F***ing low ballers

I am so sick of this s*** I want to shoot someone in the face. I have a low baller infiltrating one of my neighborhoods that I have the majority of. There is no way they are making any money by under cutting the deal I have worked out with the HOA. There is plenty of grass for all of us WHY must people low ball. I am going to start reporting ALL uninsured unlicensed WANNABEs. I've had enough!

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

What has been going on with this situation? Have they been trying to take your customers? Do you have a contract with the hoa? Don't they require insurance?

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yes I do the HOA, but each home owner is free to choose whoever they want or cut it themselves

I dont know how at least for me How to get any let alone alot of customers without "lowballing" where I am at I had a choice to let my business hit the gutter of try to beat their price, of coarse if you know a different way?

[ringahding1]

NO LOW-BALLING! ! PERIOD! ! and NO SHOOTING ANY 1 in the face! ! LOL

Seriously man....move on! You have a great website...clearly know what your doing, and believe me...."What goes around comes around" in other words, go to their neighborhoods...if you need to take a day off , follow them....DO IT! That's how I got a couple jobs snatched from me....but guess what...without even knowing, til just recently, I've been plowing this winter, 2 of their commercial accounts and will now be taking over the lawn care service....so patience my BROTHA! !

[CHEESE2009]

Sometimes it's not even lowballers, it's dishonest potential customers.

"The last guy did it for $x" such horse crap.

I don't blame them for trying to negotiate, but it really irritates me.

Freaks.


HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY Y'ALL!!!! LOL

Well I have to say that I do not charge quite as much as you "big guys". I wouldn't consider it low balling, but I do charge less in order to beat you guys. I'm 17, so I don't have nearly all the expenses you guys have, (family, house, kids, ect.), so I use it to my advantage. I'm still making money when I charge $5-10 less than you. If I wasn't making money, or very little at that, I definetly wouldn't be doing this.

For the average sized lawn, I charge about $30. Most of the big companies around here would easily be $38-45. Im in Nebraska, so I think our yards are a bit bigger than more populated states.

But if you were in my shoes, you would be doing the same thing. It's business. I don't have nearly the expenses, so I can easily afford to cut my prices and win the customer. And, "low balling" as you guys love to call it, helps me build up my clientele so further up the road, when I do expand my business, and expenses rise, my customers won't have a problem paying more when they know that I'm extremely professional and do a good job.

[mharbert]

Clients that go for lowballers aren't after professional services... They would settle for any school age child on the street, obviously. Give it time and they will need professional services after the lowballer messes up, hits something, ect.

Calm your emotions too ProCut.. Don't you think that people can google your company name and read this stuff? “That guy sounds unstable" would be the first thing that comes to my mind if I was a potential client. Remember this is a public area.. Call a buddy to vent, don’t post stuff like that here. (write Steve and see if he’ll take it down for you.. then send him a donation for saving your business) .. Think professional, because stuff like that won’t get you hired either.

Follow up with the clients in a month after you notice the job isn't getting done professionally. Make yourself better than him.

I challenge you to do this:
Competition is good. Call him and ask to do lunch. Share with him what Lowballing does for this industry. If he is uninsured, educate him. Heck you could solve all your problems by reaching out to the guy who just doesn't know how to estimate.. We all need money to live, help him develop his skills and he won't be outbidding your clients... He'll be your buddy.

By helping him, you help yourself. Keep your head up and talk to him soon! read up on Steve materials about lowballing and have some posts to stand on when you meet up with him. Be kind to him.. Buy his meal.. present things to him in a positive mannor..
I once was in your shoes
Is there any questions I can help you with to get started? Are you and LLC.. I'm sure you have insure thought, right?
___ didn't work for me b/c...
Lets discuss your hourly rate.. $xx is the standard for our area.. what are you going to charge? Why that low? Don't you do a professional job?

I do almost the whole neighbor hood 18+ houses I cut them a deal $5 below my minimum monthly cost plus free hedge trimming added in. At the rate I charged there is no way that somebody driving in to do 1 or 2 lawns and under bidding me is making money.

The only reason to low ball is because someone that doesn't know their costs is doing it. That is a mighty stupid reason.

[psparaco]

I've been accused last year of lowballing but you know what. every single company whether is a 1 man show or 200 man show all have expenses that vary greatly. multiple employees means more crews trucks, equipments, massive amounts of fuel. i have a 2 man show. 3-4 pieces of equipment and very low fuel expense. my preventive maintence is all tied into my prices. i was told i should be charging 20 dollars more for these properties i did estimates on and honestly. its only me. 20 a cut, trim and blow for under 1,000 sq ft is reasonable. charging someone 40 or 60 is highway robbery. even the home owner agreed with me. the only reason they went with the other guy was lack of options to go with anyone else. they saw my flyer and called me up and fired them and hired me. the other guy had multiple crews. larger equiment. probably a higher expense to operate. my expenses are 75-200 a week which is mainy fuel. the rest of monthly expenses like maintenance and what not. i havent got insurance yet but thats coming and even still. my prices wont change. prime example also last year. a high school kid had 3 yards and charged like 10 and 15 per cut. he didnt trim or cleanup. the yard was 10 times worse looking after he left than before he came there. he cut the yards very low. did a half a** job. The home owners fired him and hired me for more money and why cause i did a great job and took pride in making their yard look as it if was my own. i cut it fairly higher to promote a healthier lawn. i trimmed, edge and cleaned up. i left the yards looking exactly as it was when i got there except it was cut right. A customer will pay for quality service. but remember everyone just cause your charging a higher rate than someone else do not make the other guy a LOWBALLER. each company's rates are based on their expenses. everyone's are all different.