Frustrated!!!

[CHEESE2009]

Alright, so I was doing another garden job & ANOTHER walkway job. A man pulls up with his van & her is the discussion... (my town is full of weirdos isn't it?) Guy: How much do you charge? Scott: Depends, what are you interested in? Guy: The garden. Scott: For this garden I'm charging $75.00 Guy: How much do you charge? Scott: ....$75.00 Guy: What else? Scott: What do you mean? Guy: How much for other things Scott: What are you interested in, lawn service? Guy: Yeah Scott: I'd have to take a look at your lawn & give you an estimate. Guy: Why? Scott: So I know how much to charge you. Guy: It's like the lawn your working on. Scott: Your on the corner of a street? Guy: No. Scott: Is it the same size? Guy: No Scott: Well I'll pass by your house & give an estimate. Guy: No no, how much do you charge? Scott: I have to give you an estimate. Guy: How much around would you charge? Scott: Listen, the price could vary, if you need me to give you an average it could be anywhere around $420.00 for the entire season. Guy: OK *the guy drives 10 feet away in his van and shouts* "YOUR EXPENSIVE!!!!" _________________ 5 minutes later he comes back with his dog...... Guy: Hey Scott: Hi Guy: So how much do you charge? Scott: Forget it, I have things to do. Guy: Because May is almost over, will the price be less? Scott: If no one has cut your lawn for the first few weeks of May, the price will stay the same. Guy: Why? Scott: Because I will be cutting 3 weeks worth of grass in one shot & hauling it away. Guy: My son will do it for $25.00 every week. Scott: You shouted at me & said that my service was expensive, now you just said your paying your son more than what the cost of hiring my service would be. How about you continue your walk & quit wasting my time. ___ he left __

[Steve]

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[turfmaster]

Man I hate cheap people like that!!
You hate to be rude to these kind of people but they really end up costing you money by wasting your time. I direct them to craigslist.

[CHEESE2009]

People are weird man.

At least I learned something, I'll be more aware to look out for people like this. I'll be damned if I ever do a job for him.

[Steve]

I think ultimately as we all move forwards we learn more of what frequency we want to tune into and we also learn how to filter out the rest of the noise.

We learn more who are the types of customers we want to service. Who gives us the least grief and the most profit. Then we focus on them.

Not everyone will be an ideal customer for us.

[Fresh Cut]

Originally Posted by turfmaster

Man I hate cheap people like that!!
You hate to be rude to these kind of people but they really end up costing you money by wasting your time. I direct them to craigslist.

So.......... I take it craigslist is not where I should be advertising?


*logs off craigslist*

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Fresh Cut

So.......... I take it craigslist is not where I should be advertising?


*logs off craigslist*

Perhaps I have been at this so long (dealing with the public mainly with the woodworking side) I can generally pick a tire kicker, when they ask questions like this I simply say, How much are you willing to spend? If the response is something like, no more than I have to, my reply is this, we provide free estimates when we see the job as we may be able to save you money or it may be that we see something overlooked, this way we all know what will be done, we write you an email outlining the service and you sign off, in addition payment is due on the day we do the job.

I have however made mistakes and overbid what I thought was a tire kicker and they accepted, doesn't happen off but the initial goal was to get them to simply go away....

[Steve]

So.......... I take it craigslist is not where I should be advertising?

Craigslist is a place where you cast out a wide net and see what comes back. There is no way to fine tune who is getting your marketing message. You aren't choosing which house in which neighborhood. Instead, it's like you are throwing out a Hail Mary pass with a football and hoping someone will catch it.

It is useful in helping you get your start and potentially filling out your route. But I don't think it bring in the ideal quality customer that you can get with more refined marketing. Like for instance walking a certain neighborhood where you have determined there is money and customers willing to spend it to enhance the look of their property.

[turfmaster]

Originally Posted by Steve

Craigslist is a place where you cast out a wide net and see what comes back. There is no way to fine tune who is getting your marketing message. You aren't choosing which house in which neighborhood. Instead, it's like you are throwing out a Hail Mary pass with a football and hoping someone will catch it.

It is useful in helping you get your start and potentially filling out your route. But I don't think it bring in the ideal quality customer that you can get with more refined marketing. Like for instance walking a certain neighborhood where you have determined there is money and customers willing to spend it to enhance the look of their property.

Maybe I am being too critical of Craigs List after all it is free advertising and why not take advantage of it especially if your just starting out and trying to get your name out there. All I can say is in my area 95% of the advertising for lawn care services are "WILL WORK FOR FOOD" just kidding. I WILL MOW YOUR LAWN FOR $10.00 - $15.00 I'm not kidding!

[Fresh Cut]

Originally Posted by Steve

I don't think it bring in the ideal quality customer that you can get with more refined marketing. Like for instance walking a certain neighborhood where you have determined there is money and customers willing to spend it to enhance the look of their property.

I have walked neighborhoods putting door hangers on mailboxes, I'm not getting a good response from that and essentially wasting what little advertising dollars I have. Am I in the wrong neighborhoods? Well, I've walked neighborhoods where homes cost $350-$550k, as well as $150-250K+.

I'm looking towards getting some signs that I can put at the corners of busy intersections, maybe that will give me a better return.
I also want to know a good method of getting some churches.

Originally Posted by turfmaster

All I can say is in my area 95% of the advertising for lawn care services are I WILL MOW YOUR LAWN FOR $10.00 - $15.00 I'm not kidding!

How do I avoid being seen this way by customers. Especially the customers that want to save a buck at all costs.

I don't have a website yet, really all I have is a 36" Toro walk behind strapped down w/ ratchet, ramps, Echo PB-413h blower, Redmax trimmer, Echo hedge clippers, Poulan chainsaw, and two 5 gallon gas jugs on the back of my truck.
I have a uniform. I had 10 shirts made last summer with my colors, business name, and number, and I wear khaki work pants that match.