Anyone Else Noticing More Low-ballers?

schuley

Im not exactly a big time company or anything, but lately i've been getting really annoyed. I do mostly lawn and landscape work as well as patios and decks. Im getting more and more people with plenty of money getting picky about pricing, right down to the dollar! Seems like there are plenty of people out there looking for work and have a few tools underbidding everyone and making a quick buck, but at the same time, taking work away from everyone else that HAS equipment to pay for. I'm new here, like the site, lots of good threads, and aslo a few idiots, but thats common on these sites I guess....lol. JUST NEEDED TO VENT I GUESS FOR MY FIRST POST!!

Darwin

Decide what your company can do for the potential customer that the lowballer can't. Which means explaining all the reasons to not hire the lowballer.

If you are insured (+), if you can show some pics of your work (+). You must create a comfort zone for the customer to hire you. I would sit down and make a list of all the pluses in my favor, then go out and sell the job.

Preparation is everything if you take your work seriously.

Just my 2 pennies.

BKFranks

Low-balling is everywhere.

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nEighter

Yes it is

Handymanservice

Funny that you do landscaping, makes me think of a funny story. I'm not all that picky when it comes to making a living, if they need it done and pay me my rate, I do the work.
I live in a city with a ton of foreclosures, I am a white guy. I go into all of these neighborhoods and do foreclosure clean ups, initial yard services and also the maintenance until it sells.
A good day is when a "typical" yard service crew drives by, looks at me mowing or weed eating a yard, then drives away shaking their heads.
They are probably thinking "F---ing white guy is taking all our work!"

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"You can shear a sheep every year, but you can only skin him once!" Remember that when dealing with your customers and pricing.

http://www.yourhandymansite.com

Curb Guy

Price yourself fair and present yourself professionally. My competition is slowly going out of business, and we have been busy all Winter.

trptman

There's always guys undercutting others with cut rate prices for cut rate qualities-more so now. This is a real life lesson in economics.
Supply of labor is up (due to higher unemployment in other areas-guys are still trying to make some money somehow so becoming a low ball contractor is relatively easy to do with minimal tools or skills),

Demand for services is down (due to either potential clients money evaporating in the stock market or unsure of their own job situation, or hesitant to spend money because of an uncertain future etc)

When you have that situation, prices go down. in this case prices for contracting work.

that means that for those that are looking to have work done, they can be pickier and find someone to do the work for less. maybe they aren't getting the same quality, but they either don't know or think the bargain prices are worth it (kind of like buying crap at walmart)

it's just economics, not a helluva lot you can do about it other than market yourself more etc, like was mentioned already, to combat it.

Treeandland

If you are getting in front of them to even do an estimate you should feel lucky. The job of selling the work is up to you not any lowballers, highballers or noballers!

macatawacab

Don't let them get you down. think about yourself......do you always go with the lowest price or do you put a value on something else?

The old saying is you can have two out of three but not all three, which two do you want?
1- price
2- quality
3- service

BobsLandscaping

I've notice a lot of the "Any Lawn $10" ads on Craigslist, and a few ads in the jobs section from homeowners wanting "a teenage boy in the neighborhood to cut my lawn for $5".

Just the way it is. Being a stubborn guy I refuse to play in that market. I sell lawn care, not mowing. You get a cut, edging, trimming, fertilization, and weed control program. I play in a market the low ballers can't compete in because of the cost of quality equipment, licenses, and insurance. Granted there's fewer customers but at least I'm not putting hours on my stuff for peanuts. I also limit my lawncare route to two days a week. Rest of the week I do installs and cleanups.

I'm by no means an expert but I can't see making a living competing in the lowballer market. Not at $10 a yard, heck I'd burn that in fuel driving to and from the yard if it's in the LC Valley or Moscow. Let alone Pullman.

I know it's hard but try to compete on quality. Do the job right the first time, be courteous, and know when to say no. Sometimes it's just not possible to meet a customers budget and their expectations. Work it as hard as you can, but if you can't make money at it then say no.

What I have been picking up lately is yard clean ups on foreclosures. Brush hogging, removing junk (cars, appliances, debris, etc.), re-graveling driveways, and the like for lenders and real estate agents. It's grunt work, but it pays ok. Just make sure you get paid before you do the work, some companies take 60 to 90 days to pay the bill after you send it in. It sucks to wait that long to get paid.