As a tradesman of 35yrs I say keep your customers happy, if they are your customer then they are always there, listen and bend a little to keep the income.
I spend time now listening and understanding rather than chasing money, I'm older and can afford to do so but I always put the customers needs first, I've just done some work for a lady who's daughter had a birthday the next day, I arrived card and chocolates in hand, not much outlay but goes a long way, I haven't advertised in 30 yrs.
Don't take it personally. These things happen. I'm not a gardener, other than maintaining my own garden. I do have my own business though albeit in semi-retirement now. Customers come and go, the main thing is to never 'burn your bridges'. Keep it professional and friendly regardless if the customer is right or not. In this case I'd say you were right. She probably had someone else approach her charging less and didn't want you to find out. Or a family member or friend offered to help her out. It could be any number of reasons and I don't think it was your pricing. And all that is fair enough. Move on and, again, don't take it personally. How's that saying go? A door closes, a window opens. You're young, passionate and hungry to succeed so just keep doing what you're doing.
Make notes itemise then ask for a price or a day rate get to happy ground with the customer then draw a line under your itemised list ,then any extras that aren’t on the above list ain’t on the list so your always covered any add ons are subject to additional costs ,plain for all to see .
Subbed mate, keep up the good work bro.. Ive dealt with some nightmare customers myself lol.. keep up the Ytube game, im trying myself at the moment! Peace!
Price is the price, you did the right thing. Maybe some clearer communication at the time of pricing is needed next time? Save yourself a headache further down the line. I work on price all the time. Sometimes you underestimate and it takes too long, but I’d never go back on an agreed sum. Wins some, lose some. Same with the reverse. It’s about quality not quantity and that’s what you need to get across the the customer right at the start.
Simple way of pricing... its £X amount for me to maintain your garden per month. There's no requirement to detail everything that's been done. Whether you're there 50 minutes or 3 hours, you charge the agreed price. Any decent customer won't mind paying the full whack for 45 minutes as they'll know if you ever did go over you're not going to slump an extra charge on their lap
So if I’m hearing this right. You went twice first visit was priced £40 for full maintenance? Then 2nd time you still done extras such as edging and double cutting etc? And charged £40?
@@ASHDOESBITS I meannnn yea and no… So if it was me the visit would of been the dearer price but I would of done “everything” Next time round especially if its agreed then would only be £20-30 grass cut or whatever…. But since you done the extra works anyways was the customer aware of the extra works being carried out etc aware of needing extra cash you know what I’m saying… No hate btw love the videos
I’m not a gardener.. surely if you have a standing 2 weekly appointment with a customer then that prevents you being able to accept other jobs that would generate you more income. Also at the points in the year when you are there for a longer period you would still charge the same so this would balance itself out? I had a gardener and it was £25 every 2 weeks however there were many other jobs that needed doing that could push that price above £100 so a standing rate of £40 would have made it a lot more cost effective and manageable for a customer
@@ASHDOESBITS you’ll never be in the wrong or the right just difference on your outlook of a situation. If you include travelling between jobs, getting setup, packed away, disposing of waste, at a guess doesn’t put you on a salary of £40 and hour 🤷🏻♂️ The customer however, is only ever going to see the time you spend doing physical labour at their property. £40 seems steep for a cut however you can also argue, that in some cases, not all, having a gardener is a luxury. If you are capable of doing it yourself and are asking someone else to do it for you then you pay the rate you pay.
Guys I forgot to add my customer service/ time management/work & politeness was second to none with this customer and she could barely see what money she was paying, tried giving me to much in which I had to correct her!!
Well if she could barely see the money she was handing you then it tells me that you need to tailor your rates to your clients at times. Bless her, it's not her fault mate. Give her something to keep her sweet and keep the wheels of positivity and integrity turning. 50 min job for 40 quid as a gardener, to be honest that's taking the fucking piss anyway.
@@kyleop1 It really isn't taking the piss. When you account for travel cost, time, getting rid of waste etc. It's not a lot. The next time he goes, he _could_ be there for hours, you never know, and the price will be the same. Nobody is being ripped off.
