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I'm not a fan or lowballers either but who is.
 
The sad thing is this person has been around this area for awhile. He lives not to far from me. What bothers me is people in this area want amazing things done to their yard but want it done at the price he is offering. Then he does a very terrible job. How would you compete with this guy?
You don't..period.... get out of the mindset where you think you need to. I could give a crap what others charge....
 
I was mowing a property the other day and two guys pulled up in a beat up pick up with 2 push mowers in the back and some other beat up lawn equipment to do the lawn next door.

It all looked like they had pulled there equipment out of a dumpster. Of course there over head is almost zero. My overhead is alot higher but then my equipment is alot better quality and will leave the lawn looking alot nicer too.

I wouldnt compete with them, my quality of work and productivity is much higher then theres.

I guess it comes down to finding a balance. Charging enough to make a profit, but also not so much that your draining your customers dry.
 
Lowballers survive on the people who just don't want to cut grass. They don't care what the lawn looks like, as long as it's cut. They pay for what they want. It's not like the people don't have a choice. They can pay whoever and how much they want to pay for getting their grass cut.

I think we aughta start hating the home owners that hire the lowballers.
 
change your target market. Stop going after people who are so price sensitive because your going to hear this same story over and over again. I have more respect for someone who charges a higher price than someone who lowers theirs because they think they "have to"

Its simple economics and the market dictates how well you do. You dont want to get into a lowballing competition because nobody wins. Manage your expenses and stick to your costs, if you lose some potential business in the process, then so be it.

Apple seems to be doing fine with their $7,000 mac computers or whatever they are. You think they care that Dell and HP are half or even a third of the price? Nope. Why? Different Target Market
 
i think that's the reason people don't like lowballers the most....it's not that they under bid you and get the job it's that they charge such a cheap price that customers start thinking every lawn company should be just as cheap of a price...so like you said we all lose when people do that...i don't get it really...i mean they are hurting themselves and every other lawn company when they do it...they could be making more money if they just charged the same as everyone else
 
Man, get used to it. There are always going to be lowballers and sh!tty customers. Finding GOOD customers AND workers ARE the keys to success. Didn't take long to figure that one out.

The lowballers end up burning themselves out quick.
The bad customers F you over.
The bad workers, self explanatory.

Just concentrate on quality, all around.

I, personally, like the lowballers. They are motivators for me. They are a clear distinction between quality guys like us and guys just out chasing a 6 pack.
 
what? that's a good price. I charge 45$ on corner lot and they usually end up taking 45mins. I don't price by the minute I price by the size.

My smaller lots that arent on a corner are $35 because they aren't a corner and that take 35mins. $25 for a mow, $5 for trimming, and $5 for edging. Corner lots are $30 for mow, $10 for edging, and $5 for trimming.

Seems fair and just happens for work out to $1 a minute, I didn't go into this planning on getting a dollar a minute it just happened.

I'm sure as hell not going to go any cheaper than that I wouldn't make any money.
Have you considered getting a larger primary mower? Even a 48" would really help with mowing times.
 
Absolutely, but the area I live and work in, ALL my properties have gates. It's not effective for me to buy a 48in and only be able to use it in front yards, I would still need my 32. That said all my gates besides for one will allow a 36 to get through, that's why I'm buying a GS in the 36in variety this winter when the 11's come out.
 
Absolutely, but the area I live and work in, ALL my properties have gates. It's not effective for me to buy a 48in and only be able to use it in front yards, I would still need my 32. That said all my gates besides for one will allow a 36 to get through, that's why I'm buying a GS in the 36in variety this winter when the 11's come out.
What! I would be soo mad if after I bought my 36, I couldn't even get it in any backyards! Atleast you have a 32 right? I really want to get a 48" ztr. I could use it front and back on alot of properties but to be honest I don't see how I would make better times because I have one guy doing all the weedeating and edging. We always finish at the same time. Most of the time im just finishing up mowing while he has everything blown off, so all I have to do is mow :cool2:

I know at some point I will need a 48" ztr but I've been looking at the turf tracers and those looks awesome!

Unrelated: But I have seen videos where the turf tracer has an instant reverse, no stopping and manually putting it in reverse. I think that is awesome. Could anyone verify this for me or explain how it works with ECS controls?
 
I don't know about the turf tracer but I'm pretty sure that Dixie mowers have instant reverse.

Also before I buy any mower, I measure all the gates in every yard on my route to make sure I can get a new mower in. I was gonna get the 40in Grand Stand but I heard the deck is crap and clogs all the time, so the 36 is perfect. No more walking, I'll still be keeping the 32 as a back up and for that one pesky gate, It's so small the 32 BARELY squeezes in.

Edit: the turf tracer is a WALK BEHIND.. oops haha I don't like eXmark all the much I'm a Toro and a Husqy fan.
 
I don't know about the turf tracer but I'm pretty sure that Dixie mowers have instant reverse.
Edit: the turf tracer is a WALK BEHIND.. oops haha I don't like eXmark all the much I'm a Toro and a Husqy fan.
Yeah the turf tracer is a walk behind. With instant reverse and a velke you could do all the manuevers a lazer Z could. It just caught my attention. I wasn't aware that any walk behinds had instant reverse before the grandstand came out. Anyone who knows about the turftracer fill me in.

How can you not like eXmark? :nono: It is one of the top 3 commercial brand. Have you ever used one? Bad experience?
 
Not a fan of eXmark because I've never used one, we don't even have an eX dealer around me no one uses them. We have Kubota, Scag, Toro, and a husqy here and there.
 
I understand what your saying,The same thing happened to me, But just give it some time and they will eventually call you to do the job, ive been getting alot of customers that really love there lawns and thats a plus cus you know if you do a good job they wont get rid of you.
 
but high ballers also get me mad "im like 60 dollars for that come on" its hard to get a mowing job cause people think "why bother highering a mowing company there just gonna charge me to much" 60 bucks for a 1/4th acre lot is too much people wont pay that
 
I'm new at this but have already found customers who have been paying the same amount for lawncare for years. Meanwhile gas prices have gone up, equipment and maintenence costs have gone up and (good) labor has gone up. There's not another industry in the world that makes excuses for their gradual price increases. Lowballers are a cancer, and may eventually go away, but another one is out there replacing him. I'd rather have a handfull of good paying customers than a ton of low-dollar, money-losing accounts.
 
I'm new at this but have already found customers who have been paying the same amount for lawncare for years. Meanwhile gas prices have gone up, equipment and maintenence costs have gone up and (good) labor has gone up. There's not another industry in the world that makes excuses for their gradual price increases. Lowballers are a cancer, and may eventually go away, but another one is out there replacing him. I'd rather have a handfull of good paying customers than a ton of low-dollar, money-losing accounts.
Your are correct!
 
you will always have lowballers, in fact anyone who has been in another line of business is in the same problem. hell if anyone who buys their equipment online is shopping at a lowballer. Face it you can cut lawns with low investment maybe not well but you can do it. Most of the low ballers I see sooner or later go out due to the fact they forget to budget for repairs on equipment but it will always be a revolving door with new ones starting up.
 
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