if you were selling a one time service, let's say one tree, or a mulch job, or whatever, something that would only be done one time. do you demand payment, in full, BEFORE you do the job? or, as a businessman and a good one, who would like to deliver the job, see a satisfied customer, then have the bill paid, do u do the job, and get paid upon completion and satisfaction? simply put, before, or after?
before, or after?
bobbygedd
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if you were selling a one time service, let's say one tree, or a mulch job, or whatever, something that would only be done one time. do you demand payment, in full, BEFORE you do the job? or, as a businessman and a good one, who would like to deliver the job, see a satisfied customer, then have the bill paid, do u do the job, and get paid upon completion and satisfaction? simply put, before, or after?
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HALF UPFRONT, which will pay for ALL product & expenses & labor incurred in the job. BALANCE UPON COMPLETION...like RIGHT NOW...not mailed in tomorrow.
Mike
Mike
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One time jobs:If you get "that feeling", you know...they pay in advance of the job. Everyone else, due on completion of said job. Everyone gets a contract regardless. I don't extend credit to anyone until they fulfill their first contract or sign for a yearly agreement.payup
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This is a good one, From time to time it feels risky to take on a new customerbobbygedd said:
with a one time job. I just act very polite and professional. If I get a weird feeling about a new client. I will ask for payment upon arrival, then do the work. But thats rare. Most people pay after work is complete,
If you do your end of the bargin. On installs over $500 I insist on a deposit 3/4 of the bill. thats worked for me all year. people find it convenient too.
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You can't compare selling a service to selling merchandise which is what you are trying to do here btw.
When you order ANYTHING online, whether it be books or cds from amazon.com, or clothing apparel from the Gap, to hair products for your mullet, YOU PAY IN ADVANCE. No one is going to send you their merchandise so you can inspect it first. Can you give me an example of a place online that sends merchandise first, then wants payment? I doubt it.
As for selling a SERVICE for a one time job, yes we get half the payment upfront. It covers the expenses.
Try again, you aren't even close in driving home your point about the lawnsite t-shirt.
When you order ANYTHING online, whether it be books or cds from amazon.com, or clothing apparel from the Gap, to hair products for your mullet, YOU PAY IN ADVANCE. No one is going to send you their merchandise so you can inspect it first. Can you give me an example of a place online that sends merchandise first, then wants payment? I doubt it.
As for selling a SERVICE for a one time job, yes we get half the payment upfront. It covers the expenses.
Try again, you aren't even close in driving home your point about the lawnsite t-shirt.
a grass cut, is a PRODUCT. it's a service, but the SERVICE, is our product. orriginally quoted to me by majortom, in private email:" there is no way in hell we'd ask anyone for money in advance. that is just not fair to the customer. i mean, be real, they need to be sure they are satisfied before paying for something. if you get your clients to pre pay, all i can say is, people in jersey are alot dumber than the people in pittsburgh." end of quote. get your story straight....majortom
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Wow, that's the best you can do, I always know when I have you beat, when you have to resort to lies. I wouldn't have used the word "hell" first of all, the rest of that is just pure hogwash.bobbygedd said:
btw, can't answer the question? Name me a place online that sends merchandise FIRST to be inspected BEFORE payment.
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Bingo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!1MajorTom said:
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Yes, or payed upon completion.Green-Pro said:We provide the service/complete the job & send statement first of the month same as regular clients, no problems with anybody yet. There are some folks that ask to pay at the time of service and thats fine to, as long as I remember to add tax
If there not happy we can work on an attitude problem at addition cost
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And another thing, I believe you are taking a conversation that we had about if our customers here would pay in advance for a FULL YEAR of grass cutting, and I said no they would not. That conversation had nothing to do with a ONE TIME service.. Way out of context. Typical tactic of yours though.bobbygedd said:
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Well my wife just ordered things from ABC distributing, and they send stuff, bill later.1MajorTom said:
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Another place is LTD Commodities. they send you the stuff with an envelope. you send them back the payment. got some cool stuff, only way to buy is through your business though. www.ltdcommodities.com1MajorTom said:
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Really, that's odd. I just went there. Tried to order the cd's on the main page just for the heck of it. Tried to check out, and they are asking me for my creditcard information to pay.Mr.Mow-It-All said:
http://www.abcdistributing.com/
I haven't read the other responses and I especially don't care to read BG's responses. But it's a good question you bring up. So here's the answer for the rest of Lawnsite who is reading this;
The answer is it depends on the total amount of the job and how much of the job is material vs. labor.
As a general rule, on small jobs, we collect 100% upon completion. Small jobs meaning $1000 or less, and ones where 50% or more of the cost of the job is labor.
If a job is over $1000 or is really heavy on the materials side, then we collect 1/2 down payment and 1/2 upon completion. Reason being is you don't want to have to "float" the cost of materials for a day or two until you get paid. If you had a 2 or 3 day job that needed $1000 in materials and $1000 in labor, you'd want to at least be able to cover most of the materials before the job started.
This is normal business practice for almost any kind of contractor. It's common place with larger jobs to get 1/2 down and customers expect it.
On really large jobs (e.g. $10,000 or more) we usually do 1/3 down, 1/3 when work is 50% complete, and 1/3 upon completion. This is the only way to do it without floating too much of your own money.
What ISN'T professional is to ever demand 100% payment in advance. That's just rude and makes you look sketchy. And honestly, there really isn't any need for it. I've never been screwed by a client on a one-time job like this. You may get stiffed on a month or two of lawn care if someone moves and forgets to tell you or something. But in 10 years and thousands of one-time jobs I've never been stiffed at the end of a one-time job. If you do good work, people are going to pay. It's relatively simple. So there's just no reason not to "trust" the client, and demand all of the payment up front. It's an offense to the client.
The answer is it depends on the total amount of the job and how much of the job is material vs. labor.
As a general rule, on small jobs, we collect 100% upon completion. Small jobs meaning $1000 or less, and ones where 50% or more of the cost of the job is labor.
If a job is over $1000 or is really heavy on the materials side, then we collect 1/2 down payment and 1/2 upon completion. Reason being is you don't want to have to "float" the cost of materials for a day or two until you get paid. If you had a 2 or 3 day job that needed $1000 in materials and $1000 in labor, you'd want to at least be able to cover most of the materials before the job started.
This is normal business practice for almost any kind of contractor. It's common place with larger jobs to get 1/2 down and customers expect it.
On really large jobs (e.g. $10,000 or more) we usually do 1/3 down, 1/3 when work is 50% complete, and 1/3 upon completion. This is the only way to do it without floating too much of your own money.
What ISN'T professional is to ever demand 100% payment in advance. That's just rude and makes you look sketchy. And honestly, there really isn't any need for it. I've never been screwed by a client on a one-time job like this. You may get stiffed on a month or two of lawn care if someone moves and forgets to tell you or something. But in 10 years and thousands of one-time jobs I've never been stiffed at the end of a one-time job. If you do good work, people are going to pay. It's relatively simple. So there's just no reason not to "trust" the client, and demand all of the payment up front. It's an offense to the client.
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