How do they do it?!?!?!

[stevenf]

It drives me crazy to see un-uniformed, crappy equipment and appearance taking care of all of the commercial chain accounts in my area!
I will use walgreens as an example. The grass was rediculous! I searched for a month to find out who was in charge and only found out through another business that had done work for the guy. So I start calling him and he blows me off everytime. No matter what I tell the guy, he would not give me a list of properties to bid on and just kept saying to drop information off at any store. Well I did that and a week later some joe blow is cutting it.

What is the trick that I am missing out on for these commercial accounts? I have spent about two years with nothing but cold calls and cold visits. We actually have a burger king that got half the bed remulched in red and the other half left brown. Its been over a year and the district manager still shows no interest even though I have brought this to her attention.

Sorry for the Vent

[nobagger]

Persistance pays off eventually. How long have you been at this? If you've only been at this for a couple years why do you "expect" to land any one job just because your all wearing the same T shirts? Don't get me wrong, I'm right there with you on appearance, I think if we all looked better with matching uniforms (at least all the same shirts) and clean equipment we would be looked at a bit different and little things like that will eventually set you apart from the other guys along with doing quality work. But there are several companies out there that do great work with guys who wear whatever or no shirt at all, have rusted, barley running equipment. I personally would scare away my customer's if I went shirtless,lol. As far as getting turned down, well, expect to hear that a lot. If your landing every job you bid on something's wrong. Last year we didn't pursue much work but the jobs we bid I bet we only landed about 50-60% and that would be stretching it. Its tough to get into some places, thats where you start looking elsewhere. Plus I can guarantee you those types of places pay next to nothing, trust me! A lot of those places are properties you need just to keep your guys busy to make it a full day for them and maybe make a few bucks after the fact. All I can say is keep plugging away and if they keep saying no then go somewhere else.

[stevenf]

It was more of a vent of trying. I have busted my chops and spent countless HOURS on the phone trying to get that one single lead. When I see somone driving a 30 year old truck with broken windows, a 20 year old mower...... There has to be something they are doing that I am not. 98% of the time I cant find a name much less a phone number to speak with the person in charge. I have done post cards, door hangers, walk in visits, cold calls, submiting bids even though they said they werent taking them. Two years of this with no luck.

[Shawn S]

They are bidding lower than you are.
Some of those big places only care about the bottom line. If their lawn is a 5 out of 10 they are happy. You could likely give them a 10 out of 10 but your price is higher and that's all they care about.

[Cape Atlantic Landscaping]

Let me put it to you like this, If you were my competition in my town i would love to see you pick up all those chain store and such. These accounts would keep you busy and away from the real money accounts that i would bid on. Management work is not worth the thought IMHO

[LB1234]

Originally Posted by stevenf

When I see somone driving a 30 year old truck with broken windows, a 20 year old mower...... There has to be something they are doing that I am not. 98% of the time I cant find a name much less a phone number to speak with the person in charge. I have done post cards, door hangers, walk in visits, cold calls, submiting bids even though they said they werent taking them.

First, most likely there price is really low...judging by what you say the accounts look like, they care about bottom dollar, not top notch looks. Second, in many cases it is who you know, not what you know...could be there nieces fiance or girlfriends brother...you get the point. Lastly, why the hell are you targeting these accounts? If you spent that many HOURS and TIME and have ZERO to show for it...walk away, spend that time into something that pays off better. Not sure why you want to target accounts that don't take care of their property.

[zturncutter]

Originally Posted by Shawn S

They are bidding lower than you are.
Some of those big places only care about the bottom line. If their lawn is a 5 out of 10 they are happy. You could likely give them a 10 out of 10 but your price is higher and that's all they care about.

Originally Posted by Cape Atlantic Landscaping

Let me put it to you like this, If you were my competition in my town i would love to see you pick up all those chain store and such. These accounts would keep you busy and away from the real money accounts that i would bid on. Management work is not worth the thought IMHO

Originally Posted by LB1234

First, most likely there price is really low...judging by what you say the accounts look like, they care about bottom dollar, not top notch looks. Second, in many cases it is who you know, not what you know...could be there nieces fiance or girlfriends brother...you get the point. Lastly, why the hell are you targeting these accounts? If you spent that many HOURS and TIME and have ZERO to show for it...walk away, spend that time into something that pays off better. Not sure why you want to target accounts that don't take care of their property.

You guys are right on, commercial accounts in this economy, are price driven period. There are commercial accounts in my area that are being maintained for half the price that I was getting 10 years ago, yet so many companies continue to bid, why ? Stop beating a dead horse LOL