you gave us a quote, but.....

[bobbygedd]

this morning, phone rings. I ANSWER: GOOD MORNING, XYZ LAWN.... CUSTOMER: hi, u gave us a quote about a week ago of $35 to cut our lawn on a weekly basis. we thought the price was kind of steep, we are still price shopping, but meanwhile the grass is getting very tall, can you come by and cut it this one time for us?" ME: please hold. pins and needles, needles and pins, a happy man is a man who grins....trying everything ive got to refrain from telling this person where to go. ok, breath....SO, i tell her ill stop by and we will discuss it. i go over. she says can u cut it? i say sure. my man starts cutting, i start talking. she says shes had bids of $22, $24, $27. and is waiting on two more to call her back. i hand her copy of: my tax i.d number, my pesticide license, and insurance card. then proceed to inform her that before hiring a service, it would be in her best interest to ask for all of this. i cut the lawn, get paid, and go . i stop home, and guess what? there she is, on my machine: hi, bob, this is so and so. i took your advice, and we decided to sign on with you. we also need prices for fert program, and cleanup in fall. thanks. SO....TAKE THAT LOWBALLERS!!!!!!!

[Gravely_Man]

Bobby, that is some great news! Keep the good news coming.


Gravely_Man

[walker-talker]

There was a thread started by Jim Lewis on "image" a couple months ago and this goes right along in there. To get the prices that you are worth, you need to educate the customer what sets you apart from the average joe and project a more professional image.

MATT

[John Gamba]

What Walkertalker & Jim Said! Good Going Bob.
John

[Auroris]

Wow Bobby,

It is good to know that all of the licensing, insurance, color brochures, advertising, printed shirts, and so on and so on to maintain the professional image can and does pay off.

For someone like myself who is fairly new, the huge investments to do things right can seem pretty daunting as I am writing all these checks out and only getting a few coming in.

Thanks again for sharing. Best wishes!

Cole

[Shuter]

Thats why a good business image and legitmate work pays off, instead of trying to out bid and lowball all your jobs.

I have min. and set prices, and from time to time get leads for new customers who price shop the same way. I just let them go, nothing but trouble in the future.

[Green Pastures]

Bobby???........????BobbyGedd??????...........



You OK dude???

[bobbygedd]

ha ha green, very funny. what would you have done? or, were u that guy who bid $24?

[Envy Lawn Service]

Originally posted by bobbygedd
CUSTOMER: hi, u gave us a quote about a week ago of $35 to cut our lawn on a weekly basis. we thought the price was kind of steep, we are still price shopping, but meanwhile the grass is getting very tall, can you come by and cut it this one time for us?"

SO, i tell her ill stop by and we will discuss it. i go over. she says can u cut it? i say sure. my man starts cutting, i start talking. she says shes had bids of $22, $24, $27. and is waiting on two more to call her back.

i hand her copy of: my tax i.d number, my pesticide license, and insurance card. then proceed to inform her that before hiring a service, it would be in her best interest to ask for all of this.

i cut the lawn, get paid, and go . i stop home, and guess what? there she is, on my machine: hi, bob, this is so and so. i took your advice, and we decided to sign on with you. we also need prices for fert program, and cleanup in fall. thanks.

Well, alls I can say is this happened to me quite a bit early on. So I'm quite familiar with this one. This is what I have figured out...

I give a bid...Customer says to themselves, dang that seems a bit much....They sit on my proposal a while, meanwhile the grass is still growin'....They thing dang, it needs to be cut bad, Humm, wonder if he's good enough o be worth that $$$....They call me for the one timer....I go and they say well one said $ and one said $ and so on, hoping I will jump on the other price...(you see these are suggestions to what they think you should charge, not other bids)....I mow and do a great job, collect my price and get the contract on the spot or a message on the machine within 24 hrs. saying "we decided we want you."

So I never budge from my price and I always get it

[Richard Martin]

Being a professional and showing that you are a professional pays off sometimes. While I do believe that most people just want their grass cut and don't really care what it looks like there are the occasional customers who care about quality.

One of my best friends and former competitor had a job about a mile from my house. They said this customer was always calling and asking for "special cuts". "We're having a big party this weekend so can you do a real nice job". Through a third party I was asked to bid on the property this year since the former service was getting out of cutting grass. I gave them a price that was 5 dollars higher than my friend had been charging them and they balked a little. I explained to them about insurance, taxes and professionalism and they said "go ahead, we will try it". I have not received one single phone call asking about "special cuts" and their check is always one of the first ones to come in from the monthly billings.

Sometimes a quiet customer is a happy customer.