How to compete?

[smallstripeslawncare]

I'm definitely questioning if all of these guys are really the FBN type. It seems that there's more and more popping up. For example every neighborhood I've tried to market in is flooded with flyers and door hangars. To the point I can't fit my flyer in the paper box because of all the other lawn care flyers. Maybe I'm targeting the wrong neighborhoods but some are small and not really known about or even super wealthy.

I do a lot of craigslist advertising and this time last year I had tons of calls off craigslist and this year its so bad that there's half a page of posts since 12:00AM to 8:00AM and thats insane that people would be up all night posting ads. Some are tree services but most are lawn care services.

Your right a lot of people are out there doing it half the price. I was cutting a customers property the other day and he had a flier hanging on his mailbox saying $20 for complete lawn service. I cut his lawn for $30.

[aduttonater]

Originally Posted by BelleCityLawn1

smallstripeslawncare,

I only have one route so I am always on the job site to make sure everything is kept up. Next year I am going to have one of my guys take a route (you really have to earn my trust to take a route). Anyways I do flat rate per yard. So if I price it out at $35 a mow and there are 4 weeks in the month I mow on the customer knows it will total $140 before they even get the bill. Yes, some people do get scared of by having to sign a contract. A lot of these people will go to someone who does not require a contract and find out that they are unreliable and come running back to sign one. I would have an optional contract so if customers want they can feel locked in. Just a thought. Hope this helps!

Thank you,
Tim Oezer
Belle City Lawn Care, LLC

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Thanks for sharing. I've found that when you get a client to sign a contract, you don't want to address it as that. What you want to do is call it a "Customer Service Agreement". People tend to find this much more friendly.