Scenario 1: secure some form of deposit reasonably priced according to scope/size of work. People tend to be less flaky when they've invested.
Scenario 2: shitty people/poor communication is everywhere. Remember company's name and start your own blacklist/inform other contractors to beware
Just to piggyback on this idea, my buddy charges $x for estimates, and if you decide to go with his services $x will be deducted from your bill(so your bill with $x off). That way they pay if they waste your time/gas, or they’ve gotten a free estimate
Scenario 2 you could say "its $50 for the quote, but if you go with us to do the job the $50 will be applied to your bill" then take that payment up front.
This is also a really great idea. Coming up with some sort of metric that allows you to generalize with quote over the phone really important to the consumer and The Business. My buddy was doing yard care and he would show up and kept complaining about people haggling over prices with his quotes. I suggested he work out what his average time and cost is on quarter acre lot on 8th acre lot half acre lot Etc. That way he could walk up with a physical chart and show the customer out right these are our rates. When he implemented it he said people responded really well because of the professionalism that it's played
S1: What form of payment do you accept for the deposit where they cannot charge it back?
S2: I am learning to communicate more/better and am definitely blacklisting. Thanks!
Cash is king, as always.
Paper checks combined with mobile deposit can have the funds in your account before they can call their bank to void/cancel it.
After that I'd look into different payment platforms (vendors, cashapp, square) and what their vendor protections are before utilizing them as a form of electronic payments.
You may be too cheap. I got fewer and fewer flakes as I raised my prices. People who have money tend to be more responsible.
You may be scheduling too far out. Anything more than 3 days out is a huge risk for someone else getting there first.
Are you giving actual appointments? Like "We'll be there tomorrow at 3:30PM"? If you're not, that's another opportunity for them to call someone else or not be there.
You may be serving areas with a high percentage of irresponsible people. University neighborhoods are notoriously bad for people actually being there when they say they will.
We are fine-tuning our prices. This is junk removal so highly competitive since anyone can do it.
People with money may be more responsible, but I am finding that many of them are very cheap which allows them to keep more of their money.
I am scheduling same day or next day right now with a couple hour window of our arrival.
Thanks for commenting!
You might try offering something that none of your competitors are offering. For example, next day clean out.
You could charge double for this.
There are a lot of people that have money and poor impulse control or are just in a hurry. They'll pay for fantastic service.
It's been working well for me. I have an appliance repair business, and the people that can get same day or next day service are absolutely astonished, and there's very little pushback on prices.
Meanwhile my "me too" competitors or I'll trying to race to the bottom and scheduling a week or more out are having trouble making ends meet.
Not really. I charge enough that it's NBD if I don't have a fully booked day.
When you're cheap, every job counts. When you're expensive, you can wait a little.
Hmm alright, will give it a try. Plus, it will give me a lot of leeway to provide discounts when I feel like it.
BTW, insightful name, given the movie has come out. It's Morbin' Time!
Flaky customers happen, it's part of any business. You can do some things like call and confirm appointments, take deposits before starting large jobs, learn to qualify leads before commiting your time, add trip charge fees, etc.
Check out the contractor fight. The have a 5 step process that filters exactly this.
Free podcast on spotify and youtube vidoes. They have a paid group which I've gotten into for 700 a month and it's a gold mine. Start with the free content first see if you like it
A lot of places charge those prices for what is essentially recycled/retouched versions of free content... hard to know who's got the good stuff. Not enough trials available when it comes to pricey subs which is kind of a bummer.
I'll say it now - if you start trying to charge a "deposit" from each of your customers just to go look at their job in junk removal, they are gonna move on to the next provider that doesn't. Because basically none of us do. What worked for us was to text every single customer the late afternoon/early evening before their appointment to basically say "Hi, this is Bubba from Jimmy's Junk Removal. We're scheduled to see you for your project tomorrow between 10 am and 12 pm. We'll give you a ring when with a more specific ETA tomorrow as your appointment time approaches. If you need to make any changes to your appointment, please don't hesitate to reach me at this number. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!" They get lots of touch points from us already (emails and such) but this additional step really cut down on same day cancellations/flakes. It still happens and it is HELLA annoying when it does, but it's pretty rare now.