@@Gobbbbb That's why all of your little companies fail, absolutely no clue how to price work or do good business. Why would you not be pricing these jobs per hour? 45 an hour is literally ridiculous, as a gardener with no education, lol. Sometimes I charge 450 per day for a 2 man team, other times I charge 27 per man per hour. Work it out lads!
You just need to speak to your bext customers before you start. "Sometimes a job might take me 50 mins, sometimes 2.5hours" then there expectations are met.
Neither right or wrong, just different understandings and perspectives. I'd ask what her interpretation of expectations and charges are, ask what she thinks she should be paying for work completed and if its agreeable to you, then great, if not, explain your costing, if then it can't be agreed upon, then politely move on, and give it no extra thought. You can please some people some of the time, but not all people all of the time, and remember, people who aren't in the trades, don't understand the costs involved, equipment, maintenance of that equipment, transport etc ... Tile cutter for example cost me 500 and replacement blade 100, transport, fuel and time to get materials, plus other jobs which need to be prioritised, cant afford to be wasting time on others indecision, so many things to be factored in that others will never understand. Also you could try and reduce your price to maintain the customer only to loose them once theyve got what they wanted cheaping you out, loyalty also is a cost factor, which goes both ways. Don't sweat it, sounds like you did what you could, and most importantly, because you were respectful, its amazing how people come crawling back to you when they find out how much others cost, how unreliable others can be and crap quality of work. You just concentrate on being the best and building good relationships. Good luck to you.
Grass cutting should be a job rate based on around £1 a minute, not hourly. Everything else is hourly unless special jobs like lawn sand, feed, etc. sounds like she wanted it done for nothing, ive had those customers, best to just move on and don't even worry about it.
£40 for 50 mins work is bloody good money. You have said in your comments, service, politeness etc. It should be second to none and costs nothing to be polite. If you're not you'll lose your customers. Even if you'd knocked a tenner off she would have been happy and you would have been well paid for the time you were there. Standing your ground has cost you a nice customer and maybe more with now bad word of mouth.
I disagree. £40-50 isn't for the 50 mins, its for knowledge, skill, efficiency, fuel and time to get there and back, insurance, tax, factor all that its reasonable.
Mate, walk on to the next job. I do hedge trimming. One customer used to have an old guy do her hedges over three days. I went in and got it done in one day; no corners cut just head down and got on with it. The customer, even though I was cheaper over the whole job, fealt I was ripping her off as I hadn't spent 3 days on it. She was happy with the work and actually said it was a better job. Go figure. She actually got me back in the following year after getting some quotes from other contractors.
Nope, you're not in the wrong. The price was agreed upon beforehand. What does she want you to do? Do the exact same job, but slower? You'll always get customers like that in any trade. As they say, you're paying for the knowledge and expertise. If somebody completes a 2 hour job in 1 hour while doing a *quality* job, they should be paid the same (or more for efficiency), not less.
![FNAF vs TF2 - Episode 2 [SFM]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z5b3V2-VLb0/mqdefault.jpg)
As a tradesman of 35yrs I say keep your customers happy, if they are your customer then they are always there, listen and bend a little to keep the income.
Yeah I did try and rearrange a lower price with her but she wasn’t interested 🙈 👍
I spend time now listening and understanding rather than chasing money, I'm older and can afford to do so but I always put the customers needs first, I've just done some work for a lady who's daughter had a birthday the next day, I arrived card and chocolates in hand, not much outlay but goes a long way, I haven't advertised in 30 yrs.
@@amhpm appreciate the advice pal 👊
You're absolutely correct. These skills come as you mature as a business. All the best mate!
Id just walk mate, better customers and jobs out there 👍
If she was happy to except the price .and you've stated its that what ever you do not there hourly
You have to keep customer’s happy
Sometimes it’s impossible
Forget it and move on
Don't take it personally. These things happen. I'm not a gardener, other than maintaining my own garden. I do have my own business though albeit in semi-retirement now. Customers come and go, the main thing is to never 'burn your bridges'. Keep it professional and friendly regardless if the customer is right or not. In this case I'd say you were right. She probably had someone else approach her charging less and didn't want you to find out. Or a family member or friend offered to help her out. It could be any number of reasons and I don't think it was your pricing. And all that is fair enough. Move on and, again, don't take it personally. How's that saying go? A door closes, a window opens. You're young, passionate and hungry to succeed so just keep doing what you're doing.
