OK this might turn into a bit of a rant! But after the last few clients Im definitely beginning to see a trend and wondered if anyone else was exeriencing something similar.
Im finding that clients are asking for big discounts before they give us to go ahead. And then while the contract is underway they are trying to slip a lot of additional work in for free. And being pretty shirty when told that there will be a charge for any additional work (especially the case when they have been given a discount!) even if Im just charging them at cost for the additional items. Im also finding that more clients are asking to pay cash to avoid the vat, which of course I refuse. Not only do I not want to get into trouble with HMRC but I need the money in my bank account to pay wages and bills, and cash is useless to me. I have lost a couple of jobs to landscapers doing cash work this year. Im vat registered so dont have a choice.
Its kind of a pain all this, and has soured an otherwise smooth job. Im beginning to wonder if I am being too nice and friendly with them, hence builidng up an expectation that I will just say yes to everything they want. Ive heard from suppliers that other landscapers are finding this too, and that 'the customer is king' at the moment. I am certainly finding clinets more reluctant to part with their money, and they are also seeking more quotes than they used to. The phone is still ringing but there are a few more hoops to jump through before the contract is agreed.
Anybody got any experience of this?
Views: 55
Replies
Sadly it is true, Im not sure if it is a trend, but We have recently seen alot of customers trying the same, We do mostly maintenance at the moment (about 75-25 split currently), and find in both that people often feel they can extract alot more out of you. Its also not helped by people often not realising that their request for a free extra is itself a £300 job. I think its alot about educating the client about the job and materials involved, as well as firmly standing your Ground.
As for Cash - I'm not Vat registered so it is not an issue to Me, yet anyway. However I get at least 1 customer a week asking for cash discount, if not more.
Not just agree, as I saw it before, when I started my business 1998 3 years into tough economy period ( in israel).
here is what I had/ you better do and here is how it was:
the sign:
1. in many cases before a job customers ask for pricing from few people/ landscapers/ gardeners/ designers.
so that means some chance that you spend time fuel etc and not get the job.
2. Once you got the job they try to negotiate- understanding that you may really need the job.
As I was young and ,my customers were mainly experienced sharp business people they could do all tricks on me, It was not easy for me and I could earn a bit more to start with if I had some more experiance with it.
but here is what I did:
1. try to work on getting more customers from your good customers- most chance, as they know your friends that they will be good with you and will not emaressed themselves. (Or through other people that you know)
I built a whole network and the result was amazing- can recommend.
2. how to negotiate better? If you write many section and price each one of them, than if your potential customer would like a discount- offer to drop part of the job- clear as that.
even better if you give for same task few pricing options for example planting in the border:
£200.00/£420.00/£550.00 small/ bigger plants/ mature.
same with hardscaping.
so when customer want to pay less you offer him to use smaller plants but you add that the bigger the better saves time and weeding etc. you can explain that you just can not cut the working price.
the other thing to do is to be most professional and have few extra suggestions with extra costs if they wish,
so they may choose you for that. For example: if a customer ask 3 contractors for a deck, I would offer 3 planters in there as an option+ stairs ( or any idea that you have).
there is a chance that I will not be the cheaper but still they would choose me as they like the design/ ideas.
It worked for me well- hope that it will work for you too.
Ofer
Hi Andrew
It's only this year that we've felt comfortable with charging per job and getting it right most of the time and it does make a hell of a difference. It is scary and we made some howlers but I agree with Paul if you don't move from an hourly rate then you do end up feeling v frustrated. Last year and earlier this I was definitely arguing that hourly rate is best but a lot (but not all) of the time it just isn't.
We actually managed to get some work off someone last week who is charging £10 per hour because he was milking the job for 4 hours when actually the job can be done better with the right tools in probably less than half that time. If we'd just put an hourly rate to it I know she would have said no by saying that we can do a better job for the same price (which we did) she was happy!
PS For the first visit it was an hour of Alan's time and half an hour of mine because I was doing some work next door but the result for her was really good. We've got some pruning to do for her but she is getting a separate price for that
Andrew Bentley said:
Thanks Ofer, good ideas in there, very valuable.