It was bound to happen

What will happen when the economy picks up, both of you guys will need each other. Them are the easy jobs that come in. People are funny, and in the heat of the game, we say and think in wrong ways. Now that you had a night too sleep on it, still feel the same way ? Your competition will get calls before you, word of mouth etc. as long as you are straight with each other, stay together. The way this USA is in the crapper, a friend is a good thing.
Just my two cents.
In my area, all the window cleaner owners all worked together at one time, we never liked each other, so we don’t help each other. That sucks in a lot of ways. We spend more time hating then helping.
The rich people here stopped that monthly clean, now 2 times a year. Work is hard to come by. Having my buddies phone ring and mine, well odds are better for work.
DW

Only with a pure, pure, pure price shopper, which does exist, but is not as common as we think. And even then, price is only #2 or #3 usually.

My my my, aren’t we a fine group. Dormatex’s lowball success strategy was a hoot. (cept’ lowballers never advertise) I guess the price curve is pretty squiggly and based on self worth as much as it is on the competitive pricing and fiscal neccessity. I think Obama is a low baller. Acorn is helping him with his taxes.

[B]THEGLASSMACHINE[/B]
[I]“because glass looks it’s best when you can’t see it”[/I]

1 guy at $10 per hour is cost the company $50.00 plus gass. In the end if they pull $100.00 from the 5 hours of work of their employee I don’t see where they are losing. They cut your price in 1/2 for this year, next year they raise the price $10 or $20 bucks for each unit and pull in addtional money. Don’t get upset, it’s how business is done and most importantly a strong lesson to learn how businesses get larger and larger. Most businesses get large by offering low price and acceptable service to the customer. We can rant an rave all we want about quality and professionalism but in the end it’s always about the price. We get lucky every blue moon with the customer who does not balk at 1st quoted high price. But once again they are rare and most only care about price and price only.

If you can’t beat 'em, join 'em I guess.

So on a side note…I called on some local storefront locations today. Only to find out a few of them are only paying .50 cents per pane! I was going to bid around a buck or so.

I am going to lower my residential rates down a little bit…but this whole day has me thinking this window cleaning thing isn’t what it’s cracked up to be…

But then again I just got back from a job where we averaged $60/hour - so who knows.

I couldn’t DISagree more!!!

I agree with your disagreement.

this whole subject got my blood boiling…

there are no friends in business… friendly relationships yes… i have a “friend” who used to work for me and went out on his own… good for him right?
we bid on the same jobs quite often and when he wants a job he will underbid the you know what out of me bc he knows my pricing… hes a “bucket bob” with little to no motivation to take his “business” to the next level… we used to help each other out when the other was in a bind but i ended up working at someones house who i did the year before for… he undercut me knowing i had done the job the year before and the customer had just misplaced my number.
needless to say who needs “friends” like that when you have a perfectly good fist to show someone whats up.
i am all for networking and having positive business relationships… my pricing is my pricing… i sell my business, my reputation, myself… i dont low ball any job and if someone asks or tells me why my price is high compared to “bucket bob” i pull out the ol… “i dont know, maybe because they dont carry insurance… they arent a legit business or maybe they didnt carry the 5 when they were adding up the estimate” :slight_smile:

Now I know why I like you Micah!!

I couldn’t DISagree more!!!

I’ve been raising my prices (both residential and commercial) successfully all year.

Gobama!

Enlighten me.

I spoke with another window cleaner in my area today, and he reaffirmed my current pricing. I have revised my pricing so that it is fit for form. The person in the $150k house pays x and the person in the $350k house pays y. Of course I am basing this on city to city, not neighborhood to neighborhood.

I just feel like an idiot when someone undercuts my bid by 1/2.

On a side note, any storefront accounts who have their “bucket bob” doing their stuff for .50 cents per pane, I am directly asking for the business name. Then I am going back with my “lack” of evidence to show that these are not legitimate companies with the state, and if they are not registered as such, then they most likely don’t have biz insurance. The I remind the business owner that their bucket bob now becomes their liability when he trips and cracks his skull open.

I can’t stand when fly by nighters lowball reputable businesses. So it is sort of a lengthy approach for some crappy storefront work, but it is the principle of the matter.

Can I suggest another approach that could be more effective, and mean less work for you?

When they see that their windows are not being cleaned well, and the decision maker states that that they already have a window cleaner - without missing a beat ask “Can I interest you in a Free window washing? I’m willing to give this service to you for free to show you how great your windows can look. My price may be slightly higher, but my clients gladly pay a slightly higher price for the quality service I offer. They also rest assured knowing they’ve hired a company insured by a million dollar policy and follow tax laws. Can I schedule that free no strings attached cleaning for Friday?”

Just an idea- it usually works well for me.

It has been my experience that the vast majority of my residential customers do not consider a low price the deciding factor when they hire me.

I have successfully contracted commercial business after being either the only bidder or the highest bidder.

I have retained all storefront customers who have been solicited by other WC’ers whose per pane pricing is up to half my price.

Exactly my plan…and it’s 2 MIL GL for me…:slight_smile:

  1. Larry - it was MY mistake really for the area I was targeting…I should have known the lowest price wins the game there. I was trying to target the whole complex, because you can get real good referrals, and lock down a whole neighborhood by doing so. So now when quoting, I use a little more judgment to decipher what I think would be the clients motivating factor - price, quality, reliability, etc…and quote accordingly.

  2. I am sure you are able to retain customers, but I would like to gain customers. I am not about to lowball in order to do that, but if I can show that my price is competitive, and I offer a better service, then it is all good.

I should also note that I landed a HUGE residential gig today by adjusting my prices according to my mark(et). Thanks guys!