Little old lady customers

[1MajorTom]

Little old ladies can be so thrifty. ;)

We have a few streets that are basically lined with little old lady customers. By themselves, they would not be profitable at all. But because they are in a row, we bang them out really quick and the profit is actually better than a large scale yard.

Anyways, I went back to our garden tonight. We are polluted with tomatos. We picked 78 tomatos just tonight. So I told Matt, we got to give them to some of our customers.

So he decides to call the little old ladies. It will be easy dropping them off. All in a row.

The first lady he calls, he explains that we have a lot of tomatos, we'd like to give her some, blah blah blah and so on, and she says, "Well I don't know. How much are they?"

It's getting bad. Our customers are thinking we are resorting to high pressure tomato sales :):blob4:


So in conclusion, for any new guys just starting out, it's probably best not to target little old ladies for new customers unless you are lining up a bunch of them. They tend to hold onto their wallet.

[mdb landscaping]

ive always had great luck with the older generation. i guess one of my accounts being my grandmother is a given, but they are always willing to pay on time. they are always asking if id like something to drink, and why dont i stop and rest. come holidays they always send a card. (sometimes with a bonus) i know there are some cranky older generation people out there, but i cant knock any of my clients.

[Charles]

I agree. These type are also moody and time consuming and also a PITAzz. They brag about saving a dollar on anything. YOu try to help them out and they dont even appreciate it. Most of them have no idea what is takes to run a biz or how hard it is to work out in this heat. Most but not all, some gems do exist but they are far and few between

[Eric ELM]

That's funny Jodi. :laugh:

I used to do a lot of retired people too. What I found hard was when they passed away, it's like losing a friend. :(

[1MajorTom]

MDB,

You are right though about the paying thing. They always pay on time. Never have a problem with bad checks either.

[danthemowerman]

someone on here said that there are two kinds of Mexicans, the real good ones and the real bad ones. This is very true with old folk. They are eighter the nicest people in the world and are so appreciative of you...or they are real aholes who do nothinh but ***** and complain and are cheap as hell and would rather die than ever tip you, or except a rate increase of even a dollar!!!
I have one old widdow who dispises my because here grandson, he's about 30, stopped mowing here lawn and hired me, and when I got sick of hearing her talk about every little thing each week and decide to just take the money, say thanks and leave see now complains about something new that I do every week and is always wrong. I do a decent job for her.When I'm done I just crab the money, nod my head to whatever she's bithching about, say thanks, about get the hell out of dodge.

MAN I HATE MOST OLD FOLK.............AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[danthemowerman]

and as a word of advise NEVER offer a senior discount!!!
That's just asken for trouble, you'll only get the cheap pain in the a$$'s!!!

[Evan528]

I have 2 clients left that aqre senior citizens!!!! I couldnt take them! Yes they pay on time (usually the day they get the bill)....... but none of them want to spend a nickel! They are retired and have nothing left to do then to nick pick about rediculous things!!! Its sad but...... I will no longer take a Senior citizen client! I give them high quotes... and since there all price shoppers they find someone much cheaper!

[dhicks]

I don't mind the older crowd. Yes, some of them are so tight they screw the scocks on in the morning. But their money spends just as well as my younger professional crowd. What I like about this business and working for myself is the opportunity to walk away from any job or customer. :blob3:

[1MajorTom]

Agreed Eric. Its sad when something happens to them.

We recently received a call from a son of one of our customers who resides in Maryland. We were shocked to find out that his mom (our customer) was going to be moving to Maryland into an assisted living arrangement. He said that she had been getting confused lately although we hadn't noticed that. She always seemed sharp to us while we were there.

Now we will still be taking care of her lawn, and her son will be paying the bills.

I could go on, but heck I'd bore everyone. We all have stories and if all 4400+ members chose to tell them, wow, things could get kinda crazy around here ;)

[fivestarlawnken]

Deja vu??????????????? I recieved tomatoes from one of my older ladies Tuesday. My area has a large population of older ladies ,they do pay on time and won't spend any extra. Oh well. Someday that will be all of us............:angel:

[Nathan]

We gave up about 30 little old bastards earlier this year. There is a point where you just can't take it anymore. Yes they pay on time, but what does it matter when they want to give you pennies on the dollar compared to 'average' customers.

[geogunn]

this frownie face is or all of you that don't know what it is like to have an older parent that needs lawn care.:angry:

my parents lived nearly 250 miles away when my father died. eventhough I talked to my mother once or more times a day everyday from the day my father died, I could not get home every week to cut the grass.

she finally found a guy to cut the grass that she trusted. when I would go home she wouldn't want me to cut the grass because she had this guy coming once a week to do it.

this guy was clueless about lawncare. didn't even own a trimmer or blower but he was honest and dependable. and he always brought my mother something from his garden.

so all of you that haven't gone through what I have, I hope you never have to.

let's lay off the old folks crap. you are takling about someone's mother!

GEO

[gusbuster]

Originally posted by Eric ELM
That's funny Jodi. :laugh:

I used to do a lot of retired people too. What I found hard was when they passed away, it's like losing a friend. :(

Jodi, funny post.

