Had a call this afternoon...(edited highlights).......
- Hello, I have 5 acres of garden and need someone for 3 days a week solid. Do you have qualified people, fully experienced and educated ?
- Yes, we have plant specialists, dedicated mower people and so on.
- How much do you charge ?
- £150 a day
- Oh, our last gardener charged £12.50 an hour, could we negotiate nearer to that figure ?
- Er no, we have more work than we can cope with at £150 a day, why would we want to work for so much less ?
- All right, I'll leave it then....
What planet are these people on ??? Fully qualified, years of college and experienced for £100 a day. And that's what I get, not the subby .......
I now only work for clients who are actually happy to pay our entirely reasonable fees, and come across as reasonable people. I won't entertain any clients who give off potential moaning signals at the initial visit - life is too short and there's enough stress in running a business without all that thank you.
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Replies
'did your last gardener die of malnutrition or is he just bankrupt?'
i was told i was too expensive on a job a few months ago, i bit my lip, but i wanted to say 'your expectations are unrealistic for your budget' but where would that have got me?
£150 very reasonable (or maybe a bit cheap depending on where you are working!)
'did your last gardener die of malnutrition or is he just bankrupt?'
Like it, I'll try that one !!
Yes, here is the affluent SE we are indeed a little cheaper than we should be, but a price hike is on the cards before next year.
In all probability, the £12.50 gardener didn't have any decent equipment and what took him 3 days, you'd have knocked off in 2
andrew, do you quote a little heavier for new clients when your book is full? maybe you should ha have quoted him your new rate - 160/170 or whatever you are thinking of
Am I missing something here?
He paid his previous gardener circa £100 a day, you charge £150, so he wants to negotiate a compromise figure. It's what you'd expect, isn't it?
Andrew refreshing to see someone stick to the price they feel will give their client a good return for the price given and give them the business a decent standard of living.
So often today the dog eat dog world in which we find ourselves in drives down standards, causes discontentment whilst carrying out the job for a reduced rate until a better job comes along.
Build a good relationship with your client give them what they have paid for, everyone happy.
I don't think I would brand them dumb? they just need the right person like yourself to re-educate them as to why you do things a little differently. I always stick by the old adage "you buy cheap you buy twice" Like Geoff says you most probably would have done the job in half the time because you have the right people and the right tools. Trev
Hi Stuart, no I stick to the usual £150 to keep things simple.
Ian, charging £100 a day is not a viable rate for anyone who is well qualified, experienced and equipped. Even £150 is not really enough. If you want talented, educated people you should expect to pay the going rate. Would you haggle with an electrician, plumber, gas fitter, Tesco ?
Too many potential clients think that gardeners are cheap and desperate for any crumb of work. They should know better, especially those with 5 acres to maintain.
Dumb as in stupid. Maybe a bit harsh. I was pretty annoyed at the perceptions of this character who called me. Of course we get many like him with modest gardens. But you'd think with 5 acres he would know the reality of pricing for quality gardeners.
I don't think Ian's suggesting accepting £100/day........ just a point to negotiate from. You can't blame someone for trying to get a better deal!! I'm sure most people in your clients position would do the same thing to find a mutually acceptable charge. In a way, we do an alternative to haggling with plumbers etc...... we get different tradesman in and get different quotes, picking the best one. Sometimes we may even play one tradesmans quote against another to get an even lower quote.
Andrew Baker said:
Dumb is an unfortunate word to use when describing a potential client on an open forum - especially one with a 5 acre garden. Maybe you could do the work of the £12.50 ph man in 2 days = same price. I think thats the angle I would have taken. We have taken over a number of contracts, spending half the time of the previous gardeners and delivering better service.
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