Dropping residentials...Going all Commercial...

[eggy]

Well guys I think it might happen this year...selling of my residentials...I love some of them but when comparing to commecial accounts I would much rather be at a commercial site. My commmercials which make up about 60% of my accounts dollar wise or so nice to mow...I am going on the fith cutting week, and still have not seen anyone from my commercial accounts other then to waive as the leave or come in, the bills get sent threw the mail and paid on time. My residentials are ok..but it seems we spend a lot of time having to be here on such and such day for a little $30-40 lawn...then ohh they want to see me not the employee..and so on...do many of you do all commercial??? Is this a crazy idea??? If I do drop residentials they will be sold to a local LCO wanting more residentials.....thoughts???

[Pauls Mowing]

Thats one reason why I stay away from the residentials as much as possible. The commercial/industrial is a much more peaceful and profitable life.

Paul

[John DiMartino]

Commercial is the way to go I think,trash is my biggest complaint,but they pay me to clean it up,and residentials leave hoses,rakes,toys,dog feces etcc...,then they all want it done on friday.

[kutnkru]

I dont think that all Commmercial or Industrial accounts is a bad idea if you can lock them into a two year contract. This way you will know that you have x amount of income for next season.

The main problem with this market is that they are usually not loyal and itds up to us to creatively keep within their budget or adjust to keep them happy.

Kris

[guntruck]

Yeah but one quick thought........If im not mistaken.........commercials only worry about the lowest bid on most properties. If you go all commercial then you open yourself up to the game of underbidding the next guy to get the account. Around here it seems quality is not an issue with these places just saving a few bucks. I know its not the most sensible way to look at things all the time but what if you could command a higher price because your known for your prestigious work? I just think that would be much easier in the residential market than in the commercial if not impossible unless your in a high $$$$$ hood. Not my views in stone......just a thought......=)

[Lawn Dog2001]

I would be careful with that. There are downsides to both commercial and residential accounts. You wont be so down on residential customers the first time a major customer decides to with hold a large months payment because one of your employees forgot to trim around a tree or two. Plus some businesses will take new bids at the end of each contract period. That means you may have to constantly adjust your price to keep jobs. There is no such thing as customer loyalty when you deal with commercial accounts. Personally I like a mix of both. I would make sure if I was going to sell off all of my residentials, that I made a big profit off of the sale. If you have a change of heart down the road it may take a while to rebuild your residential accounts.

[Ground Pounder]

What's a good way to get commercial accounts? I have heard about bidding, but that has passed for this year. Any success on cold calls?

I am getting sick of residentials saying "Can you cut my lawn? I pay X amount of dollars."

This is my business to run. When I tell them I have a $30 minimum, they usually say "Oh...I can't afford you." Man, I sure could use a few commercial accounts!

[cos]

I've made the decision to bid on alot of commercial next year. I like the peace of mind of being able to not see anyone, but tenants there. I don't have to answer to them.

[Bret Austin]

what is a good formula for calculating mowing prices? commercial or otherwise.
i only have one mowing account ( i do mainly lawn spraying ). it's commercial and i got it basically by default. whenever i give a bid it's generally really high. also, how early in the year are you guys sending bids to commercial accounts?

[eggy]

I bid commercials around the end of the year, and yes some look for a low price only, others want a qaulity cut. However bidding jobs each year is part of being in a contract buisness.

[lawnboy82]

the residentials you do, are they regular homes or estates? cause if they are estates you would be a fool to drop them. keep with your commercials and build them up. if you are not liking your residentials that much then go through your customer list and carefully weed out the ones you either dont like dealing with personality wise, or financially. take those and try to maybe sell them, or if nothing else hand em off. keep some good residentials, especially if they pay cash because having spare cash around is always a good thing, and as we all know if you work at a commercial they are not gonna just go and give you 50,000 cash or whatever it is for the year. honestly keep your good resi's around because also you never know who those people know that may want work done, and that may lead to more commercial bids. so i dont really think that you are gonna want to totally rid yourself of residentialy but more cull their herd. hope all goes well for you.

[Paradise Yard Service]

I've always viewed my 30-40 residentials as 30-40 pillars to a building. Lose a couple pillars and the building still stands. On the other hand if I lose just my one commercial then I will really see the differance in $$$$$. If all I had was a few commercials that provided the bulk of income then I would'nt like to lose one. I like to have both for reasons stated already.

