That’s great Randy. Glad it is working so well for you.
Like you said…cost of living and the cost of doing business go up every year!
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Thanks man! I like to hear how our fellow window cleaners feel about price increases. Hopefully more people will chime in
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I think we ALL do that at one time or another.
Sometimes I feel like “this guy is such an ass” - “who is HE to dictate what he can afford… look at this nice house… he can afford it!” :rolleyes:
A lot of my customers are ‘first time’ cleans. By that, I mean they really haven’t had a professional window cleaning before.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not catering to “broke dick dogs” but… nice homes, modest/middle class families.
Now, knowing what we know… those customers are usually SOOO happy, right?
These people aren’t calling because it’s ‘that time of year’ (even though they probably will eventually, having seen the results.)
They are probably calling because something drew their attention to the glass (a reason to look at it), simple as that.
- A holiday gathering- candles/lights in the windows.
- cleaning
- A special occasion
- That first summer day when they open the curtains to let that “warm breeze in”
Sometimes we need to remember that, and ask a couple of questions to find out.
I bet we ALL ask our customers “[I][U][B]how[/B][/U] did you find us[/I]” for our own (selfish) marketing ROI purposes… second question should be “[U][B]why[/B][/U]?”
I’ve tried that
I dont think they know half the time
my opinion from feedback is a lot of the time its just people nature stuff, unless they have a rock solid reason (that is given to them via usp etc)
if theyre already sold on you , its probably an enthusiastic referral, otherwise its something like “you came up on websearch”
what have others found when asking “why?”
I would never allow a customer to dictate my price. If they need to negotiate on the price they simply can’t afford me.
hey what do you guys think about price increases on storefront work? I would like to have it setup so that prices go up each year,like maybe 4%-5%. But I really have no idea how much to increase and how often. like many people have mentioned here I do shoot a little higher on new jobs as they come along over time but I would like to have a good system in place for increases on current accounts too. any feedback would be really appreciated
I think the idea is that the customer may dictate a price he can afford and you counter with the amount of work that will buy him.
sorta looking at the glass “half full” type of a thing.
I suppose I’m the only one who offers an “outside only” option.
After all, if a customer doesn’t do in & out with screens and a track cleaning, they simply can’t afford (read:“don’t deserve”) you.
Good grief. :rolleyes:
I’m not saying you have to flat out ask them “why did you call me?”
It’s more like something to think about through the conversation.
And if only half know, that’s alright.
But if I’m at a house, looking into a possible customers eyes… yeah, you can bet I’m getting SOMETHING out of it.
Maybe outside only,
maybe only the the second floor that the 71 year old woman can’t get to
maybe the pool area for “little Johhny’s” Pool party.
We are including the outside only option on all our StreetBidder postcards. That way the ones that want to spend less have an option. Quite frankly, we make more per man hour with outside only window cleaning.
I’ve found that some clients want outside only the first time because they want to get to know me and my workmanship a bit before they have me do the inside. Very smart, in my opinion.
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I get a lot of this…
It really irks me… the insides are a mess, yet they want the outside only option… They would be better off having just the insides done.
Im ok doing it… but i tell them it wont be any where as good as if you had internal done too.
I make more money per hr doing just outsides, but i prefer doing inside and out on a job to get it done properly.
[/B]
Great post Chad.
Tell us, what are some of the things that you do in your company to increase value?
Charlie
This is a great thread!
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I do a ton of ‘outside only’ monthly accts.
Like Chris, I do get frustrated seeing the insides looking bad.
But it’s also another usless philosophy of mine… [I]people [B]TRULY[/B] don’t realize how filthy their house is, no matter how big/nice it is[/I].
(I swear to God, the other day I had one with their windows open, and told my guys "grab every open window you see!"
It was soooo worth the extra time in labor!) 
[U]Incidentally, here’s where I become a hypocrite:[/U]
I don’t give ANY options when it comes to gutter cleaning off-season.
But I look at gutter cleaning as an open invitation for ‘liability.’
- if someone is calling me for gutter in June, they’ve got problems.
… and it’s [B]not up to them[/B] to guess and direct me to “that spot” where they THINK the problem is.
I think you’ll find that as the number of people who depend on you for their livelihood increases, your commitment to that policy will decrease correspondingly.
Sounds like you’ve just about peaked, so you may never reach that tipping point. But you get the principle, I’m sure.
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Hey Charlie,
I can’t go into a lot of what I do with my company because I have a confidentiality agreement with Kevin Dubrosky. Sorry about that.
One little tip I can share with you is the fact that I build up a ton of rapport before giving a potential client an estimate. I don’t want to them think of me as a window cleaner. I want them to say…“Wow! Where has this guy been all my life?” I become the new family friend before I leave their home. I want them to feel so comfortable having me in their home. I have been very fortunate to get really good at that. That is why I have a 99% close rate. The price never becomes the deciding factor. I don’t focus on the price and neither does my potential client.
[MENTION=3135]diamondridge[/MENTION] is very good at doing the above. That is one of the many reasons Larry has such a successful business. I have read so many of his posts. Keep up the great job Larry!
So you do all in person estimates?
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Great Job Chad!
Charlie
Thanks man!
