Listen To This Crap......

[REDHOT]

So as you all know, we are new to the business. I go to do an estimate today for a fast food place. Here's to give you an idea of how large this job is: the drive thru is about 3x the size of a normal drive thru, a long sidewalk, about 6 parking spaces, and one dumpster area. (sorry didn't take measurements...place was too busy) Anyway, I was talking with the manager (by the way-very nice gentlemen) and he mentioned that they had a current pressure washer that came out twice a month. I asked him if he minded telling me how much he was paying his current pressure washers. $350 A MONTH!!!! Ok, get this: FOR TWICE A MONTH! PLUS his current pressure cleaner comes out every week and cleans the windows inside and out.

AM I MISSING SOMETHING.....THIS JOB WILL TAKE AT LEAST 4-5 HOURS TO DO (one man crew) AND THIS OTHER GUY IS CHARGING $350 A MONTH TO DO THIS TWICE A MONTH PLUS CLEAN THE WINDOWS EVERY WEEK??

I'm sorry, I REFUSE to match or go below their price. I don't know what those other guys are thinking....but if this is the market in our area, none of us are going to make any money!!

Sorry for the long vent, I was completely blown away that someone would sell their self so short.....I don't care if it is the competetion.

 

[blackjack21]

Maybe the manager was just lowballing you; he could just be full of #$@!. If someone is doing it that cheap...so what. There will always be someone willing to pay you what your worth, it's up to you to convince them of your worth. Never give up.

regards,
blackjack

 

[REDHOT]

He may have very well been lowballing us....oh well, I still bid the job for $600 a month...not including the window cleanings. He can take it or leave it....he aen't getting our work for any less.

You all taught me well...lol. If there's only thing that I take away from this board....it's not to lowball!!

 

[Larry L.]

Sounds like a window cleaner with powerwashing add on,sounds like he'll learn the hard knocks the hard way.

 

[CaroliProWash]

Keep an eye out for the other guy cleaning and check out his rig. If by viewing you can tell he's not using hot water or chems or a surface cleaner or any of the other cool stuff that gets preached on the bbs's, make it a point to go by the next day (after it's dried) and see if you can tell a difference. Now here's where you'd better know your stuff......if it's not up to snuff, break out your big boy toys and give him a sample clean and show him the difference in a $350 cleaner and a $600 cleaner

Don't let one restaurant get you down either...there will be more down the road that will appreciate what you offer !

Celeste

 

[north coast]

"So as you all know, we are new to the business." Maybe that guy is not new to the business and maybe he can wash it all in an hour. Sounds like 4 - 5 hours to do it would be a long time. Maybe he just pulls up turns on a switch and unrolls his pressure hose and gets to work. Some people might have to unload a cart pressure washer from the back of a pick up, unroll their green garden hose, find a water hookup, hook up their pressure hose roll it out, put some gas in the little pressure washer, by the time your ready to go he is done washing. I am not saying that’s your setup but maybe this guy is more efficient in his work. But who really knows maybe he is working out of the back of a pickup for peanuts and maybe a free breakfast when he is done.

 

[Scott Stone]

Welcome to Arizona pressure washing. A lot of guys do that. There are ways around it, but you only learn them through experience.

Scott Stone

 

[john orr]

While there may be a lot of area to clean, if done every two weeks, it won't take any near as long as the once-in-a-while cleaning. Assume 2 hours each time, that still works out to a decent $$ per hour. As for the windows, I don't know how many he does, but I've seen experienced window washers work - and they can fly! $4200/year is a fair piece of change, especially if you have a bunch at the same rate. Hire a helper (I'm sure you can find a few in your area) and work twice as fast.

 

[MPW]

Welcome to the biz.!

 

[MR ALAN]

Red Hot,
What kind of equipment are you using and how many square feet per hour can you clean? Those two mean everything.

 

[REDHOT]

We have a 3,000 PSI;7.8GPM;hot water pressure washer
We do also have a surface cleaner, but it rarely gets used....doesn't seem to work as well as the wand.

Oh well, guess that's all to be expected in any business. But you also get what you pay for.....

Thanks for all the responses and thanks for letting me vent.

 

[john orr]

Red,

Why can't you get the surface cleaner to work? Are the tips matched to your machine? How big is it? Without using a surface cleaner, you will go crazy on your first big job and quit the business. There must be a problem somewhere.

