$ 15 a yard

[boog]

Guys I just wanted 2 say thanks for the advice its hard to ignore this I got a lot invested in this and I don't want to lose it.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Service: I could write a book on this. You have to provide out of this world service. Follow up, do what you say you will, etc, etc. Remember their pets names, how they like their lawn mowed. Be nice, polite, respectful. Don't be the grump because the customer called you at 9am Saturday morning. What other thoughts do you have on improving your service? The third is a little more complicated and is really allot of small things. I like to think that being a one stop shop for all their landscape needs sets a company apart. I like to also be a company that clients can call with questions knowing that I am there to help. They know I will go the extra mile to find a specialty plant or solve a problem with their lawn or landscape. I also like to throw in some freebies every now and then. Things like picking up and disposing of a few down branches from a storm. Running the edger along a property that doesn't pay for edging. Pulling a few weeds from the flower beds. Things that I know the $15 a cut guys cant or wont do. How should you go about letting the customer know you did these things. Should you include it in your invoice as a line item and then show a price of $0.00? How can you take your business from doing these extras for free, to getting the customer to pay for them? Like the day I broke my edger on a free job, yeah that won't happen, because I won't let it. I am guessing you stopped offering this for free? How did that effect your business? Do you feel there is any way to go from doing it for free to getting the customer to pay for it?

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[nnyparts]

I guess its the same no matter what business your in. We tried selling at cost to larger outfits hoping to make them new customers. What we ended up with was once we raised our prices to try an make a profit was them jumping ship and going to the next selling that was cheaper.

You really want to stay away from doing things this way and as you put it...they were not great loyal customers to begin with. So what do you do? Try distancing yourself from these customers and focus on the good ones. What makes you different from the guy charging 15.00?

" We are fully insured and guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with our work"

"We are your professional lawn care business...meeting the needs of the community we live in"

[wellbiz]

Originally Posted by Steve

What other thoughts do you have on improving your service?

How should you go about letting the customer know you did these things. Should you include it in your invoice as a line item and then show a price of $0.00?

Steve,

For improving ones service. My only recommendation is education. Look at other business and how they treat their customers and see if you can incorporate those practices into your business. I also try to read all the industry magazines and books on customer service.


For the freebies. If it is something small but obvious I just let them notice it was done. Othertimes I will put a note on the monthly invoice with a no charge line.

Jay

[elrascal]

Trust me this is not a big deal at all!!! There has always been, and always will be some one cheaper than you. Who cares. All you need to do is add more value and you will have more clients than you could possibly dream off! Some people will always be concerned about price. these are the customers who are not worth having.

If you are concerned that you are losing alot of clients due to this add then the solution is simple. You can advertise a special trial price. "Try us today for only $5."

THis might sound like a silly idea but when you work out how much the life time spend that you will get from your customer it really makes sense.

When you turn up offer an incredible service. Really give them an enjoyable experience.

When you give them the quote for the second cut they won't care if it is more than $15. you have already build up a relationship with them. They know and trust you.

It really is that simple! i have built a large lawn business completely from this concept. Try it your self and I am sure you will be amazed.

[boog]

Originally Posted by elrascal

Trust me this is not a big deal at all!!! There has always been, and always will be some one cheaper than you. Who cares. All you need to do is add more value and you will have more clients than you could possibly dream off! Some people will always be concerned about price. these are the customers who are not worth having.

If you are concerned that you are losing alot of clients due to this add then the solution is simple. You can advertise a special trial price. "Try us today for only $5."

THis might sound like a silly idea but when you work out how much the life time spend that you will get from your customer it really makes sense.

When you turn up offer an incredible service. Really give them an enjoyable experience.

When you give them the quote for the second cut they won't care if it is more than $15. you have already build up a relationship with them. They know and trust you.

It really is that simple! i have built a large lawn business completely from this concept. Try it your self and I am sure you will be amazed.

that makes sence i posted a new add i just put " lawn care service phone # and 1 free cut with all new customers "
we will see how that works out but heres the catch they have to sign a contract in order to to get the free cut and it cant be used with in the 1st or last month of the season so i dont get burned

Thanks for the advice !!

[elrascal]

Originally Posted by boog

that makes sence i posted a new add i just put " lawn care service phone # and 1 free cut with all new customers "
we will see how that works out but heres the catch they have to sign a contract in order to to get the free cut and it cant be used with in the 1st or last month of the season so i dont get burned

Thanks for the advice !!

Let me know how it all works out for you. It would be nice to hear a great result.


I am not 100% sure if you will get a huge conversion rate from this. Having that catch is a rather large "catch." If you are only going to give it away free if they join a contract then you should definitely mention that in your ad. There is no quicker way for a client to lose trust in you if you don't put all of your conditions in the ad.

Imagine if you saw a Wallmart ad on t.v saying they were offering a free ice cream for everyone who had never bought from them before. "This is great" you think to yourself because you love ice cream. You jump in your car with the biggest smile on your face. You are so happy and can't wait to devour that ice cold treat.

You arrive at the store and your heart sinks. You feel betrayed. Your soul is crushed. You are only allowed a free ice cream if you sign a contract to buy an ice cream every month for the next year. On top of that you aren't even allowed you free ice cream today. You have to wait until next month.

Are you going to go back to wallmart any time soon? I doubt it. You probably would even go so far to tell as many people as possible not to shop there!

I always try to build a relationship first and sell second. This might seem hard to believe but if you give some thing free with no strings attached most people feel obliged to return the favor.

I use to run a similar promotion when I first started out. For every 200 flyers I posted out I got 12 responses. Out of those 12 responses 11 people would become a long term client. (You normally need a follow up call or letter as well just to help seal the deal.)

For the one in 12 people who didn't join up, well who cares! I was doing great with out them.

I would love to here your thoughts on this. Either way it is great to see you are not as concerned about the Mr $15 man anymore!!

Lets us know how you get on.

[Steve]

I use to run a similar promotion when I first started out. For every 200 flyers I posted out I got 12 responses. Out of those 12 responses 11 people would become a long term client.

How was your promotion worded when you used it?

(You normally need a follow up call or letter as well just to help seal the deal.)

How would you do this? Would it go out to the same people who got the initial flyer?

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

You could just sub the work to him at that price. Give him a $400 job and pay him the $20. Then just for fun tell him afterwords. Then he will realize how hes bankrupting all of us.

[element009]

The saying "you get what you pay for" comes to mind. The guy most likely does a lousy job if he's charging $15. You don't want customers who want to pay $15/cut. People who jump at that deal will most likely not even pay.