At the bid

[cole1980]

When you are at the job giving a bid do u always leave a business card? Do u just give them a bid right there, or do u head back to the truck first or what is the best way?

[Scott]

reply

I always give a bid sheet w/card for irrigation and landscaping. I have a spread sheet for my irrigation jobs so I can figure that out right there in about 5 mins after I walk the yard and get all needed info. Bids for landscaping can be a bit more. If the customer has a solid plan for what they want I write it down, head to my local nursery buds, price all my cost, figure in labor and then present a written estimate. For people that say, "well I don't know what I want, what do you suggest?" this can get hairy. What I do is tell the customer to look at their neighborhood, look at what they have, evaluate it and take it one step further. If they live in a crappy neighborhood then you're job should be fairly easy, get whatever plants/trees are favorable to their area and go to town. For clean-ups and lawn maintenance I just leave my verbal bid and a card.

[Phil Nilsson]

reply

Cole,
Next important step is the (sales tie down) ... followup to bid ... "Mrs. Smith, maybe you need a day or two to decide" ... "I'll call you on Thursday, what's the best time for you"?

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

[GrassMaster]

reply

Hello cole1980:

Both of the above Poster have Good Points!

<b>What, Business Cards!</b>
Always Leave Business Cards, Note I said Cards, Yep Leave them Several Business Cards, They are Like Good Cheap Fertilizer for Your Business! The More you Put out the More You Grow.

The Nicer you have them Made (Professional Looking Ones), The More of a Chance People will Hang onto them! What if You Handed out 50 a Week & out of Every 100 you Got a Job or Referral!

Business Cards are one of the Cheapest Forms of Advertisement you Have, Besides Signage on the Side of Your Truck.

Now You want More, Have Magnetic ones Made, Yes they are Way More Expensive & You Would Only Give them to Your Regular Customers, First Time Bids & Folks that you Really Want their Business! Why?...

Probably 9 out of 10 of them will Wind up on the Refrigerator. Ask any Old Folks, there is a Shortage of Refrigerator Magnets in the World & they can Never get Enough! You Think they Going to Throw them away? Nope!

They will be Seen Daily, LOL Sorta Like a Brain Washing Effect? If they weren't that Effective, Do You Think Dominos Pizza would be Using them? They Spend Quite a Few Million More Dollars a Year than you Do On Advertising! Plenty More on this Some Other Time?

<b>Bids, Bids & More Bids?</b>
Of Course, Always do the Bid on the Spot. Unless you just have all the Time & Money in the World & You really Don't Need that Bid that Bad?

People are always Behind these Days & Don't Have time for Nothing, Make it Easy on them, Give the Bid on the Spot! Don't waste Your Time or Theirs!

OK, If you Give your Bid on the Spot, This Cuts Your Time & Expenses in Half. So Now You Have Time to Bid Twice as Much Unless you Don't Need the Work or If You Just Like Rapping With Strangers! It's Yo Life & Yo Choice?

You Want to Spend as Much Time Marketing & Bidding as you Can. Run Your Business DO NOT LET IT RUN YOU!

IF You Half Way try You can Make a Lot More Money, Wisely & Effectively if You Do Not Work as an Employee. Why Did You Get into Business? To Be a Business Owner or an Over Worked Employee? Run Your Business, Do the Marketing, Bidding & The Office End?

Your Main Objective is to Get the Work & Get an Employee There at the Office to Help You Run it, Do You want your Potential customers - Existing Customers talking to a Machine or an Operator or A Real Live Person that Knows the Business?

<b>Sorta Off Topic & Just a Scenario or 2, More Like Fruit for Thought!</b>
Yeah I Know you Have a Cell Phone & They can get in Touch with you any Time! Well, that's Fine & Dandy if You Like Rapping with the Cat Lady, While you Waiting on the ZTR Johnny the Fastest Man in the World to Load the ZTR, LOL He Decides to Show out Since you the Boss & He wants a Raise so he can get that $4,000 Entertainment Center with No Money Down & Only $65 a Month for Life? LOL

I Can Hear it Now, ZTR Johnny Has that New 26 HP Liquid Cooled Diesel Running in the BackGround Wide Open. Cat Lady Calls Just at Feeding Time, Butterball, Trixie, Snow & 12 Other Cats with Useless Names are all Meowing Wanting Tuna? (Have you Ever Looked Real Close at a Wet Cat) Now Look at a Wet Golden Retriever? I Choose the Golden, They Come When you call them & They All Want to Shake Your Hand? Cats, Yuk?

Then All of a Sudden ZTR Johnny Misses the Ramp by just a Couple of Inches, OK He Takes out the Left Rear Tail Light, Your Tag & Mashes in Your Left Rear Fender on Yo New Trailer? OK he Missed you by Inches & the Diesel Quits Running, Because it's Up Side Down in the Middle of the Street. You Say the Most Horrible Cuss Word that Only a 9th Grader Knows & You Drop the Phone...

