What do we think?

[chris clean]

You really don't need to worry about it. What matters is whatever your price you charge high or low people are getting value for money and you justify it. If you charged 5 quid for a house then people probably expect a quick job without sills cleaned etc and maybe some are happy with that. Seeing the standard of some cleaners around here it amazes me. But equally there are lots of people who are very happy to pay higher prices because you are regular, text the night before and do a great job. Those are the customers you want and good cleaners certainly in my area are very much in demand.

I've been to many quotes where I quote say 15 to 20 quid and they say we'll the old cleaner did it for 5 or 10 quid. My answer is always the same well stick with the old cleaner then cos I will go bust at that price. The normal response is then oh well he doesn't turn up anymore or he's not any good which then is your chance to say well you get what you pay for and it's no surprise he doesn't come anymore he wouldn't have been earning a living. It's not a race to the bottom at the end of the day.

 

[Chris34]

You really don't need to worry about it. What matters is whatever your price you charge high or low people are getting value for money and you justify it. If you charged 5 quid for a house then people probably expect a quick job without sills cleaned etc and maybe some are happy with that. Seeing the standard of some cleaners around here it amazes me. But equally there are lots of people who are very happy to pay higher prices because you are regular, text the night before and do a great job. Those are the customers you want and good cleaners certainly in my area are very much in demand.

I've been to many quotes where I quote say 15 to 20 quid and they say we'll the old cleaner did it for 5 or 10 quid. My answer is always the same well stick with the old cleaner then cos I will go bust at that price. The normal response is then oh well he doesn't turn up anymore or he's not any good which then is your chance to say well you get what you pay for and it's no surprise he doesn't come anymore he wouldn't have been earning a living. It's not a race to the bottom at the end of the day.

I find the words 'that's what I'm happy to work for' surprisingly goes down well with those that question the price. I really don't know why, maybe it's how I say it but it usually cuts out all this 'x' charges this, 'y' charges that stuff.

One thing to the op, don't criticize other window cleaners, just focus on yourself. I often say 'I don't know how the other window cleaners work... but this is how I do it and this is what you get with me...'. If the customer criticizes someone they've had in the past I normally will be honest with them but still I don't stick the knife in, I just say unfortunately I hear a lot of it, it's not uncommon... and then just concentrate on the service that I am offering. I don't think it makes you look good trying to put someone else down, it's best to stay neutral, there are always two sides to every story...

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I gusses that priors ?

Yell dot com were saying they are one of the most proffesional window cleaning company. Not really a good start, I would say.

 

[dazmond]

I am fairly new to all of this but I think I’m more angry that they have just blanketed every house, small or big, at the same price. It doesn’t sit well with me.

I’ve got a first clean coming up shortly but I’m sure they’ve received the leaflet too so wouldn’t be surprised if I got cancelled. Simply because the FC is triple that price and every time after that is double their blanket quote.
It seems a no brainier to the customer but it’s incredibly damaging to full time cleaners

At the end of the day we can all charge what we want for a job ....no point getting angry about it....there are no set rules!!!

I might be cheaper than a lot of cleaners on my estate work because I clean nearly every house on there!.it keeps the competition from getting a stranglehold on my work thats took nearly 30 years to build up...?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I don't see the point lowballing, all it does is hurt my feelings working for less than I deserve.

 

[johnny bravo]

It all depends on your hourly rate . If you are happy with that then carry on and enjoy being the maker of your own Destiny. As long as you are on £40 + per hour, routhly the average . then you are still doing better than the average trades man working within a company.
All depending what is the average Price per clean in your area of the country.
Up here in the north east around £8 / £10 £12 £15 is the average price per house. Add garages on to boost these prices.
All you hear is How Much haha New Builds now the young dont seem to know the value of money or have too much of it. They will soon realise that xtra few £ paying less to a cheaper window cleaner needs to be done.

 

[Chris34]

It all depends on your hourly rate . If you are happy with that then carry on and enjoy being the maker of your own Destiny. As long as you are on £40 + per hour, routhly the average . then you are still doing better than the average trades man working within a company.
All depending what is the average Price per clean in your area of the country.
Up here in the north east around £8 / £10 £12 £15 is the average price per house. Add garages on to boost these prices.
All you hear is How Much haha New Builds now the young dont seem to know the value of money or have too much of it. They will soon realise that xtra few £ paying less to a cheaper window cleaner needs to be done.

I generally agree with all of that up until that last bit. When their energy bill is going to go up to £100+ per week this winter the difference between paying £10 per month for their window clean or £15 per month for their window clean is a drop in the ocean. We could charge £30 per month and it will seem like standard price compared to other direct debits going out.

I think anyone is over worrying if they think the window cleaning bill is going to make a difference. For the most part we'll dip under the radar and most of them will keep us on because they think we're actually worth giving their money to.

It's at times like this that I'm thankful of direct debit, out of sight, out of mind, unlike cash payments.

 

[Part Timer]

I think anyone is over worrying if they think the window cleaning bill is going to make a difference. For the most part we'll dip under the radar and most of them will keep us on because they think we're actually worth giving their money to.

