Customer Strong-arming

[BRIAN GALLO]

Have any of you guys encountered a problem like this? I call it customer strong-arming. I have a lot of senior citizen customers who are always complaining about money. I have their lawn maintenance business, and I give them a fair price and a top quality job. I manage to make good money on their lawn service because they know up-front what it will cost and I'm not lowering it beyond that. Here's the problem - usually throughout the season these customers will have other landscaping needs, and want to pay next to nothing for that work. Some examples are mulching, pruning, hedge & shrub work and fall leaves. Here is where they strong-arm me. They say that they will only pay $x for the job when I'm asking for $y, and if I don't do it for $x then I won't get their lawn business anymore! Whats worse is that in my area there are usually several other guys just waiting to jump in and do the job for less than $x and give a discount on the grass cutting as well! Sure those guys might not do as good of a job as I do, but these customers don't seem to care as long as the price is right. Even if you try to explain that you have business expenses they seem to still view you on the same level as "the kid down the street with a Lawn-Boy". As a result I usually end up doing the landscape job for their $x price, just so I can keep their lawn business and ward off those other guys. Any feedback???

[lawnboy11]

I hate all those crusty old bastards.
Just fire them! It's fun, I swear. Stand your ground and charge what you want. If they don't want to pay it tell them to get somenone else to bid on it or do it. Then see what they do. If they piss you off enough just say good bye. I give annoying clients like that the boot, but normally do it very professionally with a letter I send. I also will do their lawn for two weeks if they do not call and say not to so that they can find someone else. Once I walked off in the middle of mowing though and she was yelling "what am I supposed to do?" I said "look in the yellow pages" and took off.

[AVRECON]

I've had them too. Welcome to the wonderful world of lawn care! Its the same ole story, They live on SEC but drive a new cadilac and are always headed on a trip some place. If I were you I'd tell them what the price is going to be, and if they don't like it then so be it.

[bob]

Unless their name is the Sopranos I'd tell them thats your rock bottom price. Don't sell your self short. For every customer that you loose there are 10 wanting your services.

[Edited by bob on 03-15-2001 at 06:08 PM]

[Charles]

I agree with lawnboy11. The day I start to succumbing to black mail is the day I get out of the lawn biz all together. YOu have to keep your bids inline with the profit margin your business requires. You also have to be willing to walk away after you make a bid and let the loser lowballer have it. And when the loser lowballer rob and kill the old people. Maybe then they will have learned a valuable lesson. Well maybe the next old customers will learn from it.

[jeffyr]

Trying to head the problem off at the start could be the solution. Discuss all the services they want throughout the season before the season and then you may have a better idea what prices you can give them knowing how much work they will give you.

For example, If I have a customer that gets lawncare only he will most likely pay a little more for that service than someone who gets all the maintenance, chem, and shrub trimming. I feel small discounts can be offered for quantity of work since the more time you spend(or more work you do) on one property, the less travel time & expenses and less billing, etc.

jeffyr

[65hoss]

I have one of those customers try this on me this morning. Do you mulch? How much? $65 per yard? Oh my, 2 years ago the boys did it for $20. Maybe they got there mulch cheaper than you? I doubt it! I can't pay that much. I have to watch my expenses.

Oh please!! The old woman lives in a new 3500 sq ft house by herself on a golf course. After all this, she tells me she is about to leave for a casino.

[SummitFarmer]

I think alot of times we forget that these people weren't able to afford Cadi's (don't see why you would want one) and nice big houses by paying top dollar for everything. So many people just try to get the best for less and they have to ask. I agree you shouldn't be strong-armed and should stick with your price, but just realize what they are doing and go on. Everything is negotiable, and while I don't think you should be cheap, you should always try to get the best price you can.

[Currier]

I sent out a final notice to 5 customers that had not reknewed. One of them called to say "We are on a fixed income and will have to go with someone cheaper..." He was acting like it was some huge price jump. Actually it was a rather minor adjustment and he was getting a great price plus a guarranteed freeze on price raises for the next three years! (a special deal for current customers)
If he calls back now I will rebid it. But at the new customer price...with sure and steady price increases every year.

