Would this be wrong?

[Lawn-Scapes]

Walk up to an account after another LCO has finished.. and tell the homeowner that I can do a better job for less $$$?

Just Kidding :D

Seriously now.. I watched this LCO do a mow, blow and go... Cut way too short, left clippings lay on turf, no edging, etc... It's filled with weeds too.

No professional image what-so-ever.. no shirts.. scruffy looking...

This is a nice neighborhood.

After they left I felt like knocking on the homeowners door and asking if they feel they are getting their monies worth (if they were happy). I just want to give 'em my card and tell them to take a walk around the corner and see my work.. Tell them they won't need an address.. they'll know it when they see it :D

I asked my wife and she didn't think it was a good idea.. She said what if someone did it to you? I said but I do a great job! She said.. maybe they think they are too.

[rodfather]

I'm with you, Tom.

[AielLandscaping]

i had this happen to me just the other day.. one of my customers said a lco came up to her door and had already decided what her lawn was worth, pointed out all the errors he could find and told her what he'd charge... so the next time i showed up my customer tells me that she's going to hire someone else if i can't beat his price... btw the errors that this guy pointed out were things that she had not desired me to do previous to him coming along, and some things that she told me to do despite my telling her that her way wasn't right...anyhow i recalculated her property with doing what this other lco claimed he would do and my price was higher. i called her up and left the price on her answering machine and haven't heard back yet.. that was monday. so i don't know yet if i've lost that one or not.. oh well no big whoop...

[2 man crew]

I wouldn't have even questioned it. :D

This is business not a LCO popularity contest. Life is short GO GET IT! ;)

[Mykster]

That's how I got my first commercial acct. The guy would leave clippings and never edged. I charged $80 more than what he did it for. But I lost that acct. this year to a guy who cut my price in half.

[KirbysLawn]

I have heard twice this week on pricing "can you help me out a little", wonder why people think we are here to "help" them with their finances? I'm there to help with their lawn, that it. Wonder if these people call the phone company and ask for help?

[garydale]

Tom, I'm in agreement with your wife.It is not professional to dump on your competition. I would refuse to bad mouth someone even if asked by the customer. That sort of thing will come back to bite you.

Let your work speak for you. Ask your "nice lawn" homeowner if he knows the guy with the bad cut. Maybe use the "nice lawn" as a reference when you put out flyers.

Sorry for the speech, but professionalism and image are important.

[Tom_B]

Gladly that wont happen to me,I cut the lawn as good as i can but all the laws i mow are crappy they are full of dead spots and dirt with so many bumps that theres no way the Mower wont cut in some and if somebody tells them they can do it better well maby they can but they cant beat my price it just wouldnt be worth there time.

Anyway theres no way ill charge high price for these lawns because theres no way the lawns will look good untill they see a LandScaper and get them bumps fixed. But in the Neighborhood i live in there arent any good looking lawns anyway.

[awm]

the only problem i have with it was said before. lot o times the customers trying to be the expert an tell the lco how to do his job. just a little of this and i tellum ,ive been doing this a while and know what im doing . then if they want to change ,ill live with it.
can u imagine standing there telling a mechanic how to fix your car. not.
also makes me think of the reason for many affairs..
grass always looks greener over there ,if u get my drift.
then u find out new ones uglier than the first ,first thing in the morning. and twice as mean.
should u call on homeowners that u can improve ,yes,as long as u realize why they may not be up to par.

[TFL]

Most people want good service. went to one yard that had just been done clippings everywhere a.d it had not been blown. offered better service and got the job. costomer told me later the other guy only charged $10 i bid $60.

[cantoo]

We did a commercial property clean up today for someone who we don't cut for. Just as we were finishing and everything looked pretty good, I was thinking maybe we should cut the lawn while we were at it, you know we might get the cutting too kind of thought? The guy who cuts the property pulls up and starts to cut the lawn. So much for our beautiful clean up job. The front tire on one side of the JD ztr was slack so it was scalping on the one side every pass. Also because of this it was clumping too. Oh well, can't win or have them all.

[proline32]

I kinda see your point about going the the house and talking with the homeowner about you doing a better job, sometimes it works many times it doesn't. Personally, I don't bother with a neighbor like that, I belive that if they wanted to do business with me they will call me. I have had this exact same situation, I have a lawn that I restored to the point it looks like astroturf, the neighbor next door to this place can clearly see how good the work is but.... she hires a hack instead that doesn't even show up on a regular basis. My point is that they most time really don't care. Many folks out there just don't care how the yard looks, they just want it cut thats all.

[awm]

cantoo ,id had to just stand there a stare at the junk for a while,just for meanness.i can overlook a poor lawn if the customer is just holdinig the lcos arm .hard to get it done w somebody holding u back. however anybody calling himself an lco,
got no buisiness making that type mistake.