Is the customer always right?

[Barkleymut]

Yesterday I fertilized a yard which the homeowner mows. When I approached the property I thought man does it look like ****. Usually it looks awesome. The tips of the grass looked like it had been mowed with a 2x4 or something possibly even duller. I didn't think the homeowners were home so when I was done spreading the fertilizer I started up the blower and began clearing the driveway and sidewalk. Then "she" came out. "My yard looks like crud. You haven't been fertilizing it correctly" Me-Uhhh, when was the last time you sharpened the blade on your mower? "My hubby just changed it last week right before I mowed the lawn" Me-Do you mind if I take a look at the mower? "Why?" Me- I'm just concerned about your lawn. "OK" Well I tilt up the push mower and yup the blade which wasn't even the correct type of blade was on upside down. I proceeded to briefly tell her she had just given her lawn a beating much like Mike Tyson used to administer. Hopefully the lawn will recover but man did it look awful. Being the nice guy I am I took her old blade which was still fairly sharp and sharpened it for her. Today I will go back and reinstall it on her mower. If she EVER cancels me for fert service I will go off on her.

[geogunn]

barkley--you were pretty nice to...take a licking and keep on ticking!;)

GEO

[EcoSystems]

I think you did great, I know I get tired of educating clients, but I beleive that is part of the job.

For example, I put in a mulch path way for a client (which is what they wanted) and we then got 11inches of rain in 15 days. Guess what some of the path washed away (it was only about a 2 sq. feet of path that had no mulch), needless to say the client was unhappy. I never thought I would have to educate a client on the fact that mulch washes away, but now I wish I would have given alot more disclaimers before I put it in. Lesson learned and you are good example of how to handle to clients.

[lawncare3]

NO

[Gravely_Man]

That is a very nice touch to wanting to find out what was causing the problem and correcting it by sharpening the blade and installing it correctly! Most people will notice this type of extra attention and hopefully your customer will.


Gravely_Man

[rodfather]

Is the customer always right?

Nope...but they always remain your customer and you just have to do what you think is right in any given circumstance. Whether you go the extra mile or just plain tell them you think they're from another planet, I have found that honesty and being straightforward for the get-go is the best way to conduct business.

[jsr2741]

Heck no.

Had a customer a few weeks ago telling me he wanted me to put the cover plate over my discharge. Said my mower threw grass to far and he didn't like that.

I knew if I put the cover plate on and mowed his yard as high as it was it would look like **** but I did what he wanted. Sure enough when I was done (approx an 1hr and a half later, usually takes me 35 minutes total) there were big piles of grass everywhere.

He comes out yelling at me, I tell him that I did it exactly the way he wanted it. He asks are you going to fix it, I said yeah but its going to cost you the price of 2 cuts. He said "what!" I told him if he'd minded his own business in the first place I would of been done half hour ago and it would of look good as always. If you continue to insist on me mowing with the discharge chute covered thats what it'll look like and the and thats what it'll cost to make it look decent. He said "no way."

I said, your house sits on a corner of a busy thoroughfare, I've picked up business just because of the work I've done on this yard, no way am I going to do work like you just wanted me to do, and then turn around and make it right without you paying for it, it's my reputation. I then promptly told him I would no longer be servicing his property and left.

[brucec32]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jsr2741
Heck no.

Had a customer a few weeks ago telling me he wanted me to put the cover plate over my discharge. Said my mower threw grass to far and he didn't like that.

I knew if I put the cover plate on and mowed his yard as high as it was it would look like **** but I did what he wanted. Sure enough when I was done (approx an 1hr and a half later, usually takes me 35 minutes total) there were big piles of grass everywhere.

He comes out yelling at me, I tell him that I did it exactly the way he wanted it. He asks are you going to fix it, I said yeah but its going to cost you the price of 2 cuts. He said "what!" I told him if he'd minded his own business in the first place I would of been done half hour ago and it would of look good as always. If you continue to insist on me mowing with the discharge chute covered thats what it'll look like and the and thats what it'll cost to make it look decent. He said "no way."

I said, your house sits on a corner of a busy thoroughfare, I've picked up business just because of the work I've done on this yard, no way am I going to do work like you just wanted me to do, and then turn around and make it right without you paying for it, it's my reputation. I then promptly told him I would no longer be servicing his property and left. [/QUOTE

You made your point, but you both lost a customer and wasted almost an hour of your time doing it. I would have just told the person "sorry, if I do it that way it will look bad and you won't be happy with it, so I don't do it that way". Worst case, I save an hour of wasted time.

The magic words from another post I read here "WE DON'T DO THAT" I'm thinking of having it engraved on my mowers. Every time I do something contrary to my better judgement to please a customer, I regret it. So the above is my new response.

