2011 - My Year - New Contract(s)

[MAKLawnCutter]

The year is already on a new roll! I received a call this morning at about 9am from a possible new client that saw my CraigsList Ad... go figure. CraigsList is my Holy Land! He called asking to see if i could come out and give him an estimate. I told him i would be by during the afternoon so he wouldnt assume i was currently NOT BUSY. Which is actually the case. HA! I get there around 2 pm and am kind of in ooglie-eye-issue due to the brand new GMC Yukon and the 2009 Lotus Elise in his driveway of his 2million dollar home on a corner lot, sits on about 1.25 acres. I look up to the canopy of trees and see the green-chemical lawn. I nod and start doing the math... Cut, Edge, Weed-Eat, Blow... 75$ a cut, with Hedges, not many hedges 85$, Leaf Clean-Up NOW... 650$, Palm Trimming - All 4 110$... He finally walks out and opens the gate, introduces him self and i shut my brain down... lol. I start asking the normal questions "What are you looking for?" - "What are you paying now?" - What kind of services do you want (the big one for me)... he goes on to tell me "I wont tell you what im paying now, i want you to tell me what you would charge for it, monthly, i dont like having to call every week..." I find out he wants FULL property maintenance. One chemical application in spring, pressure washing and... the big one, a new one to add to my list... POOL SERVICE. I get on my phone and find out his pool is 8K gallons and i call my buddy, he tells me the cost and time it will take to service the pool weekly. Tells me with a package deal since ill already be there, charge 75$ a week and ill still make 55$ a month off of it after chemicals, and he has spare tools i can use till i can buy them. AWESOMENESS! I figure into all of my billing that i will have to pressure wash 3 times yearly, twice around major holidays (July 4th and Christmas, one time service his choice). I look at the leafs and there are nearly as many as a commercial property, 5 hour job if i bag it, 1.5 hours if i shred it. Lawn will take me an hour with double edging, mow, blow. I already know the pool will take 15minutes each week. Palm trimming twice a year, one hour, all debris pick up, and a 35$ hourly rate for hurricane service. I show him that it will be 2725$ for the year. He is blown away, everything is written out, i dotted all if my i's and crossed my t's. He knows what he is getting, i know what he is going to get. I can tell from his vehicles and property he is picky so, i factored in my "pain in the ***" service call in case he calls me a few times. He looks at the price and services, smiles, shakes my hand and said its a done deal. I get on the phone to call and get a helper to get the leafs done tomorrow, along with edge, mow and blow and a pressure washing. He comes out with a check for the full yearly amount, i think "this is too good to be TRUE"... .. .. .. it was. I went to my bank and they said it was going to be a 11day hold on the check... so i head to Amscot just to get them to VERIFY it and i would take it to the bank on Monday so the wait would be LESS since they could verify it then. I get to AMSCOT and they assume i want to Cash it, i waited for an hour and the customer called them back... "No dont cash it, im not sure about the contract yet..." I showed them he signed the contract and stipulations. The chick held the check... I called the Customer and he said he just wants to make sure his wife wont kill him for dropping almost 3K$ on their property this year. And he says he has surgery tomorrow (which slips my mind). I agreed to wait till Saturday and reminded him that it will be 100$ a service if he calls for it to be done weekly. Since he wont be on a route sheet for the 2011 season. He said he knows and he has the sheet to show his wife of the savings. SO! After all of the business talk, it gets kind of personal and i let him on the information that i will be a father of TWO in the next 4 weeks. I also let him in that i have been robbed since i moved to Daytona Beach and dooped over a craigslist ad more than once so, i just wanted to verify the check and make sure i wasnt getting dooped again. He understood. Then it came out that he had been dooped in the last two weeks by a Craigslist Repair Guy that fixes cars. By the end of the phone call, he was pretty assured he could convince his wife of the savings and that i am higher quality than his current guy (i could point out the lack of edging, trimming and that his guy is using a dulled blade on his mower. I am going to call him tomorrow evening around 830pm to see if his surgery went alright. I also did three other evaluations while i was on his street just by people walking up and asking for one... total income for the one street for the year will total $6605.00. if i went in and just went door to door, i could see making that my only area for residential this year. Could have an income of 20K$ + from 7 residents. I could also see having a new trailer and Dually by the end of the year . I said i would dominate... i didnt lie. Matt

[picframer]

Lawn care business tips

Congratulations and I hope this all works out. Based on my experience, once you are into the upper end clients and you do good work, you will struggle to keep up, adding the personal touch is critical, most but not all appreciate this and it's a tremendous marketing tool for you.

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[fullblast]

Wow thats awsome!!

I hope everything works out for you on that job!!

Have fun!!

[MAKLawnCutter]

I plan on making sure it is going to work...

I also plan on spending a week in the neighborhood looking for new clients. Ill knock on every door in the area till i am upto 15 residents. I would spend 3 days in the area doing their lawns, and 3 doing the commercial accounts. Have a full time helper and be good to go!

Matt

[Growing Green]

Matt, that is awesome my friend!!! Glad things are looking up for you. WOOHOOO!

Keep up updated.

Matt

[arthur712]

Originally Posted by Growing Green

Matt, that is awesome my friend!!! Glad things are looking up for you. WOOHOOO!

Keep up updated.

Matt

Like I said it can only get better! Soon to DAD!!!

[Steve]

Matt,

That is awesome! Is it all a done deal? Did the check clear?

As you reflect on the job now, if you could rebid it, would you? Do you feel you will bid the neighboring properties any differently?