Appreciate your kind words sir 👊👍
Make notes itemise then ask for a price or a day rate get to happy ground with the customer then draw a line under your itemised list ,then any extras that aren’t on the above list ain’t on the list so your always covered any add ons are subject to additional costs ,plain for all to see .
Subbed mate, keep up the good work bro.. Ive dealt with some nightmare customers myself lol.. keep up the Ytube game, im trying myself at the moment! Peace!
Cheers mate appreciate it 😎
Subbed back mate good luck with it 😎
Price is the price, you did the right thing.
Maybe some clearer communication at the time of pricing is needed next time? Save yourself a headache further down the line.
I work on price all the time. Sometimes you underestimate and it takes too long, but I’d never go back on an agreed sum. Wins some, lose some.
Same with the reverse. It’s about quality not quantity and that’s what you need to get across the the customer right at the start.
Simple way of pricing... its £X amount for me to maintain your garden per month. There's no requirement to detail everything that's been done. Whether you're there 50 minutes or 3 hours, you charge the agreed price. Any decent customer won't mind paying the full whack for 45 minutes as they'll know if you ever did go over you're not going to slump an extra charge on their lap
Thanks for the advice mate 😎
So if I’m hearing this right. You went twice first visit was priced £40 for full maintenance? Then 2nd time you still done extras such as edging and double cutting etc? And charged £40?
Yes mate, should I have only charged for the full 40? Or just charged a little less?
@@ASHDOESBITS I meannnn yea and no…
So if it was me the visit would of been the dearer price but I would of done “everything”
Next time round especially if its agreed then would only be £20-30 grass cut or whatever….
But since you done the extra works anyways was the customer aware of the extra works being carried out etc aware of needing extra cash you know what I’m saying…
No hate btw love the videos
@@BelzoGraphics appreciate the advice and kind words bro 😎
I’m not a gardener.. surely if you have a standing 2 weekly appointment with a customer then that prevents you being able to accept other jobs that would generate you more income.
Also at the points in the year when you are there for a longer period you would still charge the same so this would balance itself out?
I had a gardener and it was £25 every 2 weeks however there were many other jobs that needed doing that could push that price above £100 so a standing rate of £40 would have made it a lot more cost effective and manageable for a customer
Yeah would prevent doing bigger jobs if regular, yeah it was new customer so only been once before and cheers mate appreciate advice 👌
@@ASHDOESBITS you’ll never be in the wrong or the right just difference on your outlook of a situation.
If you include travelling between jobs, getting setup, packed away, disposing of waste, at a guess doesn’t put you on a salary of £40 and hour 🤷🏻♂️ The customer however, is only ever going to see the time you spend doing physical labour at their property.
£40 seems steep for a cut however you can also argue, that in some cases, not all, having a gardener is a luxury. If you are capable of doing it yourself and are asking someone else to do it for you then you pay the rate you pay.
Guys I forgot to add my customer service/ time management/work & politeness was second to none with this customer and she could barely see what money she was paying, tried giving me to much in which I had to correct her!!
Well if she could barely see the money she was handing you then it tells me that you need to tailor your rates to your clients at times. Bless her, it's not her fault mate. Give her something to keep her sweet and keep the wheels of positivity and integrity turning. 50 min job for 40 quid as a gardener, to be honest that's taking the fucking piss anyway.
@@kyleop1 It really isn't taking the piss. When you account for travel cost, time, getting rid of waste etc. It's not a lot. The next time he goes, he _could_ be there for hours, you never know, and the price will be the same. Nobody is being ripped off.
@@Gobbbbb That's why all of your little companies fail, absolutely no clue how to price work or do good business. Why would you not be pricing these jobs per hour? 45 an hour is literally ridiculous, as a gardener with no education, lol. Sometimes I charge 450 per day for a 2 man team, other times I charge 27 per man per hour. Work it out lads!
You just need to speak to your bext customers before you start. "Sometimes a job might take me 50 mins, sometimes 2.5hours" then there expectations are met.
I did mate 🤣 cheers 👍
Neither right or wrong, just different understandings and perspectives.
I'd ask what her interpretation of expectations and charges are, ask what she thinks she should be paying for work completed and if its agreeable to you, then great, if not, explain your costing, if then it can't be agreed upon, then politely move on, and give it no extra thought.
