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Price increase....

SqueakyKlean

New member
Messages
15
Location
Central Scotland
I finally mustered up the courage and raised my prices!

It's been 4 years since my last increase (which was also when I made the switch from trad to wfp).

Most customers were happy to continue, even though some had a 30% price rise. (From £7 to £10!!)

One customer cancelled by email on Thursday last week.

Today I get an email from the house next door who is happy for me to start cleaning at the new price. Lose one - gain one.

How do you get on with price increases? How often? How much? What reaction do you get?

 
I did some of mine 2yrs ago just from £5 to £6 which was fine and the odd one from 8 to 10 no issues I do no of some cleaners who rise every yr and have then lost a good number of customers for that reason one in particular called me looking a price which I said 7 later to find out the previous cleaner was charging 11in my eyes charge a fair price and do a good job is the key to success 

 
Nice!

Ive put up about 20 since new year. About 10% price increase. It’s mainly my older jobs 3-4 years old I’ve been putting up. Not had one refuse. One or two were expecting more than 10% on the rise haha 

 
I put some up every year, just the ones I think are most underpriced. I haven’t lost one yet due to an increase. I don’t usually increase them much anyway, normally £1 or maybe more if it’s a bigger job or underpriced to start with. I think it’s important to have an increase in some every year otherwise 5-10 years down the line you are sitting on underpriced work. I either tell them in person if they are in, or write it on the invoice if they are out and let them know the next clean onwards is x amount more. I have texted people if I forgot to let them know and usually get a polite response back saying it’s fine. I personally use a trolley so I can judge how much a property should cost as I tend to earn about £15-£20 per 25 litre drum, so it’s a good yardstick.

I’ve also had customers in the past actually haggle me UP, or taken it upon themselves to increase the price!

 
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I did some of mine 2yrs ago just from £5 to £6 which was fine and the odd one from 8 to 10 no issues I do no of some cleaners who rise every yr and have then lost a good number of customers for that reason one in particular called me looking a price which I said 7 later to find out the previous cleaner was charging 11in my eyes charge a fair price and do a good job is the key to success 
Always puzzles me this, everything else goes up every year apart from window cleaning prices if you don't keep up with RPI that means you are effectively taking a pay cut? 

 
I must admit i hate doing this , but slightly increase the prices about every 4 years . I found a really good way is when a customer asks, " are you sure that's enough? " , or , " you must need paying more by now " , i always take them up on thieir offer of wanting to pay you abit more.

 
on standard houses 50p per face annually is a good shout. Extra 50p fronts only or if front and back goes up by £1

If the clean is of significant value  e.g. £40 or £50 on a regular then i haven’t put those up as they’re good earners to start with, it’s the the low value jobs that need the increases really (it’s gotta be worth the bother like)

have a lot of “fronts only” that are £8/£8.50, newer ones are on £10 or £12 even if fronts only as cost of living has been rising faster than you can realistically get away with increasing prices. So it does certainly pay when starting out to have a minimum charge of say £12, as over the years we have paid dearly for making that mistake.

on gutter jobs jobs or larger works e.g. FSG’s or pressure washing, i’ve been putting £5 on top in most cases. Basically just quoting with a “5” on the end rather than a “0” 

seems to have worked ok

saying that...our round is 6 weekly. You would probably struggle with this rate of increase when people are paying monthly

 
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Over the last few years I have been increasing mine every 2 years by £1.00 typically and it's very rare that I get any cancellations 

 
I finally mustered up the courage and raised my prices!

It's been 4 years since my last increase (which was also when I made the switch from trad to wfp).

Most customers were happy to continue, even though some had a 30% price rise. (From £7 to £10!!)

One customer cancelled by email on Thursday last week.

Today I get an email from the house next door who is happy for me to start cleaning at the new price. Lose one - gain one.

How do you get on with price increases? How often? How much? What reaction do you get?




I have just put up over 400 of mine lost 8 I think , smallest rise was £2 biggest £15 most were fine , funny thing was the ones I thought would cancle didn’t and the ones I thought would be ok cancled ??? Ime to embarrast to say the last time I put up prices it’s been long overdue , the vast majority of customers were fine saying that they had been expecting it for some time , so by not putting it up before I had shot myself in the foot . All new jobs coming are priced well now and I have already replaced the lost jobs so it’s a win win , I have a few that are on my dump list if they don’t alter either slow payers or loads of ???? in the garden starting to get tougher on this type of thing , dumped two today as very slow payers , I think constantly refining your round is good , someone on hear said that they keep on replacing there cheapest work with higher paid jobs I think that’s a very good idear and will be implementing this strategy myself from now on .

