It looks like you are in the position to control your own destiny. Choose the jobs you like and charge what you think is fair.
How do you keep up with job/estimate requests?
I get more requests for jobs/estimates than I can keep up with. I try to get to them in order that they come in, and I always at least make a point to contact people back that contact us. I tell everyone that I will come look at the job and at least get them an estimate. I also tell them that we are several jobs in for this year and I can't give them an exact date/time that we can get to the work, but if they like the price and agree to the work, I will put them on the schedule and call them when their number is coming up. If they have decided to hire someone else, they can tell me then and we will just move on to the next job. So I feel I'm honest with everyone. I don't want to be one of those contractors people complain never show up or call back, but it's getting bad. I got 5 requests today alone, and I'm probably 15 jobs behind for going and looking and giving estimates.
How do you guys who get more calls for work than you could possibly do, keep up with all the requests? Just pick and choose the jobs you want? Try to price them all? I can't be on a job site all day and do 5 or more estimates a week. I just can't. We're a growing business and literally can't grow fast enough to keep up. I hate to tell people no, because the closure rate in my area is relatively low. (I keep a log of calls/requests. At present I'm sitting at 30% closure rate, but I have several estimates out recently and haven't heard back just yet. So it may be slightly higher.) I literally never know who will say yes and who won't. We have an incredibly long list of services we provide, and are either one of just a few, or literally the only contractor in the area for some of that work. I think some people literally have no idea what some things cost, and we're relatively new, so I think we get a lot of "tire kickers". Point is, I can't really afford to just tell someone no over the phone, because it may be one of the best jobs we landed all week. I've had people I know who make good money say I'm too high, and people I know don't have much money hire us on the spot. I live in a very unpredictable area in the regard.
Just tell me what you do. Make suggestions. I'm all ears.
For anyone who isn't familiar with me (and at this point I don't know how that's possible, lol) I'm not new to business. I'm not young. I'm not new to this kind of work. (Some aspects I am, but not as a whole.) Looking for other seasoned guys with reasonably large businesses and at the very least large enough to run multiple employees and different types of work. We aren't just a mowing company, although we offer that service. We also do hardscape, excavation, driveway installs/repair (gravel or prep for asphalt/concrete) tree work, water mitigation/drainage, snow removal and more. Have lots of equipment, but let's get real..... never can have enough equipment. I don't mean to pass you off if you're an owner/operator, but when running solo things are different. I do have employees, but at present I have to at least be on site for "big" jobs. (I'm currently the main equipment operator.) I do put guys alone on smaller ones, or let them complete specific portions while I go off and do other things. Look at jobs, meet with customers, business meetings ect.
Advice? Comments?
How do you guys who get more calls for work than you could possibly do, keep up with all the requests? Just pick and choose the jobs you want? Try to price them all? I can't be on a job site all day and do 5 or more estimates a week. I just can't. We're a growing business and literally can't grow fast enough to keep up. I hate to tell people no, because the closure rate in my area is relatively low. (I keep a log of calls/requests. At present I'm sitting at 30% closure rate, but I have several estimates out recently and haven't heard back just yet. So it may be slightly higher.) I literally never know who will say yes and who won't. We have an incredibly long list of services we provide, and are either one of just a few, or literally the only contractor in the area for some of that work. I think some people literally have no idea what some things cost, and we're relatively new, so I think we get a lot of "tire kickers". Point is, I can't really afford to just tell someone no over the phone, because it may be one of the best jobs we landed all week. I've had people I know who make good money say I'm too high, and people I know don't have much money hire us on the spot. I live in a very unpredictable area in the regard.
Just tell me what you do. Make suggestions. I'm all ears.
For anyone who isn't familiar with me (and at this point I don't know how that's possible, lol) I'm not new to business. I'm not young. I'm not new to this kind of work. (Some aspects I am, but not as a whole.) Looking for other seasoned guys with reasonably large businesses and at the very least large enough to run multiple employees and different types of work. We aren't just a mowing company, although we offer that service. We also do hardscape, excavation, driveway installs/repair (gravel or prep for asphalt/concrete) tree work, water mitigation/drainage, snow removal and more. Have lots of equipment, but let's get real..... never can have enough equipment. I don't mean to pass you off if you're an owner/operator, but when running solo things are different. I do have employees, but at present I have to at least be on site for "big" jobs. (I'm currently the main equipment operator.) I do put guys alone on smaller ones, or let them complete specific portions while I go off and do other things. Look at jobs, meet with customers, business meetings ect.
Advice? Comments?
1 - 20 of 44 Posts
At this point you should focus on referrals over people just calling around. You will close on most of them and the people are much less likely to haggle. Picking and choosing is the best way to run a business like this.
