Mowing Too Fast ???

[Pro-Lawn]

http://pro-lawncare.com
Just today i lost one residential account. The customer said that we were going way too fast and that he was tired of seeing us zip up and down. I said sir, these are high dollar commercial mowers which are rated to mow at 9 mph , and we were not even traveling probably 6mph.
The grass was not tall , and looked very nice at that pace. But the customer still replied, i dont care it doesnt look like mowing to me.
Has anyone had this happen to them before ?:confused:

[cantoo]

Yes, usually when it is time to pay. They will sometimes say, boy that didn't take very long.. I used to keep a copy of my bill of sale for my new Walker to remind them how and why I cut so fast,,,,, and why I still need to charge for it. They seem to think that because it only takes a short time to do the lawn that they should only be charged a few dollars. This is a real problem in the Fall for leaves, if they see you sweat and breaking your back for 3 hours raking their lawn they are happy to pay you $100 but do it with the Walker (GHS) in 30 mins and they figure you should only get $20..
hmm let's see rake for $12 Walker GHS for $15000 can you say "overhead"

[Eric ELM]

Some people think you have to mow at 1 mph to do the job right. Watch a government job guy mowing a park or rest areas along the interstate. You have to drive a stake next to them to see it they are moving. :)

Never lost one from going to fast.

[GLM]

Pro Lawn don' sweat it. Customers like this are a pain don't think twice about them move on and get another good customer. You just can't talk to some people. I know what your saying and I just tell them matter of factly that what I'm diong is the best for the yard or lawn and explain why i'm doing it this way and if they still don't lie it then they need to find someone else to do it for them. I really don't have time for people like this. If the lawn looks good when your done they should not be talking,looks bad then they have a complaint. Some times people are upset with how fast you mow because of the price they are paying not relizing that expensive commercial equiptment can do what their cheap mowers cannot.

[Keith]

Originally posted by Eric ELM
Some people think you have to mow at 1 mph to do the job right.

Some people think you need to mow at 1 mph with a 21" mower to earn their money :p

Pro-Lawn, he did you a favor, don't even think about it. It's just they way some people think.

[David Gretzmier]

I have had this happen to me as well. when I was mowing lawns at about 25 bucks an hour with a craftsman 38" rider and went to a 61" grasshopper, man- folks noticed. I was doing a 2 acre property in about 2.5 hours, and went down to 55 minutes on the new rig. ! when I told him it would still be 65 bucks he hit the roof ! for some reason, some people don't understand a $10000 mower should at LEAST bring in twice per hour what a $1000 mower does. leaves knock us back to 35 per man hour, but that is usually 35 for mower guy and AND 35 for blower guy. not a killing, but keeps us alive in winter months. Dave g

[Pro-Lawn]

http://pro-lawncare.com
Hey, thanks for the input guys. Ive never been let go from a lawn in my 5 years of operating, and boy this was hard to take. Ive been getting new customers everyday and they have been good ones, so money wise its no biggy, but it still was a reality check that **** happens even when you do a good job. I told my crew today that maybe we should slow down a bit. I think well just keep on mowin and move on. :D

[LJ lawn]

when i get into this conversation with some people i tell them that if i could just drive by and wave a magic wand and their lawn would be done the same way,just as they like it,it would still be the same price.and then i ask them why they should care if it takes 5 minutes or an hour to do it? but then these are the same people who think you shouldn't mow it because it didn't grow 9" high yet.it's better off not having to deal with these types of customers.it promotes positive mental health.was it really worth the extra $25-$30 bucks a week? NAH!

[joshua]

good point LJ, that customer isn't worth $25-$30 a week, let some scrub do it and make him even madder when the lawn looks like sh!t.

on complaints i have had about going so fast on the lazer were when are you gunna get another so your other guy can cut the back as fast and as nice as you do the front. honest to god a lady told 2 of my guys this. :blob3:

[SLS]

...because it used to take them all day to mow that same lawn with a 20"...heheheh. Back when minimum wage was $3.25 an hour.

Remind them that you are paid by the job...not by the hour.

Besides, you didn't spend 10 grand on a good machine just to have to "slow down" did ya? ;)

Don't give 'em a second thought.

Peace!

[DanG]

I've had one complaint like that.

The older lady who owned the property thought that it should take me the same time that her nephew took to do the job he was using a 21" push mower and it took him 2 1/2 hrs to do it.