Well, Cat Lady Couldn't Hear for all those Aggravating Cats, She Thinks you Cussed at Her & Threw Down the Phone. She's Mad She Will Hire that Guy Back at the Church that Sings in the Church Gospel Group Because he Don't Cuss.

You Forget about her, Because you are Trying To bend back that Fender, Straighten the Tag & Taping back the Busted Taillight Lens on Your New $2,000 Trailer. Then you Roll over the ZTR & Find out it will not Crank until you get the Injectors Bled. In the Back of your Mind your Thing about Whether to Slap the Cat Wine out of ZTR Johnny or Fire Him, Because if You see him at the Company Picnic you Will Probably Accidentally Hit him with a Dart in the Behind, At the Company Dart Tournament. (Lawsuit?) DUH?

OK, Tomorrow you Remember What you Did & Decide to Pay the Cat Lady a Visit in Person, Well Here Comes that Maniac ZTR Johnny 12 Minutes Late for Work again (He Likes to get Paid Driving to work), You Apologize for Giving him the Death Look & Making him Ride in the Back of the Truck on the Way Home. (What is he doing wearing an Eye Patch?) What's up with that?

He Then Tells you that He Had to Go to the Emergency Room Because he Got Grass Clippings in his Eye in the Back of the Truck Yesterday after the Demolition Derby. But He Did Remember you had Workers Comp & Here's the Papers from the Hospital.

Oh, He said he Tried Calling you all night, But Couldn't get you because you had Your Phone off the Hook Drinking Beer Trying to get that That Horrific Mass Destruction of New Equipment Scene out of Your System & You Decided to Listen to Your Favorite Rock Group Aero Smith!

Well, After You Apologize to One Eyed ZTR Johnny, He Says well Mr. Cell Phone, I called up that Dude GrassMaster at the Largest Lawn Service in Town, The Good Looking Dude that wears a Stetson Hat, Red & Black Raybans & Green Sweat Ban. Here's one of his Pics from the Cover of Rolling Stone? LOL

<img src="http://www.lawnservicing.com/images/grassmaster1.jpg" border=0>

Asking for a Job & a $1 an hour Raise & Grass Master can Afford to Give it to Him, Because he has really Got his Act together. Besides that One Eyed ZTR Johnny Really wants that $4000 Entertainment Center from the Rent to Own Center. OK you have Just Reached the Highest Level Threshold of Pain Known to the Self Employed Man.

LOL, You thought. Well, He gets the Job Next Week, The Hospital Told him to Keep that Patch on his eye for 5 Days, He Can't Work Either & He's Got to See the Eye Doctor, Next week! Well, Now he has a Week Off to Rock out with the New Entertainment Center. You, Well You got 23 Lawns to Do that Day & What About Cat Lady? LOL

Well, it's Dark O Thirty & you got 18 Lawns Done, You would have gotten all of them, But you Had a Flat From Where One Eyed ZTR Johnny Mashes in the Left Rear Fender on your New $2,000 Trailer. Now your Pulling up to Cat Ladies House & Low & Behold there's that Gospel Singing Ricky. You Laugh at him because he's Cutting her Grass on the other Side of the Driveway that One Eyed ZTR Johnny Missed because he was in Such a Hurry (Wanting that raise), with a $299 Crapsman.

Well, You Ring Cat Ladies Door Bell & All you here is those Stupid Kats (With a Capital K) & you hear Cat Lady Say "Who is it" You Reply I'm the Guy that you were Talking to Yesterday When One of my Employees Wiped out My Equipment. Oh Yes your Mr.Filth Mouth & Cusses Real Loud, Well I had to Call up my Grandson in the 9th Grade trying to figure out What you said to me on the Phone. Then When I found out What You said, I decided to Hire Back Gospel Singing Ricky, He's Cheaper & He Doesn't say Unknown Curse Words Like you do Mr. Filth Mouth.

But Cat Lady we have a Contract, Well Cat Lady Says Try To Take me to Court Mr. Filth Mouth, Mrs. Dearsaw that Owns 21 Dry Cleaners here in Town Heard you While you were on the Phone Because we were on the Front Porch Looking at Trixie when I called you. I'm Scared to Get Near One Eyed ZTR Johnny, Because he Drives to Fast? I was Going to Introduce you to Mrs. Dearsaw Because She was Unhappy with her Lawn Service & Wanted you Because you were always on Time....

But After that Terrible Curse Word that Only a 9th Grader Knows, She Decided to Let Gospel Singing Ricky Have the Contract? Oh BTW Mr. Filth Mouth don't Bother Making me Pay you for the 30 days Notice, Here's your Check, I prorated it until Yesterday. If You Try to Take me to Court, Forget it, Because Mrs. Dearsaw is a Witness & Her Cousin Judge Rafe Hangemhigh is the Judge in Small Claims Court & you Will Loose the case & Be Charged with Obscene Phone Calls....

