the price was about the only way to make it profitable.

I would have just dropped them but given an explanation, I don't go to far and any enquiries that aren't where I cover I pass onto a good mate who I highly recommend for regular and one jobs,

Some people do expect peanut prices, and others appreciate our service and the price that goes with it.

I might have mentioned this on another thread but a mate of mine runs his own building company, materials have doubled and tripled

 

[Pjj]

I think small price rises regularly ( 2 yearly ) are better than large ones every 3-5 years and with things going up like they have been we have increased some prices each year only small increases, most are expecting it as everything else has gone up , we have had several customers increase there own prices , if you offer a good service people appreciate that and are more than happy to pay for that . Obviously not all will have this mindset but as you refine a round that’s the type of customer you want to attract and keep let the don’t care attitude ones go , refining a round never ends it’s a continuous process .

 

[P4dstar]

I would have just dropped them but given an explanation, I don't go to far and any enquiries that aren't where I cover I pass onto a good mate who I highly recommend for regular and one jobs,

Some people do expect peanut prices, and others appreciate our service and the price that goes with it.

I might have mentioned this on another thread but a mate of mine runs his own building company, materials have doubled and tripled

I think small price rises regularly ( 2 yearly ) are better than large ones every 3-5 years and with things going up like they have been we have increased some prices each year only small increases, most are expecting it as everything else has gone up , we have had several customers increase there own prices , if you offer a good service people appreciate that and are more than happy to pay for that . Obviously not all will have this mindset but as you refine a round that’s the type of customer you want to attract and keep let the don’t care attitude ones go , refining a round never ends it’s a continuous process .

I do have to accept some responsibility for not putting prices up often enough. To be 100% honest though we crossed over 1100 customers last year and its just such a laborious job!

 

[Pjj]

I do have to accept some responsibility for not putting prices up often enough. To be 100% honest though we crossed over 1100 customers last year and its just such a laborious job!

It’s surprising how time goes by and it’s easy for stuff to become way under priced , we just put on the slips new price of next clean xx please let us know if this isn’t acceptable so unless we hear differently it’s automatically done , very rare anyone questions it and cancels Some do need reminding the next month to increase the price on DD , I put up a few jobs before Covid by a very large amount hoping they would can but they all accepted it ?

 

[Iron Giant]

I do have to accept some responsibility for not putting prices up often enough. To be 100% honest though we crossed over 1100 customers last year and its just such a laborious job!

Definitely more so with the volume of jobs you have, that's why I suggested the flyer option as a good explanation will lay it out and you'll just have drop in the prices still a big job but job that needs doing.

it's also surprising how some can slip through the net as well when you look through CP as I do and some haven't been increased for 3 years, but we can't let them go too long otherwise we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

 

[P4dstar]

Definitely more so with the volume of jobs you have, that's why I suggested the flyer option as a good explanation will lay it out and you'll just have drop in the prices still a big job but job that needs doing.

it's also surprising how some can slip through the net as well when you look through CP as I do and some haven't been increased for 3 years, but we can't let them go too long otherwise we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

I didn't actually spot you mention a flyer... That is however a brilliant idea. I can pop a little note through explaining the price rise and the change to the cycles. Did my first few today. My number 2 was off today so I don't want to start the process without him onboard but there were 3 that I just had to do for logistical purposes!

 

[Iron Giant]

I didn't actually spot you mention a flyer... That is however a brilliant idea. I can pop a little note through explaining the price rise and the change to the cycles. Did my first few today. My number 2 was off today so I don't want to start the process without him onboard but there were 3 that I just had to do for logistical purposes!

I'll take nee credit seen it on Facebook ? but thought it would be ideal for you as you are not just increasing prices.

 

[P4dstar]

I'll take nee credit seen it on Facebook ? but thought it would be ideal for you as you are not just increasing prices.

Most Ideas are someone else's to be fair haha.