[cleancut]

Sounds like you're stuck in a vicious cycle..If you don't stand your ground and stick to your prices, they're always going to look at you as their "little lawn boy down the street"...Just explain that you're a professional, you're licensed, insured and have to make a certain amount to cover your costs...If they don't agree with the price, just drop them like a bad habit and go after more desirable accounts....Everyone in the lawn biz have these type of customers...As a matter of fact, I have a few right now...Little old lady calls me this morning, says that she needs pruning done immediately...I tell her I'm booked up for a week..This makes her mad...I tell her I have to have more notice that a couple of hours..Told her she was more than welcome to call someone else...She decided to wait and let me do it...It really didn't matter to me one way or another...Stick to your Guns...Derrick

[Henry]

I've got a lot of customers like this in my area. This crazy old lady in 5 br house on a corner lot. Kids are gone, husband died 15 yrs ago and she stays in this house by herself, complaing that she can't afford quality work.

BUY A SMALLER HOUSE!!

[geogunn]

hmmmm...funny the ole crustys would be strongarming you. I cut for a bunch of them and when they want me to do something else they just ask. and I just give them a price.

In six years I have never had even one of them ever threaten me with their busisness if I didn't do extra work for their price.

and if I ever have one of them pull a stunt like you alledge, they are going to get a big "(BLANK) off".

GEO

[Likestomow]

…is what you are facing. When supply (LCO's) goes up, equilibrium price decreases.

To keep your price above market equilibrium, you must provide premium benefits to the consumer, such as dependability, quality service, trustworthiness, etc.

In this instance, taking on side jobs at a lower (than you want) price, I would consider the big picture: is the annual premium I receive on this mowing job more than the deficit I would incur on the side job? If the answer is there is still a premium, then you are coming out ahead by taking the side job at the "bully" price. Sometimes my emotions override my good sense, but I try to not let them.

Maybe your customer is playing Russian Roulette with you and who ever blinks first loses. But if not, then you are being faced with simple market forces, and you have to do the math and go by the numbers to see if you are profitable.

[awm]

If one of mine did that . I just start getting ready to replace them in the schedual.The next time I just say,well
Ive enjoyed working for you we ll stay in touch.
The only time its happened they ate a little humble pie.
Still do there lawn work though at my price.

[SLSNursery]

Brian - maybe if you are unsure of your margins or your business' financial needs you can adjust on the fly as you have mentioned. But, consider the problems you are causing for the long term operation of your company. For starters, I believe you will gain a reputation for working at the mercy of this type of customer. They will make referrals based on cost, not quality. For this you will gain increasing numbers of this type of customer. Secondly, I believe you should have higher margins on the extra jobs. It is important to maintain these margins in order to offset the lower margin work, like mowing. My guess is that you have several of these customers near one another and have already given them a low mowing price just to get in the door. While this approach is followed by many who are starting out in the business, it really doesn't work for the long term. Evaluate what you need to earn and have each job consistently contribute to that end.

In the mean time, find some friends or other associeates who are just starting out, and refer these customers over to them. Explain to your friends the situation and move on to the type of work you want to do. I'm not suggesting that you ambush your friends or associates with lousy customers. Instead, I think that there is an ass for every seat. I have referred out hundreds of 'lawn only' customers to other in the business simply because they are not in my target market. There are plenty of people I know who simply want to cut a bunch of lawns all close to one another. Some companies might thrive on working for this type of customer allowing you to move on towards greener pastures! With this scenario, you could perhaps be called in as the specialist, since the mowing guy doesn't mulch, etc. You could then leverage your position as the so called 'specialist' to command more money from the same customers who tried to leverage you by interrupting your recurring revenue stream. This may sound odd, but I assure you that it works and can work in your best interest.

[leeslawncare]

What i like is the ones that whine they are one a fixed income!.i tell them i wish i was because at least i would know i was gonna get paid every month! that usually shuts them up or pisses them off!