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As a lawn-care business your faced with competition daily and sometimes decisions have to be made. Friday I was at a clients mowing lawn and noticed an individual up the street watching me and waiting for me to finish the lawn I was doing and I know he was wanting me to mow his lawn because I'd mowed it before. Before I could get finished another service pulled up and the individual flagged him down and asked him to do his lawn, well they talked a couple of minutes and the service went across the street to service his client.

While all this was going on I finished my client up and moved up the street to do another up two houses from the other service and the guy tried to flag me down to ask me the same question about doing his lawn. Before I gave him a price and an a answer I talked to the service that had been there and the guy said he gave him a price of $40 to do his lawn but the guy said he'd only pay $25. ( Keep in mind the guy's lawn was like 12 or more inches deep)

Now the Question. Do you respect the $40 price given by the first service and proceed to your next client or do you under cut (Lowball the first service) and do the lawn for $25?

If the grass was that deep I wouldn't do 25 but (not sure on sqft average houses here are 3000 sqft) I would charge 35 -40 depending on varibles. Then if he signed up for weekly service I would do 25

What would your price have been? Some will tell you to get every lawn you can and undercutting is fine while others will be on the opposite end of the spectrum. $25 seems low for what you described. If you need and want the work there is nothing wrong with doing it for a low price. Doesn't sound like the customer wants regular care so the chances of him become a regular are slim, at least at this point.

Just a thought, mowing overgrown lawns are among the most perilous to cut for lco's. We don't know what obstacles we will encounter or where they are. No sense in giving away your service on a property that has risk of equipment damage.

Being the lowest cost guy is hard to sustain. Someone will always go even lower than you. Try to distinguish your biz in other ways

exotion said:

If the grass was that deep I wouldn't do 25 but (not sure on sqft average houses here are 3000 sqft) I would charge 35 -40 depending on varibles. Then if he signed up for weekly service I would do 25

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Ok but there's the problem, he already told the first service that offered a $40 price No and said he would only do $25. My question is would you respect the price the first service offered or lowball him and do the lawn at a cheaper price.

I don't do 12 inch deep grass for anybody for 25.00 let alone 40.00. Let someone else do it lawns are all over the place to pick up if you want them.

Screw him! It will cost you a lot of time and gas and for 25$ might as well stay at home. Explain him why you would charge x number.

It's iffy but I don't think I would do it unless I just really needed an extra 25 bux at the time. I'm not against competing prices but that doesn't seem like an issue here. You've cut his lawn before so it's fair game. It's fair game anyway because this is a free market economy
As someone pointed out, the most you stand to gain is $25 one time. I don't think this guy will ever be a regular... certainly not a good customer. He will wait til the grass is a foot high again before he wants it cut.

You said you had cut this mans grass before, So he knows what you charge and was waiting to talk to you, So he must have been satisfied with your work . I would stick to what I charged him before.

Ric said:

Ok but there's the problem, he already told the first service that offered a $40 price No and said he would only do $25. My question is would you respect the price the first service offered or lowball him and do the lawn at a cheaper price.

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No I definately would not honor the first companys bid. I don't care about them. I also wouldn't do it for $25 either I would give them my bid which will for sure be lower than the last company but not 25 I would explain why and if he says no I walk away.

Lowballing is such a funny term I can in fact do it for 25 as long as it takes less than an hour. And if someone feels I'm low balling them that's their problem not mine looks like they need to lower prices ...

exotion said:

No I definately would not honor the first companys bid. I don't care about them. I also wouldn't do it for $25 either I would give them my bid which will for sure be lower than the last company but not 25 I would explain why and if he says no I walk away.

Lowballing is such a funny term I can in fact do it for 25 as long as it takes less than an hour. And if someone feels I'm low balling them that's their problem not mine looks like they need to lower prices ...

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I could have done the lawn for $25, I could have done it cheaper than that but to do so IMO would have put me in a bad situation. IMO not honoring the the first company's bid and doing it at a cheaper price could do damage to my business and reputation. Low balling another service is something that I knowingly could not or would not do, it's just not ethical or a good business practice.