 
I have just put up over 400 of mine lost 8 I think , smallest rise was £2 biggest £15 most were fine , funny thing was the ones I thought would cancle didn’t and the ones I thought would be ok cancled ??? Ime to embarrast to say the last time I put up prices it’s been long overdue , the vast majority of customers were fine saying that they had been expecting it for some time , so by not putting it up before I had shot myself in the foot . All new jobs coming are priced well now and I have already replaced the lost jobs so it’s a win win , I have a few that are on my dump list if they don’t alter either slow payers or loads of ???? in the garden starting to get tougher on this type of thing , dumped two today as very slow payers , I think constantly refining your round is good , someone on hear said that they keep on replacing there cheapest work with higher paid jobs I think that’s a very good idear and will be implementing this strategy myself from now on .
Nothing worse than reeling in a hose to realize its covered in poop ? then the frantic search for the outside tap only to find its been isolated for the winter. Trouble is so many custys have dogs. Generally people in big houses as well who can afford to keep them! 

Normally they're on the ball and know when were coming and clear up. So you assume its gonna be ok, but its always the most elusive or surprise poop that gets you. The one out of 10 that wasnt spotted, lurking in an unobvious place.

i left the side door open once, cat climbed in and dumped on top of one of my 25 ltr barrels, stuck my bare hand in ?

 
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One tactic I use when putting them up is saying that the good news is it's fixed until 2020 etc. Seems to really help

 
You should try do it with commercial customers, they look at you like you just threatened to kill their family, it's so awkward.


I have just put a some of my work with no problems when I re tendered them this year.One even said to me after about 2 years of doing the job that they expect the job to go up every couple of years with inflation.

It's the retail side where I struggle to put the prices up.They are used to low prices with nationals killing it and most shops are struggling.

 
I have just put a some of my work with no problems when I re tendered them this year.One even said to me after about 2 years of doing the job that they expect the job to go up every couple of years with inflation.

It's the retail side where I struggle to put the prices up.They are used to low prices with nationals killing it and most shops are struggling.
Window cleaner at my old job never put his prices up. I asked him why and he said he put them up from £4.50 on a tattoo parlour once, the guy dropped him. Poor sod had done most of the town centre since the 90's so a lot of his work was well under priced.

 
Usually around 5-10% every other year. Best to make small regular rises which most expect. If you don’t and fall behind with your prices compared to the going rate at that time then it’s a lot harder to make big rises when it comes the time for a overhaul. Not impossible but I certainly wouldn’t justify any of my household bills going up 30-50% in one go. 

 
I have just put a some of my work with no problems when I re tendered them this year.One even said to me after about 2 years of doing the job that they expect the job to go up every couple of years with inflation.

It's the retail side where I struggle to put the prices up.They are used to low prices with nationals killing it and most shops are struggling.
Yup retail side is my bag and I have picked carefully the ones I could increase. Prices for window cleaning in Southern Ireland were always brilliant, got away with great prices for years and then the big nationals from UK and up north crept into the retail sector when the recession hit and burned the life out of all the prices. Slowly coming back but will never be as good as they were. I have some great value jobs and some jobs that are underpriced, the under priced jobs get an ok job done nothing more, nothing less. If anything is ever said, I say what exactly do you expect, you get what you pay for. Most of the staff I deal with are just faces at the counter, they would give you the increase if they could but it comes from upstairs most of the time. Long gone are the days where a manager was a manager and was left alone to looking after their own house.... they can't do anything these days. Nowadays it's young kids, who are easy to control and work for less who are put in charge.

What I have done recently is try get some other jobs away from the shopping centres, industrial stuff just to diversify a bit just incase we get a backlash from all the f**king about with Brexit. I'm sitting on my computer now typing this having breakfast, had the flu since thursday.. absolutely zero enthusiasm to go to work.

 
I have just put a some of my work with no problems when I re tendered them this year.One even said to me after about 2 years of doing the job that they expect the job to go up every couple of years with inflation.

It's the retail side where I struggle to put the prices up.They are used to low prices with nationals killing it and most shops are struggling.
One of my commercial customers, £700 a month, told me last October that if I wanted to renew the 3 year contract then if I rolled the price they would do so. If I wanted to put my prices up they would put it out for tender. As I average £45 an hour on them I just rolled it over. 2 months ago I got an email saying all work was going to tender in September ?

 
One of my commercial customers, £700 a month, told me last October that if I wanted to renew the 3 year contract then if I rolled the price they would do so. If I wanted to put my prices up they would put it out for tender. As I average £45 an hour on them I just rolled it over. 2 months ago I got an email saying all work was going to tender in September ?
I would send him an email and say what happened to no price increase and it wasn't going to tender?? Possibly there has been a switch round of staff and someone new did not know that you had reached an agreement of rollover of contract.

 
I would send him an email and say what happened to no price increase and it wasn't going to tender?? Possibly there has been a switch round of staff and someone new did not know that you had reached an agreement of rollover of contract.
States on the "3 year contract" that either side can terminate with 1 months notice. 

 
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