day of week vs complaints

[jeffex]

I love to cut on thurs. or friday because everyone is happy to see us show up to mow. I try not to mow on mon. but when I do the petty comments go up. We do the same quality job on both days its just the customer mentality to think we only cut thier lawn . I put all my best customers at the end of the week. I explain to new customers how we use seniority and customer relations to evaluate who gets the best days. A new lady last tues. asked to be towards the end of the week. I told her it is everything we can do to keep up with our schedule now and when things slow down some I can move her to wed. but thurs. and friday are full. She understood the reasoning and was appriciative of that kind of loyality by me to veteran customers. I told her that is the attitude that will move her to a friday customer in the future. This year I have weeded out 9 complainers so far and it feels great to be appreciated by the new customers.

[SIG]

I have the same issues ( with days), I just have a decent mix of residentials and some small commercials to do in the early week.

[thelawnguy]

Tell em the day of cut is based on geographic location. To move the day they must move the lawn. End of conflict, in my experience.

[j.kelley]

Jeffex

That is the way I handle my days, seniority, new customers will understand that we are loyal to the customers that are loyal
to us. Without that wher would we be, I would have all new clients every year. If they are happy with your service, they will understand your dilemma.

[Dennis E.]

The customers that I do on Thurs. and Fri. have been there for 12-14 years. I get new clients that demand a Thurs. or Fri. service too. I explain how it works and they are shocked that I have had customers on those particular days for that long. It's fun to watch the expression on the faces. I tell them that someone has to literally die before I can move a new customer to the end of the week!That's usually the end of the story. :D

[scottb]

I like your system but also agree that location has a lot to do with it also.

[TGCummings]

I think geography is everything (perhaps to a fault?). The day of the week the lawn is cut is not negotiable. There's little enough money in the lawn game that routes have to be productive (at least as much as possible).

I had a customer all lined up to begin in June (quoted her last week), and the money was going to be fabulous. Only thing was, Tuesday was a bad day for her. In fact, she said, any other day would do. I have a dozen in that area every Tuesday (within a minute of each other), so Tuesday had to be the day for me. I had to turn her away.

Furthermore, I don't schedule cuts on Friday. That day is reserved for make up work, additional services, equipment maintenance and, god willing, an occaisonal 3-day weekend. ;)

[TJLC]

I try to keep a schedule as best as I can but it seems as soon as the rainy seasons hits, there goes my schedule. The fact that different yards grow at different rates does not help either. I just do the best I can to keep things as tight as possible and take one day at a time. I have found that you will never be able to keep everyone happy all the time.

[LawnLad]

We front load our schedule in case of rain, etc. 85% of our properties are cut before Thursday. Geography is a big part of the equation.

[ADMowing]

We mow geographically. We tried to work around a few customers that way and it always ends up being a disaster. They are never there to unlock the gate when they say they will and we've had more hassles with those types of customers. We have had NO complaints from our customers on our slate now regarding the day of week we mow. When we've asked them if we could change their schedule to make things better for our "route," they have all been agreeable. I think that if you don't give them the option in the beginning, they won't expect it so much. We just say, "Hey, we'll be in your neighborhood on Tuesday. We can start mowing for you this week!" We've had positive results with this. Also, we get lots of "word of mouth" business from neighbors, so they know the day we are mowing already.

We also have a slow day on Friday and leave Saturday open for make ups because of rain. No work on Sunday -- need to rest sometime. Saturday, we do maintenance and clean up also.

[jeffex]

I still use geography as a factor for the customers I kept from my original customers. They all are cut at my discression and nothing but great people. The bulk of my customers are in such a tight area that travel time is not an issue. This is my year to trade UP to better customers. I can recover profits by doing upgrade services on existing properties. I interviewed a prospective new customer last night on a street where I have 7 already. I gave a price of $30 for the approx. 1/4 acre and told him he could probably find someone to cut for $25. He asked "what is the difference for $5 more". I pointed out which lawns on the street were mine and showed him the one that another guy cuts for $25. Burned down to nothing to keep the number of cuts down or cut at 3" to look good and promote a healty lawn. I pointed out that based on around 20 to 24 cuts per season where we live he could save $100 or so and have a crappy lawn or let us give him a lawn to be proud of befitting of the house he just bought. It was an easy sell. He got lucky too that his was a thurs. street for cutting. Paid all my dues now I can reap the profits.

[jeffex]

My brother-in-law is calling me the "lawn Nazi" this season like th sienfeld character "soup nazi". You have complaint NO CUT FOR YOU!!! I told him that it was just time to stop listening to whiners and poor mouthers when we have ben doing the same great job for years. We make mistakes now and again but they are minor. I have people tell me they know which lawns we cut when they go down the street. Crisp edges, stripes,no grass in the street,etc. Time to cash in on this!!

[MOW ED]

I only have a few that really request thurs or fri and thats ok with me. However they do know that if it rains both of those days it will be cut anyway unless the lightening is flashing. My fire dept schedule sometimes dictates that I cut on thursday OR friday. The big estate lawns are usually the big payers and requested the end of week cut. Some customers want it looking nice for the week, I like those customers too.

[jeffex]

My schedule limits my flexibility too. I usually cut evenings after full time job and I take off 1 day a week from full time job in april and may to keep up with weekly cuts. Once in a while I have to cut sundays. We honor special requests for cuts before parties or special reasons and try to be as service oriented as possible. My veteran customers are used to my schedlule and they know not to worry. I explain my schedule to any new people and it just takes time to get them used to it. When i'm going to be late a day i call all the ones who will wonder where we are and put thier minds at ease. It is usually only 3-4 people and they are good customers who get all the upgrades and really appreciate the personalized service come time to pay. I am limited to the number of lawns I can handle so why not get the best customers in the smallest area .

[robert payer]

A few of our Monday Tuesday customers have asked to be closer to the weekend. Due to geographics We are not able to grant the request. I often let the customer know that I will give them added value to except the Monday or Tuesday slot. I add the value by looking for small eye sores each week that are fast and simple to look after.

Just a related thought for customers who want Fridays. Tell them that you mow your best customers on Wednesdays and Thursdays because the lawn always looks its best 2-3 days after cutting. Mowing removes much green. In my opinion fresh cut grass does not look prestine.

Hope that this is of some help. :blob3:

[jeffex]

I agree the lawn looks best a day or two after the cut. With most new customers the first mental hurdle they must overcome is that they just paid you $25 or $30 for 20min of work for what used to take them hours. They can't believe you could have done a good enough job in 20 min. Once they grasp this concept then they try to add little jobs to your list . I have learned to take care of all this bs when I interview them. I give them my little speach from the very beginning to try and weed out any potential cheapos. I got a new guy this year who insisted we were cutting too high. I told him to get his lawn mower out and cut a spot the height he wants to be cut. When I ran over it with my mower his cut was no longer visible . I tried to make him feel better by saying his cut was 1/8 lower and we would be glad to cut it 1/8 lower if he realy thought that would be better. He smiled and got a stupid look on his face and walked away thanking me for doing a great job. I guess he is broken in now!!!

[OPS]

Hey, I am new to the site and it looks great. I am sure I will visit it often. Keep on cutting.......

[Jason Pallas]

mondays and tuesdays = rentals, condos, commercial accounts and ghetto accounts
Wednesday , Thursday and Friday = Premium paying residentials (mansions, large estates,wealthier neighborhoods) all arranged by geography.

Around here we get "price shoppers" (always looking for a cheaper deal) and "day shoppers too" (always looking for a Friday cut). We pick-up a lot of lawns - just because we can get them on Thurs/Fri - of course we build that into the price.