Hope this helps.

Aloha,
P.Y.S.

[Michael Fronczak]

I've been concentrating on growing the commercial side of the business for 3 years now, going good. I have thought about geting rid of residential, I don't have the heart. I just got married over the winter, two of them sent cards with $, found out couple months ago baby on the way, one of them asked to tell her when baby was born, she said she loves to send cards. Now how can I drop customers like that.
It's hard, I know when I got large enough I weeded out all the ones I didn't enjoy doing, or that complained about their bills, life is much nicer now. We all need to realize that there are some people that are never happy, no matter how hard you try. I learned not to waste my time on them, spend the extra time with the customers that are happy & want add ons done, makes life much nicer.

[eggy]

I guess I should also say a while back on a old post I was getting insite on having someone else run my buisness, since I had a chance to go into another feild. Well the chance to enter that feild is looking well, however it does require time and training..3 months of school,where you report on monday morning and not allowed to leave until 5 on friday, my current guy can handle all the commercial accounts we have but I just do not belive my resiidentials he could handle. I might give it a shot but I would not like to get to many coals in the fire.

[A CUT ABOVE]

About 75% of our accounts are commercial. I wish all of them were. There is some truth to fact that there is not a lot of loyalty in commercial jobs, but that is not always the case. I have had several people try to bid on some of my nicer commercial accounts. The property manager just informs the people that are not accepting any bids. Every year several of my big commercial accounts send me a copy of MY original contract that I made them sign. They just change the dates every year and re-sign the agreement. I make good money on most of my accounts. I have gotten won several jobs with the high bid. People get fed up with having to change companies every year or two. We usually provide them with some extras throughout the year to make feel even better about the service we provide.
I think each person, or company just has to find their niche. Everyone can't do all commercial, there wouldn't be enough to go around.

[cos]

We have a free trade school like that here eggy. You have to stay there all week, (except weekends). It was granted from a gentleman along time ago, and is only for gentleman that have many qualifications. Your parents can only make so much a year, must have a diploma, 18-19 yrs of age, etc. Stay with it, it's well worth it when you graduate.

[Fine Lines Lawn]

YIKES!
I couldn't imagine dumping my residentials. They are very loyal, and as long as they like your work, they'll be with you as long as you are willing to service them.
Commercials, on the other hand, will be loyal until they get a lower bid.
I service both and will always keep my residentials.

[Charles]

Residential are loyal as long as you NEVER EVER go up on their rate LOL. Well some of them dont mind so much but most take it personal and dont care about inflation.

[John DiMartino]

One other thing about commercials,you'll never lose one to an uninsured guy working out of the trunk of his accord with a 21".All of mine want to see my insurance info every year.I actually have good loyalty,since my accounts are plowing too,and my plowing service is top notch,so I have no trouble keeping accounts on reliabilty,and good service,even if there is a guy a hair cheaper-they stick with me-so far anyway.

[65hoss]

"honestly keep your good resi's around because also you never know who those people know that may want work done" Lawnboy82

I can agree with this statement. I just got off the phone with one of my residential customers. He wants me to do an immediate job for his boss. His boss owns 20 houses and 7 companies. He said if I do it like I would my own, he has many more jobs for me. Guess what, potentially several commercials also.

[eggy]

COS, what i might be attending is a law enforcment basic, I have had tons of background checks etc, I guess it is decision time because today its about 99.9% I will be getting my letter to attend ......

[sheppard]

So how do you determine the price you will sell? I'm very new to the business. I'm buying a lawncare co. from a man who was in it for 20 years. I noticed that commercial was the way to go but I'm inheriting 55 residentials w/ 7 commercials. The risk of hitting cars or people seems higher than w/ residential. Did you determine that subing out the residentials was not worth it?

Cordially,
Sheppard

[kris]

we have a few high end residentials and that's ok..the rest are commercial that are a mix of ones that have to bid every year but lots that are very loyal...for those who haven't found loyal commercial accounts ..hang in there,they are out there.

[kris]

For Sheppard,

Don't give him any more than 10% of the contracts worth plus go low on the used equipment