I did it in 35 minutes with my z-master and she didn't want to pay me because it took so little time.

I very simply explained it to her that because of the equipment that I have it doesn't take the same amount of time.

And I gave her this example to show her how it works.

If she was shoveling her driveway it would take X amount of time to do it.

A snow blower would cut that time down and a truck with a plow would take it down even further to only minutes instead of maybe an hour for her to shovel.

She saw the light after that and now she's one of my best customers

[Barkleymut]

Tell them you use the latest and best equipment. This allows you to be off their lawn quicker so they can enjoy it. Then equate it to a doctor. You wouldn't go to one who kept you in the hospital for long. You want your body treated and then released from the hospital. You also wouldn't go to a Scrub Dr. LOL

[CLARKE]

Just today at the car wash i was washing my mowers
and this lady came up to me and said i got a lawn that
would take you maybe 5 min's or so with your big mowers,
So i said At least $15.00 per mow she said that much.
I said yep i don't need a small account like this but i
can get to it from my house in 2min mow for 5 back in 2
$1500 per mow take it or leave it, She said ok, So there
ya go 10 min's work with travel time $15.00 not to bad.:blob1: :blob3:
got to love them blobs.

[geogunn]

I have a little ole lady that either complains "that didn't take very long", or "it sure looks like you didn't work very hard".

the answer is always the same. "YES M'AM", as I hold my hand out for the check.

GEO

[jdseven]

I had the same problem this week. When I took this account the property was in bad shape and now it looks good as a matter of fact the guy next to them said it never looked so good. But the rate of $45 dollars per hour was to much. This lot is about 15000 sf and I keep the beds weed free. I advised them to find a new lawn service.

[trimmer]

All my customers always tell me how fast I get done. Had one lady come out and told me I looked like blasing fire on the move. I just told her that was just starting to get my speed back. None of my customers care how fast I go as long as everything that needs to be done is done right and looks good.

[awm]

just tellum they hired a pro and you get what you pay for.

[eggy]

Hmmm I do belive leaning to all commercial is the way....or for us anyway.....

[muxx]

I have had that happen 3 times this year. They were all elderly people, not understanding the way the new mowers run. They can live with computers and the technology that has come with it, but not understand the technology, that mowers have came along way also.

[LoneStarLawn]

Sure is great when customers are not home...

[Pro-Lawn]

LoneStarLawn!!! I loved your Comment. Thats the best Customer to have.



Keep on Mowin. :D :p


http://pro-lawncare.com

[casey]

Why not pass some of the savings in time off to the customer in a moderate price break. If you can mow a lawn twice as fast with better equip. then you could drop the price a few bucks and still make twice what you were making before. Faster production=more customers at less cost.
I believe the customer, who contributes to the purchase of new equip., should enjoy the benefit of hiring a pro who can not only do a good job, but can do a good job FAST.
Look at any successful business and they will not "show you the receipt" for their expensive equip., they will try to pass off the benefits of the new equip. to the customer.
One example, I bought a Sthil articulating hedge trimmer this year,and it has cut time in half for some hedge jobs. I now charge a little less for those jobs but I can fit in more of them. I benefit. The customer benefits.
I realize this doesn't have much to do with the original post, if the customer tries to tell you what to do then pack up and leave, but only to the replies.

[LoneStarLawn]

Casey I think you missed the post about overhead...Though you have more expensive equipment to do the job quicker that doesn't mean that your price is now too high. Granted you can make more money now, but your overhead costs are now higher. The customer needs to realize that they are paying for a finished product no matter how long it takes to get there.

[script]

Pro-Lawn I say never slow down for anyone. If you can do a better job in half the time that it might take someone else to do it, then do it. There are good customers that understand that you're a professional and can get the job done more efficiently. Although I've had some customers complain that I "did it too fast", I've actually had customers appreciate the fact that I was in and out quickly and not spending the day making noise in their yard. Besides, the quicker you get done, the more money you make.

[65hoss]

Amen Lonestar!

I try to do as many as possible with nobody home.

[curlawngreen]

When the ROTO_ROTOR guy comes, he says $125.00 for up to 50 feet , after that it is $360.00.One hour of work, $3500.00 piece of equipment. Who is trying to save somebody else money. When I try to save somebody money I do it for FREE. If you can't afford a Cadilac don't test drive one.

