I'm not taking the job anyway, lady.

[Steve]

Can you sometimes sense, the customer is going to be a problem even before you talked to them, just by seeing the property layout?

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

[mark123]

Lawn care business tips

Ugh. I had another similar. I looked at another property and the back was fenced in and even if you could get a mower in the gate there was a maze of storage containers blocking any movement after entering. I called the fellow and left a message. "I've decided to not take the job due to not being able to get in the back yard. Honestly, I don't know anyone that would accept the work." Notice that last part? When he called back he berated me not understanding why I couldn't get in the back yard and then asked if I knew anyone else that would do it. NO!!! No one wants jobs that are impossible. No one even wants jobs that are hard. I should have just bid the 2000 sqft job at $145/cut.

__________________
Boughter's Lawn Care Services Mowing and Fertilizing in New Castle, PA

[PineHillLawn]

Originally Posted by mark123

Ugh. I had another similar. I looked at another property and the back was fenced in and even if you could get a mower in the gate there was a maze of storage containers blocking any movement after entering.

I called the fellow and left a message. "I've decided to not take the job due to not being able to get in the back yard. Honestly, I don't know anyone that would accept the work."

Notice that last part? When he called back he berated me not understanding why I couldn't get in the back yard and then asked if I knew anyone else that would do it.

NO!!! No one wants jobs that are impossible. No one even wants jobs that are hard. I should have just bid the 2000 sqft job at $145/cut.

Thats how I've started doing it. If I get the inkling that they are either gonna be difficult or the yard is full of kid toys or dog crap, I bid the job way high. I doubt I'd get that call back.

[Hedgemaster]

I had an email estimate request. I went to look.

City house - no front. Small strip of grass along side and a back yard about 35' square surrounded by a wire fence about 3' high. I looked around and found a gate on the back side of the fence, but while a person may be able to contort themselves under the TREES about 2' from the gate, there was no way to wiggle a push mower in there without great effort. The grass was "spotty" and about a foot tall where it wasn't weeds or bare dirt.

Then I saw it - a dog door on the back door. I looked down and sure enough, there was dog poop everywhere.

I didn't reply with a price, but mentioned that I had two concerns:
"It appears that there is no way to get a mower into the yard" and "I noted a dog door - I do require any pet waste to be picked up prior to mowing".

I never heard back from her. ()

[Steve]

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to have some sort of small, maybe even electric mower, that could be carried through a house to mow a back yard with no access from the street?

[mark123]

Originally Posted by Steve

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to have some sort of small, maybe even electric mower, that could be carried through a house to mow a back yard with no access from the street?

I can mow their hall on the way through. Weed whacking the curio cabinet takes patience.

[cruzgardening]

Originally Posted by Steve

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to have some sort of small, maybe even electric mower, that could be carried through a house to mow a back yard with no access from the street?

got a call from a client he is way off our route but he was willing to pay $50/cut for his 100/sqft of a lawn in the back when i got to the property i noticed there was no side access, there was a 3 feet wall all around his property he took me through the front yard down 3 flights of stairs to the bottom of his property he showed me the "lawn" and said he had no time to do it and was willing to pay $50/cut but i would have to jump the wall and climb down the hill to his backyard, i looked at him waiting for a laugh... never came the guy was serious, i told him srry get a string trimmer and do it on the weekend he was not amused told him it would cost him about $75/cut he said he would call me back... hasn't called me :P people are interesting this days.

[OziGardenGuy]

Seems like quite a few customers and prospects don't understand that difficult access or obstructions takes more time, and we have to receive fair payment for our time.

Likewise dog eggs. Serious health hazard. Wet ones that get blown through the machinery when they're discovered isn't pleasant. Dry ones that explode into dust end up in your lungs, complete with all the interesting organisms that live in 'em. Some animal owners are grubby and unfair to their furry charges.

And most of 'em don't understand that machines have a finite life, and repair and maintenance expenses, and that all cost must be accommodated in the fee for the job and allow for replacement of the machinery in due course.

One day, the perfect customer will come.

Cheers - OziGardenGuy aka My Garden Guy.