I'm taking a chance...

[Richard Martin]

Is this crazy or what? I received an email from a potential client on Tuesday. They sent the email via my website. Anyway, she only wanted her back yard cut since the HOA does her front yard. I looked it up on my county's website and since they have an area calculation tool, I figured it up at 840 sq ft. The county website also has overhead photos from 2010 so I could see that there was nothing in the back yard at that time. It is directly along my route, so no extra fuel is required to get there.

I gave this lady a price of $20 per cut without having actually seen the property. Is that crazy or what? Sight unseen.

[Pietro]

Bad idea. Now youre kinda obligated to honor the price. If its along your route why wouldnt you just stop and check it out prior to cutting it?

[sjessen]

Only thing I would have done differently is add a caveat that the quoted price is tentative based on a visual inspection of the property.

[ringahding]

If you had already calculated square footage of other properties using this method and your calculations were accurate, I would of course say~~OKAY...But if not, NO.
I know the sq. ft. is small, but I would have actually asked the customer if they knew the sq. ft......that way if it was more or less when you actually did show up at the property, you could sell your price at that point.

[Dimples82]

I haven't used GIS tools to estimate mowing but I've done it in quoting fall aeration/seeding. I do throw in it's tentative until I see it. I think it gives homeowners an idea of the price range and may save you a trip if there thinking something completely different.

[clydebusa]

I do the same and say the price is good for 1 mowing and subject to change.

[Golfpro21]

what if she has a gate that your machine wont fit into, or she has40 trees in her back yard.........I try to always view the property before giving a firm price

[Kkane97]

I dont ever give out quotes over the phone, all of them are ranges. When I get a call, I ask the address for 2 reasons 1 to quickly enter it in my record and 2 I go to google maps so I can see the area and give the customer an approximate $. I can see that the property is very small and would be perfect to add to my schedule. And I know what my minimum is (30) so I tell them 30 to 35 and when I go there to see it, I will usually give the lesser number to make them think they got a good deal. Of course that example is for a perfect property and just an example

[orangemower]

WOW, this is a surprise. As sharp as you are Richard, why on earth would you quote a price site unseen? As another said, if it's that close, you could have easily stopped on the way through and had a look at the place. You're stuck at $20 now unless you can up sell your quote.

[GreyFlames]

Measuring properties online is very easy now of days. Saves time and gas. zillow.com has lot sizes and home square footage size most of the time. bing.com maps has both satellite photos and a birds eye view that is very detailed. You can just measure quickly with a ruler on the satellite view and see how many shrubs on the birds eye view. You should be able to do 80-90% of your estimates with these two tools for services like plowing, mowing, fertilizing, shrub care, and pest control to name a few.