Hello steve!
 
My name is lafe wilson and I have a question for you!  When your giving bids to people, I was wondering do you charge more for for really soiled windows such as cobb web infested/ dirty window tracks, and high ,uneven ground to place your ladders?  compared to regular jobs where the people have there windows cleaned on a regular basis?  (such as my parents!)  where the windows are generally pretty clean!  These are some of the things i’ve been encountering in my business and i was just looking for some friendly business advice.  I figure i’am in the ball park of bids but,  i don’t want to over charge them either.  
 
thank you for your time!
 
lafe wilson

My Response:

Hi Lafe:

Good morning.  I charged the same regardless how dirty a window was unless it was a construction cleanup job.  It was more trouble than it was worth to go around the house and look up close at each window to determine dirt/cobwebs, etc.  It was faster to just look at the front of the house for example and say "ok, there are 10 windows, so let’s multiply it times my per window price and move on".

With that said though, my pricing for upper windows was certainly more than the lower windows due to the extra time spent on ladders. I generally upped the per window price by $2 for each window on the 2nd level. But pricing differently depending on how dirty each window was? No…I didn’t do that. There is no exact science to bidding though as I’m sure you’re aware.  But the key is to make sure the estimate is presented properly. If you don’t present it properly, then all you can do is go in on price which is what most window cleaners do.  And you never want to build a window cleaning business based on price.  The window cleaners who do this are always desperate for the next job and the next job and the next job.  So don’t be afraid to have higher pricing than your competitors, but if you do, make sure your presentation is top notch as I mentioned. 

Take care.

Steve 

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