[Mac]

So I find myself in a very familiar predicament, except that this year, the clients are beginning to get vocal about it. Today I lost a more unreasonable client and her full maintenance contract but the more reasonable clients that are waiting are doing so while letting me know they are waiting (as if I needed reminding).

Almost without fail, I have been overselling my production capacity. Right now my enhancement backlog is well over 2 months and I am so far behind on bed maintenance it is simply sad.

I dont want to add another crew or employees for various reasons, so I have stopped taking on new enhancement work until I get a few weeks from being caught up. However, how do you guys keep your company from being in my situation where you sell, sell, sell, and worry about the schedule later? Do I keep selling but be honest about the time frame they are looking at? Any pointers or comments would be appreciated.

[jshilan]

I have worked for many different companies, large and small, as well as my own. There is no solution for this. You have to sell, sell, sell first and worry about scheduling and production second. That is just the business. I used to worry about it more than I do now. I get a chuckle when people tell me that if they had known that it was going to take so long they would have gone with someone else. Well that's exactly why I didn't tell you. I don't want to lose the work. And as we all know that "someone else" would have done the same thing as us and the client would just be complaining to your competition instead of you. You need to sell work, take deposits and keep your schedule overflowing. You need to keep your schedule filled for the entire year, not just the spring and summer. This means over-selling.

I think we all would love to be upfront about everything and be completely truthful with the clients about timing and scheduling, but this is just not reality. People want you to start their job as soon as they sign the contract, even though they've wasted 6 months trying to make a decision. Also, with all of the bad press contractors get, clients are worried about losing their money.

Ultimately, once you start, people calm down and as long as you do a good job, that's all they'll remember.

When it is the busy time of year I usually tell people, 6 to 8 weeks. This is an amount of time that seems feasible and reasonable. After two months, and the complaints start, I tell them that they misunderstood what I said. I tell them I said "68 weeks" and then wait for a response. Naturally, they start mentally freaking out trying to remember the conversation we had two months ago. After a minute or so I tell them that I was kidding and that we are just a little bit behind and we will be starting their project shortly. They usually laugh nervously, but are relieved we are starting soon.

I'm not suggesting you do this, but it does have some entertainment value.

[nwhardscapes]

That's funny stuff, Jody. I will have to try that one. I have always been too honest about scheduling and have lost plenty of work because of it. I also have stopped taking new work when the schedule gets overwhelming but then as we get caught up, I am scrambling for new work. I like your ideas better, sell, sell, sell, give an approx. start date of 6-8 weeks, and get 'em done as fast as you can. The only thing that gets contractors into trouble with this is the old work a few days here, disappear, work a few days there... I've always told my customers that we will likely be behind schedule and start late, but that when we do start we will have people on the job everyday until it is done.

[douga]

One has to sell enough work to keep crew and equipment fully utilized, but unpredictables like weather, breakdowns, customers adding extra work and that sort of thing will always affect the schedule. We are very far behind right now mostly due to weather conditions. Had the weather cooperated since April 1, I would probably be pushing hard to find more work, so what is right. Be as ethical as possible and once you start, get the job finished.

The last time I was completely caught up was in May of 1974. It only lasted a few hours, but I still remember the feeling. I'd rather have too much work than not enough.

[jshilan]

Another suggestion is to use the hostess at the restaurant approach. Think about when you are at a restaurant. You ask the hostess how much longer? She (or he - calm down) will say things like "there are five couples ahead of you". This doesn't exactly answer you question but you feel OK. Every time another couple gets seated, you're one step closer to dinner. It could be ten minutes or an hour, it just depends on how long the other people take to finish eating.

I developed a simlar approach a few years ago for smaller projects (1-3 days). As you get these smaller projects, you knock them off on a first come first serve basis. When the client asks when they are scheduled, you tell them that there are "x" jobs ahead of them and not a start date. You can say things like, "well there are 6 projects ahead of you that vary from 2-5 days each". This usually satisfies them and gives you some flexibilty. As long as they are moving up the list, they will be satisfied.

This can work for garden maintenace or seasonal change outs too. Clients just want to know they are scheduled somewher and they are moving up in the schedule.

[Greensmith]

Great topic and suggestions. My stomach has been eating itself apart this last week because its now June and half my clients want their perfect yard project done by July 4th. To be honest I have stopped directly answering the phone on some calls and then returning the call so they vent at the machine first.