PRICING COMMERCIAL JOBS

[Classglass]

Hi people have just started commercial wtf cleaning looking on landing my first big job on Thursday and just wondered how I would price the job up would I charge by window or job I have a pic off the windows I’m looking at they is about 37 off these aswell as a door way . If some could advise me what to price would be a massive help . 

 

[spruce]

Hi people have just started commercial wtf cleaning looking on landing my first big job on Thursday and just wondered how I would price the job up would I charge by window or job I have a pic off the windows I’m looking at they is about 37 off these aswell as a door way . If some could advise me what to price would be a massive help . 

View attachment 15025

What's wtf window cleaning?

As with so many of these jobs its about what the customer is prepared to pay and the going rates in Doncaster.

One thing I will say is that the job will be difficult and the top window will continue to drain down and contaminate the window below it. We have a school atrium similar to this. Water from the windows above gets into the ali box section frame and drips for ages bringing with it the dirt that has built up since the last clean. We have to clean a row of glass at a time and then go back and do the row below it once the water has stopped draining.

What might seem a simple enough job could prove to be otherwise. If you think the job will take an hour then it will probably be more like 2 hours. Personally, I wouldn't let the excitement of your first commercial job chance/opportunity cloud your better judgement. How are they going to pay you? When will you get paid? Some commercial want 60 days and push it to 90 days with excuses. Can you provide and invoice and statement? How convenient is it with regard to your current round? How about parking and ease of access? How do you do it in the freezing cold with water causing a slip hazard on the pavement?

Do you know how to complete a risk and method statement?

Do you have public liability insurance that covers the glass you are working on?

This looks like an established business - that is, the building doesn't look like a new build. What happened to their previous cleaner is another question I would also be pondering.

 

[Part Timer]

What might seem a simple enough job could prove to be otherwise. If you think the job will take an hour then it will probably be more like 2 hours. Personally, I wouldn't let the excitement of your first commercial job chance/opportunity cloud your better judgement. How are they going to pay you? When will you get paid? Some commercial want 60 days and push it to 90 days with excuses. Can you provide and invoice and statement? How convenient is it with regard to your current round? How about parking and ease of access? How do you do it in the freezing cold with water causing a slip hazard on the pavement?

Do you know how to complete a risk and method statement?

Do you have public liability insurance that covers the glass you are working on?

I think this is WTF window cleaning ? Oh for the days of an easy life.

As @sprucesays, a lot more info required, especially how busy is it going to be when you clean them. Constantly having to stop and be careful of pedestrians can, and will, take up a lot of time. Payment is fairly crucial as well

 

[Classglass]

Hi meant to put WFP  cleaning lol 

See I don’t know I was thinking should I charge it by window or just the job ..

the windows are really dirty aswell as there next to main road ... just bit nervous off what things they are gonna ask for ? 

Have never done a risk assessment but I will have one done by tomorrow  should I turn to the appointment with risk assessment already ready or do it after if I succeed with the job ? 

There is good parking but they public path to .

I have public liability too 

The only thing I’m worries about is pricing up and what to say on the day bit nervous

and things I should have prepared 

 

[Part Timer]

Nothing to be nervous about, the person you meet will have a lot less knowledge then you have regarding window cleaning. If he needs a risk assessment tell him you'll email him, with your price and terms and conditions, after you've had a look around. These types of jobs are best done before it opens so I would tell him it will be cheaper, and less dangerous, if you were allowed to do so. If it is beside a busy road it will need to be done monthly so you need to ask for 14 day payment, or quicker. You're then only out for one wash if they start mucking you about. You say 37 windows, is the picture 1 window or 4. 

 

[Classglass]

Yes I was thinking about doing it before it opened at like 4am in morning it opens at 6am. 

The picture is just the corner off the building but them windows all way round  think I counted 37 big windows that’s with out the littles one above and below them 

 

[Part Timer]

If it opens at 6 I can't believe you'll get many interruptions. I would clean the entrance and the windows around there first and then work my way round. I never, if possible, trail hoses across entrances, even if this means wrapping up and moving. As for pricing you know your area better than me and it's very hard to judge the size from a few photos but it looks half a day tops. Hard to say how long the first clean would take. 

 

[spruce]

I would break it up into sections and try to calculate how long each section would take to clean. Then total them up. I wouldn't charge per pane as that's too complicated. If you estimate its going to take you half and hour to clean a section and you have 5 sections, then the maths is easy.  If you need to earn X an hour then that multiply the time by your pricing structure. (I'm sure you will know how much your expenses or running costs are for each job you do.) You need to look for hidden issues that will eat into your cleaning time. As @Part Timer says foot traffic will be a major problem. We do a few houses on the high street and foot traffic can double or triple the time it takes to clean the front of houses on the pavement.

Its no fun getting up and starting the job at 4 am I can tell you. We had some shop fronts we cleaned and we had to start at 5 and that was a struggle, especially in the freezing cold of winter.

