Was I Disrespectful To Client

[thistlebloom]

I know NYboys work is worth the price he charges. That's why I wouldn't apologize or make a fuss over somebody who doesn't value what it takes.

In my business there is an amazing amount of work out there and available. I turn work down all the time. I get well above the average local rate for a gardener, and I make sure that I go above and beyond what the average gardener offers in services tailored to my clients landscape. Well, really, my competition aren't "gardeners" in the strict definition, they are yard maintenance people, and it's shocking how little they do to improve their skills and knowledge...

If a potential client can't handle my price or wants to dicker, I smile and move on. There's another more appreciative client around the corner.

So, how's that for War and Peace?

 

[seedcorn]

Chapter 1 only....... IF there was an account you wanted to keep or get, wouldn't you explain what you do to earn your money? Sometime, we all hear, well so and so is just as good and cheaper. Or I want you to do, xxxx but I'll do Y-which is where you make your profit.

We all have to make decisions on who we want to do business with and who can find someone else. You don't let a valued client Go without explaining your value to them. They don't care about your problems, they want to know how your decisions affects them.

 

[thistlebloom]

Chapter 1 only....... IF there was an account you wanted to keep or get, wouldn't you explain what you do to earn your money? Sometime, we all hear, well so and so is just as good and cheaper. Or I want you to do, xxxx but I'll do Y-which is where you make your profit.

We all have to make decisions on who we want to do business with and who can find someone else. You don't let a valued client Go without explaining your value to them. They don't care about your problems, they want to know how your decisions affects them.

Okay, forgive my slowness, now I understand what you're getting at.
Yes indeed, if there is a primo property I want I can do a great job of explaining what I offer. As a matter of fact this very issue came up two years ago on a property I maintain that got sold and the new owners kept all the service people.

It was time for a price increase and so I took advice from that nursery owner and upped my charges substantially. But that was also because I implemented a new practice of a flat hourly fee that includes all of my deer repellents, fertilizers, plant treatments and other products, instead of billing separately for materials.
Saves a lot of fiddly invoicing...

The new clients balked at that because their lawn service also offers bed maintenance at a lot less. They wanted me to do the thinking part and the other guys to do the raking and more mundane chores.

I explained to them the reason for the big price disparity, their work versus mine, and also that I do not share garden labor with other companies. Too easy to get blamed for other peoples crappy work and damages when there is more than one company in an area working. It's all me or no me at all.
They gave me a year to see how we got along and now they are extremely pleased with my work. She even asks me to pick bundles of blooms for her to arrange bouquets. So my hourly rate must not feel too restrictive. I even got to do a landscape renovation at the adjoining property they bought, she just said make it pretty. That was so much fun....

That's chapter two.

 

[Beekissed]

How fun to garden for a living!!! And to get to do a job where you can express your artistic side would just be the cherry on the top. Why didn't they ever mention such things on Career Day?

 

[thistlebloom]

Yes. I am blessed, pressed down and flowing over blessed! Not everybody gets to do what they love, and I'm grateful.
I took a landscaping course in High school. It was connected to the Ag dept and the FFA class. I think that's where it all started. When I was 18 my college English prof gave me a job taking care of her yard and roses. I really knew very little back then, but she loaned me books.

 

[Nyboy]

I am also blessed i wanted to work with animals since a small kid. One thing I was told a happy client will tell a friend or 2, a unhappy client will tell everyone they know

 

[seedcorn]

I am also blessed i wanted to work with animals since a small kid. One thing I was told a happy client will tell a friend or 2, a unhappy client will tell everyone they know

It's called the 250 rule. Everyone influences 250 people to some degree. If they hate your service/product, they will spread it to everyone of them. If they like your service, they will say good things if asked. If love your service, will tell those that they know that need your service. So Martha is in the love catagory.