Christmas Gift ?

[StartALawnCareBusiness]

What about customers who give YOU Christmas gifts? I've always had certain customers who give me Christmas gifts. My gifts range from the lady who gives a tin of caramel popcorn to a few customers (including one commercial account) who gives an additional month's payment on the last scheduled service of the year. What are the best gifts you've received?

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Start a profitable lawn care business.

[fieroboi]

Lawn care business tips

Nothing ventured ... Nothing gained! I believe anything that one does to promote their business is far better than sitting back waiting. Lloyd Blue's YardFX

I drove public transit for many years and I only got to know people as they entered/exited the bus. I would hand out a small card saying "Merry Christmas and thanks for riding my bus over the past year". Short, sweet and simple. This 99% of the time it was accepted in the way it was given and here we have a huge multicultural population - the 1% negative was surprisingly from white - anglosaxon clients! Go figure.
Politically correct I am not. But people out there are smart and can see past the fakes. Go for it is my motto.

Boomer

[jymie]

This was our 1st year in business. Overall, it was slow mostly due to the economy and the fact that an old timer and his son was charging $15 per lawn no matter what size it was. He hauls his tractor in the back of a van, no trailer. Unbelievable, he can’t be making any profit. Anyways, we had 20 customers, 10 of which were steady weekly paying customers. For Christmas, I made calendars with our company information on it and Christmas cards. I included in the envelope a coupon for $25 off any purchase of $200 or more. I also put in the envelope, referral cards to give them $25 gift card for anyone they refer that signs up with our service next year, also a survey card so they could evaluate our work.

The other day, I saw an old man drop a set of keys outside his car and he didn't notice it, so I picked up the keys and followed him until I could get his attention, when I gave his keys to him, I noticed that he was intensely looking at my sign on the side of the car so I gave him our card. Who knows if it turns into business or not but you never know!

[picframer]

Send everyone at least a card, getting late but I gave my top five clients a Christmas Plant hand delivered and I made sure they were home, top client does not mean $$$ only it is also referrals, I have one client that only gave us around $500.00 worth of business and about $40,000 in referrals, I bought him a bottle of his favorite rum.

I also have favorite clients and I think we all do, I might give them a box of chocolate or something I know they might appreciate, buddy it really pays dividends, I received a few presents from clients and boy did it make me feel good!

Andy

[Steve]

Do you think there should be a maximum % of customers who are given gifts or even cards? Like the top 5% or 10%? Or should this be more by gut feeling?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Do you think there should be a maximum % of customers who are given gifts or even cards? Like the top 5% or 10%? Or should this be more by gut feeling?

Using a percentage could be expensive, I just chose certain clients and bought them each something I thought they would appreciate and then made sure everyone received a card. We all know our clients, I would vote for gut feel.