I was looking at new equipment the other day and the dealer and I found we had a mutual aquaintance, a guy that cuts in my area.<p>to make a long story short, this mutual aquaintance is a real lowballer. he runs legal (insurance, buisness liscense, etc) but he lives with his parents, makes no payments, not married and cuts dirt cheap. jobs I price at $35 he'll do for $20. and he's told me "hey man, I'll cut grass all day for twenty bucks a pop!"<p>well, the rest of the story is that he twisted so many accounts from two guys that were real well established with long term accounts, that they went and found him and threatened him with bodily harm. I don't have the skinny on exactly how bad but they were real upset about loosing happy customers to a guy that cut for less than a reasonable price.<p>I can't wait to get the story from this guy just to see how he tells it.<p>GEO
GEO, <br>Did the lowballer aggressively take these accounts, approaching the customers, or did they hear about it and jump ship to save money? If he approached the customers, then he should watch his back...If the customers heard about the sale goin' on and left, then they would have probably left eventually anyway.<p>Rule #1...if you want to do someone bodily harm, dont premeditate it with threats.<p>Rule #2...When all the dust settles and everyone is incarcerated, GEO can pick up these accounts for a song!
We had one around here, or so the story goes, that would watch you cut and after you left would knock on the door of the home and undercut you..............hasn't happened to me, matter of fact I have never lost any business to lowballers yet. I have someone knocking on the door though wanting my apt. complex. If he wants it that bad and will cut it that cheap let him have it.<p>Homer
Lowball scrubs have no effect when you move up the lawn care food chain to the point of where the customer will find to to hard to replace your services.<p>Any mow and blow guy can easily replaced by<br>a cheaper mow and blow guy.<p>But when you start providing full service lawn care and landscape maint. you are much<br>harder to replace.<p>Contractors that have a pesticide license (lawn AND tree) and have professional <br>equipment are so busy they have no time to<br>care about and up and coming "lawn cutters".<br>
We sign all our customers to annual contracts to avoid being "lowballed" or "undercut." Do a good job at a fair price and do it when you say you are going to do it and you'll have more work than you can handle.<p>----------<br>Mike Reynolds,<br>Grass Roots Lawn Care (Fla)
gang--I think the lowballer was agressive. seeking out the accounts he could get that only his narrow profit margin could handle. Like I said, "20 bucks and cut grass all day!" it's easy to be that good but hard to cut that cheap!<p>myself for example, I have low overhead, and a really great clientel, I do ok. but I can't compete with this guy at 20 bucks a pop! or more correctly, I wont!<p>mister stone--in another life you must have been a statesman, as evidenced by your wise and to the point response to my post. thank you.
we have some of each here, & John from Trimmasters will vouch for me on this one.<br>Back in '97 we had the contract for a nice commercial prop. at the local mall, w/ lots of visibility & advertising.<br>My wife was mowing across face of hill at one end of place, near an intersection, when all of a sudden the local idiot comes by in his Range Rover (that he brags about & no one cares) honking the horn wildly at my wife trying to scare her & make her slide off the hill!<br>We get home that night & there's a meesage on answering machine saying "This is the workman's comp bureau checking to see if we have WC, blah blah blah, you got 2 weeks or we're gonna turn your ass in, blah blah blah, so you better get out of the business".<br>WELL, any idiot knows WC doesn't call from a cell phone in the middle of traffic, & who were they going to turn me in to? Themselves?<br>I called him right back & let him have it on his ans. machine. I made sure he knew what would happen if that pencil neck ever opened his mouth to me or anyone that works with me again. I haven't heard from him since. <br>He still goes around & threatens anyone he thinks will listen, or someone will get a "surprise" visit from OSHA or other. TO THIS DAY, I STILL have NOT met anyone who knows/met him that likes him- everyone that knows who he is can't stand him. He comes from a richy-rich family that daddy got him started.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>
THOSE TYPE OF PEOPLE WILL GET THEI'S IN THE END. KNOW A GUY FROM AROUND HERE THAT DOESNT LIKE ANYONE ELSE IN THE GRASS BUSINESS. I HAPPEN TO TALK TO ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES AND HE SAID THAT HIS CUSTOMERS DONT EVEN LIKE HIM. THATS WHY HE HAS VERY FEW RESIDENTIAL LAWNS, CAUSE OF HIS ATTITUDE.
