Might have to raise price

[ALBsun1]

I just bought a couple of stihl BR600s the other day, and i am absolutely amazed at how this unit performs. I obviously love it, but i am concerned that i could actually lose some money if i continue to charge an hourly rate for leaves which in the past has been $30/ a man hr. All the areas that i work in pick up the leaves, so there is no need to haul away. So, my problem is, these blowers might cut some of my jobs in half as compared to my previous kawasaki and echo mid range models. i don't want to make waves with customers, but, at the same time, i don't want to lose money either. The average customer will not understand our logic, so maybe i have to consider charging by the job and not the hour. Anyone else ever encounter anything like this?

 

[rodfather]

Yup...just continue to charge the same number of hours for each customer as you did last year. What do they care?

 

[lawnboy dan]

if you want a real mans blower get a red max 8000!-

 

[kc2006]

I'd just readjust it to what it needs to be.

I don't tell any of my customers what my hourly rate is. So if it used to take 1 hour @ 30 per man hour and now it takes 30 mins @ 60 per man hour, the price change won't effect them at all, just allows you to get more done.

 

[clay duncan]

i am not much on echo but i bought a pb651 last year and it has been a real lifesaver. i really like the redmax 8000 also. russo power equipment has them (echo 651) for $399. shipped to your door. thats about a $150. savings over the redmax. i may opt for another.....

 

[tiedeman]

The better and faster that you get at something, the higher your rate should be.

For example: So if you rakes leaves for $30 an hour last year, but this year got a blower and will only take half as long charge $50 an hour.

 

[lawnmaniac883]

First mistake here is revealing your hourly rate to a customer. I always bid my work BY THE JOB! This way, they cannot look at what I charge per hour and raise hell about it.

 

[South Florida Lawns]

First mistake here is revealing your hourly rate to a customer. I always bid my work BY THE JOB! This way, they cannot look at what I charge per hour and raise hell about it.

I just got a call today asking for a landscape job, the guy was like you get a discount on plants right? I said no Sir, I pay retail price, I'm not gonna get her a deal and save her money just by charging her wholesale.

 

[Envy Lawn Service]

Hopefully you are good at keeping records.
If so you can just dig up what they paid you last year and just go from there.
Just convert what you were paid last year into this year's by the job price.

 

[tiedeman]

First mistake here is revealing your hourly rate to a customer. I always bid my work BY THE JOB! This way, they cannot look at what I charge per hour and raise hell about it.

yup, I learned that lesson the hard way. For year round customers I still charge them by the hour, but for new customers that want a set price I just tell them a price, not my hourly rate.

I was talking with another LCO (the biggest in the city here) a couple nights ago about the same thing, and she totally agreed as well.