 

[PressurePros]

Some questions come to mind.

Why is he interviewing you for the job? Is it possible the other guy is quick but does shoddy work? Is it equally possible the other guy was making no money and went out of business?

The first thing I would say when presenting my proposal would be:

"As you know your previous contractor wasn't able to provide consistent, high quality work. There is no way you can recieve high quality and the lowest price. I have come up with a fair price for quality work we stand behind. We are effecient, we carry the right insurance and we take the worry about having a clean exterior away from you. Here is what we came up with for you. I'm sure you will be very satisfied with these numbers"

Red, take into consideration that everyone worth his salt will try to negotiate the best price. You shouldn't be offended. I have also found that most people will fib a little when telling you what a previous company charged. Sell him peace of mind. I'm sure he has way more important things to do than worry about his concrete and interview a new company to clean it every few months. Quality, professionalism and consistency come at a price. Everyone knows that. He knows that.

PS: Get that surface cleaner working and learn your detergents. You will increase your productivity. I'm going to be a little harsh here but your descripition of the area you have to clean was both uninformative and a bit unprofessional. You have not been around long enough to eyeball a job and guess how long it will take. It is quite possible that the number he gave you was not far off base. You have to come here with exact measurements. You are also going to need to rely on these measurements to stay consistent and competetive in your market.

 

[MPW]

Yea, there must be a problem here. I have a 8 gpm & a 5.5 gpm machine. Both are also 3000 psi. I always use a Big Guy surface cleaner and have great results. - Just as good as a wand!

 

[REDHOT]

Some questions come to mind.

Why is he interviewing you for the job? Is it possible the other guy is quick but does shoddy work? Is it equally possible the other guy was making no money and went out of business?

The first thing I would say when presenting my proposal would be:

"As you know your previous contractor wasn't able to provide consistent, high quality work. There is no way you can recieve high quality and the lowest price. I have come up with a fair price for quality work we stand behind. We are effecient, we carry the right insurance and we take the worry about having a clean exterior away from you. Here is what we came up with for you. I'm sure you will be very satisfied with these numbers"

Red, take into consideration that everyone worth his salt will try to negotiate the best price. You shouldn't be offended. I have also found that most people will fib a little when telling you what a previous company charged. Sell him peace of mind. I'm sure he has way more important things to do than worry about his concrete and interview a new company to clean it every few months. Quality, professionalism and consistency come at a price. Everyone knows that. He knows that.

PS: Get that surface cleaner working and learn your detergents. You will increase your productivity. I'm going to be a little harsh here but your descripition of the area you have to clean was both uninformative and a bit unprofessional. You have not been around long enough to eyeball a job and guess how long it will take. It is quite possible that the number he gave you was not far off base. You have to come here with exact measurements. You are also going to need to rely on these measurements to stay consistent and competetive in your market.

Well I got the estimate b/c I was handing out flyers and he happened to be interested in what we would charge...so I told him that we could do an on the spot estimate if he liked and so I did.

I have not been in the business long enough to eyeball a job....I 100% agree with you on that. My husband however has been in the business for a couple years...just earning someone else's money. He is pretty good about determining how long it takes for him to get the job done..and he's so far been right on the money. He pretty much took care of this particular estimate though. When I am personally doing an estimate I base everything on measurements; b/c it's better for me. So no we didn't have exact measurements which was most likely bad on our part.

Thankyou for the words of wisdom, they are sincerely appreciated. We will be taking our surface cleaner in to see what the heck is going on....

QUESTION: We have chems that we are currently using, but I have a friend that just got out of the business and he was recommending a chemical by Zep (sp?) Anyone have experience using this, and did it work well for you?

 

[Micah]

Redhot,

Also, how many windows are there? Judging from your description, 6 parking spaces, and a very large drive-thru, it leads me to beleive that they're isn't many windows.

Thanks,

Micah Kommers
We Wash Windows www.We-Wash-Windows.com
South Carolina

 

[REDHOT]

There are 20 windows

Sorry, I didn't explain it right. There are a lot more parking spaces than 6;they only wanted 6 parking spaces cleaned

 

[dustij]

Hi Red,
I was wandering who you use for insurance here in AZ.? If you would not mind .
Im just getting started I get to order my trailer next week. So I need to get the insurance going also. Thanks.
Dusti
P.S. Where in AZ.? [dog]