[Dale Wiley]

I have gotten some huge stones here lately. As I have said, we are exiting the landscape installation and maintenance in residential. We still will do some commercial maintenance, but our focus will be on athletic fields and our municipal work. No residential after this year... the sooner the better. Our market is just the pits.

When I go to a site and visit with a potential client... I have a fairly scripted process that we use. If we make it to the first site visit and some things happen, the whole process stops.

If the potential client at any point says the word's: cheap, economical, tight budget, getting several bids, do it in phases, the other prices were outrageous, getting a price from this kid who is just starting out...

I stop and ask them point blank what they really intend to do. Because in our experience, when those adjectives enter in the conversation, we seldom are able to or want to provide a service that will meet their needs. We don't give "bids", we give quotes.

And there is one company in town who is strictly price point. We bid a 5 zone sprinkler system at $ 4,100. They did the job for $ 3,000.

If the client says they are getting several "bids", I ask if XYZ company is one of them. If they say yes, and they have indicated a price senstivity, then the visit is over.