Two identical semis, two different prices
Number 3 and number 5 are identical three-bed semis with the same extension. Number 3 has been a customer for years, on a price you set when you started. Number 5 joined last spring at your current rate. One evening they talk over the fence about the window cleaner. The next time you knock at number 5, the customer mentions it.
It is not only neighbours. The customers you took over from a retiring cleaner are on his prices. The houses you quoted in a hurry in the rain are on whatever number came to mind. Some houses have had a conservatory added since you last priced them, and you have been cleaning it for free.
Prices are set by eye and never revisited
Pricing a house at the door is quick and usually fair on the day. The problem is that each price is a one-off, with no rule behind it, and nobody reviews the whole round together.
- Prices are set by eye, differently on different days.
- There is no written rule for storeys, extensions, conservatories or skylights.
- Customers taken over from other rounds keep their old prices.
- Changes to a property after the first quote are not repriced.
- Nobody can see the round's prices side by side by house type.
Undercharging, overcharging and awkward conversations
Inconsistent prices cost in both directions. Houses priced too low earn less per hour than the rest of the round. Houses priced too high are the ones most likely to be tempted by a cheaper leaflet. And the fence conversation between neighbours is the one that makes customers question whether you are fair.
Pricing rules and a view of the whole round
We build pricing rules from your own experience and apply them to new and existing customers.
- We work with you to write down your pricing: a base for each house type and size, plus amounts for extra storeys, extensions, conservatory sides and roofs, skylights, and front-only cleans.
- New quotes, at the door or through your enquiry link, use the rules, so the same house gets the same price.
- Each existing customer record gets the house details, filled in by you over a round or two, or estimated from the address and checked.
- A report compares each customer's current price with what the rules would give, grouped by street and house type.
- You decide what to do about the differences: leave them, adjust at the next annual price review, or change some now. Nothing changes automatically.
- When a customer's house changes, such as a new extension, updating the details shows the new rule price.
| Price factor | At the door today | With pricing rules |
|---|---|---|
| House type and size | Judged by eye | Base price by type |
| Extra storeys and extensions | Sometimes added | Set amount each |
| Conservatory | Varies | Rule for sides and roof |
| Inherited customers | Old prices kept | Compared against your rules |
| Property changes | Missed | Repriced when details change |
Your prices remain your decision. The rules simply write down what you already do on a good day, so every day is a good day.
A round that is priced fairly and knows it
New customers are quoted consistently, whoever quotes them. You can see where the round is out of line and deal with it at a sensible time, rather than when a neighbour raises it. Extensions and conservatories stop being cleaned for free. And when you come to hire help or sell the round, the pricing is something you can explain, not a list of historical accidents.
On a normal day it barely shows. You quote a new house at the door from the rules on your phone, and once a year, before your price review, you open the comparison report and decide which customers to bring into line and how gently.
Are your prices all over the place?
- Similar houses on the same street pay different prices.
- You have customers inherited on someone else's prices.
- You price by eye with no written rule.
- Some houses have been extended since you priced them.
- You have had a customer point out a neighbour pays less.