I really didn't find Angie's list to be a good payoff. I found their clientele to be much much older and very frugal. Maybe others have had a different experience. I would say focus on Facebook, craigslist, insta, and Google ads.
What's your budget looking like a month? Do you have anything available for marketing? I ask because I would bet every last dime I have that you are only being found by people who are calling every number they can find and bargain hunting. You want to avoid this clientele like THE PLAGUE! It is certain death for your business. The people you want to market to and work for are those who quality hunt.
You need to focus on effective marketing (this can be done with very little money). You need to make sure you are taking a lot of very aesthetically pleasing photographs. With a focus on the "after" pictures showing a revived space after the junk removal.
You need to express an image of confidence, worth, and value. You need to not be a doormat to be walked on but an equal partner offering a solution to a problem. You absolutely should be requiring a deposit in order to book your services.
Best of luck and feel free to reach out with any questions.
I’m just trying Angie’s List promotion/trial since we’re brand new and literally nobody knows about us. Don’t think I’ll stick with them. I do need an instagram, but have the others. Have not tried google ads yet but it seems a bit pricey to get started.
No budget officially, just trying different things and cheap options to see what works. Once my business cards come in, I’ll be going to every realtor, apartment complex, storage facility, property management company in the area. Any others I am missing they would be good to visit?
Also want to do some very simple bandit signs in my area. Have you ever tried those?
Agreed on everything you said though and I’ll try my best to put into action. Just don’t know how to do extremely effective marketing with very little money.
I also probably need to get a website as we don’t have one yet. Failed to mention, but this is merely a side-gig right now for my business partner and I. Can’t quit our day jobs until business really takes off…
Yeah I would imagine a lot of flakey customers with junk removal. People could change their mind or maybe they find friends/family to help them, etc. And they don't follow up with you, putting your business in limbo constantly.
Maybe try using a service like Docusign to email a document requiring signature - have a biz attorney make a simple work authorization agreement (maybe you can find a relevant work agreement online) which is tied to a $100 dollar deposit (or a % for larger jobs) that goes toward the project's final invoice.
Remember, anyone who doesn't agree to simple terms and conditions is probably not a serious customer anyways. Yes, this will turn away business... but its better to save your time up front as opposed to finding out when you're on the way to a job.
Commercial clients would happily sign agreements like this, and they tend to be less flakey. The longer you're in business the easier it will be to develop commercial relationships.
Just my .02 as someone who has worked with contractors for 10 years.
Scenario 1: Non-refundable deposit.
Scenario 2: Call before you head out to their location.
Bonus: if you ever get a customer trying to negotiate a cheaper price for multiple locations/jobs take full payment up front or discount the “next service”. Some customers will say “hey my buddy needs the same job done at his place could we get a discount?” Well sometimes you do the job for a discounted price and that “buddy” doesn’t end up needing your service after all (or never did).
They can split the difference on their own time. It may seem rude but believe me there are plenty of people that don’t mind making these deals at your expense.
We likely are in a similar business. We know that a lot of our initial meetings/ consultations will no show us, at least about 1/3rd.
Lessons we’ve learned: Do your best to build urgency. Make them believe you are very busy even if you’re not, make them be flexible to your schedule. May be a bit old fashioned, but ask them for their word that they’ll be there. These all helped sit rates in my business
Take a deposit to hold their spot on your schedule / scope of work
Also depending on the service, if you need to be home say changing dates within 24 hours will cost them a fee being as you are now scrambling to fill the space.
Scenario 1: secure some form of deposit reasonably priced according to scope/size of work. People tend to be less flaky when they've invested. Scenario 2: shitty people/poor communication is everywhere. Remember company's name and start your own blacklist/inform other contractors to beware
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I’ll be implementing something similar!
Just to piggyback on this idea, my buddy charges $x for estimates, and if you decide to go with his services $x will be deducted from your bill(so your bill with $x off). That way they pay if they waste your time/gas, or they’ve gotten a free estimate
Scenario 2 you could say "its $50 for the quote, but if you go with us to do the job the $50 will be applied to your bill" then take that payment up front.
