Consistent pricing

Chris34 · Sep 7, 2018

Hi all,

I'm just in the set-up phase and I'm trying to come up with a way to price up the jobs consistently. Now I've read lots and lots of posts but I can't find the answers I'm looking for. Basically I understand the basic pricing of small detached and semi detached houses, but what about the much larger houses? Many of the houses in my area are detached but some are small new build types and others are extended detached, some with conservatories and outbuildings with swimming pools inside etc.

I currently do house cleaning and office cleaning. The owner of one of the houses I clean at was telling me that their window cleaner charges them £75 per month and isn't there for an hour, think she said 15 mins but I'm sure she was exaggerating, but I could imagine it would be less than 1 hour. Anyway I'm waffling but my point is that I wouldn't know where to start with a property like that, I don't want to pluck numbers out of thin air, I want a fair and consistent pricing system. £75 seems ridiculously expensive to me but if that's the going rate I'll just have to get used to it, but how do arrive at that sort of figure? I mean what's to say it shouldn't be £85 or £95 or £105? Just looking at a house like that you can't really have a clear idea of how long the job would take so surely the only fair way is to count how many windows and price it per window?

Any suggestions?

Chris.

Green Pro Clean Ltd · Sep 7, 2018

We cant tell you what to charge or how much to earn mate. Only you can decide that.

We work to a price list and stick to it for all 'standard' type houses.

For ''different'' houses we do a site visit and make a calculation from there.

It's really a matter of time is money. You need to know how long each job will take and how much you need to make for that time invested.

Part Timer · Sep 7, 2018

There are all sorts of issues you will need to factor in. You can have 2 houses which are identical in the amount and size of windows but one takes twice as long due to access issues. A 3 bed semi with no problems will be, £10 in my area. The same house with a garage on the side so only access is through the house, plant pots everywhere etc would be £15 and the £10 job is better. Unfortunately accurate pricing comes with experience.

spruce · Sep 7, 2018

Chris34 said:
Hi all,

I'm just in the set-up phase and I'm trying to come up with a way to price up the jobs consistently. Now I've read lots and lots of posts but I can't find the answers I'm looking for. Basically I understand the basic pricing of small detached and semi detached houses, but what about the much larger houses? Many of the houses in my area are detached but some are small new build types and others are extended detached, some with conservatories and outbuildings with swimming pools inside etc.

I currently do house cleaning and office cleaning. The owner of one of the houses I clean at was telling me that their window cleaner charges them £75 per month and isn't there for an hour, think she said 15 mins but I'm sure she was exaggerating, but I could imagine it would be less than 1 hour. Anyway I'm waffling but my point is that I wouldn't know where to start with a property like that, I don't want to pluck numbers out of thin air, I want a fair and consistent pricing system. £75 seems ridiculously expensive to me but if that's the going rate I'll just have to get used to it, but how do arrive at that sort of figure? I mean what's to say it shouldn't be £85 or £95 or £105? Just looking at a house like that you can't really have a clear idea of how long the job would take so surely the only fair way is to count how many windows and price it per window?

Any suggestions?

Chris.

You need to get to bed earlier Chris. ?

Pricing is about how much someone is happy to pay for the job and see value for money. We obviously want to charge as much as we can. Pricing can vary in the same town on different estates.

I wish we could get the prices up north that windies get for the same service in the south, but then our cost of living is less - rents, house prices and travelling time.

Have a look at what prices some cleaners charge on their webpage in your area.

Here's an example on the south coast. Another cleaner in his area once reported that he will never get those prices in that area, but guess what, he's a growing business.

http://www.perfect-windows.co.uk/

We have a lot of money invested in wfp so we need a return on that investment. Its not all about cleaning a property and taking the money. Its all the work that goes on behind the scenes that customers don't see.

I've also come to the realisation that just because a customer says something, it doesn't mean its true.

Incheck · Sep 7, 2018

Agree with both green pro and part timer. Only you know whats best and sometimes it just comes with finding your feet. Also prices need to be raised by £1 every april these days to cover the increasing cost of living, so if say you’re looking at charging £15 for a job, try and get £16 or £17 for it, that way you will be well ahead of the game, profiting, and it allows you to get that time in to “bond” with your customers before having to raise the prices. I was very afraid of raising prices in the early years and left it too long. When we did raise prices on approximately 250 houses, we didnt have one cancellation, i was stunned. People are generally understanding, they know things cost more year on year, but it always helps when they know you and appreciate that you’re reliable and aren’t going to go missing. It’s worth it to them then.

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Incheck · Sep 7, 2018

Also in terms of large detached houses, people tend to have them done less often, as they are dearer to clean. Most people in terraces/semis/have regular cleans, but some larger houses we only do 2/3 times a year or even less. if the clean is worth 30/£50/£100 or more, then that’s what it’s worth fella. It is their decision whether or not to live in a big house at the end of the day.
I’m quite happy to do them even if they dont turn out to be regulars, as long as you dont go “under” just to win the work, you’re fine. I’ve done quite a few cleans this year for high prices but not heard from them since, & i’m ok with that. Rather do it once in a while and make money off it than show up all the time to continuously lose money.

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Hendricus · Sep 7, 2018

The way I was advised when I got started to view pricing is having an hourly income in mind and set the price for time of the individual job accordingly. I adjust the price upward when there is difficulty with access to the window, such as above a large conservatory.

Gavin · Sep 7, 2018

Its one of those things you will get over time. It's hard to price when you first start as you are not sure how long things will take and you will be slower to start as well. The. You have your area to think about some areas you can get away with charging more than others. When I first started I did a couple of things. I practiced on my house and a few family members timed myself to try and get a rough idea. I also built a price by £1 per standard window £2 patio doors and £3 bay windows. (This was several years ago now) once I had done that and arrived at a ROUGH price and then tried to work out If that figure would actually be around what I wanted to earn per hour based upon how long I thought it would take.

Its all a learning curve when you start. You will underprice and overprice, it takes time to sus it out but you will after a while find confidence in being able to take a walk around and know what to charge.

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mike007 · Sep 10, 2018

It is a balancing act when you start up......you need work to get income,and if you significantly underprice yourself you get a full order book,but no worthwhile income for the work you are doing. If you overprice, you do not get the customers. Plus if the customer see you doing their house in x time for y price,sometimes they calculate that you must be earning Z price a hour, then they multiply that by 40hrs.........then say Bxxxxxxs if I am paying a windie to earn loads more a week than me!!!!, that is how some think .

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Consistent pricing

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