When you call people back, let them know you already are scheduling work for after the 4th of July and are 2 or 3 weeks out on estimates. This will help weed out the time wasters. If you have enough work on the table for now don't do estimates for a week to help you ketch up. It becomes a dance you will learn to handle and in a month or 2 you will be try to get people to wait until next year. The phone will ring off the hook right now but by July you may only be getting 2 or 3 calls a week. By the fall the phone starts ringing again with people looking to get stuff done before winter. I liked to defer some tree work untill the winter when things are slower and offer a slight discount if they can wait until winter
We are probably similar because the last 6 years I accommodated every quote request we got and I was doing 1-2 5 days per week, all year.
Now, as long as the schedule has 3-4 months of work I will be more picky. First off I tell everyone we can't go look at their job for 2-3 weeks and start for 3-4 months, our first step is asking them to send an email request with details on what they want, then I will review it and let them know if its the type of job we can do. That weeds out half the people right there. Then once people send their info, I try to get them some budget numbers or any more info, or tell them their idea won't work, tell them we have to charge for a design or consult if they don't have an idea what they want. That weeds out some more.
Im still doing maybe 2-3 quotes per week but as long as I put a day or two in between each day I schedule them, I feel good about not falling behind on the jobs we are already doing.
Also, for the little cleanup jobs or jobs that sound small, like under $3000, I will just tell them an hourly rate right away and say we can't quote it, but we can book it in if you are ok with the rate, that weeds out most of those little jobs.
Now, as long as the schedule has 3-4 months of work I will be more picky. First off I tell everyone we can't go look at their job for 2-3 weeks and start for 3-4 months, our first step is asking them to send an email request with details on what they want, then I will review it and let them know if its the type of job we can do. That weeds out half the people right there. Then once people send their info, I try to get them some budget numbers or any more info, or tell them their idea won't work, tell them we have to charge for a design or consult if they don't have an idea what they want. That weeds out some more.
Im still doing maybe 2-3 quotes per week but as long as I put a day or two in between each day I schedule them, I feel good about not falling behind on the jobs we are already doing.
Also, for the little cleanup jobs or jobs that sound small, like under $3000, I will just tell them an hourly rate right away and say we can't quote it, but we can book it in if you are ok with the rate, that weeds out most of those little jobs.
Sounds like you're in a position to hire an operator.
That’s actually really good advice.We are probably similar because the last 6 years I accommodated every quote request we got and I was doing 1-2 5 days per week, all year.
Now, as long as the schedule has 3-4 months of work I will be more picky. First off I tell everyone we can't go look at their job for 2-3 weeks and start for 3-4 months, our first step is asking them to send an email request with details on what they want, then I will review it and let them know if its the type of job we can do. That weeds out half the people right there. Then once people send their info, I try to get them some budget numbers or any more info, or tell them their idea won't work, tell them we have to charge for a design or consult if they don't have an idea what they want. That weeds out some more.
Im still doing maybe 2-3 quotes per week but as long as I put a day or two in between each day I schedule them, I feel good about not falling behind on the jobs we are already doing.
Also, for the little cleanup jobs or jobs that sound small, like under $3000, I will just tell them an hourly rate right away and say we can't quote it, but we can book it in if you are ok with the rate, that weeds out most of those little jobs.
I especially like not taking time to quote jobs under a specified amount. $3000 is a good number too, because those are the ones that annoy me.
I’ve already started doing the other suggestion: asking for a text/email with all the info and pictures if they can. Then telling them it will be at least 2 weeks before I come look at it.
Back to people just having no clue, I did a quote for a guy the other day (finally) who was bugging me. Big driveway and drainage job. He wanted to widen the drive and take care of a water problem next to his house. Drive was like 50’ wide and nearly 100’ long. Ok, it was more of a parking lot. Anyway, I figured he needed about 46 tons of rock. People just have no idea. But do the math…. Even just 2” of rock over a 50x100 (he was making it larger, whole area didn’t need rock) is 30 yards or 46 tons. Quote was close to $5k. I haven’t heard back from him yet.
Yeah….. but you think finding guys who can run a trimmer and a mower is hard, try finding a good operator.Sounds like you're in a position to hire an operator.
I have 4 brothers. One is my business partner. We all grew up on a farm. One of my brothers…. Is an equipment operator. I always thought it was kind of funny because he wasn’t the best equipment operator when he was younger. I had him come do work for me thinking, “He’s an operator, this should be a cake walk for him.” Well….. he hasn’t gotta much better. One of the other guys looked at me at me and said, “I thought you said he was an equipment operator? Cause sure looks like he’s struggling an awful lot.” I’m not bashing my bro. He’s not “bad”. He’s just not me, lol. To be fair, he’s only been an “operator” for a few years. He left the farm after high school and did a lot of other things. I never quit running equipment. Good operators are very hard to come by.
