Commercials. You Find Them or They Find You?

3593 Views 20 Replies 14 Participants Last post by eddie12065, Nov 23, 2008

DSLND

Discussion Starter · Aug 15, 2008

Ok, so i would like to have a discussion regarding commercial accounts.

I currently have two, one small apartment building, that only has flowerbeds, and one furniture store, decent amount of grass, lots of trimming.

Both have approached me, by word of mouth. The furniture store was acquired last year, after my mom was speaking to the owner (old friend) at a sporting event.

The apartment building was all me. Its a funny story, walked in for a hair cut, walked out with a customer. Lots of work, weeding, mulching, snow/ice management, etc.

I talk to a lot of guys around here who acquire their commercial accounts through word of mouth, and others say they call for bidding. I personally would like to get more commercials, especially as I advance into the snow/ice division, but I don't want to get stuck in the "cheapest bid game".

I think as my reputation grows, the commercial client list will grow, but I am just curious...

How do you folks acquire your commercial accounts?

Thanks a lot! I appreciate your time.

-Mitch-

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nosparkplugs

· #14 · Nov 19, 2008

Word of mouth & Real Yellow Pages. Cold calling is a waste of time IMO; because 90% of the time local management are just answering machines, while senior management, who makes the final decision's is located in another state.

Commercial accounts are significantly important in this tough economy for us, their vital to my business survival, I could not survive without commercial work. Even the high end residential market has been effected in there spending on Lawn & Landscape service's.

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nosparkplugs

· #17 · Nov 21, 2008

diamondlandscaping said:
I don't get why people want commercial. Stick with res. Commercial most of the time want low(est) price. All the big companies in my area do HOA/Commercial,have like a million employees and prob make not much of a profit at the end of the year. This is how i view accounts: if the bottom line has a profit,then it is worth it. Don't take on accounts just to say hey i have 500 accounts. If it is profitable to you, then go for it. I would much rather deal with residential.

Thats just it!!! YOU DON"T KNOW, your talking out of your ARSE. Commercial customers will always keep their lawn maintenance contracts, while the residential market is hurting in this economy. While some LCO are done for the season, I work 12 months a year. With guys thinking like you their will always be commercial work:laugh:

who has 500 accounts "WTF" I would not be doing commercial work if I was looseing money:hammerhead:
Your sound like a dumb arse with a response like that regarding commercial lawn & landscape.

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nosparkplugs

· #19 · Nov 21, 2008

diamondlandscaping said:
dude, chill the hell out. Im going by what I know about big LCO's in my area. They need to have tons of big commercial accounts to stay alive. Most commercial from what I know in my area go for low bidders. Ok, so you have work year round, that is good. I wasn't disputing that.

I didn't literaly mean 500 accounts.

Maybe in your area residential is bad. I live in one of the most wealthiest areas in the US and these people aren't getting rid of their maintenance. Most are still even doing landscaping.

:laugh: I'm cool. No hard feelings, I just appreciate commercial work. While their are many LCO who are comfortable with 100% residentials: high end or middle class, and make good money, I respect that. For me? I'm telling you ALL, I could not have built my business without the support of residential or commercial contracts both. While my high end residentials are "contracted" their non-binding, and while you may think commercial accounts are lower paying or slow payers, that is false. I look forward to my FAT commercial checks each month. I can pay more bills with one commercial account check than 1 high end residential check, period. You just have to find the right commercial folks to deal with. I would like to drop more of my residentials their just to "*****y" nowadays. Commercial involves more paperwork, but it involves less overall stress vs profit.

Here's a good example I just purchased a new BB AOS Diesel ZTR, and without my commercial accounts I would have zero use for such piece of equipment, and now I can increase my total production residential or commercial. I feel that diversification is what enables one to excell in this economy, yet don't become the "jack of all trades, the master of none" applies here.

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