A nice surprise
It’s a nice surprise when you’re about to leave after cutting a residential lawn and the owner tells you to wait a minute. He has a friend not too far away with a daycare which needs some immediate attention. Boom! We call that a referral and it’s solid gold.
First of all, it’s a huge compliment because your client likes your service so much he’s confident you can also help his friends. And his friends don’t have to search online for a decent landscaper. They’re getting one with a proven track record.
Second of all, you get a new potential client without much effort. Normally client acquisition is a headache because there are many landscape contractors operating in my home area.
Action
Considering the current pandemic climate, I went to see the new client the very next day. Who knows what will happen. I believe it’s important to take action quickly, especially in these crazy times.
So, I met the lady and listened to her needs. Then I took pictures of her daycare and went home to create my quote.
I considered the amount of time it would take me and any costs and then texted my quote over. She liked it and told me to proceed. So I did.
This is why project gigs make sense. I am not interested in hourly labor. I quote a project price and finish it quickly. This particular project paid me $85 per hour.
3 parts
The client had three elements to take care of. One was a boxwood hedge which required some shaping; and it also partially obscured the daycare sign.
Two was a cedar hedge (Thuja occidentalis) which required siding and topping by almost two feet. I gave it a nice straight line across the top after lopping off the big wood. It’s too much work for your blades; save them for the finer stuff.
And three was a Japanese maple tree (Acer palmatum) which she wanted shaped. Normally I would prefer to do this tree work in the fall when the leaves are on the ground and the branch structure is clearly visible. But it couldn’t wait.
Clean-up blow is an obvious last step. Professional bloggers like me also automatically take after photos.
Bonus!
The noise I was making attracted a lady from across the street. She asked me if I could do her cedar hedge, lawns and pruning. Of course I could, I have two kids to feed and apps to buy for them.
This was a nice bonus. Scoring two new clients in one day is gold for a side-gigger like me. Once the work is completed I will try to squeeze them for online reviews.
For now, I sent out two invoices through my PayPal business account. Yes, PayPal takes a small fee but the client gets an easy link e-mail and the transaction is super secure. We both get notified when invoices are sent and paid. Easy!
Critical last step
There is one last but extremely critical step you must take. This comes straight out of the book I finished reading on Friday: “100 steps to creating wealth“. One of the steps is sending thank you notes to the generous people who referred you to their friends.
Don’t skip this step. I sent pictures with an update as soon I finished the job so my client would know how it went; and how much I appreciated the referral. When you say thank you, they will be more likely to refer you again. Hopefully.
