I had a customer contact me today I haven’t cleaned her windows in 6 years. It’s a doctors house, and I charged her $250 in 03 which was probably fairly low considering it took me all day. That was my first year in business.
I really feel her house is a $500+ job but I can’t really see her feeling good about a 200% increase even six years later. I thought about a 6% per year increase which would put the job at $340 but that’s still low. Suggestions?
Tell her this job is now a $500 job. Say the first clean will be this much, but a repeated service within 3/4 months will give her a 15/20% discount otherwise it will revert back to the original figure. Regular clients receive a premium service & a better deal!
Does the fact that its a Doctor’s house make any difference in your pricing?
How long is the job going to take you now? Probably not all day. What would the price be now if you had done the job every year for the past 6 years?
The fact it is a doctor’s house is immaterial, I just stated that because most people assume that we are talking a fairly large home owned by people with a lot of money.
If I did the house every year I probably would have gone up 3% or so a year, making the job now $290-300 but I feel that after 6 years I have a chance to get the pricing right this time but I don’t want an unhappy customer either.
Not a bad idea at all Karl.
Does the person know how much they paid you 6 years ago?
i have had this problem come up a few times and what i have done is 2 things…
1st scenario; i have told the customer i appreciate them giving me a call and remembering me after so long… i would tell them that our pricing has changed since we washed the windows at their house… but since we appreciate their return business what we could do is figure out what the price would be with our pricing now, compare with what we charged them before and meet somewhere in the middle… i havent had one customer that hasnt booked the job when ive done this.
2nd scenario; depending on whether or not this customer is in a position to get more work for me i would consider that when changing the price on them. like you mentioned its a doctors office… is it worth the extra money to lose a customer that has the means and opportunity to get the word out to potential customers?
you have to decide…
That I do not know, but I assume they have a general idea. I really was not prepared for her phone call and got to thinking about all this after scheduling her for Monday.
We just did a house last Friday that hadn’t been done since 2003. It was $600 back then, and $975 now. She called me and told me that she couldn’t remember the name of my company and got a bid from another company. Their bid was $14 per window. Mine was $20.
She went with me because she remembered what a great job I did. I also told her that since 2003 I’ve found ways to do an even better job. Not sure what I meant, but it worked.
It was a cool old house built in 1790.
I think I would say something like this:
“I really value your business. The dilemma I’m faced with was 6 years ago I charged $250.00 to clean your windows. Due to pricing increases to stay in business, today I would charge need to charge $500.00 to clean your windows to say in business. I assure you that your satisfaction is my top priority - what do you think a fair price would be?”
Allow for a response and move forward.
If the customer is agreeable to higher pricing - give them a nice special discount on pressure washing or some other way of saying thank you. You’ll already be there on location, so you can probably afford a significant discount.
The reason I would take this approach is - do you think a Dr. with money allowed his windows to go 6 years without cleaning? Maybe, but I bet he’s used somebody else, and they probably charged a price higher then $250.00 - so they’ll more then likely be agreeable to your current price.
Make sure you tell them their satisfaction is your top priority (which I’m sure it is) - because if they DID have them cleaned since you cleaned them 6 years ago, there’s a reason they called you back, and not the previous window cleaner.
If they haven’t called in 6 years do you know who (if anyone ) has been cleaning their windows? I wouldn’t consider them clients if they haven’t called in 6 years. I’d charge them you standard rate for that size house. And like Karl said offer a reduced rate for more frequent cleaning.
She hasn’t asked for a price, so either tell her the price before you start or give her the bill after you finish
If she does remember what she paid six years ago ( unlikely), tell her your records only go back 5 years and you are just pricing it with todays rates, maybe even hint that $250 was pretty cheap even for 6 years ago
Even if she doesn’t like the price, but does like the job you did, chances are you will get a call again in 6 years, and be wondering how to tell her it’s now 1 billion Obama dollars + 47%tax
I disagree. I have customers who call every week whose windows we have not cleaned in 3-10 years. I still consider them clients. I could care less if someone else cleaned the windows in between. I’ll pull up there info. See how much they paid last time the job was done. Ask if they have added taken away, changed windows etc. If no, I take the old price and add $6-7 on to each year that has passed since the job was done. I don’t reprice the job based on our prices today. If it wasn’t for these same people however many years ago paying whatever they did back then, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Today, that same persons house will get done in probably half the time it took years ago because of new techniques products etc. Thats why I ask Steve how long will this job take you this time and can you do the job for $340 and still make your hourly minimum.
Steve I was thinking a 3% increase per year but that leaves it at $295 which I think would be too low for working a possible 6 hour day.
I think you could do it for $340. It’s not much sticker shock and people expect to pay higher prices because of inflation. And I am sure you are alot faster than you were six years ago, so you can probaly cut your time down by nearly in half.
Hope you get the job and make some good profit.
You can’t short yourself. You’re in business to make money, not lose money. What if she only calls every six years? Chargee accordingly.
+1
I agree 100% I also have customers that call back after several years. My first thought is always “I really gave you that price back then?” But then I remember it was these customers that kept me in business in my early days, so I add a small percent to compensate for the time, but they are still getting a really good deal.
The awkward part comes when they then refer their next door neighbor to me and the new customer gets the current price. Then the questions come, but I just tell them, that their neighbor was one of my first customers and they usually appreciate that.
The other thing is that I don’t have employees, just myself to worry about.
Love it, Seth 
You could also work a little marketing in to it…
[I][INDENT]"Wow, it’s hard to believe six years have flown by!
Today, as of September 2009, we charge somewhere around $550-$650 to clean a home as large and interesting as I remember yours being, and we get that price day in, day out.
However, since you are a returning client of ours from way back in 2003, I’ll be happy to give you a break on our everyday prices, and get this done for you for only $500 even. That’s the best I can do, and I really shouldn’t even be offering a price that low, but I’d like to do something for you, since you called us back after so many years!
All I ask is that you not tell your neighbors or your friends about how much money you’re saving…
How does that sound?"[/INDENT][/I]
I’ve used something like that with situations like this.
How do you charge $20 per window?? I guess if its a cut up with 20 panes that makes