OK, So Now Once again you've Reached the Highest Level Threshold of Pain Known to the Self Employed Man. So You decide you Better Exit Fast? Your Walking down the Driveway & there's Gospel Singing Ricky & Low & Behold he's Singing "Another one Bites the Dust" & that Mouth & Lips Look Very Familiar. You Get in your 4 Door, 3/4 ton Chevy Avalanche with the 500 cubic Inch Engine, Burn Rubber Like no Tomorrow.

You then Stop at Crazy Cecils Party Shop & Pick up a 18 Pack of the Coors Light 18 oz. Tall Boys, You Go Back Home to Relax & Get it Out of your System. Well, After three Beers, It Hits you Like a Bolt of Lightening. Gospel Singing Ricky has a Mouth & Lips that Look like the Lead Singer in "Aero Smith"? Then you Go Berserk! <img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

<b>Moral of Story, Hey How about Giving me a Minute? I'm Running out of Words? NOT QUITE!!!!!</b> <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>
Well if you had a Office Secretary Like GrassMaster Does, You Wouldn't have Missed that Meeting with R.A. Carter that is Cat Ladys Brother in Law, the Largest Housing Developer in Town, He has 5 Large Subdivisions going at Once & Wanted you to Meet him at Hooters to Talk about Landscaping all the Common Areas, Playgrounds & Lots in All the Subdivisions.

R.A. (GrassMaster & R.A. Are Now on First Name Basis)) came up with this Idea that he Would Furnish Landscaping to all the Builders that Purchased Lots From Him. He Pays you $1,200 a Lot for a Little Bit of Sod & 20 Bushes. You Just Charge him Cost Plus on all the Common Areas & Playgrounds (CA Ching$$$$)! He can Afford it because he adds in another $2,000 (the half acre lots are Now $49,995 instead of $48,000) per Lot for the Free Landscaping for Builders & ....

Your Not Worried now, You Just Finished your 8th Beer & You Don't Care. You Throw that "Aero Smith" CD Out the Back Door & Go to the Couch, (Wife is Mad Because you Drinking to Much.) Tomorrow you feel real Bad & There's GrassMaster Talking to R.A. Carter at the New 300 Lot Subdivision Called "Turtle Creek", He Got the free Meal & Beer at Hooters & The Contract Too.

He got it Because He Doesn't Give Residential Customers his Phone Number, But R.A. Carter can Call him any Time at his Office & the Office Secretary will get in touch with GrassMaster in just a Few Minutes if it's Important! R.A Carter & GrassMaster think alike when it comes to Business! <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

Sorry I left out a Lot of Details, Maybe a Long Version this Winter!

<b>Have a Nice Day!
GrassMaster - Admin -Click to PM Me or E-Mail Me!
Help this Site - Take a Survey & Visit our Sponsors!</b>

[Phil Nilsson]

reply

That is by far the longest post I have ever seen ... and it's loaded with great info ... just goes to show you that GrassMaster ( the guy in that cowboy hat wearing the sun glasses) will stop at nothing to make sure you guys get info that will help you make money. I have known GrassMaster for a while now I can tell you in all honesty that he is one good person to take the time to share his knowledge.



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

[rkbrown]

reply

Post was too long for me...I am waiting for Scott to write the screenplay, Phil to arrange the financing and MOW-ED to direct and produce the film from Wisconsin (all the time having people believe it's really Georgia).

Seriously, I always leave a few business cards when I give a bid. Happened last week, in fact...lady I gave bid to is "thinking about it". Her next door neighbor's mower broke and lady gives card to neighbor. I do that "one time" job and leave more cards. She is impressed with the work. Who do you think they'll refer if someone else in their neighborhood asks them about a lawn service ? "Oh, hey, I have his card right here !"

Rob
Taybritt Lawn and Landscape Services

[Green Giant]

reply

My method
Business card right away. (When I introduce myself)
I look over the property with whomever is to recieve the bid. Find out what they want. Talk about any extras they may need. I explain how I do things. Plus a little bit of idle chit chat.
I go back to my truck to prepare a formal proposal sheet that will be attached with some info. about our biz. I always include another card with the proposal.
At the time I hand over a proposal I let them know there will be a follow up phone call to see if they have any un-answered questions.
(4-7 days is my norm)
BTW... a list of references comes in handy sometimes.

Dennis E.
Grasshopper Lawn
Mulberry,Fl.
(Green Giant is my truck!)

[cole1980]

reply

Thank you fellas for all the great imput. I appreciate all u guys getting involved.

E.Cole

[vaughnslawns]

great post from the GM