FREE CUTS ?

[Mowman]

ANY ONE EVER GIVE ONE FREE CUT TO GET A FEEL FOR THE PROPERTY? I'M THINKING OF GIVING A CHURCH A FREE CUT TO SEE HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO CUT AND HOW ROUGH THE LAWN IS AND TO SHOW THEM THE QUALITY I CAN GIVE THEM. THEN I CAN BE SURE IF IT WILL BE WORTH IT IN THE LONG RUN.
SO WHAT DO YOU GUY'S THINK? WOULD YOU OR WOULDN'T YOU?
THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE.
Mowman

[Premo Services]

I am not happy thinking about giving anything I do for free,especially if you have to use equipt. Someone in a earlier post said they do it and it works out for them to get jobs. I do quality work, have references and I believe that should be enough. If they don`t accept your price look at the time that is wasted, but if it is a large job then mabey you would know how to price one in the future.

[Runner]

If you're going to do this, (bad policy) then I would atleast do it at "half price" whatever you think it may be. This way, atleast you'll cover your expenses to do it. Breaking even is better than spending.

[Samurai WeedWacker]

Free mowing is a bad idea. Can't you point them toward examples of your work?

[chrisbolte]

I would recommend doing it at a redued price first time. Your reduced price will probably give them the motavation to let you work on their property

[parkwest]

We tried it a few years ago at 1/2 price first mowing. Did not work out. Today, we don't have any of those clients. They assumed we would do a lot of extras for free or at discounted rate.

[Ground Rules]

Discount maybe but not free. Get referrals for them.

[bob]

I wouldn't cut an entire lawn for free. I have given samples of different cutting heights, but we're talking only a few feet. Walk the property 1 or 2 times, then add some time to your estimate for error.

[landscaper3]

I would"nt cut anything for free, tell them you will cut it for an hourly charge and then after your finished you will no what to charge them!!!!

[Skookum]

Free is bad idea!

I have done jobs first time at a set price like $60.00 if I not sure if I can do it in an hour. Telling the customer I'd try it for that. Gives you money as well as chance to see how much it will take. I have had it go both ways, were they were happy with the set price and so was I, so it was kept at that price. And, I have had a few that took longer and they did not want to pay more and I walked away, but not empty handed.

It also shows to many that you are willing to try and accomodate them by working with them on getting a fair price agreed upon.

[TLS]

Churches usually don't care much about quality. They are more interested in the cost. I had a church for 4 years. Lost them the 5th year. I Raised them only according to inflation. Never made out that good money wise. Every year I would bid and loose it (by alot) to the lowest bidder. If a one man show can barely do it for X amount, how are these lowballers doing it? They aren't. They get a new company every year. It is a deceiving property. They bid low and realize that they aren't making money. Then its too late. Its a contract deal and they are locked in.

BTW, I have been plowing this church for 8 years now. I make good money on plowing there and still nobody underbids me there. Strange world we live in.

[geogunn]

your free cut is being considered for the wrong reason. apparently you are having trouble with estimating. use your abilities, make the call and if initially you think you are too low...you probably are.

give us the details, we'll tell you what we think.

save the free cuts for charity. I do a couple of these.

GEO

[thelawnguy]

Bid the job, with the option of adjusting the price up or down, or dumping the account altogether, if you find actual conditions to be different than what you originally thought.

[tpirobert]

I'll add my voice to the choir-No free cuts.

That said, my one exception is: Pre-pay for 10 cuts at beginning of season and 11th cut is free. This helps with cash flow at beginning of season, and I don't offer it to all my customers. I use a measuring wheel on all properties to help with bidding. I call it my "wheel of fortune".

[Acute Cut]

I love free cuts. I give them out all the time. Ask yourself this, how much do you LOVE your job? When i get up in the morning i cant wait to go to work. This is my dream job right now. I can mow for free once and get the client for life, or i can take them to the cleaners the first day and be out a job the next year. 1+1=? Do the math. Seems pretty easy.

I recently aquired an account from a local rival. I gave a "free" demonstration to them and they loved it so much i start next week. This will be a nice little winter income. I gave it for free and loved every minute of it. Now i got the job and a new account/check on the first every month.

DAM I LOVE MY JOB!

[powerreel]

Bellingham better watch out that some stressed out 520 commuters don't move up there and woop some booty if the market is so slack that free cuts are done!

[John DiMartino]

I am not a fan of the free cut,it invites other things to be done for free too.I drive my machine on the lawn,as fast as i can go smoothly,you know right away if its smooth or rough and how much you need to adjust your price,also make sure you can get across ant steep hills without buying new equipment.i wouldnt take a steep job with my Dixie,let the guys with WB's have it,walking is to slow for me.

[Acute Cut]

A thought just occured to me. (How unusual)

Doesn't your dealer let you demo machines? Why wont you let a customer demo your work?

Something to think about.

[John DiMartino]

If they dont like your work,they can fire you the next week,even contracts have an out for failure to perform work satisfactorily.Now when buying a mower,if you dont like it-its to bad,you are stuck with it until you wear it out,sell it at a tremendous loss or trade it at an even bigger loss.I am in the latter,If i could get out of my mower without lossing more than 40% of the cost after only 6 months I would in a heartbeat.Big difference in my opinion,not much at stake for customer-as long as you are insured.

[dhicks]

No free cuts, period. Once the word gets out you'll be paying money to go to work!

[turfman99]

Assuming you already have accoutns you mow, correct ??

Measure off several areas with a measuring wheel so that you know what the total square footage is.

Use the stopwatch feature on your wrist watch, which you should have BTW, start the stop watch. Unload the machine and mow the grass. Do the areas, include some turning and burning etc and then load up your machine on your trailer. Stop your stop watch and note the time. Add 15% to 20% for support activities, i.e. load, unload, dump shop, travel.

Total the time up. Multiply times your hourly rate.

Presto !! You have the rate you should charge. Write this information down in your sales book, including reference sheet with names and phones numbers, which you should also have. The next time you are asked to give an estimate, get out your measuring wheel, measure the property for square footage. Using your previsouly established figures, divide the square footage by your production rate and multiply times your hourly charge. INCLUDING SUPPORT TIME.

Write it up on your preprinted quote/contract form and hand it to the customer with a pen for their signature.

That whole process should never take more than 15 minutes for a residential property and for commercial based upon the size. This is for straight mowing. Full service maintenance will take a little longer but never more than a half an hour. It's that simple.

Consistency brings accuracy.

Good Luck.