Ric said:

I could have done the lawn for $25, I could have done it cheaper than that but to do so IMO would have put me in a bad situation. IMO not honoring the the first company's bid and doing it at a cheaper price could do damage to my business and reputation. Low balling another service is something that I knowingly could not or would not do, it's just not ethical or a good business practice.

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I think you throw around the word ethical to much. It is not unethical to underbid someone, its called free enterprise. My business is run different then theirs what they don't want to do for 25 I may be willing. What you are talking about is not free enterprise if you honor the first companys bid and the next guy honors your bid the guy never will get work done.

If you can't lead, then follow.

exotion said:

I think you throw around the word ethical to much. It is not unethical to underbid someone, its called free enterprise. My business is run different then theirs what they don't want to do for 25 I may be willing. What you are talking about is not free enterprise if you honor the first companys bid and the next guy honors your bid the guy never will get work done.

If you can't lead, then follow.

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Free enterprise is one thing and a company taking bids on a job is fine when it goes to the cheapest bidder. It is not unethical to underbid someone in that way. I guess the way I look at it is 25$ isn't going to make or break me and I don't need the money bad enough to under cut the other service who already gave the guy a price when the service is still across the street at a clients house. I'd rather have my reputation than the 25$.

Ric said:

Free enterprise is one thing and a company taking bids on a job is fine when it goes to the cheapest bidder. It is not unethical to underbid someone in that way. I guess the way I look at it is 25$ isn't going to make or break me and I don't need the money bad enough to under cut the other service who already gave the guy a price when the service is still across the street at a clients house. I'd rather have my reputation than the 25$.

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I have to agree with the other posters here Ric. You didn't go up behind the other guy's back and offer to cut it at a lower price. The man came to you. You have cut his lawn before, so he should know what you charge. I do however appreciate that you have the integrity to turn down a job because you feel it is unethical to bid lower than the guy before you.

personally, I would have bid it like every other job, occasional customer or not. its a 1000 year old game, customer wants service, as cheap as, they can get it. service provider wants to make, as much as, possible.

I don't care what somebody else's prices are. I know what I want to make and how much it cost me by the hour to operate. so if you can honestly do it less then $40 then do it. if you're doing quality work then you're not damaging your companies work.

I won't drop the gate for less then $35 for a cut under normal conditions. shoot the man an honest price and leave the ball in his court.

TaskForceLawnCare said:

personally, I would have bid it like every other job, occasional customer or not. its a 1000 year old game, customer wants service, as cheap as, they can get it. service provider wants to make, as much as, possible. I don't care what somebody else's prices are. I know what I want to make and how much it cost me by the hour to operate. so if you can honestly do it less then $40 then do it. if you're doing quality work then you're not damaging your companies work. I won't drop the gate for less then $35 for a cut under normal conditions. shoot the man an honest price and leave the ball in his court.

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I second that.

I wouldn't have done the job for $25. Too much risk for a one time job. What ended up happening Ric?

TaskForceLawnCare said:

personally, I would have bid it like every other job, occasional customer or not. its a 1000 year old game, customer wants service, as cheap as, they can get it. service provider wants to make, as much as, possible.

I don't care what somebody else's prices are. I know what I want to make and how much it cost me by the hour to operate. so if you can honestly do it less then $40 then do it. if you're doing quality work then you're not damaging your companies work.

I won't drop the gate for less then $35 for a cut under normal conditions. shoot the man an honest price and leave the ball in his court.

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I agree it is an old game but I guess it's how it's played but it doesn't mean I have too play it. I'm not worried about damaging my companies work image, it's quality. It's business and personal reputation I'm worried about. Money isn't the Issue. I could have done the lawn for the price of the gas and not worried about it. The first service that gave him a price of $40 is a one man show and he is trying to make a living just like others are and to under cut his price would have made me and my business look bad, besides the fact I believe it's just ethically and morally wrong. I sure would respect someone who done it to me.

mowerguy said:

I wouldn't have done the job for $25. Too much risk for a one time job. What ended up happening Ric?

