I hear Gulfstream is hiring… We have enough window cleaners. 
Window cleaning business owners are an interesting bunch.
We do things OUR way.
We like OUR ideas.
We like OUR methods.
We like OUR systems.
We don’t like someone else telling us to switch things up. It’s just human nature.
When I introduced flat-rate pricing around 4 years ago, I had never seen another window cleaning company post a pricing chart like the one I used for Paneless Perfection.
This one:
Since then, hundreds of companies across the country have adopted it.
I recommend that every single window cleaning company adopt it.
You just have to try it, and see what happens. You will absolutely get fewer phone calls, but your closing rate will go through the roof.
I never tried a per-window pricing strategy, because it’s unnecessarily limiting, and transforms your profit structure into a cost-based, per-unit formula. So I can’t provide data that says “Since switching to a flat-rate system from a per-window pricing method (or factor bidding method) we achieved 74% net revenue growth.”
But I can say that the response to posted flat-rate pricing was overwhelmingly positive, the closing rate was remarkable, and price resistance was essentially removed. Most importantly, profitability is at the highest level. We’re in business to ethically generate profit.
And as far as specific pricing goes, every market is different.
Some markets have more money than others, no question.
That being said, I will say that Toronto is chock full of super-cheap window cleaning companies, willing to clean the windows of very large homes for a fraction of what we charged.
Toronto is no promised land of cash-stuffed homeowners with money flowing like milk and honey. Far from it.
Thankfully, it is a large market, though, and there are lots of windows to go around. There are also many “high-end” neighborhoods (although that, too, is entirely subjective).
Flat-rate pricing is not the standalone answer.
Owning, communicating, and delivering a unique value proposition is.
I guess I’m saying that lots of pudding has been served up across the country by hundreds of window cleaners who have embraced the flat-rate pricing system. In my local market, almost every competitor has adopted it, too.
If someone is still looking for proof, just look around.
It works.
It provides the thickest net revenue margins, it gets rid of price-shoppers, it makes it easy and convenient for the shoppers, and it removes the need for in-person estimates.
That’s why in my book I suggest it so strongly, and why I advise the members of my private forum to adopt it immediately.
I will admit that some people I respect a LOT in our industry don’t believe in the flat-rate pricing system. I respectfully differ in opinion with them.
Kevin
P.S. I appreciate the kind words about $600/hr, too.
At this point, if someone was curious enough to look into the book, or read any reviews, or the free preview, or ask around, they’re only going to find positive feedback and raving readers.
People will buy themselves a copy when they’re ready to.
There have been books that took me two years to buy, because I assumed they were just fluff and regurgitated platitudes. I turned my nose up at them for literally two years, and then when I finally bought them I kicked myself for being such a goof because they were amazing, and I had missed out on all the actionable stuff I finally learned from them.
I think we’re all like this more often than we care to admit.
The long-winded moral of the story: Try flat-rate pricing for yourself, and you won’t need me to convince you of the value of this pricing strategy ever again.
I would like to do this type of pricing but have a few questions. You say that you never have to go on estimates, so you basically only have three different prices for all of your customers. Then how come it says From…$149 etc. To me that implies that the price may be more for a small, medium. or large house. Also, the pricing in my area would be way lower than those. I think I would have to go $89, $140.00, $180.00 or something like that. However i do have a few jobs that are over $200 for exterior only. How would i deal with that? Also, how do you deal with someone who looks at those pictures and says their house is a medium house according to the picture but you know that it shold be priced as a large house. I think the pictures could be tricky that way as many houses are different and look different than the pics. Basically, what would your definition of a small, medium, or large house be?
Perhaps my wording was wrong Kevin, if so I apologize
let me rephrase -
I believe in flat rate’s potential and it would be absolutely amazing, to me, if there existed a split test quantification by someone
I focused on you since you were my first exposure to flat rate and perhaps used to many “you’s” in my post
If pmh’s and such existed it would be incredibly fascinating, to me, and probably only me, lol.
perhaps my own personal hesitancy comes from some variables that I haven’t researched enough to have answers for -
- like cost of living etc and what a $300 small home wc price in Canada really equates to in the US, apples to apples
- the fact that I don’t trust the wide variables in my semi-rural market vs perhaps the Toronto area (lack of familiarity to be able to compare)
these are my own issues stemming from not just flat out implementing it and owning it, but hesitancy also comes from the economy and compounding mis-steps or lack of skill in implementation during the learning and refining process, which can cost big time at a time when risks are trying to be avoided.
perhaps I can ask how you were able to “have the courage” to do that? Perhaps your market had such a flood of web requests it put you at that point very quickly that was a way to thin the herd
I could say it would be easier to go flat rate from the start, but the conundrum exists for start ups of the fear of losing jobs and needing immediate cash that 'the line probably couldn’t be towed" very long.
but it doesn’t seem any easier in an established business as stated above.
