ADVICE ON ATTRACTING CLIENTS

[burkhart lawn service]

IM JUST STARTING OUT, AND I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET. I HAVE ALL THE LEGAL STUFF OUT OF THE WAY. I HAVE DONE LANDSCAPING ON THE SIDE FOR PEOPLE FOR YEARS, AS MOSTLY A HOBBY. NOW I AM GOING TO MAKE MONEY WITH IT FULL TIME. I AM DOING MOWING EDGING AND TRIMMING, BUT AM NOT SURE HOW MUCH TO CHARGE. I AM USING A REGULAR PUSH MOWER, IF I CAN GET ENOUGH BUSINESS, I WILL INVEST IN LARGER MOWERS. ITS MOSTLY SMALL YARDS HERE, MAYBE 5,000 TO 10,000 SQ. FT. I AM ALSO DOING ORGANIC FERTILIZERS, AND HERBICIDES. IF ANYONE CAN GIVE ME ADVICE, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT. THANKS PAM

[Phil Nilsson]

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Some pricing advice for newstarts ...

You'll be called a lowballer as you underprice the work to get a foothold in your market this spring. Ignore it. Take a market share from the others by beating their price. Start at the bottom and work your way up. I'm not for lowballing but you have to start somewhere.

Some of the largest companies in the country price low, command a large market share and are doing just fine. The name of the largest in the country is WalMart. The name WalMart is synonymous with low price and friendly service and captured a huge market share.

The precaution is to know your costs and in spite of low price you must deliver an acceptable level of quality work. Low price, acceptable quality. In the beginning while you're building your business, a lower price opens the door ... but low price and acceptable quality keeps that door open. Master both and you're in business.

Study your costs carefully, don't get greedy with prices ... understand your walkaway price, gain market share, build sales volume, then graduate to manage your comapny. Some of the largest companies in the industry follow these simple guidelines. Make a small profit ... but do a big business ... just like WalMart.

Don't look to earn a living on any one account, take a smaller profit from a broader range of business. Much of your competition will have maxed out their sales volumes at the upper end of the pricing range, not willing to take less profits on a broader sales base. That is the key point. But remember, smart players know their cost thresholds all along the way toward higher sales volumes. If you go for the "long dollar" instead of the "short dollar" you'll find less of them and you will limit your growth.

There are only just so many upscale homes and upscale commercial accounts that require "Class A" care. Focus your marketing efforts on the larger market.

As you move along getting more customers, keep a careful record of labors hours to complete the work at each account. Divide labor hours into sales dollars to see your "return per hour". These will vary a lot. Slowly start replacing the low hourly return work with better work to improve profits. Gradually increase your prices for the (same) work until you find the price ceiling for that work.




Phil Nilsson
Nilsson Associates Consultants
Visit Lawn Service & Landscaping Book Store

Edited by - phil nilsson on Apr 28 2002 07:19:37 AM

[Bill Moriarty]

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<font face='Arial'></font id='Arial'>Pam... Phil's got good advice there. the whole idea of lowballing is repulsive to many, but if you go in at a lower price than your competitors, provide quality service, you'll gain a toehold in your market. Notice nobody has said do the work at a loss. While there may be instances that you'll need to do that, you must make something in order to stay in biz.

Everybody's "numbers" are different. How much do you need to pay your bills? I have no clue about your situation. Only you can answer that. As a starting point many folks try to average at least $35+ per hour for themselves. That's after you've paid for the equip, insurance, etc,. If you're in a neighborhood of 5000 sq/ft yards how many of them can you do in an hour? How many hours a week do you have to work?
(Hint: saturate a neighborhood, get all the houses you can in the same area - less travel time - establish a minimum price for a job. Just because you can do somebody in 15 minutes doesn't mean they pay 1/4 of your hourly rate.)

Sorry Pam but a 45yr old person with a push mower won't last long (I know about these things . You need to quickly get up to a larger mower or you risk getting discouraged about the whole thing. Maybe that means a loan? Tap your savings? Sell hard! Good luck!

[Phil Nilsson]

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Pam ... I am emailing you a link to a website that I think will really give you some direction for some possible long range goals and business growth. Since you are a "gal" I feel that the services offered by the site I'm going to email to you ... will help you. It's a full service company (real full service) that offers exterior as well as interior services. The company is a client of mine otherwise I'd just post it here.

Anybody else wants the link, email me.

Phil Nilsson
Nilsson Associates Consultants
Visit Lawn Service & Landscaping Book Store

[GrassMaster]

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Hello Ms. Pam:

Very Good Advice coming from Known Professionals! <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>

Try to find Add Ons that you can Offer Your Existing Customers!

Here is a Link to Some Information that might Help You Some:
http://www.lawnservicing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=74

There's some Basic Information in there to Help Point you in the Right
Direction as far as Bidding Goes! It's Just a Start, There's Plenty More!

As Time Goes on there will be Plenty of Questions to be Asked, Don't Hesitate?
Come here & Ask them, We will do Our Best to Help You! There is No Reason you
Have to Learn the Hard Way. We can Help You Bypass a Lot of That!

I Wish you the Best in Business!

Have a nice Day & I Wish You the Best in Business!
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