I quoted a house yesterday. Gave a quote for cleaning the roof, patios, sidewalks and driveway.
She also wanted a quote for cleaning the windows. These windows are a mixture of casement and double hungs. 2 bay windows with 4 panes of glass, 3 8 ft. sliders, 37 windows in all. Plus 35 divided panes. These windows are the dirtiest I have seen. Covered in dirt, water spots, bird droppings and bugs. The insides are also filthy. I bid $429 for in/out. I was outbid on the windows. A local window cleaner is doing the job for $220
I did get the roof and cement for $1658. So, it’s not a total loss.
But, how can someone do windows that cheap…
Low baller bucket bob. Probably Fish, they low ball a lot around here.
Yup! I think I lost a quote today too. I was $480 and I guess another company came in at $350. Happens all the time. It’s worse with commercial and storefronts. But it’s just the name of the game. I know that we offer quality work , and we want to make a good living and be able to pay our employees good as well. So we have to be higher tier, if that means losing jobs to cheap guys then so be it.
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When I hear from a potential client that they are going to choose a lower bid, I just say, “I completely understand wanting to save some money. I hope they meet your expectations as much as I know my work will. Please keep me in mind in the event that they don’t.”
Best case scenario, the other company does a half quality job, but doesn’t do any damage to the windows like creating scratches with razor blades, and then the client ends up calling you to do the job properly in a few months. From your aspect the major dirt would be removed and you could swoop in and detail the job right and blow them away. You might even offer them a discount on your price at that point if you are able to do the job in less time while meeting or exceeding your minimum $/hr. They feel like you rescued them and did them a favor by discounting your price and then what I try to do is set up 6 month interval maintenance cleanings that are automatically scheduled with email reminders directly to the client in order to secure the job in the future.
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Hi what system do you use to schedule and automatically send email reminders?
I’m a small start-up from Canada
@GSARMedic
I use Jobber for everything. I tried House Call Pro at first, but the way I have recurring appointments scheduled and invoiced is more conducive for my brain with Jobber. I don’t get all the marketing and postcard items that House Call Pro offers and it is a higher monthly cost, but honestly I do not advertise at all, so that benefit for me is not an issue, and I am okay with paying a little more for what I am familiar with. It’s kind of like Mac vs PC. Which ever you start out with, you become accustomed to that platform and that is how you end up working efficiently. For me trying to learn HCP’s organization after using Jobber with a previous employer for multiple years was very difficult so I went back to Jobber.
Talk to each of the companies. They both have technical and sales staff that can answer all of your questions and compare the two (or more if you can find some) to see which one meets the majority of your needs and has the best price.
What I like about Jobber is that everything is contained in one interface. I can generate quotes, use their merchant services for charging cards, have automated email reminders sent out to my clients, easily work with a color coded calendar and use their app to log times for each job so that I can make sure I am working efficiently and/or charging enough for each job. Each client has multiple jobs split between window cleanings and pressure washings so that I know which line items I am doing at each visit. In some cases I am doing both on the same day and it allows me to combine both jobs into a single invoice for the client which I then email from my phone and collect a payment before leaving the job site. Lastly, there is the ability for me to send follow up emails after visits to direct clients to my NextDoor or Facebook pages to get recommendations and feedback. There are also many aspects I do not use since I am, like you, working for myself, but Jobber also has a capability to easily expand and handle multiple employees with time sheets and tracking locations, etc.
I use the Customer Factor
Gonna use service monster soon. I like the fillmyschedule options. Seems to be strongest app for client rentention program. That is most important to me.
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I had the same thing happen to me, I gave a bid on a house with 84 panes and it was a 3 story home. For just cleaning the outside glass only, I bid it at something around $420. I lost the job to someone doing it for $84. I still want to kick him in the face.
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Lol! For $84 he’ll be kicking himself in the face pretty soon!
Yeah no kidding.
But dang it looks like you’re doing pretty good with the other services you’re offering.
Would you mind give your thoughts about pricing for pressure washing/soft washing at my thread?