Pay Day!

[CHEESE2009]

Alright, so I'm at the stage where I'm letting clients go'f themselves. The customers who pay little, are whiny & irritating. I'll give fake customer names: Roger pays $50.00 a month for lawn service. His property is small, & the payment is simple. In May, Roger is impressed with the first cut. Roger referred my lawn service to a friend, & gains a discount, a.k.a a free mowing. Roger then gets another friend to mow his lawn, the last week of May. Roger is billed for one mowing during May. June. Roger hasn't paid for one mowing & the full month of June. It's currently July, Roger now owes $112.50 ROGER needs to ANSWER his PHONE!!! Or Breeze Lawn Service will no longer maintain his grass. Anyway, he obviously is going to panic when he finds out how much is owed, but that's what happens when you avoid making steady payments. Client = Dropped ****************** Steve is the person who Roger referred my service to. Steve appreciated the first mowing, but was told to pay the following week. Steve calls the following week & says, "I'm having soil spread out on my lawn, so don't come until I call you" I don't bother collecting just yet, figuring it wouldn't be that long until he calls. May ends, June starts. The grass is grown nicely, unfortunately I was only able to charge Steve for 1 mowing in June. He is billed for July, plus 2 mowings. Steve is arguing the amount he now owes. Yet he makes his way to the bank, & pays honestly. Only after a fuss & a glance at my papers. Client = Soon to be dropped ********************************** Bob wants his grass mowed twice a month. I take the job, knowing his grass doesn't grow too much anyway. Bob hires my service in June, he now owes for 2 mowings. It's now July, Bob owes for July + 2 mowings, & is now "out of town for awhile" Client = Dropped ************************************ Now for phone calls I've recieved: Scott: Breeze Lawn Service, Scott speaking. Lady: Hi I was wondering how your service works, like do I pay monthly? Scott: Yes, it's monthly. Lady: Well what do you do? Scott: Lawn maintenance. Lady: I was thinking of weeding. Scott: We do that too. Lady: I don't get how I have to pay monthly? Scott: You don't pay monthly for weeding. You pay half on our arrival, & half when the job is finished. Lady: I'm sure it wont take a month to do. Scott: We weed 3 consecutive days, depending on the size of your garden. Lady: Well it's small, it wont take you 3 days. Scott: Well give me your address & I'll swing by & give you an estimate. Lady: Well when can you start? Scott: It's raining now, & it's supposed to ease off on Thursday. So we'll start Thursday. Lady: Hmmm, well if you wait for a nice day, I mind as well just do it myself. Scott: Ok? Lady: I don't want to wait that long. Scott: It's raining until Thursday, it's all I can offer. What is your address so I can give you an estimate? Lady: I'll give you my number only, & you can call me when your ready. **************** YEAH... RIGHT.... *smells trouble*

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Last edited by CHEESE2009; 07-06-2009 at 01:50 PM.

[XtreemGreen]

Lawn care business tips

Life seems to be full of drama... huh?

__________________

In Memory of My Dad..1943-2008..Gary "Snuffy" Smith

[CHEESE2009]

Originally Posted by XtreemGreen

Life seems to be full of drama... huh?

I'm not a genius, but when I talk to some of my customers, or many callers... I feel like I'm dealing with tards.

People can be really weird, or hitting the bottle too hard.

The lesson I learned: Never be generous, not even slightly.

Always collect payment, even if it's a few bucks... Eventually it will rack up & scare your client.


I have one client who's the opposite of the clients I've written about. This client always pays too much. I tell her thanks, but no thanks. Yet I guess she enjoys making me feel like an ***, & will most likely find something to complain about later in the season where I'll be owing more money then I'm making. So... shucks! lol

[justin_time]

This is nothing

I have a contract with the Rainbow School Board here and I do 3 schools for them. I have sent them a bill for May and June and I couldn't get payed until I got my WSIB number (which I did on friday). The letter that I got from WSIB on friday quotes

"Justin Pitre contacted our office on May 12, 2009 indicating that he does not employ workers and requested a determination of status under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act"

Haha, May 12, and I got this on friday ? What a joke