We do a house where the woman is very ott about cleanliness. Gets her fascias cleaned when she sees cobwebs. Just asked if she could go to 2 monthly as she's "desperate" to find ways of saving money.

 

[Chris34]

We do a house where the woman is very ott about cleanliness. Gets her fascias cleaned when she sees cobwebs. Just asked if she could go to 2 monthly as she's "desperate" to find ways of saving money.

There will always be examples of hardship in any time, the reality is that saving £10 here and there though isn't going to make a difference for them in the grand scheme of things as it is now. People need to earn more if they cannot afford small amounts of money. Put it this way they can save £3 on window cleaning... but in October their costs are going to hit £80 per week for energy alone, and that's all year at £80 per week.

I've had a couple cancel on me so far, but they are the lowest paid jobs. Non of the ones in the bigger houses are cancelling or making any noises of cancelling. I'm guessing the hardest hit are those with the poorest working conditions who will be the last to get pay rises. But the choice for them is not whether to go for a cheaper window cleaner, the choice is whether to have one or not.

 

[Part Timer]

There will always be examples of hardship in any time, the reality is that saving £10 here and there though isn't going to make a difference for them in the grand scheme of things as it is now. People need to earn more if they cannot afford small amounts of money. Put it this way they can save £3 on window cleaning... but in October their costs are going to hit £80 per week for energy alone, and that's all year at £80 per week.

I've had a couple cancel on me so far, but they are the lowest paid jobs. Non of the ones in the bigger houses are cancelling or making any noises of cancelling. I'm guessing the hardest hit are those with the poorest working conditions who will be the last to get pay rises. But the choice for them is not whether to go for a cheaper window cleaner, the choice is whether to have one or not.

She works for HMRC in their tax office, not a poorly paid job up here.

 

[mike007]

With the cost of living especially come October, we will be effected as a industry. Customers WILL be looking at savings....May be the frequency, or may be the price. Maybe not all, but some.

 

[Chris34]

She works for HMRC in their tax office, not a poorly paid job up here.

Public sector job though, they'll be the last in line to get pay rises that match inflation. A good job in the private sector is a very different job to what you would class as a good job in the public sector. In the private sector companies like Aldi have already given 2 pay rises this year in their warehouses, whereas say a nurse will have to wait until something like June next year to get a 3% pay rise in total.

I'm just being wary of people in public sector jobs. I've got ideas how to help 'dip under the radar' but they're just ideas, like a back up plan. But yeah people in the public sector will be the ones I'm being wary of.

 

[Chris34]

Although I'm being wary though I'm still increasing my quote prices. Whatever happens in the news isn't factual, I always say the figures don't lie and my figures show increasing customers and increasing prices and increasing turnover and until that changes I'm not changing anything.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I'm picking up good professional people who own big houses, money not a problem. The ones i have lost is young families with two or more kids who always paid late and it began start of year when two cars went down to one car.

 

[johnny bravo]

how many would actually pay them self what you charge. If you came home and mrs says ive just paid £25 to have our windows cleaned because you never clean your own . haha you paid How Much

 

[johnny bravo]

Im actually going to Cancel my TV Licence . Going to use Netflix as my excuse if i ever get a knock on the door. So many people have said they have not had a licence for years. Might not sound much £13+ a month but hey theres so many excuses as to why you dont need one now

 

[johnny bravo]

Energy price increase Can someone explain why Electricity prices are also creeping up. Who is benefitting from all these wind farms

 

[scottish cleaning service]

how many would actually pay them self what you charge. If you came home and mrs says ive just paid £25 to have our windows cleaned because you never clean your own . haha you paid How Much

I did 2 bi monthly cleans today for £25 each. Both had big conservatories and one had veluxes in the roof. Don't think anyone could clean them unless they used a wfp which customers don't have for now. I suppose they could buy one and buy a backpack to go with it and buy 50 litres of spotless water. In the end when they weigh it up, I guess they would stick with their window cleaner. It is also the time involved completing the task.

 

[johnny bravo]

God dont mention Spotless water sites to them . Imagine house holders knowing they can just go out and buy a couple of 25ltr drums of pure water now. 70p_ a tub
get a backpack and pole thats them never needing a window cleaner. then lending the gear to there neighbours

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Energy price increase Can someone explain why Electricity prices are also creeping up. Who is benefitting from all these wind farms

One of my customers has solar panels and changed their gas appliances to electric. They built an extension and put in a heat pump so they only needed to change the hob to electric. They were still paying 50p a day standing charge for the gas meter so they asked for it to be removed. Scottish gas charged them for removing it so they didn't have to pay the standing charge. I believe this will be the norm when solar batteries become cheaper to install.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

God dont mention Spotless water sites to them . Imagine house holders knowing they can just go out and buy a couple of 25ltr drums of pure water now. 70p_ a tub
get a backpack and pole thats them never needing a window cleaner. then lending the gear to there neighbours

Still the time to do the job and avoid accidents. Up here we have plenty of old people who couldn't manage the task but some guy will do it on Utube and cost it. That's the reason no to put all your eggs in one basket. Do add-ons and you will always have work coming in.