I don't mind doing free quotes but the people who say they want landscaping but are looking for suggestions are the ones I don't want to waste time on, since they haven't thought it out at all and want a free consult basically. They always say well what would you do, then they don't like when I say I think their yard is fine.
My screening process started because of people like that, mostly because they would take up the most time and least likely to actually hire anyone.
So its pretty easy to just straight up ask if they have considered budget and looked up ideas they like, otherwise I will throw out the consult fees or needing a full design before we can price anything.
Unless you are trying to add 1 or 2 crews, you have to weed out the worst quality ones somehow
My screening process started because of people like that, mostly because they would take up the most time and least likely to actually hire anyone.
So its pretty easy to just straight up ask if they have considered budget and looked up ideas they like, otherwise I will throw out the consult fees or needing a full design before we can price anything.
Unless you are trying to add 1 or 2 crews, you have to weed out the worst quality ones somehow
Raise prices and prequalify work per "the contractor fight"
In addition to telling them your time frame, ask if they have a budget in mind.
Lots of people will ghost you at this point. Gives you a little bit of an idea if they've done any research on costs.
CFO got a call from a customer (for her biz) yesterday who wants some beds redone. I believe he asked upfront but she also tells everyone these types of projects don't usually get done until June, after cleanups and mulch. He stated he had people visiting June 9, would love to have it done by then and if she doesn't have the capacity he'll find someone else. Good luck with that buddy...no reputable landscape or gardening company has availability in the next 2 weeks to jump on your work.
Lots of people will ghost you at this point. Gives you a little bit of an idea if they've done any research on costs.
CFO got a call from a customer (for her biz) yesterday who wants some beds redone. I believe he asked upfront but she also tells everyone these types of projects don't usually get done until June, after cleanups and mulch. He stated he had people visiting June 9, would love to have it done by then and if she doesn't have the capacity he'll find someone else. Good luck with that buddy...no reputable landscape or gardening company has availability in the next 2 weeks to jump on your work.
Suppose reducing the number of service options would help?
This is how I do it too. No phone # on the work truck and those that call from a referral, most times will hire me. Saves a LOT of BS time with the tire kickers looking for price.At this point you should focus on referrals over people just calling around. You will close on most of them and the people are much less likely to haggle. Picking and choosing is the best way to run a business like this.
Similar to what other guys posted but be a little strategic about it.
1. Your back log of jobs, assuming you’re following the order they booked, Is not going to change much. So when a new lead calls in for an estimate, just state how fare out you’re booked. That will stop a lot of people right there, but do it in a way that doesn’t directly shoot them down. “He we are the best at laying pipe, so as a professional service and being the best in the area, we are booked until the end of July. August would be the soonest we can come out”. - sell yourself at the same time as telling them you’re booked.
2. Ask them to describe the job and then be ready to give them a starting price range. This is to filter out tire kickers.
3. Ask them to send you an email with photos of the jobs with a detailed description. I have 3 goals with this request. If they really are serious about their project, they will do it. Tire kickers and day dreamers may get lazy on this step, as many just don’t have follow through. Next reason, if they do send the info, am I interested in the job? Can I provide a price using the photos and aerial photography? Great- call them up and sell the job over the phone. If they buy, you can always say as part of the sales pitch, I just need to come by and confirm everything.
4 After all of that, if you still have a fish in the hook , you determine what the next step is.
We charge for professional consultations
It’s our way of saying, at this point we have looked at your photos, we have given you price ranges and our time line. If you have a drawing of what you exactly want done, no charge we will price the job. If you need us to create a plan, We start with a paid consultation and that gets followed with a paid plan.
- stop telling customers that your ok if they hire someone else. That’s a bad habit.
1. Your back log of jobs, assuming you’re following the order they booked, Is not going to change much. So when a new lead calls in for an estimate, just state how fare out you’re booked. That will stop a lot of people right there, but do it in a way that doesn’t directly shoot them down. “He we are the best at laying pipe, so as a professional service and being the best in the area, we are booked until the end of July. August would be the soonest we can come out”. - sell yourself at the same time as telling them you’re booked.
2. Ask them to describe the job and then be ready to give them a starting price range. This is to filter out tire kickers.
3. Ask them to send you an email with photos of the jobs with a detailed description. I have 3 goals with this request. If they really are serious about their project, they will do it. Tire kickers and day dreamers may get lazy on this step, as many just don’t have follow through. Next reason, if they do send the info, am I interested in the job? Can I provide a price using the photos and aerial photography? Great- call them up and sell the job over the phone. If they buy, you can always say as part of the sales pitch, I just need to come by and confirm everything.
4 After all of that, if you still have a fish in the hook , you determine what the next step is.
We charge for professional consultations
It’s our way of saying, at this point we have looked at your photos, we have given you price ranges and our time line. If you have a drawing of what you exactly want done, no charge we will price the job. If you need us to create a plan, We start with a paid consultation and that gets followed with a paid plan.