[casey]

Lonestar,
Do you think Mcdonald's charges more because they have expensive equip. and overhead? If you can increase productivity then share the benefit with the customer. Do more, charge less, make money.
Just because you're running a $$$$$ machine over some lawn doesn't mean you should gouge a customer. DO MORE-CHARGE LESS. You may even be able to lowball the scrubs.

"I show the receipt (for the expensive mower) to the customer"???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?

[summitgroundskeeping]

Happens to me a few times a week. Usually from people 45 or older. I mow at (I think) 7 mph. Can't imagine how bad they'd complain if I had a Chopper.

[Currier]

Casey, a lawnguy is not a huge corp. We don't run blue light specials and we don't have sales of the week. What motivation is there to try to improve your service by using the latest technology if that only means that you must now lower your price?

My philosophy is, do the best job with the best equipment for the job at the highest price I can get, for only the best customers.

Time is the commodity that we sell. If we are willing to take the risk (debt) to buy equipment that allows us to increase the amount of commodity that we have to sell, why short ourselves by charging less? By charging less we simply devalue the market and end up mowing twice as many lawns to make ends meet. Give me 5 $50.00 lawns over 10 $25.00 lawns anyday!

[TFL]

i had one lady fire me (glady) said my mowers were too big for her 1 acre yard she would rather have it push mowed with a 21" nothing larger.

[65hoss]

Casey, the more you mow the faster the equipment wears out. The sooner your back to buy more equipment. And all along it was because you wanted to cut more and make less. Go figure???

Work smarter not harder.

[casey]

65
I think you got it half right.
Mabe that's why there's scrubs.

Work Harder.. Work Smarter

[David Gretzmier]

casey- I don't quite get it. I spend more on equipment, and I charge less? lets look at the innovations in other areas of work and see if your logic pans out:

1 irrigation- do the guys with the trenchers charge more than the guys that dig them by hand? NO- they charge the same, and the trencher guy makes payments, the hand guy pays labor.
2 weed control- does the guy that has a $30,000 rig charge less than a guy with a 2 gallon or back pack-NO- the chemlawn guy brings in 1000-1400 per day, and makes payments, the backpack guy- maybe $500
3 landscape- the guys that plant trees by hand or by machine- who charges more- they charge the Same- who makes more? depends,
4- roofing- have roofers charged less since they went to air nailers? nope, it is still priced "per square" the air nailer is faster, ergo the roofer makes more
5- framers charge less with air nailer, decidedly not! they get more done in a day, make more
6- tile cutters chage more after buying a diamond wetsaw? nope- it is per square ft.
7- painters more using airless? nope- make more by charging per square ft
8 accountants and computers?
9 groceries and the scanner machine?
10 surveyers and laser levels?

CASEY- NONE of these prices went down! all adapted using technology but none lowered thier prices. I think an argument could be made that technology has slowed inflation on some fronts, but rarely have I heard my doctor say- "you're in luck- with my new $800,000 x-ray xz2000, I have done your xray in 1/4 the time, that'll be 1/4 the price please" yeah, RIGHT

Dave g

[jones]

Dave G.
You are correct "technology has slowed inflation".
By not increasing prices at an inflationary rate all of the professions you mention have passed off the benefits of technology to their customers. They have, in effect lowered their prices, because they are using superior equip.. The benefits of technology, ie faster better mowers, can be shared with the customer with lower, less inflationary prices. The business owner benefits with faster production, more customers serviced, and greater profit. In theory this practice will also stamp out many non legit LCO's many of which do not have the benefit or experience with up to date top quality machinery.

WORK HARDER WORK SMARTER

[LoneStarLawn]

Casey how can you compare apples to oranges? No one said gouge the customer either....just keep the same rate. Do you actually know if McDonald's got a better grill that actually cooked the burgers faster or the fries faster? They could have gotten a more expensive machine and still keep their prices the same. Heck they could have gotten cheaper meat...but the finished product is still the same so the cost can stay the same because the market will allow it. It is really not fair to compare the food industry with the green industry...find a better comparison...


Just because you do more does not mean that you had a higher profit either....

[jones]

Lonestar,
Check dave G.'s comparisons two posts up, they are better examples, then read my reply underneath.

Formerly Casey.

If your interested in the name change check the "Take the lawncare plunge" thread on page 2.

[LoneStarLawn]

Thanks Jones...I read what casey wrote and wentt and replied without looking at David G's post...I think he was dead on.