customer satisfaction

[eric 14]

How can you be sure a customer is satisfied? h/o said things loked okay and gave me a sizeable tip. They had a very large concrete patio 20+ yrs old with potted plants everywhere. Therefore, I left a few small dirt streaks because when plants got wet, they leak. Some of these plants were too heavy to move. Also, in front of the garage doors , there were mold stains ( green and back spots) that I could not get out. What type of mold was it? Aside from those two items everything else came out beautiful. Lastly, she had another p/w co. in there a few years back. She was not satisfied with their work. They damaged some of her plants. There were a few potted plants that she said were bent and was not a big deal. This was a fairly wealthy lady (husband is professional) and basicaly has a full-time job scheduling contractors.

Your thoughts on my job description.

[Don EMS 14]

Trust them. If thay say there happy then what else do you have to go on.

I think I would have cleaned up around around the pots and mabey extened the dwell time on the mold. Souunds like you did a good jod if you got a tip

[Aplus 525]

It might not have been a tip. They may have given you too much $$ accidentally. How do you know it was meant to be a tip?

[Don EMS 14]

I would hope if he was over paid he would have said something. I'm sure he knew what the final bill was, and discused it with the home owner. Tips are for a job well done. ( if you accept them )

[Mike Williamson 198]

eric:

To get rid of those green and black spots, spray STRAIGHT pool chlorine on them. You can use a pump up sprayer for this. You may need to spray them more than once, but this will get rid of them completely. If you try Xjetting it on, it won't work well. It needs to be very strong (I use 10.5% pool chlorine). I struggled with a way to get rid of those too, and for a long time I just figured they weren't coming up. Xjetting chlorine didn't touch them, so I didn't think anything would. Then one day I got really frustrated with a particularly bad walkway, so I just opened a jug of pool chlorine and poured it on the sidewalk. Wala! Like magic, the stains were gone in less than a minute.

As far as dirt streaks, sometimes that can't be helped, usually due to drainage problems. I usually try to point out any areas like this to the homeowner, so they don't think I'm just being sloppy, or hoping they don't notice. Whenever there's something I can't get just right for whatever reason, I make sure the homeowner is aware of it, and aware of the reason.

Don:

Why wouldn't a person accept tips? That's simply a homeowner's way of saying "Thanks, I'm very very happy". I would think turning it down might offend some. It makes the homeowner feel good. In fact, I had a homeowner a couple months ago walk down the street to the house I was doing two days later and tip me, because he said he had trouble sleeping knowing I did the job as well as I did for the money I charged him (which was a fair rate).

[Don EMS 14]

Mike, like I said tips are for a job well done. There's nothing wrong with receiving a tip. I've just never liked accepting tips. When offered I tell them I would rather add it to twards their next service. I've never had problem with this yet.

[charlie 14]

When people offer me a tip I usually tell them to give them a favorit charity.

Charlie

[Don EMS 14]

Good idea, I'll have to remember that.

[Mike Williamson 198]

I'm my favorite charity! :)

[Don EMS 14]

HAHAHAHAHAHHA Mikes retirement fund. "Non-profit of course"

[Mike Williamson 198]

Well, hey, I don't think the tips are THAT good... :)

[Jesse 15]

Don,

Do you post at the forums on LawnSight.com? Your logo looks familiar, I also noticed that everyone over there lists their equipment like you do. You have a lot off nice equipment that’s for sure.

I go over there to get ideas on marketing. I also bought a couple of the marketing tools from the store about selling to commercial clients.

I recommend checking out their forums to anyone who wants to get fresh ideas for their marketing. I do not cut grass but I do push snow and found it thru a search on snow plowing. There is a lot of good stuff over there to read about.

Also if you think only power washers have trouble with low ballers.... you should listen to these lawn guys. I hope it never gets that bad for us.

Sincerely,

Jesse R. Kirchhoff

Kirchhoff Handyman Solutions LLC

Advanced Power Washing and Restoration Services LLC

114 Forest Hill Ave. Jefferson City, Mo 65109

Local 573-635-2708 Toll Free 1-866-635-2708 Fax 573-634-8882

E-Mail jessekirchhoff@mchsi.com

[CCPC 26]

its actually lawnsite.com

[Don EMS 14]

Jesse, I have been to lawnsite, but spend alot of time from NOV-MAR at plowsite.com I do remember seeing your name around one of those site's last year.

Your right there is some good marketing advice out there at other sites and I feel that there's allwas something else out that we can use to help our business grow. Start with PWing, then windows, snowplowing, lawncare, Rolloffs, the list is endles, so why limit yourself.

Thats where I picked up listing our equipment, I think its cool to compair and to see what else everyone else is useing. I wish other's would do the same. Some might think its an ego thing but its not that at all.

[John Orr 206]

2 to 3% chlorine should be (it always works for me) more than enough - if you give it a few minutes. The stronger the concentration, the greater the danger of chem burns on grass/landscaping.

People like to tip for good service, it makes us feel good to reward others for ourstanding service. I would say that almost 10% of my customers will tip, usually $5 to $20 - though yesterday, I was given a $75 tip on a $225 house wash and a $25 tip on another $225 job.

The "pickiest" customers are usually the best tippers. They know good service when they get it and appreciate it more. They also make the best referrers.

[EmpirePW 14]

Your thoughts on my job description.

I think if they tipped you then you did a good job in their opinion. Hopefully you were happy with the outcome yourself. A little thing I like to do is about 2 weeks after I did a job for someone I send them a thank you letter and a short survey that asks them to rate my performance, professionalism, and overall satisfatction with the job. I do this for me to learn from and to make sure they are happy with me.

Oh and I always take tips and I donate them to my favorite charity. (Which is usually the lunch foundation)

[Mike Williamson 198]

I've tried Xjetting pool chlorine (meaning it is 3+% when it hits the concrete) on the black spotty mold that grows on concrete, and it helps, but doesn't clear the spots up completely, even with repeated applications. Using straight pool chlorine will do the trick. I suggested a pump up sprayer to help avoid the possibility of damaging grass/plants. I WOULD suggest prewetting any nearby vegetation, and then re-wetting after applying the chlorine.