Customers Wasting Time

[The Mowman]

It seems a few of our mowing jobs, customers like to come out and stop the head man on the crew and chat about their lawn and other things that are not important. Here is my question. You do not want to be rude, yet when the customer is talking to you about unimportant things you are losing time, which equals losing money. Do you somehow keep the customer from bothering you every week or do you bill for the extra chat time. Now before everyone starts saying chatting leads to more work, we have a few customers who just like to talk and they waste alot of time.<p>----------<br>Stephen<br>

[Charles]

We had a good thread on this awhile back. ust keep equipment running and keep moving and wave at them and pretend that you can't hear them well. Sooner or later they get the message

[Kevin]

If you carry a pager or a phone you can always use that as an excuse. Just say &quot;The phone/pager is beeping/ringing/vibrating gotta go talk to you later&quot;

[Guido]

Kreep on mowing, and tell them your in a rush, thats not rude at all, I'm sure they won't be mad if you explain your busy and have no time to BS. BUT, BUT, BUT!!!!!! WHEN YOU DO HAVE THE TIME MAKE SURE THE COMMUNICATION IS THERE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMERS, WEATHER IN PERSON, BY PHONE, E-MAIL, OR SNAIL MAIL, ITS IMPORTANT TO GET FEEDBACK SO YOU CAN KEEP DOING THE RIGHT THINGS AND BE ABLE TO CORRECT THE WRONG THINGS BEFORE THEY BECOME A PROBLEM!! But as far as how bout them Yankees and other BS, just don't let them catch you. The old ladys used to flag me down to come inside or have some cookies or whatever and if I made eye contact I'd wave really quick and look away and play dumb like I didn't know she was calling me. <p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://communities.msn.com/guidosequipmentpics/&quot;&gt;&quot;Guido&quot;&lt;/a&gt;<br>David M. Famiglietti

[Toroguy]

Guido,<br>I do the same thing! I have developed a sixth sense to notice if anyone is approaching, then I head to the back yard, when I sense them there I head to the front, try to load up and get out of there.<p>I do chat with the majority, the ones I find interesting, or my major customers whom have influence and do throw me referrals on occasion.<p>But it is like bad luck, they will want to chat ONLY when your behind schedule from maintenance or rain.

[bob]

I find this usually happens with older customers. You are probably the highlight of their day when you show up. I had one woman stop me 5 times to talk- her yard is a 30 minute job. Another woman decided she would drag the hose across the yard to water flowers 5 minutes after I started to cut. Still yet, another man would tell me his life problems for 10 -25 minutes after I would start to blow everything off. these are the primary reasons that I prefer commercial accounts over residential ones.

[Charles]

I hate it too when a regular costumer(always a female senior) calls you alot. Leave a message on your voice mail. That says &quot;call me and let me know if you can come by tommorrow and do my yard. Or &quot;call me when you get time&quot; and don't say why. Or&quot; call me and let me know what time you are going to be here&quot;. You know they just want to yap yap yap forever, but you have to call them back even though you are tired. They do this to me alot. Just burns me up lol.

[Twotoros]

We had a pair of sidebyside lawns we nicknamed Pop & Talker . Pop cause they always had a cold one for us . Talker would wait for us to finish and start in and would not let a word in edgewise . He would eat up half an hour routinely. I gave both accounts away and only miss my pepsi. He was the worst case I had seen in my 15 years in business.

[The Mowman]

We mowed the one female seniors house today. After we were done and in the truck, our boss told us what we charge her. It is 75% for cutting and 25% for talking with her for so long each time. Only thing is she does not know that she would save alot if she just said hello and let us get on with our mowing.

[accuratelawn]

This can be frustrating I know... but use it to your advantage. If the customer is talking about topics other than their yard, change the subject. Lawn looks like it might need aeration...&quot;we now offer shrub prunning&quot; etc. etc. Use the contact with the customer to your advantage. <br>If that does not work I usally put my ear plugs in ... they get the idea.<br>But do try to use the time to add on sales!

[All Green]

I wear sun glasses and head phones,and acked like i dont see them

[bdemir]

The sunglasses sounds like a good detterant.

