Ran into an old friend

[Steve]

"If you decide to get other quotes, that is a good idea, here is what you should consider.........." some people will take notes, we almost always end up with the job. When should a lawn care business owner say something like this? I would figure this would go against some kind of sales rule. Is this something that should always be said to show confidence or is this something one might try as a last resort?

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Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Steve When should a lawn care business owner say something like this? I would figure this would go against some kind of sales rule. Is this something that should always be said to show confidence or is this something one might try as a last resort? It's all in the presentation, "I am aware some companies may suggest.......however this is not the way we would do this project, we would........." I don't say anything negative about the competition, I present it that it's not the way we do something and here is why, the only time I go down this road is if I really want the job or if a reply is I am waiting on other estimates.

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Steve]

I am guessing it could really be beneficial to go that route to if you wanted to point out how a competitor might perform the job in a cheaper manner that will, in the long run, cost the customer more money to fix. This could in fact educate them and put them on guard when another company suggests doing it a cheaper way?

Can this ultimately help sell the service to be done the proper way even if it is more expensive to go that route?

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Originally Posted by Steve

I am guessing it could really be beneficial to go that route to if you wanted to point out how a competitor might perform the job in a cheaper manner that will, in the long run, cost the customer more money to fix. This could in fact educate them and put them on guard when another company suggests doing it a cheaper way?

Can this ultimately help sell the service to be done the proper way even if it is more expensive to go that route?

Well I dug the pool at this new home today, the developer and the pool company came by this afternoon, their comments were they have never seen such quality work.

The pool guy asked what I charge to dig one this size and I told him, his response whas "A little more than others but the results do not compare, we have five pools that need dug if you are interested" I said of course, I make $1,600 a day running an excavator.

People were stopping by today asking for my card, it was somewhat of a PITA as I have so much work to do but this is a very, very upper end subdivision....pretty beat tonight!

[Steve]

Andy,

When it comes to digging pools, how do results differ from one business owner to the next? What makes for a good pool job versus a bad one?

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Originally Posted by Steve

Andy,

When it comes to digging pools, how do results differ from one business owner to the next? What makes for a good pool job versus a bad one?

Being able to read the grade, tapering the pool in this case from 9 feet to 4 but keeping everything within the grade, my experience comes from woodworking, I can spot something that isn't bang on in seconds, when it comes to excavation it carried over and is second nature, this pool company has called me three times today.

[Steve]

Does it matter to them your ability to speed through the job? I am guessing the better you are, the faster you can dig them out, but is this a big deal to the pool company or do they tend to just over schedule the time they feel it will take to dig it out?

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Originally Posted by Steve

Does it matter to them your ability to speed through the job? I am guessing the better you are, the faster you can dig them out, but is this a big deal to the pool company or do they tend to just over schedule the time they feel it will take to dig it out?

They are having issues finding quality excavation companies that are available, if you are a good company, the waiting list is very long, same with us.

[Steve]

Are there a lot of people who work as excavators that just learn how to do jobs badly or sloppy and never improve their skills because it's somewhat 'functional'? Or maybe there is just such a high turnover with these employees, none of them ever have enough time to learn the trade?

How do you explain explain the lack of quality in the industry?