It would probably be less of a risk for an established co to split test with a subdivision of sorts
Now in my local area there does exist flat rate pricing, but not what I would consider the profitable kind, more like “lowball” flat rate pricing
Company a) “$39 for any size home up to 3500 sft for the outsides”
Company b) “$155, inside and out and tracks - 3,000 - 4,000 sft”
So it does exist in other forms, these guys are just working it from the wrong end
While I am acknowledging it’s potential for all here, I may have asked this a long time ago Kevin, but to make it all relative (canada vs us etc and homes Toronto vs rural), would you say your flat rates are double what the ‘typical’ or lowball (but easily found) abundance of companies charge? or another multiple?
I find the flat rate fascinating and recognize it’s potential from reading this more academic type approach book (boring and dull schoolbook vs an easy to read practical application with examples type book):
and yes, flat rate pricing alone won’t do it, like every other business it needs “the reason besides price” they are calling you to begin with, the USP. the UVP etc
May we ask what specific unique value proposition was associated at that time with the succes of that flat rate grid?
this has me curious to look for a way to implement all over again.
Apologies again Kevin for any lousy writing of mine that came across different than intended.
the flat rate pricing has the qualifier from so if the house is a little crazy for a medium size home the price goes up… also you can bing or google map the home while talking to take a peak for the actual price
bruce,
don’t you already have a flat rate pricing already on your site? does your pricing page give you high quaility leads?
well Brian, no and no. How’s that? lol. I get about 70-100 home page visits a week from a 300k pop base, 1 adword click a week and like 1-5 a month that say they are contacting me from my website. I come up on page 1 for my area and if not 1st for my city (great SEO from my webmaster and small service area). Many visits are probably from the forums, judging by the analytics world map.
I think the Paneless site was getting like 100 [I]requests [/I]a week before he switched over to flat rate, Toronto is dense with like 3 mil (?) population, sounds like LA, SD or SF or something similar. so 3 mil is 10x my area so seems about right give or take if you 10x my numbers above.
If I am correct, the flat rate in the extra profitable sense Kevin is talking about would be double the regular pricing I have on my site
straight across (no Canada to US monetary adjustment stuff), Kevin’s old grid to mine, a 1500 sft home would be $250. See, I see the value and profitability in it, it’s just the type of thing if say, I saw someone in LA doing that and had lots of employees or even solo doing 150k in 6 mos or 300k in 1 year or something, ok, that reduces my risk with the scale in a more local area.
I just always seeing it coming down to the best way to roll out is a split test with a separate entity to polish it up and refine for the local area. = more time, more money, more energy. The usual apprehensions, nothing new there. But always worth bumping around a bit more to advance it a step.
That grid does, but I think Kevin’s position was that is the price. Kevin?
[QUOTE=panelessperfection;138941]Window cleaning business owners are an interesting bunch.
yup we are. my friends call me the window licker.
[quote="“joe hoesch,post:29,topic:13628”]
Please don’t tell us why.
I somehow missed this question, Bruce. My apologies.
That was the starting price only, as you mentioned above.
During the phone conversation, we would figure out together how their home should be categorized, based on the simple grid, and other important details regarding [approximate] window number, window type, accessibility, and current condition.
I attended Kevin’s Squegeenomics class in California and it convinced me to give this a try.
I messed around with dollar figures and pictures of houses for a long time.
If I remember right, Kevin’s old company had a gutter cleaning chart that listed different ‘packages.’
For my window cleaning chart I decided to combine the two.
Since sometime in March (probably) I have landed every job except one. That is, everyone that actually contacted me (through email or over the phone) scheduled with me based on the chart.
I’ve been hesitant to post this here because my competition will see it. But I’ve decided that I’m really not worried about it because of the value I provide to my customers and because there is a lot of dirty glass in the Phoenix area!
I would love input from any and all of you!
Thanks for sharing those results, Brad.
And kudos for taking the plunge and trying this system.
Those results speak for themselves.
One more thing: We tend to forget the detrimental psychological effect of rejection.
This system effectively removes the rejection component, raising your confidence higher and higher, and motivating you to move your minimum prices up steadily, with almost no backlash of pricing resistance.
I really believe that this is the greatest strength of this pricing approach, the psychological effect on [U]you[/U].
Do you have them based on sq. Ft. ? I know some said architects have a certain amount of windows per say a 1000 sq ft.
That’s interesting, but not great if only 3 people contacted you (not saying that’s the case).
How many jobs did you book in comparison to a similar time frame doing it the other way?
Nope, standard approximate home sizes. Mostly visually based.
Although…
Possibly great if usually 10 would usually contact him, and he would land only 3.
Much better to only have 3 contact you and land all of them.
Changes the entire interaction history to a positive one, and saves you all the time, money and energy normally wasted.
This system will DEFINITELY reduce the number of calls you receive, and it will do so immediately, but your closing rate will go through the roof.
Yeah I think I would rather deal with this then all the extra junk. Especially around here with the $10 gate fees. It adds up really quick.
Um, careful there. As I understand it - it’s illegal to put anything in someones mailbox. That’s a federal law I do believe. USPS only.
Garry
