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I would just answer that it will take me as long as it takes to complete and reach the standard that we have agreed to. You can say 'it should take me 'x' amount of time' but I try and educate the customers to focus on the finished standard only. Not easy to deal with after changing your practices recently Helen but glad you are finding it is a better way of pricing your experience and skills.
If you say it costs X amount and (for example) I think it will take 2 hours and it takes less that will turn into a a can of worms.
I just say "It costs X amount and smile", if they ask for a break down I tell them that's my price.
Thanks. New resolve be more confident!
Its a hard one. I am just honest and tell them that the price is what it is. If I get it done quickly then thats up to me, but if it takes me longer than expected then its my loss. I say its based on my experience. Generally they don't ask much more after that.
If they keep pushing for hours I tell them politely I don't work by the hour as it is subject to abuse and driving our industry to be underpricing to get work. they normally go very quiet after this!
when people ask me how long - I say "it doesn’t matter to me, that’s the price" 8 out of ten take it at that, some need me to say "whether it takes 5 mins or 5 hours that’s the price"
And the rest I dont work for as they just keep asking, in other words they want cheap cheap cheap.
Had a woman last year time me and come out and say "your earning almost £20 an hour?" I kept my calm and explained fixed pricing to her, she dropped me, but she clearly wanted to pay less, talking about her previous £10 an hour gardener so she clearly wanted a pound of flesh so to speak. Moral is some people simply place a low value on gardening work so will always penny pinch it, the trick is to avoid these types and focus on people who want quality.
It sounds like your 3/4 the way their. Some will always question you but over time you can move away from them.
Yes i know what you mean. It's much easier to start having the confidence to be a bit more picky with customers now i'm established though. I can't imagine doing this 6 or so years ago!
I've been thinking about why gardeners are often under valued/expected to work to hourly rate compared with other trades and i wonder is it because it's such an old trade and traditionally a gardener would have been employed with a few simple hand tools or provided with tools at the job and not expected to take waste so not needing a van/insurances of the modern day gardener? The more I think about what a modern professional gardener provides the more determined I am that things should change!
I think a big part of the problem is that people see gardening as a job that they could do themselves, if they could be bothered. Their parents did their own garden, lots of their neighbours probably do. Therefore they think it obviously needs no knowledge or skill. Where as electrics is something people don't understand, and thus see it as something that they can't do themselves, so they see electricians as skilled qualified tradesmen, and will pay accordingly.
Sometimes I think people want to pay lower wages or percieve that they're being ripped off if the job takes less time than the previous person. I've been told I was cheaper than the previous person however because it only took me 2 hours (I said £50 I think) rather than the 4 hours of the previous person (so I suppose they were £15 p/h) that they didn't want me back. Which was quite confusing.
hits the nail on the head, some people have a world view, where everyone has a slot in a hierachy and they put a gardener in a "slot" they think they blong in, and if you dont fit that slot they will get rid of you.
(Sociologist in me speaking).
You tend to find it with certain types of people who like to perceive they "out rank" you and therefor you should earn a given %age of their income, based on how much they outrank you in their mind.... they never factor in running costs or the fact you set your price, et al so you cant win, unless you want to work for bugger all, you know the type "my last gardener was only £20 an hour".
Biggest lesson in business is learning when to walk,
walk away from the stress, the loss of income, the bother. Your better off reading a Novel than going down the route of chasing the bottom...
Do you want a job timescale ie 2 hrs ( that i could string out twice as long - 4hrs) ? or a fixed price inc waste away ? £60
(or 4hrs at £12.50 = £50) plus £10 for waste removal = £60
job= price due to effort/tools/fuel/mileage/waste weeding at £14 ph when a job is ongoing/regular..
inc insurance/maintenance/repairs/vehicle/quoting/advertising/phone/web/flyers/web design/adverts/tyres/depreciation/office equip/training/sprays/bags/waste fees/licences/boots/
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