jaclawn
11-16-2000, 08:01 AM
Had some thoughts the other day. I was talking to a retired OPE dealer about people wanting free advice, and the time that we spend taking and eduicating them for essentially nothing.
He said that he implemented a program for estimates. He charged for them, with the estimate charge being applied twords the repair if they had him do the repair. He ran into too many people bringing in machinery wanting a price on repair, he would diagnosis the problem, and call with the repair. Many times, they got what they needed, a diagnosis. They would then do the repairs themselves.
I understand that this is commonplace with many types of business, including ours.
I have been called out for estimates by folks that had no intention of having the work done. They simply wanted advice on how to do the job, so that they could do it themselves. Not so much for mowing/mulching, but more for lawn renovations, fertilizer, pruning... THey get free advice.
I thought about offering a consult. For a fee, I would make a site visit, create a detailed lawn report, and write a "prescription" for them, offering a course of action. I could get detailed with fertilizer specifics, spec different products... I could include a followup visit or two, to check on progress, and make any changes to the program.
Granted, the leeches would still probally call for the FREE estimate, but I think that there are some good natured pepole out there that are willing to pay for my time.
I don't think that it would be viable to market this service only, it could simply be an addition to a line on a business card or flyer.
What could you charge, $30? A customer could throw away more than that on a sack of fertilizer that they don't need, or is the wrong product.
Doctors, Laywers, accounts and the like charge to advise us, why shouldn't we charge to advise our customers?
He said that he implemented a program for estimates. He charged for them, with the estimate charge being applied twords the repair if they had him do the repair. He ran into too many people bringing in machinery wanting a price on repair, he would diagnosis the problem, and call with the repair. Many times, they got what they needed, a diagnosis. They would then do the repairs themselves.
I understand that this is commonplace with many types of business, including ours.
I have been called out for estimates by folks that had no intention of having the work done. They simply wanted advice on how to do the job, so that they could do it themselves. Not so much for mowing/mulching, but more for lawn renovations, fertilizer, pruning... THey get free advice.
I thought about offering a consult. For a fee, I would make a site visit, create a detailed lawn report, and write a "prescription" for them, offering a course of action. I could get detailed with fertilizer specifics, spec different products... I could include a followup visit or two, to check on progress, and make any changes to the program.
Granted, the leeches would still probally call for the FREE estimate, but I think that there are some good natured pepole out there that are willing to pay for my time.
I don't think that it would be viable to market this service only, it could simply be an addition to a line on a business card or flyer.
What could you charge, $30? A customer could throw away more than that on a sack of fertilizer that they don't need, or is the wrong product.
Doctors, Laywers, accounts and the like charge to advise us, why shouldn't we charge to advise our customers?