Closing the Sale Every time

What about this idea: I am going to give an estimate to a customer that was referred from a current customer. He is going to get an estimate from me and from Trugreen. Currently right now what I have been doing, as many of you know, is offering a 15% off deal from TruGreen or their current provider. How I am doing this is in my spare time I drive around, find houses with the TruGreen sign, and then send them marketing material. Well, would it be wise to present this gentleman my flyer with my estimate stating, "Here is my price of the estimate, but if TruGreen comes in lower, I will offer 15% off of what they charge." Sure, yes there might be sometimes of where TruGreen is actually lower, which would be like maybe 1% of the time, but you are almost guaranteed the sale everytime. Wouldn't you basically close the sale then every time?

[Steve]

How to get lawn care customers - Vol 2

I don't think you need to go 15%. If you want to, experiment with it. But just the idea of meet or beat it, is great. You could even offer 5% and then push that you are a local company with personal services. That, I would think would be enough to push them over the top. But that's just my thought.

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So you personally think that a customer would risk changing another company for only 5%?

I am not riding you, I am just curious from your point of view. I think that a customer would be more willing to charge companies if it was like 15% or more, perhaps 10%.

[Steve]

Oh good point. I was thinking more of choosing between one company over another.

But you do make a good point. To get them to switch from one company they are already using, 15% would get me to switch.

I didn't think about it that way.

Yea you might need to give them an extra incentive because we all are creatures of habit. We tend to avoid change.

That is true. I am just thinking outside of the box. If I am wasting my valuable time giving an estimate, and not close, why not make it for I can close it everytime. Can you imagine being able to close an estimate 75 to 80% of the time.

[Steve]

That would just be amazing and I know you can do it!

[NickN]

Here's the problem as I see it.You need to make money for you,not Truegreen.So,you need to base your prices on what you need to make a living.I've seen too many people lose business' because they were trying to meet or beat the competitions prices.Remember Motorola at one time sold modems.I worked for Motorola and they stated they were going to run US Robotics out of business.We were losing $3 on every consumer modem we sent out,in order to beat their price.Well,US Robotics is still making modems,Motorola isn't.

Nick,
If you read some of the other posts that I have posted on here lately I will actually make more money doing the 15% off thing, compared to charging my normal prices.

I already charge a certain amount no matter, it just so happens that my current amount is lower than TruGreen, yet customers do not necessarily know that. *So to get my foot in the door I offer the 15% off thing. *When in reality, I am actually making more money by only going 15% off from their price, compared to using my price.

[Steve]

Hi NickN,

Is it possible that Motorola just couldn't make the modems for the price US Robotics could? If they couldn't, it was a bad decision to lose money on each sale. But on the flip side there are times when companies can offer a lower price because of many factors such as lower overhead.
For example, Sam Walton was able to run a tighter ship and sell products for less in his Wal-Mart.
You just need to know what your costs are in order to do this. Otherwise you will sink.

--> Ok here is my point of view.

With a price there comes value.
With value there comes a price.

I am the most expensive guy on the block and I have a 95% client retention rate. What I offer my clients is what they pay for and more.

I had a company go to every one of my clients with an ad stating that they would offer a quote 10% lower then their current provider. I had clients calling me telling me that this company was doing this cutthroat approach. So I asked them why they called and why they would not switch? They said that they expect to pay more for the level of service I provide.

In my opinion you cannot beat your competition on price (most of the time). There needs to be more;

- Quality of work (100%, 100% of the time)
- Value for their money
- On time all of the time
- Trust
- Need to look and act professional

Clients will pay more (and expect to pay more) for higher levels of service.