Everywhere has scammers…but giving them COI isn’t going to change that either way. I don’t send one, but we do have our liability coverage listed in the benefits section of all of our primary services…
Many folks of certain income brackets are feeling the pinch of inflation. Know what you need to charge, give your pitch, and move on. If you find that you’re not getting enough work for the model to work, then adjust something so that you can charge less.
today I was outbid on a 2280sq ft house that I gave them a discounted down to 200.00 flat but they took another quote at 150$. Not looking good here. I know people say that’s not your customer but when those people are getting the customers it does matter.
Some it depends on where you are at. If you are in Fla, some of those areas are inundated with illegal and uninsured operators. According to one of the posters on here, some of them don’t even use chemicals. You will never outbid them or compete with them. Most homeowners think they are getting a bargain.
I’m not leaving my house for a $200 wash, but I am retired and have a steady income. You gotta do what you gotta do to make ends meet. I don’t know your area or your market. Maybe look at doing the paint prep for some paint crews, do Industrial/commercial, find a niche, maybe do wood.
Wow, we’re 349.00 for that around my neck of the woods……our minimum is 299.00 for anything pressure washing related.
Same here, I did an amazing job for a customer last year with nasty awnings, brick wall, old Trex deck and railings. They called back and wanted WC and deck done again, I said no problem same price as last time. They ended up going with another company that was $60 less.
Honestly the real gut punch is when I drive out to a customers house, measure everything up, give them a good price and they call back saying they’ll get their son in law to do it. Happens a LOT.
I’m sensing a ‘sea change’ in work coming, I think we all need to prepare ourselves. People are cutting back on ‘non-essential’ services.
I’m in NC btw, Raleigh area.
Everyone has said I’m very professional even if they went with someone else because of price.
The work I have done already , they have all been impressed so it’s just a price issue.
Not one person has cared that I was insured which both surprises me and enlightens me.
None have said my husband or friend is doing it, it’s always a lower person and I’m already throwing in discounts and freebies so doesn’t make sense to drop it further.
I’m glad I live in NJ.
…said no one ever.
I’m kidding, my wife is from Bayonne.
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Didn’t use to be like this because long ago when I paid to get mine washed 250 was the cheapest and was from someone I knew, now it’s hardly the cheapest.
Try not to lower your prices. Show more value in the service instead. Exemple, our absolute minimum for a house wash has been 595$CAD since 2015. But it includes gutter cleaning and exterior window cleaning. Which takes maybe 20 minutes to do when washing the house as well. So try adding wfp windows or something else. But don’t just lower prices. It will never end.
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That’s an idea, I could add WFP. Just wish we didn’t all have outside screens here.
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Brock, We also have about 90% exterior screens. We pull them from outside with a special tool (butter knife) lol. For the 2nd or 3rd story of homes I ask the customer if we can come inside to pull them instead of laddering up. I know for a fact we are the only PW’er in our county that offers window cleaning after we pressure wash.
The windows have already been cleaned up some by PW’ing the home, so it goes quick and raises the ticket price. The bigger advantage is that as we know most folks want to deal with one guy, I try to be that guy. It’s a unique selling point we offer, to differentiate us from the competition.
I know you said in the past a WFP doesn’t seem to work well in your location? Why was that? Didn’t get the glass clean enough?
I hate it here 
Just tell the customer to remove the screens.
You won’t need the “special tool.”
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I dearly wish. Our customers are a minimum of 70 years old.
We are known for ‘nose to glass’ cleaning which gets literally everything off like artillery fungus, leftover silicone from sloppy installs, hard water etc. I will definitely consider the WFP though to get the hard water spots off from PW rinsing.
@dcbrock i used to think like you, was proud of being the “nose to glass” guy around, and didn’t believe in wfp. When i tried it, it changed everything. We switched to wfp this spring. Was hoping to do half of wc jobs that way. Ended up using wfp 100% of the time. Not one single complaint. Just great feedback from customers. And with the right tools you can get everything off the glass, artillery fungus, tape, paint, silicone etc. Research Reach-it stuff on their website, futureofcleaning.com.
Also, in the quote we send it says to remove exterior screens if they can only be removed from inside. To my delight almost everyone removes all their screens, even the ones we could get from outside. I have not touched my squeegee once this season. Cleaned thousands of windows. Much better than i could dream of. Jobs are so much faster. Clients are happy.
The Only thing i dislike with the reach-it system is the sides of the brushes get worn out quick from rubbing, especially brick around window, and went through 4 x400$ brushes this summer. Thinking of padding them somehow…
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2nd what @PMG said. WFP is way safer and efficient……wouldn’t do construction cleans with it but most everything else no issues. Customers are very happy with results……probably the best advancement in window cleaning in my opinion.
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i let customers know that my wash does clean up the windows some, and others nicely. they agree.
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