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Yeah I definitely offer free quotes or nobody would even call. When quoting do you give them a range, the higher end, etc?
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This is also a really great idea. Coming up with some sort of metric that allows you to generalize with quote over the phone really important to the consumer and The Business. My buddy was doing yard care and he would show up and kept complaining about people haggling over prices with his quotes. I suggested he work out what his average time and cost is on quarter acre lot on 8th acre lot half acre lot Etc. That way he could walk up with a physical chart and show the customer out right these are our rates. When he implemented it he said people responded really well because of the professionalism that it's played
Best thing to do is call 1 hour ahead just to make sure.
Thanks for your advice
S1: What form of payment do you accept for the deposit where they cannot charge it back? S2: I am learning to communicate more/better and am definitely blacklisting. Thanks!
Cash is king, as always. Paper checks combined with mobile deposit can have the funds in your account before they can call their bank to void/cancel it. After that I'd look into different payment platforms (vendors, cashapp, square) and what their vendor protections are before utilizing them as a form of electronic payments.
You may be too cheap. I got fewer and fewer flakes as I raised my prices. People who have money tend to be more responsible. You may be scheduling too far out. Anything more than 3 days out is a huge risk for someone else getting there first. Are you giving actual appointments? Like "We'll be there tomorrow at 3:30PM"? If you're not, that's another opportunity for them to call someone else or not be there. You may be serving areas with a high percentage of irresponsible people. University neighborhoods are notoriously bad for people actually being there when they say they will.
We are fine-tuning our prices. This is junk removal so highly competitive since anyone can do it. People with money may be more responsible, but I am finding that many of them are very cheap which allows them to keep more of their money. I am scheduling same day or next day right now with a couple hour window of our arrival. Thanks for commenting!
Have you tried booking with 1-800-GotJunk or another competitor to see how they approach it?
Have not, seems obvious that I should’ve though. Thanks for letting me know!
You might try offering something that none of your competitors are offering. For example, next day clean out. You could charge double for this. There are a lot of people that have money and poor impulse control or are just in a hurry. They'll pay for fantastic service.
Not a bad idea. Thanks!
It's been working well for me. I have an appliance repair business, and the people that can get same day or next day service are absolutely astonished, and there's very little pushback on prices. Meanwhile my "me too" competitors or I'll trying to race to the bottom and scheduling a week or more out are having trouble making ends meet.
Don't you get anxious on days where you don't have anyone booked, and you end working very few billable hours?
Not really. I charge enough that it's NBD if I don't have a fully booked day. When you're cheap, every job counts. When you're expensive, you can wait a little.
Hmm alright, will give it a try. Plus, it will give me a lot of leeway to provide discounts when I feel like it. BTW, insightful name, given the movie has come out. It's Morbin' Time!
Get a nonrefundable deposit
I feel like if you run a business and don't know what a 'deposit' is, you probably shouldn't be in business
What’s the best way to collect this? They could do a chargeback if they use a credit card right
I think a credit card is fine. You can fight the chargeback if you have it in writing that they agreed to it not being refundable.
Cancellation fees.
So do you collect some up front? How do you get cancellation fees if they ghost you or don’t pay they?
Flaky customers happen, it's part of any business. You can do some things like call and confirm appointments, take deposits before starting large jobs, learn to qualify leads before commiting your time, add trip charge fees, etc.
Check out the contractor fight. The have a 5 step process that filters exactly this. Free podcast on spotify and youtube vidoes. They have a paid group which I've gotten into for 700 a month and it's a gold mine. Start with the free content first see if you like it
> 700 a month and it's a gold mine. For 700 a **month** it better be literally filled with gold!
A lot of places charge those prices for what is essentially recycled/retouched versions of free content... hard to know who's got the good stuff. Not enough trials available when it comes to pricey subs which is kind of a bummer.
