You Charged Me Way To Much!!!!

[anthony reyes]

I have recently put out my first set of flyers. I had a guy call me and ask me how much i charge. I told him i would come out to his property and give him a free estimate. Is it smart to give your client an estimate over the phone? He said hed just wanted his lawn mowed 3/4 acre had not been done in 3months. when i got to his property i told him it would be around $25 hour (his wife insisted i come up with an estimate before mowing)I invoiced them
$85 for 3 hours. They fliped out but the invoice had already been made. Is it wise to bill them this way or should i just tell them what they owe me after the work is done. Is it wise to talk price over the phone? I don't want to lose these people but d@mn i busted my @ss. (i have to admit i felt bad when i left) somebody throw a bone my way please!!!

[tiedeman]

don't tell them per hour. Just tell them the price for mowing each time. Never give a price over the phone. You will only hurt yourself and the chance of getting customers

[Aleman]

I give them a price upfront...which is how I would want it. How would you feel if you took your car in for service and they said" We will give you the price when we're finished"

[TClawn]

I give my prospective customers a range over the phone and then if there still interested I go out and look the property over and then give them a final price.

[MudslinginFX4]

I always go out to the customers house and then come back and write up a formal estimate of exactly how much it will cost. I then either take it back over to them and talk it over or send it in the mail. I also give them a brochure explaining all of our services we offer in detail. Most of the customers I talk to when I give the estimate I will never talk to again (90% of my customers I don't know by name) so I like to get a feel of how they are before I start working for them.