Should I leave estimates on my door hangers?

[Jlaugh]

I am trying to decide if I should leave an estimate for how much we would charge to mow each lawn on my door hangers that we pass out this year or if we should just say call for free estimates like we have in the past. If anybody has any advice on the experiences they have had with leaving the estimates on their door hangers in the past it would be much appreciated. Thanks for the advice!

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Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Jlaugh I am trying to decide if I should leave an estimate for how much we would charge to mow each lawn on my door hangers that we pass out this year or if we should just say call for free estimates like we have in the past. If anybody has any advice on the experiences they have had with leaving the estimates on their door hangers in the past it would be much appreciated. Thanks for the advice! IMHO, Never. You want to meet the prospect face to face, watch for buying signals as you explain your services and then close the deal with your proposal.

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[CHEESE2009]

Once they know the price you offer, there is no reason for you to try to sell your service after, if they don't call you.

I agree. sell your service not your price.

[Steve]

You want the door hanger to help bring you one step closer to the potential customer, which would be you visiting them again and giving them your sales presentation on what their property needs and how much it will cost.

No one will do better at selling your services than you. And a door hanger definitely will not replace you and your sales presentation.

If you are still unsure, split your marketing area into 2 parts. In one area, put a price on each door hanger, in the other, don't put a price.

See which area in the end brings you more sales. The one where you utilized your door hanger to sell or the one where you utilized YOU to sell.

[Plan-It Graphics]

I disagree with the idea on NOT leaving a price. I often get asked if it’s a good idea to create a marketing piece with an area to write in a price/estimate for the customer. I’ve seen many posts on web forums about the topic. The following is just my opinion and should be taken as only that.

I feel leaving a price for services is a good thing. If you know that you would mow, fertilize, etc. that lawn for $50 than why not tell the potential customer. I noticed that one of the major concerns is another lawn care company seeing your door hanger, flyer etc. and making their price lower. But take a second to think about that… You now are assuming that other lawn care companies are out doing “estimates” the same day as you, and are assuming that their marketing piece has a place to write in a price…unlikely for the most part.

Second thing to think about is your price. I know that we all have a margin of error and can raise or lower our prices if needed. But the price should be the price. If you figured out that you need to make X/amount of $, for X/amount of turf, then you should be confident in your price. There will always be someone priced higher and lower than you. It’s the nature of business.

Third, and in my opinion the most important reason for leaving a price. As a whole we live in a society where people like “easy.” Call it laziness, call it hectic lifestyles, whatever… but if someone needs their lawn cut, and sees a reasonable price, they would rather call you and schedule it right then. If no price, they need to call you, and other companies, request estimates, wait for the estimate to arrive…call you back, or wait for you to call. By then it’s a week long process. Think of a conversation like this, between a husband and wife, and tell me if this is not how the conversation would go…

Husband: “Honey did you schedule the lawn cutting?”
Wife: “NO, but I got a door hanger the other day and this company can do it for $49, I was going to all around for other estimates”
Husband: “It’s not worth the hassle, what are we gonna save a couple of dollars, just call them so we know were on schedule, and it’s over and done with”
Wife: “OK, sounds good.”

Now again, I’m not saying this is a perfect method, but I have tried both, leaving prices and not leaving prices. The response might be the same, but the cost per sale with leaving the price is much lower. You are wasting less time not having to go back, and do a follow up estimate when you were just there the other day.

Please note... When i say "I have tried both ways" if you are not aware, along with Plan-It Graphics, I also own a lawn care company.

Again, like i stated, this is just my opinion.

IF YOU NEED ANY LAWN CARE MARKETING MATERIALS let me know...

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Plan-It Graphics

I disagree with the idea on NOT leaving a price.

Here is an article i wrote on this matter...
http://www.thelawnblog.com/2008/12/1...o-boost-sales/

Please note... When i say "I have tried both" if you are not aware, along with Plan-It Graphics, I also own a lawn care company.

Again, like i state in the article, this is just my opinion.

IF YOU NEED ANY LAWN CARE MARKETING MATERIALS let me know...
www.plan-itgraphics.com

Can you share some numbers with us? Left XXX flyers with prices and received xxx calls?

IMHO one can't beat face to face sales, I say this because just about every company I know of has a sales team, be it the owner or employees. I would think if we could simply leave a price then we might as well let all sales staff go and just keep the marketing people.

[Steve]

I think that would help us understand this better too.

[Plan-It Graphics]

I personally do to use door hangers, however I do mail postcards with a price. Not all the time, but for select neighborhoods.

For example... the one neighborhood i service, has approx 280 homes in it. I mailed 4 times a year for 2 years. To every home in the neighborhood, WITH A PRICE, hand written on the postcard. I now service 37 homes on 2 streets!!!

Not all came from the cards, but when you start getting 4, or 5 homes in a cluster, the neighbors of those customers start calling you too.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Plan-It Graphics

I personally do to use door hangers, however I do mail postcards with a price. Not all the time, but for select neighborhoods.

For example... the one neighborhood i service, has approx 280 homes in it. I mailed 4 times a year for 2 years. To every home in the neighborhood, WITH A PRICE, hand written on the postcard. I now service 37 homes on 2 streets!!!

Not all came from the cards, but when you start getting 4, or 5 homes in a cluster, the neighbors of those customers start calling you too.

I am curious how one provides a quote if the site hasn't been looked at? Or are all the (280) lawns in this area exactly the same?