- stop telling customers that your ok if they hire someone else. That’s a bad habit.
it might be time for the days of the 'free estimate' to be over. Consulting fee applied against invoice.
I know you’re somewhat rural also. May need to reduce your work area as things pick up. You can always extend it for the right job.
We may. Once we figure out which services are most requested. We offer the ones we do because there was a lack of them in the area. We may also expand and set up crews for each. Same business, just a different “division” if you will.Suppose reducing the number of service options would help?
Water mitigation (drainage) and excavation go hand in hand. Driveway work is highly requested and it’s fast and easy. Tree work wasn’t even planned, but we had a tornado here so we started offering it this year. Insurance gave us a 1 year “ok” for it, but will exclude that work on the next policy renewal. It will likely get dropped next year. Mowing is guaranteed work every week and easy to keep a crew busy. Hardscaping is actually proving to be a difficult sell here. I don’t know why. I think it’s because so many homeowners think they can do it themselves, and because it is so expensive. May also be due to the time constraints. Stamped dyed concrete is similarly priced and can be done much faster.
Yes we are very rural. We started out with the thought we would need a big service area, but quickly cut it back. Currently we will do the larger work within the county, but we actually spend 90% of our time in the county seat town. (Largest town, most people.) Only bad thing is, our base is 12 miles from there. That’s rural life. We drive a lot.I know you’re somewhat rural also. May need to reduce your work area as things pick up. You can always extend it for the right job.
I’m about 10 miles from my service area. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I prefer corn stalks to privacy fences!Yes we are very rural. We started out with the thought we would need a big service area, but quickly cut it back. Currently we will do the larger work within the county, but we actually spend 90% of our time in the county seat town. (Largest town, most people.) Only bad thing is, our base is 12 miles from there. That’s rural life. We drive a lot.
Wow text walI get more requests for jobs/estimates than I can keep up with. I try to get to them in order that they come in, and I always at least make a point to contact people back that contact us. I tell everyone that I will come look at the job and at least get them an estimate. I also tell them that we are several jobs in for this year and I can't give them an exact date/time that we can get to the work, but if they like the price and agree to the work, I will put them on the schedule and call them when their number is coming up. If they have decided to hire someone else, they can tell me then and we will just move on to the next job. So I feel I'm honest with everyone. I don't want to be one of those contractors people complain never show up or call back, but it's getting bad. I got 5 requests today alone, and I'm probably 15 jobs behind for going and looking and giving estimates.
How do you guys who get more calls for work than you could possibly do, keep up with all the requests? Just pick and choose the jobs you want? Try to price them all? I can't be on a job site all day and do 5 or more estimates a week. I just can't. We're a growing business and literally can't grow fast enough to keep up. I hate to tell people no, because the closure rate in my area is relatively low. (I keep a log of calls/requests. At present I'm sitting at 30% closure rate, but I have several estimates out recently and haven't heard back just yet. So it may be slightly higher.) I literally never know who will say yes and who won't. We have an incredibly long list of services we provide, and are either one of just a few, or literally the only contractor in the area for some of that work. I think some people literally have no idea what some things cost, and we're relatively new, so I think we get a lot of "tire kickers". Point is, I can't really afford to just tell someone no over the phone, because it may be one of the best jobs we landed all week. I've had people I know who make good money say I'm too high, and people I know don't have much money hire us on the spot. I live in a very unpredictable area in the regard.
Just tell me what you do. Make suggestions. I'm all ears.
For anyone who isn't familiar with me (and at this point I don't know how that's possible, lol) I'm not new to business. I'm not young. I'm not new to this kind of work. (Some aspects I am, but not as a whole.) Looking for other seasoned guys with reasonably large businesses and at the very least large enough to run multiple employees and different types of work. We aren't just a mowing company, although we offer that service. We also do hardscape, excavation, driveway installs/repair (gravel or prep for asphalt/concrete) tree work, water mitigation/drainage, snow removal and more. Have lots of equipment, but let's get real..... never can have enough equipment. I don't mean to pass you off if you're an owner/operator, but when running solo things are different. I do have employees, but at present I have to at least be on site for "big" jobs. (I'm currently the main equipment operator.) I do put guys alone on smaller ones, or let them complete specific portions while I go off and do other things. Look at jobs, meet with customers, business meetings ect.
Advice? Comments?
Not going to read all that
weed them out , you know which neighborhoods you work in , neighbors? Prioritize
Likely to sell/buy ? Prioritize
everyone has those areas you kniw are unlikely to buy…. So if you get there great , if you don’t… great
also
You can only take some many new customers and get then dine
So running around to see then all us pointless
Si cherry pick away and be glad you’re not desperate !
1 - 20 of 44 Posts
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