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Don't Hate...Collaborate (With Your Competition)

9K views 22 replies 20 participants last post by  ROS_Grounds 
#1 ·
“I swear to God if I see that $#@%^& I’m going to kick his $%#!”

Wow. Pretty rough. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you that this is a portion of a conversation I had with a lawn and landscape business owner who told me that he had some of his customers stolen by a competitor and the next time he saw his competitor he was going to…. well, you get the picture.

I asked him why or how he had these clients “stolen” from him. He told me that he offers maintenance services only and a few customers asked him about doing irrigation work. He explained he did not do the work but gave them the phone number of a company in the area that did do this kind of work.

Long story short, the company he referred is a full service company and they effectively upsold these customers on maintenance.

I explained to the angry business owner that he should have told the other business owner that it should be understood that he should not “steal” these customers.

His response….

“Oh no, I never talked to the company or the owner, I just know they do irrigation so I gave my customers their number.”

Really? What did he expect this other company to do?

The conversation shifted and I asked him what his plans were for the future. He stated he wanted to remain maintenance only. So I explained to him that he needs to find other companies in the area that offer the services he won’t. Contact them, reach out to them and explain that he wants to lead people their way – hardscaping, irrigation, lawn care, softscaping, lighting – whatever. Explain that he wants to work with them in a manner that is either an agreement to swap work or a commission scenario.

Instead of hating the other guy, work with him. Everyone gets a piece of the pie.

By the way… I am not suggesting you attempt to work with your direct competitor who works hard to take customers from you. I am referring to companies that will recognize the benefit of working together and sharing the spoils together.
 
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#6 ·
I lent 2 generators to another company who used them on their 4th of July parade floats. Yes we do compete but their is no hate. We have pulled each other out of jams before.
Been there Done that, We do work for two other larger outfits. We trade off when in a pinch, has worked out well for over 5 years. My very first foreman started his own lco about 7 years ago and I throw him a bone every once in a while, he is doing well and I might need to call on him at some point.
 
#7 ·
To be honest if I fix your work i have nothing to do with that company, but that is mostly involving service other than mowing. As far as mowing goes, there is a member of this forum who is much smaller than i am and more capable of handling some smaller yards that I send work to and we have never spoken. I am not even sure he knows about it.

Also, good luck "stealing" my clients. They are locked down tight, and if they are looking or leaving I dont want them anyways. My people look at our clients like family.
 
#8 ·
This is all just so insanely stupid..... There is so much darn work to be had that smaller companies should never even be having this conversation... And by smaller companies I still mean multiple trucks, grossing 1 million plus, multiple employees. Really, the only ones that should be having this conversation are the biggies... Brickman, True Green, ValleyCrest and those guys... These guys are bidding jobs... yes jobs.. in the multiple millions of dollars. Universities, municipality work, Nation wide HOA type stuff.... "He took my 25 dollar lawn account and I'm going to kick his @$$!" This is complete malarkey.... I wonder if this same guy drives the biggest half ton diesel he can find with a lift kit to boot.... Insecure anyone?
 
#9 ·
This is all just so insanely stupid..... There is so much darn work to be had that smaller companies should never even be having this conversation... And by smaller companies I still mean multiple trucks, grossing 1 million plus, multiple employees. Really, the only ones that should be having this conversation are the biggies... Brickman, True Green, ValleyCrest and those guys... These guys are bidding jobs... yes jobs.. in the multiple millions of dollars. Universities, municipality work, Nation wide HOA type stuff.... "He took my 25 dollar lawn account and I'm going to kick his @$$!" This is complete malarkey.... I wonder if this same guy drives the biggest half ton diesel he can find with a lift kit to boot.... Insecure anyone?
What's a half ton diesel?
 
#13 ·
Ive got a list of guys I can refer customers to for stuff I dont do and they have me on thier list and Ive got a couple of guys that mow and we help each other when needed
Since I quit worrying about trying to make every dime I can Ive found more/better work
 
#14 ·
There is plenty of business out there and the typical customer is not going to switch from someone they are happy with for a couple bucks. If I do a quality job, charge within the local market price range, and maintain a good rapport, I will continue to have a high retention rate.

At some point, I will take a summer vacation, have an injury, or have an equipment issue that the shop can't turn around fast enough. Maintaining a good relationship with local competitors gives me a stand-by network to tap into for all kinds of situations.

Plus, they call or stop by and warn me when they get stiffed or drop a client for reason so I don't waste time quoting the job, and I do the same for them.
 