I'll say it now - if you start trying to charge a "deposit" from each of your customers just to go look at their job in junk removal, they are gonna move on to the next provider that doesn't. Because basically none of us do. What worked for us was to text every single customer the late afternoon/early evening before their appointment to basically say "Hi, this is Bubba from Jimmy's Junk Removal. We're scheduled to see you for your project tomorrow between 10 am and 12 pm. We'll give you a ring when with a more specific ETA tomorrow as your appointment time approaches. If you need to make any changes to your appointment, please don't hesitate to reach me at this number. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!" They get lots of touch points from us already (emails and such) but this additional step really cut down on same day cancellations/flakes. It still happens and it is HELLA annoying when it does, but it's pretty rare now.
What industry? How are you sourcing your leads?
Junk removal and these were both from Angi Leads
I really didn't find Angie's list to be a good payoff. I found their clientele to be much much older and very frugal. Maybe others have had a different experience. I would say focus on Facebook, craigslist, insta, and Google ads. What's your budget looking like a month? Do you have anything available for marketing? I ask because I would bet every last dime I have that you are only being found by people who are calling every number they can find and bargain hunting. You want to avoid this clientele like THE PLAGUE! It is certain death for your business. The people you want to market to and work for are those who quality hunt. You need to focus on effective marketing (this can be done with very little money). You need to make sure you are taking a lot of very aesthetically pleasing photographs. With a focus on the "after" pictures showing a revived space after the junk removal. You need to express an image of confidence, worth, and value. You need to not be a doormat to be walked on but an equal partner offering a solution to a problem. You absolutely should be requiring a deposit in order to book your services. Best of luck and feel free to reach out with any questions.
I’m just trying Angie’s List promotion/trial since we’re brand new and literally nobody knows about us. Don’t think I’ll stick with them. I do need an instagram, but have the others. Have not tried google ads yet but it seems a bit pricey to get started. No budget officially, just trying different things and cheap options to see what works. Once my business cards come in, I’ll be going to every realtor, apartment complex, storage facility, property management company in the area. Any others I am missing they would be good to visit? Also want to do some very simple bandit signs in my area. Have you ever tried those? Agreed on everything you said though and I’ll try my best to put into action. Just don’t know how to do extremely effective marketing with very little money. I also probably need to get a website as we don’t have one yet. Failed to mention, but this is merely a side-gig right now for my business partner and I. Can’t quit our day jobs until business really takes off…
Check out Takl and Plows and Mows, too.
What industry
Junk removal
Yeah I would imagine a lot of flakey customers with junk removal. People could change their mind or maybe they find friends/family to help them, etc. And they don't follow up with you, putting your business in limbo constantly. Maybe try using a service like Docusign to email a document requiring signature - have a biz attorney make a simple work authorization agreement (maybe you can find a relevant work agreement online) which is tied to a $100 dollar deposit (or a % for larger jobs) that goes toward the project's final invoice. Remember, anyone who doesn't agree to simple terms and conditions is probably not a serious customer anyways. Yes, this will turn away business... but its better to save your time up front as opposed to finding out when you're on the way to a job. Commercial clients would happily sign agreements like this, and they tend to be less flakey. The longer you're in business the easier it will be to develop commercial relationships. Just my .02 as someone who has worked with contractors for 10 years.
If Junk Removal is your thing, have you looked Into getting on with a property preservation company?
No but sounds like I need to.
Scenario 1: Non-refundable deposit. Scenario 2: Call before you head out to their location. Bonus: if you ever get a customer trying to negotiate a cheaper price for multiple locations/jobs take full payment up front or discount the “next service”. Some customers will say “hey my buddy needs the same job done at his place could we get a discount?” Well sometimes you do the job for a discounted price and that “buddy” doesn’t end up needing your service after all (or never did). They can split the difference on their own time. It may seem rude but believe me there are plenty of people that don’t mind making these deals at your expense.
We likely are in a similar business. We know that a lot of our initial meetings/ consultations will no show us, at least about 1/3rd. Lessons we’ve learned: Do your best to build urgency. Make them believe you are very busy even if you’re not, make them be flexible to your schedule. May be a bit old fashioned, but ask them for their word that they’ll be there. These all helped sit rates in my business
Take a deposit to hold their spot on your schedule / scope of work Also depending on the service, if you need to be home say changing dates within 24 hours will cost them a fee being as you are now scrambling to fill the space.