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5K views 35 replies 18 participants last post by  jrodgers 
#1 ·
I have this client. We met when he was waiting around my house one day when I got home from working that day. My house really stands out on the block, the landscaping is on point and it is one of my biggest drivers for getting new clients because it is a major thoroughfare. It wasn't really anything new to see someone taking pictures/looking around from the sidewalk. So we chat and we make some plans to get some work done.

He pays SUPER fast, I never wait more than 5 hours after finishing a job before an alert shows up in my messages. Which is great, right?

But he shows up at my house all the time. For me to re-pot a plant or to talk about what he wants done. Enough that I installed a lock on my gate so he couldn't access my backyard (I've watched my security camera footage, he literally walks around for 10-20 minutes as if he's at a botanical garden.) He's in his mid-40's, it isn't like he's an old retired man that is looking for a garden buddy.

I got rained out a few times this past week so I was working today. I'm all bright and chipper, just finished my coffee and walked out the back door and he is sitting at my patio table chilling out. :wall: I apparently forgot to lock the gate last night and there he is. "What are you doing in my back yard?" "Oh, I just wanted to talk with you about repotting this plant for me and I really want a new shrub in the front yard."

Is it me? I have zero experience with picking up clients that are within walking distance of my home and I don't want to be a jackass and lose the client but the normal methods of telling someone "boundaries!" are not working. I've said, call/text me before showing up, stop coming into my back yard, stop coming to my house multiple times a week... weekends, after dark, early mornings.

I think I answered my own question after typing all of this out but I searched first and couldn't find a single thread that had this exact issue. So let there at least be one for the next searcher and I guess I have a crazy client that I should let go of. I can't be the only one that has dealt with this...?
 
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#6 ·
I thought working for people in my neighborhood was bad, but damn, I've never had anyone sitting in my back yard! Then again, this is Florida. You pull a stunt like that, you're likely to find yourself looking down the working end of a gun.

This dude sounds a little off. I mean, would you just let yourself into someone's back yard and hang out.? You need to establish some boundaries or before you know it, you're going to find him in your kitchen boiling your rabbit.

Like @jc1 said, he either gets with the program that your yard is YOUR yard or he gets dropped.
 
#10 ·
Wow:gunsfirin.......I was planning on working for a few of my neighbors now I'm going to rethink that....
Definitely go into it w open. Not having to to travel to do work is a plus, but that can quickly get outweighed by neighbors with boundary issues; as you can see here. Of the 17 other houses in my neighborhood, 5 are customers as well as my HOA. There's a couple in here that figure if my truck is in the driveway or even if I'm in the garage working on the mower, then I am clearly available to discuss their lawn, the HOA grounds, or for them to ask me to do some work "real quick" since I'm right there. I feel like Neo in the Matrix dodging people at times because working for neighbors you not only have to keep up business relations but also neighbor relations, and the lines become blurred. It's one of my biggest regrets, and it's something I'm slowly working myself out of by raising my prices (a lot of them are of the typical Florida mentality that cheap lawn care is a right).

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#14 ·
We live out of town and run our greenhouses and nursery division out of the same location so we get people dropping in all the time even after hours with our gates locked and hours of op. posted. They climb over or through the gate and wander all over. When you ask them what's up their usual response is " I wasn't doing anything so I stopped over to see if I could get get some after hours service, being we are friends you know" I got beware of dog signs up ( no dog though) to ward off strangers but neighbors know this so the next sign went up. WARNING YOU ARE BEING VIDEO TAPED. S'funny that slowed things down a lot. Nobody wants to be a movie star I guess.
 
#15 ·
Thanks, ya'll. You know how it goes, sometimes you get frustrated with a client but if you give yourself time you can somewhat bring your mind to making peace with a given situation.

This is not one of those situations, but I didn't want to jump the gun if this was something that other people just learn to deal with. He showed up last night at 8pm knocking on the door but fortunately I wasn't home to encounter him (my cameras have alarms that notify me when someone moves in a certain area of the image.) That's too much crazy for me, so he will get the choice of "You must call/text me during normal business hours or email me anytime and I'll come to you when I can or we cannot continue to do business." Simple.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback and now, if someone else goes searching for these kind of answers they will find a thread with the info. :clapping:
 
#19 ·
Closure... oh well.

Hi, hope this finds you well. It seems that there are some boundaries that we need to set. In the future, give me a call/text and I can come meet you at your house. I really don't like walking outside to find anyone hanging out in my back yard. When I'm home, it isn't an office for late/weekend visits. I don't want to sound harsh but it has gotten a bit out of control. I appreciate your business and look forward to the next steps in your landscape bu we need to have a better understanding moving forward. My business hours are Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm, any calls after that will be returned the following business day.

*crickets*

And before anyone says anything like, "must be nice." My work time is hardly M-F/9-5 (more like S-S 8am to 11pm, it seems) but I felt it got the point across that showing up after 8pm on my doorstep was not a good time. By the lack of response, I'm pretty sure that he is no longer a client of mine. The peace of mind will be worth it.
 
#22 ·
You guys are just UNfriendly...I had my Chinese neighbor show up in my backyard ...he was all bloody, with tissue paper hanging out of nose... apparently tried to back his Harley out of the garage, down an incline, while not sitting on it...he lost the battle. He asked me to ride is around awhile to make sure it was OK...

You guys need to just have fun with this...every time he comes over, get him to do some crappy or tough job...have a shovel ready and get him to help you dig a hole....make it look like a grave..
 
#28 ·
There definitely has to be a separation between work and personal life. That's a crazy story. In 24yrs I have had a customer stop by my house one time. He happened to be riding his bike down my street and saw my truck. Just a "hey how are you? Saw the truck thought I'd say hello. Ok see you later." I'm sure everyone is different but I have always set boundaries for my customers. Running the business as we all know is a lot of work and can be very stressful. We all need down time for our brains to recover. I am the type that can't "shut things off that easy". For this reason I don't give out my cell to customers and never answer the phone out of my 9-5 business hours. If I were to give out my cell that would be what customers (I do mostly high end residential maintenance ) would call first as some of them think I'm am on call for them ( believe it or not I am very customer service oriented to a point). What would happen is I would be doing something in my down time (fishing, on the boat, fishing, ok don't bother me when I'm fishing) and someone will call with a problem and my mind would not be able to shut down diminishing my fishing experience. "What do they mean ALL their flowers died? Who didn't blow off patio. Etc. etc." Not that you can't easily get a message to me they can just email and I get it on my phone same as a call or text but there is something more urgent about a call or text, I don't know I'm just old school. Moral of the story don't bother me when I'm fishing.:laugh:
 
#29 ·
This dude sounds crazy! Unless he’s paying out hundreds of dollars a week for your services i’d say it’s not worth it. Drop him unless you really need the business, or you can get him to respect your boundaries. The whole going in your backyard and chilling on the patio is too far.
 
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#31 ·
There is a world of difference between an injured neighbor coming over for help and a client inviting himself to a seat on your patio when you're not even outside and then sticks around until you do come outside, knocks on your door at 8PM and just constantly stops by. HUGE difference.

Most of us here would help a bloody neighbor that stopped in....most of us wouldn't deal with a client that is constantly stopping in outside business hours and making himself comfortable on our property. Apples and oranges.

Even if this client happened to do this once or twice, I'm sure the OP wouldn't care...it happens, but being this is a constant occurrence... it's not unfriendly at all.
 
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