#15 ·
I network with 4 other local companies that do what I don't.
They in turn do the same for me.
I lost a customer recently that decided they wanted a "full service" outfit, which I'm certain was cost generated.
The market is what it is, and there really isn't a "typical customer" anymore.
The middle class market where most of us live and work continues to struggle and the squeeze goes on.
Price shoppers grow by the day, and the client who wants Walmart lawn and landscape is where it's headed.
 
#16 ·
For residential market wal mart landscaping is a reality NOW! plenty of work, but the margins are so low it's not hardly worth it! We maintain around 50 clients now but it's getting harder and harder every year to keep them happy, jobs are still being lost and wages are either stagnant or going down, and for those that loses their job it's replaced with a lower paying job usually. I feel fortunate to be in a market where people are constantly moving in so there's a good supply of new customers for the most part, so we market to the new home owner and people relocating in, it just made sense for us to go that route. We also sub work to competition and vice versa.
 
#17 ·
I'm mostly a 1 man show, but I have a buddy that helps me on bigger jobs or when I'm tired. I do maintenance only, but am in the process of getting my applicator's license. I only say that to show that I'm a little fish. I often get asked about patios, retention walls, irrigation, landscape installs etc. I don't touch the stuff. I wouldn't know where to start. I have 2 companies that I refer to customers for this work. They are both phenomenal companies that do very good work, and most importantly, stand behind it. We have a gentlemen's agreement that they will never try to muscle in on my maintenance contracts, and I won't bid theirs (not that they're worried).
This is a very productive relationship for all 3 of us. They get the landscaping jobs that pay good $ and sometimes they'll throw me a smaller job (clean up hedge work etc.) Plus one of them has been kind enough to teach me a lot about turf management and how to bid jobs accurately and fairly.

I agree that there is no need to be a to the competition, as the pie is big enough to go around. If your price is competitive and your work is the best it can be, your good clients won't be too interested in leaving you. As for the ones who might... well they're usually the ones you kinda wish you didn't have to deal with in the 1st place.
 
#18 ·
I get a very large dollar amount of work from much larger companies in our area. They often make more subbing to me than hadling in house. I have a great 5 day job to do in December that is being subbed to me. Big companies do not view one or two crew outfits as competion. In fact they have no concern for them at all. They are more worried about other 50 plus crew outfits because big beast must be fed. Friend of mine is so big he now employees 3700 full time in this business. So get to know larger companies if possible and ask for some work. You will have to build a relationship which can be hard. One of the companies that gives me a lot of work has done so for 20 plus years some years they give me 100k plus they average million per year themselves so there not a big box but well known.
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#19 ·
I run my business in a small city. A lot of other yard maintenance guys wave to me vice versa. I am even teamed up with another company that will help me out if I am in a pinch and I will help him out as well. I have started branching out further from home now and will do 1 or 2 day clean outs that are an hour to 3 hours away. I have taken my toy hauler and it is used to put equipment in on jobs that are away from home and then I also have a place to sleep if it is an over night job.
 
#20 ·
I used to refer work to other companies. Not anymore, if a customer wants a service that I am not providing I get three of the service providers to quote for me. I am the client, I pick the best price, then put my mark on it. 'I pay the service providers' not my clients, I also insist that they use magnetic signage on their vehicles stating that they are working on our behalf.
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#21 ·
We rely on subs/strategic partners everyday. We use a sub contract form our lawyer provided that lays out all the ground rules (insurance, payments, non solicit etc...). Like a previous poster said, a lot of our subs are former employees.

On a different but related note, read an article recently about strategy and strategic vision in business. Back in the 1960's, Nike's laser focused vision was "crush Adidas". They were the big boy on the block at the time and Nike wanted to take them down. I think having a David vs Goliath mentality can be a good motivator - as long as it doesn't spill over into bad mouthing the competition to potential customers.

At the end of the day, no one owns a customer. You have to work hard everyday to earn someone's business. If a customer leaves your company for another - better look in the mirror.
 
#22 ·
I think most legitimate companies respect and show some consideration towards other "legitimate companies" I think the problem comes in with all the surge of people doing it for quick money, under the table payments to avoid paying for things like child support, claiming taxes or earnings so they can collect welfare and soc security disability without showing an income. I have atleast 4 other companies in my area that I talk to regularly.
 
#23 ·
I have great relationships wirh most of the other lawn and snow operators here.
In winter, I sub out my snow hauling as we dont have a dump truck or trailer yet.
This summer I want to offer weed control but do not have a industrial applicator license, so I am looking to sub out. The pickle I am in right now is that the biggest and best one in town has even more obvious truck decaling than me, and with the growth I am planning and executing over the next two years, I am quite weary about having neighbours, clirnts, etc see his trucks. I am hoping I can find someone with unmarked trucks that I can require my magnets on when doing my work.
Whats all of y'alls opinion on this?
 
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