WindowBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

How to Quote a Window Cleaning Job, Step by Step

Quoting a window cleaning job is not hard. Quoting one the same way every time is. When the owner quotes on Monday and a new hire quotes on Friday, the same house should get the same number. That only happens when you follow the same steps in the same order.

Start With the Big Picture

If you have not read it yet, Window Cleaning Estimate Software: The Complete Guide to Quoting, Approval and Booking the Job covers the whole path from request to route. This article zooms in on the quote itself: the questions to ask, the order to work in and the details to write down.

The goal of every quote is two things at once: a price the customer accepts and a job the crew can do without surprises. A quote that wins the job but sends a two-person crew to a house with forty windows they did not expect is not a good quote.

Step 1: Ask the Right Questions Up Front

Before you count anything, get the basics from the customer. A short list works best:

• Address. So you can look at the house and check the drive time.
• Inside, outside or both? This changes the price more than anything else.
• Screens and tracks? Many customers assume they are included. Ask.
• Any stains, paint or construction mess? This flags hard-water or post-construction work.
• One time or regular? A recurring customer may get a different per-visit price than a one-time clean.
• Access. Gate codes, dogs, locked yards, skylights.

If the request came in through your website form, some of this is already in Form Responses. Fill in the gaps with a quick text.

Step 2: Count the Windows

Count by whatever unit you price by. If you price per window, decide what a “window” is and stick to it. Most window cleaners count a standard double-hung as one window, a sliding door as one or two, and French panes separately. Write your counting rules down so everyone in the company counts the same way.

Count from the curb, from photos the customer sends, or on a walkthrough. For a first-time customer with a complicated house, a walkthrough or a full set of photos is worth the time. We compare the options in Counting Windows for an Estimate: From the Curb, From Photos or on a Walkthrough.

Step 3: Note Stories and Sides

Record how many stories the house has and which windows are on which level. A 2-story house with twelve upper windows is a different job than one with four. Then record the sides: outside only, inside & outside, or inside only.

In WindowBossPro these go on the job as window details, so the crew sees “28 windows · 2-story · Inside & Outside” under the address. That line is the quote, translated for the person on the ladder.

Step 4: Add the Extras

Extras are where quotes either make money or lose it. Go through them one at a time:

• Screens — how many, and are any damaged or missing?
• Tracks — light dust or years of buildup?
• Hard water — which windows, and how bad?
• Specialty glass — French panes, skylights, high transoms.

Put each extra on its own line. A customer who sees “Screens, 22 × $2” understands what they bought. A customer who sees a single total does not.

Step 5: Build the Estimate From Your Service List

With the counts in hand, build the estimate from your service list. Pick the client and address, add each service with its quantity, and the estimate totals itself. Because every price comes from the same list, two people quoting the same house get the same number.

Then check the total against your gut and your minimum. If a small job comes out below your minimum job charge, raise it to the minimum. If the total looks low for the time you expect to spend, check what you missed. It is usually the back side, the upper story or the hard water.

Step 6: Send It, Follow Up and Schedule

Send the estimate so the customer can approve it online. If you hear nothing in a few days, send a short text from the office asking if they have questions. Once approved, the estimate becomes scheduled services: a single visit for a one-time job, or a recurring plan with the minimum days between visits set.

Enter the details you gathered in steps 1 through 4 on the job once, and the tech sees them on every visit after that. When the house comes due again next quarter, nobody re-counts. When a new tech gets the job, they see the gate code and the ladder note before they leave the van. For everything else about quoting in WindowBossPro, go back to the window cleaning estimate software page.