Eric, your statement hit home with me. A good portion of my clientle have been with my family for over 30 years. It is sad to see them pass on. I do try to make their funeral services, as some of these people were like my grandparents that I never really got to know.

John

[SLS]

Almost all of my 30 accounts are retired/widowed women.

They are loyal, quick to pay, and are appreciative of my effort to take care of their lawns. Some have even suggested raising my rates because of the fuel prices! They are quick to brag about my service to their friends and do not hesitate to refer me to anyone who may need lawn care.

Most of them have had bad experiences with sloppy, undependable, smart-mouthed lawn guys. They NEVER consider dropping me for the "$15 a cut" flyer guy.........they know what a rip-off is.

They treat me like a son and give me veggys from their gardens, ask about my family, and usually include a little 'present' in the Christmas card they send me.

I'm sorry that everyone's "little old ladies" are not a GREAT as mine.

It's the younger, professional, know-it-all, saving for a BMW type that gives me the most grief...and they price shop too.

And geogunn, I hear you, bro! Sometimes we are the closest thing these 'little old ladies' have for family. I've found that if you take care of them they will take care of you.

Maybe I've just been lucky...but I'll admit that when I show up to do an initial bid and the person, young or old, comes across as cranky, flaky, or mean I just price it sky-high so that I won't have to deal with them in the first place.

I don't want customers that I don't like and can't be friendly with.

[fivestarlawnken]

Guys and Girls Geogunn is right.:) My quote earlier "Someday that will be us":angel: :angel:

[awm]

thank you eric ,geogun an the rest.im losing one soon thats been fighting cancer for yrs.this is the hard pt of my job.
but i usually get a lesson in courage and an appreciation for each day. later TM

[leeslawncare]

I agree with you too eric.I lost 1 last year she was like the granmother i never had.she got birthday an christmas gifts for my lil girl an we ( the family ) would just stop by to visit. got to lovem...

[Lawn-Scapes]

In Florida I had a lot of little ol' ladies. They could talk you right out of your work day if you weren't careful.

Here.. I don't have any and I like it!

[kutnkru]

Nothing worse than cutting a yard "On The House" as a last time, because we lost another valuable friend.

I find it very hard at times to not get emotional when a client who has been a dear friend for x number of years passes away or even moves away.

Thats the hard part of this business for me, is that because of the approach I try to take it gets hard not to become emotionally involved at times. :(

Yesterday My brother and I paid a visit to the young son(10) of a client who had surgery. I took him some books, and a bagful of no-bake cookies that he told me he loved so much one time.

His grandmother who is also a client was touched by the sentiments of my stopping by, and thought we were just the greatest!

Kind of an awkward statement from the "Little General" who oversees all from her stoop when we mow. Maybe this will put us into a different light in her eyes now. :rolleyes:

Kris

[strickdad]

i agree major.. they are tighter than a tic around here too. however they do remain faithfull to us ...

[Richard Martin]

I do lawn servicing for several older ladies. It is true, they are so tight moths fly outta their purses when they open them. And they talk an awful lot. One of them takes about 20 minutes to write out the check every week. I stopped collecting every week and collect every 2 weeks now.

On the other hand they pay on time and whenever I ask for it. You don't have to go chasing them down because they don't have anywhere to go.

[Sland]

We have 10 elderly customers. Sure they can be hard to deal with at times but so can the young professionals. All of our elderly customers are full service customers ( mow, fert, lime, aerations Ect) Would'nt trade them for the world.

[Lee Homan]

What I don't understand is that they are trying to maintain a big house that they use to do when their husbands were alive and could do the mowing, trimming the shrubs, painting or whatever else needed to be done. Now there is one less person in the house and the money is tighter and their still trying to maintain everything. Why not sell that bid old house because you don't 3-4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths and move into a small townhouse or condo?

[leeslawncare]

Lee,I asked one of my ol folks that an she said two words .pride an love .they take pride in what was theirs an love the memories they had there.can't argue with that.

[Premo Services]

leeslawncare:
I have one like that now. Have been a customer for 6 years, and husband past last year. She has no intention of moving out of the large house. The sad thing is that I seen the husband get worse as I was working for them.Every week I would see him in the big window watching me as I worked. To this day I look at the window and expect to see him there. I do everything that I can for her, in the spring, I hook up dehumidifiers, I have replaced faucets,etc, when I have the time. I have very good customers, but could never do this for them, too time consuming, and my money is tied up in equiptment for mowing.

[lawnperfections]

1/2 of my customers are the older crowd. I love them. They ALWAYS pay on time, there flexible, friendly, loyal and genuine. They are always bringing me drinks and snacks when I'm out at there house and don't mind paying for my service. It is hard to see them get older though. I had 3 customers have heart attaches on the same street in 10 days(thankfully, all lived). Right now the husband of my very favorite couple is getting worse, fallen a few times, refuses to give in to a wheelchair. These people are like my grandparents, its very hard to see.