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:smile: The guy got out his 21" and mowed the yard himself and that's all he did. Nobody else would touch it for the price the guy was willing to pay.

what I'm saying is just bid it like everything else, higher, lower, it doesn't matter. as long as, it was bid consistent with every other bid your company does. I don't see the ethical or moral issue. How ever, it would've been if you'd have known the other guys number then maliciously under bid him with the sole intent of preventing him from getting it.

I deal with it everyday, but I try to bid everything equally and consistent, I do the time analysis property size ect. give them a bid in a folder that explains everything we bid and let them make their decision. on the spot stuff like what you're talking about I do the best I can and let them know I'll have it scheduled in a route within a few days and go to the next stop. I run a tight schedule so unless I'm ahead of schedule I don't do right now stuff. some customers understand and others find the next guy with a mower. it doesn't hurt my feelings, full time customers always come first.

I know not everyone on here will agree with that, and that's fine. I've my standard operating procedure and hopefully everyone else has theirs.

TaskForceLawnCare said:

what I'm saying is just bid it like everything else, higher, lower, it doesn't matter. as long as, it was bid consistent with every other bid your company does. I don't see the ethical or moral issue. How ever, it would've been if you'd have known the other guys number then maliciously under bid him with the sole intent of preventing him from getting it.

I deal with it everyday, but I try to bid everything equally and consistent, I do the time analysis property size etc. give them a bid in a folder that explains everything we bid and let them make their decision. on the spot stuff like what you're talking about I do the best I can and let them know I'll have it scheduled in a route within a few days and go to the next stop. I run a tight schedule so unless I'm ahead of schedule I don't do right now stuff. some customers understand and others find the next guy with a mower. it doesn't hurt my feelings, full time customers always come first.

I know not everyone on here will agree with that, and that's fine. I've my standard operating procedure and hopefully everyone else has theirs.

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Not trying to be sarcastic or argumentative or anything but I guess that's where I have the ethical or moral issue. I've been in the business 8 going on 9 yrs and I've never bid on a job or did a contract. I don't do a time analysis property size etc. give them a bid in a folder that explains everything. I'm not that fancy, I just go to the address they give me and look at the lot to see what has to be done, give them a price and tell them how I bill. When I started out in the business I was all over the place with my client list I spent more time on the road than I did mowing so I told everyone I mowed for no thanks and went home and stayed there and built my business in the sub-division where I live. I have 70 plus clients and basically no travel time all my clients are within a three mile radius of my home so that means less overhead and cheaper prices for clients.

Ric said:

Not trying to be sarcastic or argumentative or anything but I guess that's where I have the ethical or moral issue. I've been in the business 8 going on 9 yrs and I've never bid on a job or did a contract. I don't do a time analysis property size etc. give them a bid in a folder that explains everything. I'm not that fancy, I just go to the address they give me and look at the lot to see what has to be done, give them a price and tell them how I bill. When I started out in the business I was all over the place with my client list I spent more time on the road than I did mowing so I told everyone I mowed for no thanks and went home and stayed there and built my business in the sub-division where I live. I have 70 plus clients and basically no travel time all my clients are within a three mile radius of my home so that means less overhead and cheaper prices for clients.

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yeah not everyone uses fancy folders ect. I wish I could do 70 yards in a single subdivision. I'm sure that saves you a ton of $ in overhead. I stay in a 20 mile radius and we burn about $2k in fuel/gas a month. that's pretty common in the region I'm operating in. competition is fierce up here and they will bid against you in a heartbeat. I have no problem giving a fair the other guy isn't going to keep food on my table or my lights on.

My whole city is only 9 square miles lol. I will not be malicious but surly I will underbid someone and not feel bad at all. I AK however one of the most non competitive people out there I think.

I'm not saying I'd do anything malicious I rarely even know what someone else bid it at. I won't feel bad however if I was better or lower then the next guy.