[Doc]

Hi Everyone,<p>When dealing with older persons just charge them in advance for the extra time. They will be happy that you have spent the time with them, your mower will be happy that you let it rest and you will be happy because you have not wasted time because you received the going rate. Have a nice evening everyone.<p>Doc Scrub

[snow]

usually i have music blasting , but my headphones broke. normally when i see the annoying customer start to walk over, i try and aviod them. when i'm using a leaf blower, or trimmer i'll just rev it up a little. if they do talk to me, i just smile, nod my head and walk away.<p>Bryan<p>----------<br><br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.snowplow.web.com&quot;&gt;The Snowplow Homepage&lt;/a&gt;

[Keith]

Total time to talk to these customers only amounts to about 30 minutes a week for us, so they really don't throw us off schedule too bad.<p>Maybe this is the benefit of hiring non-english speaking Mexicans :)

[yardsmith]

I remember the last time this topic was brought up. <br>If I have time I will chat for a minute to answer their question, & then walk towards the truck, or start to fire up the blower again. Customer service sometimes means you have to break down & humor a customer occaisionally. If I had someone who mowed my grass & I wasn't important enuf to have a question answered, I'd be giving them the boot. Alot of my referrals come from people aho know I'll take a sec. to treat them like a person & know that I value their business.<br>And Bryan, just remember it's those annoying customers who keep your bills paid & support you.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[southside]

I just roll my eyes back and say in weird<br>voice &quot;The voices in my head say I must kill<br>again&quot;. Thats sorts them out. :)<br>Seriously though I very seldom meet my customers,doing mainly commercial.<p>Karl<br>

[Lance720]

I allow some time each time I drop off my bills for &quot;chatting&quot;. I max this out at 5min and then look down at my phone at the time and say &quot;sorry to cut this short but I have another appointment in 5min. Have a nice day.&quot; <br> On another note generally you now which customers are a problem (how much would it cost to do this-YOu know they are never going to actually commit to any more work)so over time I have learned to either go early (09:00 am) or at a time when they are generally out.<br> Lance<br>

[TheLawnRanger]

YOu totally missed the whole point of this topic! its the custmers!!! if it werent 4 them we wont be able to work! i always bring<br>A SMILE with me when i mow! and spead some chear into a persons life! they are wonderful peolpe out there who need us to help them but be kind to them spend some qualitly time! they ALL know my life my childern and what im up too. they are also some of my best freinds! they give me adivce!<br>give me stuff they dont use anymore. and they<br>listen and i listen to them! some of my people dont have anyone in there life! can you imagine being all alone! i try to brighten there day with some chatting i bet its the only people to people they get. you<br>some day will be old and i hope some young jerk like you egnoer u! my parents told me to have respect to old peolpe or any one inmatter of fact! treat peeolpe as u do!wanted to be treated. i could go on and on about this! but im wasting my breath!<p>ALL YOU IN HERE ARE ALL WORRIED ABOUT MAKING THE $ AND NOT .....<br>whatever i try my hardest to please my custmers i do extras WITHOUT PAY! (sometimes)<br>i talk and listen<br>i do the best job and ill come back if its not right!(havent been back YET!!!!!)<br> IF YOU DO TALK.............<br>you build a trust<br>you get to know things<br>you get conncetions!<br>you get referals!!!!!<br>u get a good feeling<br>u get time to rest<br>your lawn mower get a rest!!!!!!!<br>ect ect ect ect<p>but there are some who go over board! LOL<br>I DONT lie i tell them the turth!<br>i got another lawn to do<br>or im busy ill stop by on sunday and chat<br>but i alawys spend some time with them at lease 5-10 mins and i hope! you rest on the sabath! ~mark~ godbless

[All Green]

I agree w/ lawnranger if their not home good .but if they are and do come up I try to say hi at least .some just pay and go on thier way. some are old and crocity and dont wanta be bother by a pitty lawnman.I have my faverite costmers they give tips and xmas presents to my kids.

