The dumb way to charge a high price
April 30, 2009 – 10:37 pmYesterday a new client joined the roster of Paneless Perfection (my window cleaning business), after voicing concerns over a certain indiscriminate charge on the estimate she was given for her home’s gutter cleaning service.
The short story: This homeowner phoned us, looking for some pricing for the gutter cleaning of her home, which we happily explained would cost her 199 + tx.
Here’s how the conversation played out after I told her the $199 price:
Her: “Wow, that sounds high. And what other charges are on top of that?”
Me: “That’s it, just $199 + tx”
Her: “What about the environmental charge?”
Me: “An ‘Environmental charge’? (confused) I’ve never heard of that.”
Her: “This other company said there is an environmental charge, too”
Me: “Really? (surprised) Wow, how much is it?”
Her: “Fifteen dollars.”
Me: “Well, I’ve never heard of that, they’ve created that little charge out of thin air for you, there is no such thing.”
Her: “Beautiful. (irritated) Okay, forget it – I’m gonna go with you guys…”
Me: “Great, (happy) let’s pick a service date…”
Here’s the moral of the story: It’s okay to charge big bucks for your window & gutter cleaning, but don’t do it the scammer way. Don’t fabricate imaginary fairy-tale charges and bogus handling fees when you’re really just trying to squeeze the client for more money.
Just give them a higher price, instead.
That way, you won’t lose jobs to smarter window cleaners that educate their clients as to reality 
To punctuate the point, let me use another example:
Two local burger joints want to charge $12 for their hamburgers.
Business A charges $12 and markets them well.
Business B charges $6 each, plus a $4 meat surcharge and a $2 wheat handling fee.
Can you spot the scammer? Which one would you buy from?
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