You can please some people some of the time, but not all people all of the time, and remember, people who aren't in the trades, don't understand the costs involved, equipment, maintenance of that equipment, transport etc ...
Tile cutter for example cost me 500 and replacement blade 100, transport, fuel and time to get materials, plus other jobs which need to be prioritised, cant afford to be wasting time on others indecision, so many things to be factored in that others will never understand.
Also you could try and reduce your price to maintain the customer only to loose them once theyve got what they wanted cheaping you out, loyalty also is a cost factor, which goes both ways. Don't sweat it, sounds like you did what you could, and most importantly, because you were respectful, its amazing how people come crawling back to you when they find out how much others cost, how unreliable others can be and crap quality of work.
You just concentrate on being the best and building good relationships. Good luck to you.
Thankyou mate appreciate the kinds words of wisdom and il take them on board for the future 🫡👍
Grass cutting should be a job rate based on around £1 a minute, not hourly. Everything else is hourly unless special jobs like lawn sand, feed, etc. sounds like she wanted it done for nothing, ive had those customers, best to just move on and don't even worry about it.
Appreciate the advice mate 😎
Bro what camera are you using ?
iPhone 14 Pro Max 😅 is it bad ?
@@ASHDOESBITS it’s amazing bro keep it
@@fittaku thankyou 👊
Innit, camera quality is mint
£40 for 50 mins work is bloody good money. You have said in your comments, service, politeness etc. It should be second to none and costs nothing to be polite. If you're not you'll lose your customers. Even if you'd knocked a tenner off she would have been happy and you would have been well paid for the time you were there. Standing your ground has cost you a nice customer and maybe more with now bad word of mouth.
Yeah fair point 👊
I disagree. £40-50 isn't for the 50 mins, its for knowledge, skill, efficiency, fuel and time to get there and back, insurance, tax, factor all that its reasonable.
@@mrme8732 Definitely mate, people forgot about how we have to travel from job to job , load and unload our vans everyday and much more !
Tax for the van is 350 :/
she needs to realise that the cost of living has gone up..
Through the roof mate !! 😎
That’s the thing a lot of people don’t understand, the cost of living goes up = the price of labour goes up.
@@lewmo2811 definitely mate 😁
They always want extra for no extra money .
Excessive . for 50 mins. £40. I charge £15 an hour.
To cheap mate but fair play! 👊
And your too cheap
@@JayandMelanieCoddiwompling. 😮
If you price / visit then it is that cost / visit regardless of how much or how little you do. Customer in the wrong as far as I can see.
Cheers bro 👊
you never get paid extra for going over the allotted time.
You showed up to do maintenance wothout yhe proper tools,no hedge trimmer.
Why did you think you wouldn't need to trim hedges
Hedge didn’t need cutting mate 🤷♂️ she wanted it reduced cause she wanted me there longer 👊
Hmm I would have charged her just for cutting her lawn, there's no wrong here, you have to be fare.
if she cant afford to have you back she cant afford it at all
Cheers bro 👊
@@ASHDOESBITS dont take it personaly sounds like shes trying to have you over
Mate, walk on to the next job. I do hedge trimming. One customer used to have an old guy do her hedges over three days. I went in and got it done in one day; no corners cut just head down and got on with it. The customer, even though I was cheaper over the whole job, fealt I was ripping her off as I hadn't spent 3 days on it. She was happy with the work and actually said it was a better job. Go figure. She actually got me back in the following year after getting some quotes from other contractors.
Yeah it’s always the way mate, thanks for the advice 👊
put it in a email writing beforehand
Good idea ! 👍
just charged her for the work you done
That was a great price from u to be honest
Thankyou 😎
Just forget and move on. Penny pincher’s and clock watchers
Name a price and stick to it
full 40
My advice would be learn how to spell advice
Whoops 🤡
Nope, you're not in the wrong. The price was agreed upon beforehand. What does she want you to do? Do the exact same job, but slower?
You'll always get customers like that in any trade. As they say, you're paying for the knowledge and expertise. If somebody completes a 2 hour job in 1 hour while doing a *quality* job, they should be paid the same (or more for efficiency), not less.