Price increase letter to window cleaning customers
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Hi [NAME], From [DATE] your clean goes from [OLD PRICE] to [NEW PRICE]. That is the first change since [YEAR]. Fuel, insurance and the water filtration all cost more than they did, and I would rather put the price up by [AMOUNT] than start stretching the round to eight weeks and calling it six. Same day, same frequency, same job — front, back, frames and sills. If that does not work for you, just let me know and there are no hard feelings at all. [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
one round — tell them at the clean before
£2–£5 per clean, or 10%
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hi [NAME], [YOUR NAME] here (window cleaner). From [DATE] your clean goes from [OLD PRICE] to [NEW PRICE] — first rise since [YEAR]. Same day, same job. Just reply if that's a problem and we'll sort it. Thanks!
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in window cleaning instead:
- fuel and van costs, which are most of the round
- pure water systems, filters and resin have all risen
- domestic rounds are notorious for sitting at the same price for a decade
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- They simply stop answering the door.
- This is the real objection in domestic rounds, and it is why the text goes out BEFORE the clean rather than on the invoice. Expect to lose 5–10% of a round on a rise. If you lose none, the rise was too small.
- "The last guy did it for [LOW PRICE]."
- "He might well have — and if he is still doing it at that, he is worth keeping." Said without sarcasm, this ends the conversation. You are not competing for the customer who wants 2015 pricing.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesOther trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these window cleaning customers, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.