30 “Windows” (2 screen doors, 2 french pane doors, 3 casements, 2 glass block windows, the rest double hung)
I did not include the glass block windows in my price (I didn’t see them when doing the estimate). I live in Ohio. I just started out. The job was for exterior only, no screens on outside, 2 stories, and there was a little furniture to move around (a chair, some pillows and a plant or two) I charged $110, however this was with a 20% discount so it normally would have been $138. It took me about 2 hours to do it (not including drive time, but it does include setting the wfp up and packing it away)
What would you price?
Would you price more for the furniture to be moved around?
What state or city do you live if you don’t mind me asking? I had my parent’s house get a quote from a pretty reputable company for outside only (and it was pretty similar it just had 2 more windows) and he priced it at $175. What is included in the outside only service for you? Could you break that price down and explain why you would charge $270? I understand that the hourly rate should be around $100 per hour, but is that for jobs with only 1 person or multiple workers?
$15/window, 30 windows = $450, 60% of that is $270.
Exterior service is window cleaning, stain removal/paint removal/track cleaning is not included. We ask that screens are removed prior to service, or we can take the off for an additional fee, the sills are brushed/rinsed using wfp but not deep cleaned.
Where do you live and can you break the price down specifically? I really thought I priced it pretty well for just starting out, but it sounds like I am very wrong.
What are your operating costs? How much do you need to make on a job to profit well? Was this job close to home base or a long drive out?
Lots of variables, I know the overheard I have and the profit I would like to make.
If you are learning and the work is slow then I encourage you to take a little loss of $ to get some notches on your belt.
BUT, low paying customers should never be your target market. If you add staff and more operating costs you’ll need to make more per man hour to cover your costs of doing business.
Don’t get to hung up on price right now , focus on quality and getting better every single time. But yeah $110 for 2 hours of WFP is a little low, but it’s 110 you didn’t have .
That makes sense. If this customer calls me back in a year to do her house should I raise the prices on her a bit (and not only raising it because of inflation)?
I guarantee everyone a 3 year price lock, if they book each year consecutively.
I’ll usually raise prices $5-$20-whatever is within reason. Thankfully many of my earliest customers that had low prices stopped calling and the ones that remain are up to date with current pricing.
How are you able to charge higher prices? Like how do you sell yourself.
I think if a lead called me on the phone and I mentioned we go about $15 per window they’d hang up. But I could be wrong.
I would like to get to $13 per next year, screen cleaning, track wiping included. Deep track cleaning is extra and all that extra window cleaning stuff is extra like stain removal, scraping etc.
20 double hungs x 10 = 200
20 x 15 = 300
I obviously want to charge higher prices because more money for the company just not sure how to exactly sell myself.
I didn’t start experimenting with the higher price yet so I can’t really say if it works or not.
Being confident when quoting is always a top priority.
I don’t tell anyone price per window over the telephone, I let them know once I have the service address and contact info (telephone number AND email address) they will receive a quote without 48 hours.
This is only a guarantee for residential quotes, i do almost all quotes using Google earth and Zillow to get a window count.
Then they get a price for:
In/out ($xxx)
Outside only ($xxx @ 60% of in/out price)
In/out + track cleaning/deep clean screen cleaning (2x the in/out price)
Then they also get at minimum a house wash and gutter cleaning quote.
I’ve also been in business since 2013, I have a decent amount of Google reviews and my website isn’t too shabby for being built by myself.
First off, why a 20% discount on a first clean? First cleans are always full price.
I would be about $225+ for exterior, depending on what the job looked like. If I missed the block glass on the quote it would be because I didn’t do a walk around and diagram the job; alert the home owner you missed something right away. The auto garage or plumber will add those little surprises on the bill - you should too! (If the customer makes a big stink about it take the high road and let it go).
Unless the furniture moving is a big deal there is no charge for that.
2 hours sounds about right. ($1.50 - $1.65 per minute).
I might adopt this. Instead of giving a ballpark price over the phone or spending driving time I might just do it this way that way I can have time to review the house and email a professional looking estimate.
Oh man this is gold. I guess sometimes you may have to go in person but this will surely save alot of time.
THose that don’t want to wait 48 hrs can get tossed to the side lol. The “price shoppers” / not my target customer base
20% discount only for the first year and it is for first time cleans only. I am in college for another year and I don’t have many expenses right now. So I figured I could possibly win some customers over for the first year, by charging lower. I am a new to all this and I wouldn’t feel comfortable charging that for now until I have a few more jobs under my belt here. After accounting for COS and taxes, I made about $35/hr (if I remember correctly). For my accounting internship, I’ll make $23/hr and if I get hired it would be just a little higher. I’ll be sure to add on missed windows in the future to the bill. The $225 would just be a general cleaning, no scaping or anything like that? What state do you live in? Thanks for the response!
If you are not doing a good job, then I suppose 20% off of first cleans is a way to justify that. Not picking on you, just saying first cleans are usually the most difficult so no discount - but that is just me.
I’m in Florida.
$225 would be a normal window cleaning. Minor scraping here or there is included - a lot of scraping, sticker removals, etc. = there is a charge for that.
Factor Charging helps to put that in perspective: (“Price Factor” is whatever your base price is x factor) Don’t show to customer, this is for you figuring the invoice. factor charge sheet.pdf (81.3 KB)
I do my best to never do estimates in person. Unless I Google the address and I can’t get a good view of the property or the home is $1 million + in value
Completely unrelated, but I just had a thought come up. Do you think it would be possible to clean a car effectively with a water fed pole and upsell it to customers?
