No Respect for the profession

[pseudosun]

great point MOturkey. I always see this old guy (in 70's?) working across the street. He has had the mower hanging out the trunk before, but now has a truck. He had some tough breaks in life and don't think he finished high school. I have never heard him complain once, even though his client makes him park in her backyard, because his vehicle looks bad. This is one of the nicest, most genuine men i've known in my life. When i had trimmer trouble, he insisted that i borrow his only trimmer to go do my other jobs, while he raked in the backyard. He didn't hesitate.

[justanotherlawnguy]

Were one or two steps above the garbage man!
Posted via Mobile Device

[juspayme]

professionalism to me is a package of things. when you walk into an arby s or wendys you want to see nice well spoken uniformed people taking your order who use gloves and present good options with clean working areas and restroom facilities. although some will argue some of these aspects are not important to them, however you want the people or clients who do care about those aspects and want lettered and clean trucks and uniformed people doing work at their house. i was just as good at my work at 21 as I am at 40 but with my professionalism looking amazing, my checking account looks a whole lot better these days.

[LHS Lawns]

Originally Posted by juspayme

professionalism to me is a package of things. when you walk into an arby s or wendys you want to see nice well spoken uniformed people taking your order who use gloves and present good options with clean working areas and restroom facilities. although some will argue some of these aspects are not important to them, however you want the people or clients who do care about those aspects and want lettered and clean trucks and uniformed people doing work at their house. i was just as good at my work at 21 as I am at 40 but with my professionalism looking amazing, my checking account looks a whole lot better these days.

FWIW, I keep my truck ultra clean at all times, I mean showroom clean. I have gotten some jobs just by people remarking how clean my truck is.

They just associate a nice clean truck with a nice lawn/landscape job.

I knew my obsession would payoff some day.

[orangemower]

I'm solo and work by myself most of the time. I bought a pair of tires for the mower at a local tire shop. The guy I deal with (owners son) is nice and always friendly. Anyway, the owner/father came out and asked me if that was my truck and trailer. I said yes. To my surprise he said I have the best looking rig out of ALL the ones that have come in to his shop! It's not fancy at all. Plain color with no lettering. It's just neat, clean and effective. It kinda made my day.

[LHS Lawns]

Originally Posted by orangemower

I'm solo and work by myself most of the time. I bought a pair of tires for the mower at a local tire shop. The guy I deal with (owners son) is nice and always friendly. Anyway, the owner/father came out and asked me if that was my truck and trailer. I said yes. To my surprise he said I have the best looking rig out of ALL the ones that have come in to his shop! It's not fancy at all. Plain color with no lettering. It's just neat, clean and effective. It kinda made my day.

You think people don't notice but they do.

It's nice when they offer a flattering remark.

[DA Quality Lawn & YS]

I have mixed feelings on this. Most of my customer's respect me because I am a small business owner and will bend over backward to personally ensure their satisfaction. More respect for my 2 person operation than, say, a TG who gives no rip.

On the flip side, get the feeling from some people (heck even my relatives) that I just do this part time for a little fun money. Since I am humble I don't want to throw numbers, but its much more than that. This will pay the kids college, go toward retirement, emergency fund, etc.

[pseudosun]

More power to the nice and shiny operations; nothing against them. That's just never been important to me. It's a preference, but i don't think it defines "professional". If it does, i've seen quite a few "professional" operations bite the dust, and in a couple cases, i took over a few of their customers. One guy had an awesome setup, and wanted me to bring my customers to his operation. I declined, and he didn't make it. I'm closer to a sanford and son look Maybe it's rebellion, i don't know. I've been at it 16 years, bought a home, and it's getting better. I let my work do the talking.

[Chilehead]

Originally Posted by pseudosun

More power to the nice and shiny operations; nothing against them. That's just never been important to me. It's a preference, but i don't think it defines "professional". If it does, i've seen quite a few "professional" operations bite the dust, and in a couple cases, i took over a few of their customers. One guy had an awesome setup, and wanted me to bring my customers to his operation. I declined, and he didn't make it. I'm closer to a sanford and son look Maybe it's rebellion, i don't know. I've been at it 16 years, bought a home, and it's getting better. I let my work do the talking.

I love Sanford & Son! What matters most is that your customers are satisfied.

[RiggitanoLandscape]

Grass cutting is like the wild wild west anymore.

Cheaper=Better