What is the proper way to follow up with a customer after giving them a quote?

[picframer]

To me its about building the relationship, I see you have a few dead trees, we can cut and chip those for you and for your consideration we will give you a quote, quite often I see the siding needs to be pressure washed, I would guess generally we get the additional work, some it's later on. I can't bid a project unless I see it, recent examples is leaf clean up, you may have a one acre property with what you think is a lot of leaves, to us it may be a 1 hour job, some may have leaves six inches thick, it gives me a chance to explain the process we use (I am a very firm believer in educating the client, we win a lot of jobs because the competition comes in, looks around, says $xxx.xx and walks away), understand exactly what their expectations are and the job to be done, this way most of the time we can do a few little added things to exceed their expectations, we hear oh my, that was nice I am going to refer you to. We may have decided to spend 30 min trimming when it was not part of the deal, every one of us like to get something that we preceive as free, I have probably already factored it into your quote but didn't mention it on purpose. Lots of reasons but the longer you are on the site the more money you should be making and the longer there the more people driving or walking by see you. I can't believe the amount of business we get from people that walk up to us, happened to me yesterday while getting gas, it was a down day due to harsh rain, I took a new chipper into the gas station for fuel then to my lettering company for measurements, guy walks up to me, looks at the chipper, makes a comment about what an animal it looks like, we laugh, wants the chipper and three staff Saturday and Sunday, chipping is simply $500.00 a day for operator and two staff, additional staff is $25.00. Chipping is one of the very few services we offer that I do not need to see the job unless the client wants to know how many days, even then I will talk my way around this by saying, in my experience it will take xx days however that is just a guess, if you can only afford one day now, no problem, we would be happy to come back when you are ready for another round. It works and works well, why? Customer probably has a budget and they at least want some of the work done, I could say this will cost you $2,000 and never get the deal or I could take the approach I do and we at least get part of the pie now. Now these chipping jobs for me are candy as I can send the highschool staff as there is a very short learning curve, I can leave the equipment the night before etc. Another thing that we see is the customer might hire a crew for a day, they see the progress and change their mind and say, would you be able to stay another day, could you clear that area while you are here etc. You need your foot in the door, once there you have full access.

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[shack]

How to get lawn care customers - Vol 2

Originally Posted by The Cleaning Doctor I know what I need to make and I quote it all the same. No need to gouge customers. I agree with this 100% in fact if I win a bid and do some add ons I'm more likely to discount the add ons. Bidding the upfront job properly is the way to go, not low ball every other guy just to get in the door and nail the customer on add ons.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

I already started to change to a more personal approach. I generally will only bid mowing jobs without seeing the property. Recently I quoted the price we charge per foot for gutter cleaning and told him I would give him a full clean up and aeration estimate after looking at the property. I never heard back from the customer.

I will respond back to emails with appointment's now. If they blow me off then I know there not serious about attaining a professional service.

[The Cleaning Doctor]

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Originally Posted by SECTLANDSCAPING

I will respond back to emails with appointment's now. If they blow me off then I know there not serious about attaining a professional service.

This will give you more time to work on your marketing and attracting more customers. Setting up the appointment is kind of a prequalification. If they won't set up an appointment 1- they are tire kickers, 2- they are just looking into your pricing so they can start their own business and low ball you.