[KenH]

I had a fert. customer argue with me he had crabgrass in his lawn after I applied the pre-m. The problem??? It was the first week of may!!:(

[bobbygedd]

the answer is no. if u r an experienced professional, the customer is almost always WRONG! i wouldnt have sharpened anything for her. why? because instead of asking your opinion, advice, and how can we solve this problem, she assumed you were incompetant.

[Green Pastures]

NO, if they were what would they need you for?

[jsr2741]

Bruce32 your right, I probably should of done it that way. However he was the last cut of the day so I figured I'd take the opportunity to show him how wrong he was.

This guy and I have gone around and around about this for three years and I've always done it my way. But this time he was addimate about it so I said "what the H@#$."

The last day there I was two days early, with all the rain we'd had it was obvious the grass needed cut. His exact words were, "let me check with the wife," her exact words were "yes go ahead, the lawn guys (truegreen) said it need it."

So there you go, I maintained and did light landscaping for them for 3 years and they ask the moron from truegreen if their grass needs cut.

[tiedeman]

ah yes, the old weed & fertilization program complaints. I make sure to tell the customers up front that you will not have a total 100% weed free lawn. I make sure to tell them that for they don't have a "dream" that the lawn will be weed free after only one application. Because in the past I have had customers complain about post-emergence and I have to explain to them that sometimes it takes mutiply applications.

[Green Pastures]

Barkleymut,

You handled that like a Pro!

[Tharrell]

The customer being right is in direct correlation to how bad you need the money. Always was, always will be.

[snowplowjay]

id put it this way The customer is always right until he/she opens their mouth to complain.


:D
Jay

[Andrew S]

NO! NO! NO! they are not but they pay our bills

[the scaper]

no, the customer is not always right, i cant say that i always have been either but i do maintain alot of lawns whereas mr/mrs customer obviously cant or chooses not to even maintain one. i always listen to what the customer wants on the initial agreement and tell them what i can do and how much for. i dont mind an occassional "you missed a spot" or "please dont cut down that weed i'm nuturing over there" but i'm definatly finding less and less time and patients in my business to deal with constant complainers, you know, the ones who come running out everytime as you're loading your trailer . these folk are not the norm and if things dont change early on i think the best thing to do is loose them and spend that time looking for a reasonable replacement

[drobson]

As already stated the direct answer is "No", the customer is not always right.

However, it really depends on your definition of "right".

If the customer says they like their lawn cut to a height of 1", are they right? Well of course they are right, because it's what they want. If it was my lawn I would be right no matter what I want.

Now, is the customer doing what is best for the lawn? Of course not. That is why they hire a professional; to let them know that their ideas may not be best for the health of the lawn and/or may not be conducive to future plans for their property.

Of course it is ultimately their decision because it's their property. But that doesn't mean that you can't vigorously object to their decision. If it's a really bad decision you can always have them sign a disclaimer or refuse to do it.

Every customer that has come to me with a bad plan has received the same response; "I like the concept, but I really don't think it will come out as you envision in a real life application". I then offer one or more alternative plans and let them know that "in my experience" this is the best way to go. 99% of my customers will say "Well, your the expert; that's why I'm not doing this for a living". Not that I consider myself an expert, but in comparison I guess it works...

And I have never had a customer say "I really wish we had tried my idea". Because they are always happy with the end results.

So I guess the customer is not always right; however, they are the only ones that can OK the work to be done. So they are the decision makers..

[bobbygedd]

but, the customer doesnt tell us what or how to do the job. i personally will not raise or lower blades from job to job to satisfy each customers personal preference. i tell them how i run my business, then they can decide whether or not to hire us. we have a "standard cutting height". its the same for every property.

[drobson]

That's what I was getting at. The customer may know what they want, but what they want may not be good for them. If one of your customers says they want their lawn cut to 2" and you will only cut all your customers at 3", then someone has to change their mind. You may tell the customer that it's in their best interest to have it cut to 3", you may name several reasons. One reason may be that you would have to charge more to cut it different than all your other lawns. Chances are the customer will see your point and change their mind as long as you present the proper information in a way they will understand.

On the other hand, if all your customers decided they want to change their cutting height tomorrow and you won't change your standard height, then you lose all your customers.

It's a 2 way street. You need to guide your customers with proper information, but you also need to give them what they want. After all they are the reason we are all in business in the first place.

For instance: If I was building a deck and wanted to build it out of P.T. 2X10's and my local lumber yard said they will only sell 2X8's or 2X12's, I could always go to Home Depot to get my lumber. They will sell me what I want, and will gain a good customer.