Tip on pricing

[rhpmgroup]

Hi guys

Don't get to get on here much as I just started about 4 weeks ago.
I live in Sydney Australia and have found that customers are willing to try anything to make it cheaper for themselves.
The one I hear the most and fell for the first time was,
"We had a guy say that he would do it for X$ cheaper can you come down to Y$ and the job is yours.....
DON'T LET THEM CONTROL THE PRICE...
I started saying no after the first time and usually still get the job, as they had no other guy come and tell them a cheap price...(I tell them to get the other guy as he is cheaper than you and if they are not happy with him to give me a call back...)
You get the job for the price you think is fair and they usually end up calling you to keep doing their lawns on a regular basis. If you do it cheap to get the job, you will be stuck working your ring off for ever at the same price, or end up with a customer that does not pass on your name as you jacked up the price when the job became regular. It's the same price you quoted him the first time, so stick to that quote and you will still get the jobs and it will be more satisfying.

I know this advice is here somewhere, and I have only been running for 4 weeks, but for those who have not seen this type of thing yet, I thought I would share the experience from the start of my business.

If there are any other tips the experienced guys have with quoting prices, I think that is the hardest thing to learn to do...Its easy to say you will do a lawn for $30.00 and regret it later, it is the 21st century now and things cost a lot more than when most of us were kids.
I use to do lawns as a kid for $10.00 and that was any sized lawn....me and my mate mate a packet for 8 yr olds.

Now my mum pays the kid next door $25 to do the small front yard only. Isn't inflation a B*^CH...I always feel like I'm ripping customers off, that's just the prices things are and you have to make a living.

My minimum charge even if it is just a small front yard only is $40 + Tax.

[dpld]

well, i guess in a weird sort of way it is good to see that customer bullsheet games are the same regardless of where you are from.

i agree 100% that you should never compromise your prices, i never have in 23 years.
by doing so it makes it appear that you are just shooting for a high number and if they do not like it you bring it down to reality.
it is almost like being caught in a lie.

as a business owner you need to put your best price forward based on what and how you should charge and give it them with conviction, and if they accept it great and if not you move on.
it preserves your integrity better then playing monte hall.

if you are bargaining for used merchandise or a car one starts high and the other starts low, that is how it works. but in business you need to present your costs as this what it is and what it has to be, period.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Well you got two things right so far. One dont haggle with prices and two set a minimum.

If you tell a guy $250. Then take the job for $200. More then likely that $50 you lost was pure profit. If the job takes longer then expected your left with dirt in your pockets.

[dpld]

well, being in my 23rd year in business and being in the industry for 29 years i have dealt with thousands of people and had thousands of business transactions and i have seen it all.

when someone tells me that they will hook me up with more work if i take care of them i automatically give them a high price so they will not hire me.
and if they say what's the deal with the high price? i say that is not a high price that is my normal price and if you want a discount that comes after multiple jobs not from the first one you give me.

those kind of people always call someone different each time they need work done and feed them the same line of sheet.
unless you were such a sucker for their line of crap that you work for free and keep coming back for more.

solid landscape businesses are built from being reliable and doing top quality work for going rates not from being mr low prices.
unless your insurance co and fuel co and equipment supplier give you a discount there is no way you can offer one yourself without taking it out of your pocket.

i will gladly turn down the work and would sooner get a job and work for someone before i take a penny less for my services and having that " i got to start somewhere " attitude is a sure fire way to make sure you never get no where or spend your time busting your tail for nothing.

if at the end of the day you did not turn the proper profit you should have it is a failure no matter which way you cut the cake.
you are in business to make money and money only and all the other crap like equipment and employees and building your name is a bi-product of that success.
if you don't make money you won't have much of anything else.