Protecting Your Reputation

[Sean Adams]

There is a nice read out there called "365 Ways To Become A Millionaire Without Being Born One" written by Brian Koslow - it contains short writings about different things you can do everyday to move closer and closer to becoming successful or more successful than you already are. It is not one of those bokks you sit down and read all the way through.

I was reading the "Reputation" section this morning - good stuff....

"Your reputation is the single most important asset you own. It can single-handedly influence the thoughts and opinions that people have of you and affect their actions before you have even met. It can shape the expectations of a person, an organization, a city, or the world.

Your reputation invisibly attracts and repels opportunities everyday, whether you are concious of it or not. Your reputation is perpetuated by persistent behavior or altered by change in behavior.

Your reputation is a sacred personal asset. It is a powerful legacy that can bring you a future of success."


This is so true in this industry. If you are considered or rumored to be unreliable, overpriced, and/or hard to work with, how many opportunities do you think you are going to encounter.

In the end, no advertisement is as powerful as a positive reputation traveling fast.

Be on time, do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it....in fact, do more than you get paid for and your reputation will bring you more business than you can handle.

[n-green]

That is good advice, especially now that the weather is hot and everything is overpriced. It's easy to get discouraged and think about cutting corners.

[Midstate Lawncare]

If someone brings up what someone else has said, smile and say somthing along the lines of "consider the source", or "yeah he/she talks a lot". or agree with them with a smile on your face saying "Yep, I am hard to work with! I'm a perfectionist!" Or "My prices are higher than some because of the quality work I do, and my guarantees.... does so and so give guarantees"? These are all disarming statements that get the person on your side. But remember... Always Smile!

[DLAWNS]

I agree, reputation is one of if not the most important thing in business. I do my best to keep my name in good standing with all current and potential customers.

[White Gardens]

I agree too.

Reputation is everything in our biz. I feel that how you start your biz reputation is pivotal too. You can have the cleanest, nicest looking equipment, but if you don't have the customer service to back it up, you'll be going no where fast.

I agree also with having a good rep allows you to charge more. It might take more time to build a customer base with higher prices, but you would reap the benefits down the road when people seek out your services and you are recognized for your work.

Being a salesman is %75 of our work.

[scottgalat]

Many in the lawn care field don't realize how important a "customer service oriented attitude" is to success. Is the customer always right? Almost never, but the importance of keeping a customer's respect extends well past their property line. Neighbors talk, and you need them to be saying only good things about you. If you are experiencing a high turnover of customers, you must make a serious effort to find out why, the real reason why. Once identified, you can stop the damage. To lose customers on a large scale is not a normal thing. If this is occurring, the reason may be "poor customer service skills". Treat the customers as valued things, because they are. They are how you earn your living. You don't make your money cutting a bunch of grass. You make your money keeping a bunch of people happy, by cutting their grass.

[Sturob]

I agree as well. My reputation is the single most best seller of my business. All would agree that the best customer is the one that you got by word of mouth. I may spend a little more time with my customers than most and talk to them about things that mean nothing to me but that is was keeps them around. Think about it, when you call tech. support and talk to a person who does not even speak your language you get discouraged right off the bat. Now if you called tech. support and they started by asking you what you thought about last nights game, that would be a lot more comfortable.