[snow]

lawnranger- how are the lawns going with the big 21&quot; mowers? i used to use all 21&quot; mowers, but am awaiting delivery of a big 48&quot; kees. Our job as contracted is to cut the lawns, not socailize, we are not out here to waste our time hearing ms. happy tell us about her goldfish turned green or how she got new dentures. the only time my customers talk to me is when they want services, not socializing.<p>bryan

[Evan528]

i agree partly with lawnranger. If one of my costomers comes out i will talk to him or her for 5 minutes once in a while. Some costomers ive only met 2 or 3 times in 5 years.... I no alot about most of my costomers and because of that they become very loyal to you. Some of my costomers arent picky.. the just want the grass mowed and would hire any scrub that will do it for 5 dollars less but dont because theyknow me and become very loyal to me. I just keep the talking to a minimum but i also ask how there doing and how that vacation they just went on was.... I havent lost a costomer in 2 years... and there are many low ballers around!

[The Mowman]

By starting this post, I was not trying to mean that you should not talk with customers. I love to talk with customers, but if every single time you go to mow their yard, they want to talk with you for 1/2 an hour, it is costing you money and time. I agree that talking with customers will bring loyalty and the customers who stop you just to say hello or talk about other work or just wanted to quickly point something out is fine with me. My favorite customers though are the ones that come out the door, see you mowing, wave at you while you wave back and then they go back inside. I had one gentlemen come out the door, I stopped to see if he needed anything and he told me he just was admiring us work. I don't mind talking and being friendly but just as long as it is kept to about 5 minutes or less.<p>----------<br>Stephen<br>

[Charles]

Lawnranger, The mowman is just trying to get a balance. Trying to figure out how to get a cusomer conversation down to 5 minutes after you finish the yard and still keep them happy. I have mine trained after the first year. For one, never interupt me when I am working just to talk. Sweat pouring on me and you just want to yap, no way. Besides it breaks my rhythem and makes the yard seem that much longer. Now at the end of the job when i go to get my money. I will have a five minute conversation with them and then tell them I have plenty of yards to do and I have to run. But its just plain rude of the customer to interrupt you in the middle of the job for no reason. And its rude of them to try to keep you for more than 5 minutes after you finish. You lose more than an hour of the day talking to customers and thats alot of money. Just tell them you have to go with a smile and they will soon catch on that you are a business man and not their yard boy. I have never lost a customer this way and they all remain friends with me. I have said this on the forum before. Some customers get overly friendly and try to treat you like on of their family. So you will NEVER go up in price on them lol. And if you do you may hurt their feelings. Try to be as business like as you can. Keep business seperated from pleasure. I have said i know a lawn man who never went up on his customers because he like them soo much. His business soon failed<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Charles

[TGCummings]

I absolutely agree on this one. To both sides. ;)<p>I think it's important to spend time with customers, as much as possible, even if it's just for the little things. However, when time is of the essence I get absolutely incensed over the slightest delay. And, of course, the customers who take up the most of your time are the first ones to mention when you are running late to *their* lawn.<p>I think the best answer is higher pricing. Less customers, more pay. That would allow us a little more time at each place for 'the little things'. :)<p>-TGC

[Bush Master]

Well after a while you learn the commings and goings of your customers and can put them near the end of the day that way you are done and still giving that personal touch that gets lost with the large companies.<br>i have two accounts that when they hear my blower crank up they get ready to chat and in the summer they apear with a really large<br>glass of tea and chat by the way the more you talk with them the less likely there going to drop you after all you somewhat become famliy.

[lawngator]

It's about balance. Some customers are talkers, some are not. Like Bush Master says, try and schedule your talkers towards the end of your route. I think the social aspect is important. I sell my personality along with my service. They tend to be a lot more understanding when I hit a sprinkler head or something. I have one elderly lady who always gets a few minutes of my day for chatting. She started a &quot;diaper fund&quot; for us( baby due Oct. 1st). The fund is up to $90 already. I'd say that makes those few minutes of chatting worth it.<br> Bill

[accuratelawn]

I had a customer &quot;waste&quot; my time today, But like I said in an earlier post use the time to sell.<br>Yes, I lost 15 minutes of mowing, but I sold $135 in trimming and $250 to re-mulch the flower beds.

[little green guy]

I like wasting time talking to customers. I'm a very socibal(even though i don't know how to spell) person. I just keep my crew working. My workers sometimes give me a hard time because because i spend so much time talking, that and we stop every 1/2 for food.