Upping advertising dollars.....

I couldn’t agree more James, the last time I reluctantly gave discount which was a good 6 months ago ended up a disaster, the lady was crazy stupid, I almost never give discounts, prior to that crazy stupid lady, the last discount I gave was about a year prior, after that incident, I promised myself not to ever give discounts anymore, people that asks for discounts are jerks, not loyal, wants pennies for dollars, they are b!tches and a$$holes, sorry, that’s my personal experience with them. They want to hire the yellow truck because they have $ 99 specials, I just grin or laugh, and tell them don’t call me and ask me to fix their work later.

Now I’ve given freebie to a couple of customers because they look like they could use the $$ and I felt the calling to not charge them.

Now that’s just for my market though, I’m sure every market is different, I used to give discounts too here a long time ago but I had to explain MUCH more about certain stains, wear and tear, etc, otherwise it’s just a difficult class of customers to please.

I think you just touched on a significant distinction, I don't give discounts to those that ask for one either. I give discounts when I feel it is warranted and not the other way around. If asked for a cheaper price, nope, I don't do that either for the very reasons that you mentioned.

Just to update the discount customer....

I did their windows. They were VERY pleased and he commented that I seemed to know more than he thought I would. Likely, the first time ever hiring a pro.

He DID agree to have me back at a yearly return minimum. No if he follows through, we will see.

Positive feedback is always a good thing, especially from a reluctant customer.

The only reason he was reluctant, is because he is cheap.

An ex banker (retired), so that surprised me he was cheap. Most of them I have met, are not like that.

He was impressed, because I showed him how to remove a small hardwater stain on one of his windows, that gets hit with his lawn irrigation. Gave him a piece of bronze wool to use when he needed it. Advised him against using chemicals on the glass, and told him why.

He also showed me two windows that "I missed". After showing him the dirt was on the inside, by the second time, he felt pretty embarrassed. LMAO. I LOVE when people do that on exterior only cleans. I always put on a big sympathy show to make them know I am concerned about it. They feel about an inch tall after I show them it's on the inside.

I think the key is that your customer was retired, everyone seems to become cheap when they don't have new money coming in like the old days. I watched my Father do that even though he has a full military medical pension plus a well funded IRA, but all he kept saying was that he has to be careful since he can no longer clock in some overtime to cover big bills. The man was getting $4200 tax free from the military each month, free medical and dental, and still had $750,000 in an IRA....not counting Social Security income, yet to him he was broke.

I think when you spend your entire life as a workaholic you can't transition to any other lifestyle.