here is my dilemma;
i left a customers house today thinking the windows could have looked better… i hate that feeling… the customer had EXTREME screen burn on every window and extreme overspray from having their house painted… when i did the estimate it was a straight forward estimate and would have had no way of knowing about all of the extra work until the job was underway…
also my experience in the past with a customer accusing my company of scratching her windows when we never took our scrapers out has made me a little shy of giving any of the guys any razorblades… cant be accused if you dont even have a blade in the truck…
so heres my question:
how do you feel about giving customers 2 options depending on the customers wants and needs?
a basic window cleaning at a cheaper price; includes a routine maintenance cleaning of windows, sills wiped and screens brushed.
premium window cleaning at a higher price; includes a window cleaning with every pane scraped and scrubbed down with steel wool. sills vacuumed and wiped. frames of all windows wiped and screens washed not brushed.
but not all customers need that extra service and so to charge them for a premium service i dont think would be right because it wouldnt take as much time… i did an outside only job yesterday afternoon 85 1/1 windows with one other guy in 2 hours. they shouldnt be charged for glass restoration and scraping if there isnt any to do… maybe give the customer a range depending on what we end up having to do? give them the premium price and basic price… let them decide?
i would like to provide people with options… to make sure everyones needs are met… so there are no surprises for me or for them… THAT is a premium service…
if a customer says… i just want my windows cleaned to get the dust and dirt off from the spring and their windows are in great shape why charge them a higher price for a quick routine maintenance cleaning… a lower price, a more simple service for a customer who’s needs are different than someone who just had their house painted and the windows are covered in oxidation…
“[I]EXTREME screen burn on every window and extreme overspray from having their house painted[/I]” and “[I]windows are covered in oxidation[/I]” are not examples of window cleaning, but restoration. And that’s not premium vs. basic.
Every customer has chosen the Sparkle Package! Now, maybe 3-4 months from now they’ll just want the maintenance package. I agree with giving the customer options but also making your premium cleaning irresistable. I bumped up the prices too so that people really feel theyre getting a luxurious service for their windows. We’ve been landing more jobs than ever!
TO be honest Nick, The customer doesn’t care about premium or value or basic services, they want clean windows, and they expect you to give them a price for getting them clean. If there are issues that I cannot resolve like, foggy windows, weld burn, or acid burn , then I address those at the quote stage.Everything else is included in the price, If I miss something while assessing the job then I deal with it and figure the job will be easier the next time. If I dont get the job because someone else bids a lot cheaper to do just a wash then i figure the customer isn’t going to be really happy with the job and I will get a call next year or the year after, and once I get the job , its mine for as long as I want to do it.
i agree the customer just wants clean windows… and i have absorbed enough of those accounts over the last 6 years. what i have found is that everyones needs are different so depending on what the customer wants, thats what we would be prepared to do and they are prepared to pay the price agreed upon… with no surprises for either one of us…
i deal with a HIGH end clientele… if i approach them with 2 prices the basic cleaning and premium cleaning they can pick their own service…
Nick ,
You services should always be a “premium” service.
You are talking about two different types of services; window cleaning and window restoration. You’re talking apples to oranges.
Premium is our standard service. We deep clean the screens with Formula 90 & vacuum the tracks, wipe the sills and frames. This has got us nice tips too !
I feel your dilemma too, but we’ve settled on selling only premium service for first-time-customers. After that, we can inform them of maintenance service options. But I never feel comfortable showing a customer anything less than our “A game,” especially if its the first service (even if they chose the “B” or “C” game).
If I had to guess, you just ran into a stretch of some tight-wad people who were really taking a hit in the stock market and are trying to squeeze every nickel together. But my advice would be to stick to your guns if that is the case…
thank you for your all of your imput… i agree you should bring your “a” game… and yes i have run into a stretch of windows in bad shape… but over the summer i inherited a large clientele from a company who wouldnt return calls from their customers… their windows were in great shape bc of being on a regular maintenance program so how can you charge the more money for the “unforseen” problems that might come up like screen burn/over spray etc?
i think giving people an option is something i may try and see how it is received… what people choose will give me some more insight as to whether or not they are shoppers or a client who would pay a higher price to ensure that any over spray and screen burn is taken care of.
i am sending out 35,000 postcards on monday… the first few phone calls i will see how it is received and go from there.
I agree with the confusion thing. Not only would it confuse the customer, but it would confuse my crews as well. I just can bring myself to do a “wet em and forget em” type of job. I love to see the customers “wow” expression when im done. The referrals are also nice to get too!
I think you should improve your quoting system, most guys here bid over the phone, I never do it, I go and look at the windows. No surprises (mostly ) and you get to know the customer and he gets to know you, which has really helped my closing rate.
) and you get to know the customer and he gets to know you, which has really helped my closing rate.