If there are lights on inside you can see to clean, but if its dark then you have no chance of getting the clean right under street lights. Those grills above the doors and lower glass panels are going to add to your issues with streeks. First light on Sunday morning might be a better cleaning time.

Sorry to sound negative, but this just isn't a job I would jump at.

 

[RWCleaning]

Those black lines look like they’ll be a pain to get off..... ?

 

[Pjj]

For that type of window as spruce has said run marks will be the problem and standing water on the ledges will need sweeping off the best you can , price wise with out seeing it it’s hard to say but in the region of £150-200 ?.... 

 

[Classglass]

Well gonna go and try my best see what happens .. would you recommend any question I should be asking ??

 

[P4dstar]

Well gonna go and try my best see what happens .. would you recommend any question I should be asking ??

Ask a little about their business.... Good conversation starter. With regards to the windows just ask is there anything you need to know. Maybe ask if they have self cleaning glass. At that point they normally realise they know naff all about window cleaning and you're on the front foot.

I normally ask if I can take some pictures. I tell them that I need to plan the job out before I can give them a price, really easy to make a mistake on the day with a large job so you're best to take away all the information and digest it before deciding. 

 

[spruce]

Well gonna go and try my best see what happens .. would you recommend any question I should be asking ??

I would slip in a casual pricing question along the lines of "what am I up against?" before offering up your price. That was a question we always used in the motor trade. If you knew what their monthly finance budget was then you would tailor a finance package to suit their budget. They might also tell you they are getting other quotations.

If they have a 'firm' budget of £50 for window cleaning and you want £100 then you could be saving yourself a lot of wasted time persuing a job you have no chance of getting. Its the same as a customer coming into a dealership and wanting a brand new car with no deposit and a payment of £10 a month. Its just not going to happen.

If your potential new customer has a budget of £100 and your mental estimate was £100, then you could ask for £110 or £120 and you would probably get the job.

As @P4dstar says, don't jump in with your price. You need to make sure you don't come across as being desperate. There is nothing wrong with going in to discuss it on Thursday and then go back to them later with a price. Don't do it on the phone. Positively give them an either or price and gauge their reaction. "We (always we, never I even if you are a sole trader) can offer you a 2 weekly clean for £100 a clean or every 4 weeks at £120 - which would suit you best?"

Just on the point of high level windows. This photo is one of the wings of our local high school we clean annually. The whole side including a few windows and door in the balcony takes us 3.5 hours. It includes a glass roof entrance cover as well as those panels to the side.  We have to clean each row of windows. So the top 3rd floor takes 3 passes to complete using an SLX40 extended to just short of 40' and takes us over an hour with 2 of us taking turns with the pole. (2 x .5 hours.) We have tried to clean a full window which is much quicker, but by the time we sort out the streeks left on the lower windows it's cost us more time.

I change poles for the 2nd floor and it takes me around .75 hours to do that row on my own, again with 3 passes. This gives each window enough time to stop dripping.

The ground floor takes just less than half and hour. The point I'm making is that it will take you much longer to clean the windows at height than it does to clean the same size windows at ground level.

And you also need to check that you have a pole of suitable length to clean the windows. I got a phone call once from a customer who got my phone number from another of my customers. I went down to the block of flats and extended my pole to ensure I could do the job. If I couldn't reach then it would be a waste of time quoting as I wasn't going to buy a new pole to reach a couple of windows once every 8 weeks.

Previously I had tried to reach another flat but my SLX40 wasn't long enough. I passed the enquiry onto another cleaner who could reach that height as he has an SLX47.

 

[Daniel Perkins]

@Classglass Tedious job, have few like it myself, hard to say a price without seeing the whole thing or a pic from distance. So many panels of glass and dirt and drips under frames with take time. Best off get their early and crack on as will make your life a lot easier without having to look over your shoulder every few seconds.

As regards what to bring, first thing off you can down load risk assessment/method statement templates and fill your info in accordingly. Commercial can be pedantic so I would rock up with a copy public liability insurance and risk assessment regardless if they ask. Say to them the truth which is that it's a tedious job (which it is) lots of panels and frames with hold the dirt (which they will), very dirty (which it is) & you will have to come early to avoid pedestrians (you don't want them looking at you doing the work anyways so good to get there early doors without that pressure). I wouldn't worry about what to say, they will be just interested in the figure you give them which they may or may not go for, just make sure that you get a good price mate.

Before you price the very fist thing I would say is find out how regularly they want it done, if it is regular then in my opinion you can give a bit more of a competitive price. If it is a once off effort, I would give a big price. They need to be told that the store will get dirty ( I would bring them on a walkaround just to show exactly how dirty it is and can get) and if they want to keep a good standard.. it should be done as regularly as their budget allows. Make sure you check to see if there is any damage to the glass before you touch it... if there is tell them. You don't want to be blamed for that sh*t. 

Best of luck mate