phone estimates? thoughts............

[Furness & Sons L&L]

So without hijacking another thread, a question was raised. Do you give estimates over the phone for weekly mowing, sprinkler repair,pruning........For example, when a customer calls with the sq footage to there lawn,

" I have a 2000 sq ft lawn, all front yard, no obstacles, what would that run for weekly lawn mowing and edging."

or

"i have a head thats shooting into the sky like a fountain, what do u think that will cost?" "Can u just give me a price over the phone without coming out?"


I never give mowing prices out, its almost always another lawn care company price shopping,plus I think when u meet with customer they can really get a feel for who I am and what we are all about. It just makes sense to me. I do give the sprinkler repair rate just because everyone is the same give or take $10-$15 buks, and its usually fist come first serve.
how about you guys what prices do you give over the phone, or do not.
Not just limited to mowing, leaves and sprinklers. Hope everyone has a great leaf season.................:waving:

[Hanau]

Not to new clients or strangers, people I know. More importantly people who's property I know, I'll venture a ballpark. Price it high over the phone just incase there's any surprises, then drop it where it needs to be after I eyeball it.

Other LCO's:

"Yeah, 2,000 sq. ft. wide open, oh that's gonna run you tree fitty a week."

[LouisianaLawnboy]

Give them a ball park.
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[mnglocker]

Give them a ball park.
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Plus or minus 500% and then offer to go to the job "So you can bid it properly in order to assure the best service possible." .

[Furness & Sons L&L]

Some people are very weird. A few years back the lady went nuts because i wouldnt give her a price over phone, i gave her an idea, i was in neighborhood went by gave her the estimate, picked up the account. Was the weirdest thing.

[DitchDr]

Only price I give over the phone is the minium I charge for climbing trees. 200.00 per hour 2 hour minium, but before we lock in a price I will need to look at the job.. I pick up 8 out of 10 jobs that way. I dont do over the phone estimats on lawn care. Someones 1/4 may be a 1/2 acre, and just a few leaves may be 4 truck loads.

But having said that I am usualy willing to be there with in the hour or set it up with the home owner to do the estimate while they are home.

[topsites]

Usually...

Phone calls like that?
Means someone's out to get a discount, at least in the early years...
Either the yard is ten times bigger than they said, or the grass is way tall,
or they act like they just want the lawn mowed yet there's leaves everywhere...
Could be anything else too, along those lines thou...
So it's a lot more work than it sounded, and they wanted the regular price, see?
At least that's been my experience.

Some people are very weird. A few years back the lady went nuts because i wouldnt give her a price over phone, i gave her an idea, i was in neighborhood went by gave her the estimate, picked up the account. Was the weirdest thing.

Now there's ways to handle it, but that takes time.
And I don't always get the job either.

Only price I give over the phone is the minimum I charge

Yup, that's what I do, give them a run down of what it would usually cost.
But I'm also familiar with most of the neighborhoods, and what their lots look like.
Sometimes I know which house it is, because I've been through there so many times...
Once that comes out they realize it's not my first day on the job, and that tends to change the tune.
So, it takes time.

And I still don't always get the job, even less so if they keep going with it...

[Allens LawnCare]

Never over the phone for several reasons
1....Other LCOs or Friends of LCOs calling
2....Your "Charging Eye" and the customers "Paying Eye" are two different things, A couple of shrubs turns in to a hedge 500' long........but wait you said $40 bucks....
3....A Flowerbed measuring 15x24......"how much to weed and add a fresh layer of mulch" asked the Customer....Price would be X....Nice let's do it.....you show up....BAM did they forget to mention that it's at the end of 1,000' of grass, oh and up on a hill. he he one more thing, No Trucks on the grass...you have to hump it on foot.
4....Most important to me anyways is Face to Face Eye Contact. When you show up on time, a firm hand shake and contract ready they know you mean business. Show them a small portfolio of your work, even if it's only mowing pictures...

[Tom3982s]

I would give them a ballpark, why not, it can;t hurt... I do this all the time when I want a quote, I call and ask. I live rurally, so people coming out here is a long distance and a pain.

[mowingsite]

Only price I give over the phone is the minium I charge for climbing trees. 200.00 per hour 2 hour minium, but before we lock in a price I will need to look at the job.. I pick up 8 out of 10 jobs that way. I dont do over the phone estimats on lawn care. Someones 1/4 may be a 1/2 acre, and just a few leaves may be 4 truck loads.

But having said that I am usualy willing to be there with in the hour or set it up with the home owner to do the estimate while they are home.

Big agree on the lawn part...if they say they are a neighbor or friend of a current customer I will go ahead since that's prolly not another company.

[Furness & Sons L&L]

Big agree on the lawn part...if they say they are a neighbor or friend of a current customer I will go ahead since that's prolly not another company.

I have done this before with success. I also can usually tell what size the lawn is from the neighborhood they are in as well, been doing this for some 13 years now. Im just not comfortable throwing prices out there to people that are so dead set on _ just getting a price over the phone. There has to be no less that 500 guys here mowing lawns. If they know what we charge thats fine, i just don't want it to be that easy for them. I have talked to the guy in the pick up that charges $40 a lawn and does awesome work and only has 4 acts a day, and i have talked to the other guy we all know in the pick up that charges $15 bucks a lawn, and does'nt pay a lick of taxes and cannot be held responsible if he jacks something up. I must get 5-10 calls a day for estimates, and theres always that one that you can tell by the way he is asking what we charge its another start up company trying to jump in on our prices without knowing his own hourly cost of operation. When they start asking about aeration and power raking in the middle of summer you just know its not a customer trying to set that service up early.