I DROPPED THE HAMMER TODAY

[lawrence stone]

I just completed a letter informing my current residental customers informing them<br>of a change in my billing procedures.<p>If you would like to plagiarize the following<br>please do so for IMHO plagiarism is the highest form of flattery.<p>If you have any constictive criticism that is<br>also welcomed.<p>Any snide remarks by the barking dogs of the<br>peanut gallery will be ignored as usual.<br>==========================================<br>Tuesday, February 15, 2000<p>Dear Residential Customers,<p>Due to the 3 month long drought of the 1999 growing season I must request that <br>all existing full service lawn maintenance customers pay for my services on a budget plan.<p>I cannot afford to lose thousands of dollars from an act of God that is beyond my control.<br>There is no way I can sustain the past agreement and keep current pricing levels with the possibility of only five months of available work with twelve months of overhead.<p>The mowing maintenance schedule for all customers will be as follows for the 2000 season:<p>April-4, May 4, June-4, July-2, August-3, September-4, October-3, and November-1.<br>This will consist of 25-service +/- a couple as weather conditions dictate over a 33 week long growing<br>season starting April 1, 2000 through November 18, 2000.<p>With this agreement I can hold my pricing at 1999 levels. Plus this will help with your household<br>budget by spreading out the top heavy spring services over the course of eight months.<br>You will still have the right to cancel my services at any time for any reason with a 30-day<br>written notice, which at that time you will pay me for actual costs services rendered.<p>To activate my services and insure a spot on my schedule this year you will need to include a check for<br>the first monthly payment with a signed copy of the enclosed proposal. Upon receipt of your check and<br>signed proposal I will issue you a payment schedule and seven SSAE envelopes in which to return your<br>future payments. This way I will eliminate any need to invoice on a monthly basis which lowers my<br>cost of doing business and keeps your pricing levels low. The removal of dead fall tree limbs after a<br>severe storm is not included nor is any other landscaping work not mentioned in your contract, and<br>will be invoiced as those services are performed.<p>If you find this new agreement unacceptable I will provide service on a per occurrence per cost basis invoiced monthly net 15 but expect a sizeable increase in the price of my mowing maintenance services.<p>If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me, for I am always available to<br>discuss you needs.<p>I am looking forward to servicing you needs yet another year and provide the quality lawn care and<br>landscape services that I have provided in the past.<p><br>Sincerely,<p><br>Lawrence Stone<p>LS:ls<p>Enclosure<br>

[accuratelawn]

With the title of your post &quot;I dropped the hammer&quot;, do you expect to lose some customers?<br>How much (%) do you plan of raising customers not on the budget plan?<br>You defined your mowing schedule to include 25 per season. Will the charge for additional mowing be at the same price as 99?<br>I would be curious as to the response from your customers. I have been debating on setting up residential in a similar fashion.<br>Letter will go out this week and we plan on mowing March 27 - Nov. 17.

[Charles]

Since in my area we have drought periods every year. I don't consider a drought a loss. I mean I look at it as the kinda business I am the some years this is all I am suppose to make. Upstate sc is very drought prone. Now the rest of the country is getting a taste of what we get every year. Sometimes the drought is short. Sometimes it is long. And at different times of the year. I think I would make a new deal with new customers. I don't think I would upset the cart of my whole customer base. Since that took along time to build up. And with all the competition out there looking to take it from you. Fisherman, farmers, real Estate people etc go through fluctuations in their businesses just like we do. It just may rain alot this year to make up for last year and you will come out on top. You never know.

[cjcland]

i would also like to here what your customers say from all the stuff i have read i have decided to go on a per month price schedule instead of the per cut i started with, thank you

[thelawnguy]

Ive been putting the bug in customers ears about going this route, I get the same response, doesnt matter as long as the work gets done and Im still doing it.<p>Ive said it in other threads, customers do not shop around unless you seriously mess up their property. As long as they percieve value in what you charge, price is secondary. <p>Bill

[curlawngreen]

I have never charged a client for service not<br>rendered. If they want it cut 5 or 6 times a month they pay on top of there monthly bill which is based on 40 cuts per year.

[fireball]

larry, you redeemed yourself with this one. I think you are treading on thin ice when you blame everything on the drought. the cold hard facts are that us green professionals have let our customers dictate the terms that they are going to pay us. They ignore the fact that we are covering the equipment costs for the entire year so they may utilize us when they want to. they have to be constantly informed as to the services that you are providing them and the real costs of that service. I think that if you start off your letter by citing the drought you will lose them because all they see right now is 6 inches of snow. they forgot about the drought so you have to put your plea in todays context. <p>How about:<p>Dear Customer;<p>The reason that I can't charge you what I charged you last year is<br>1. The price of gas went up 33% over last year(notice your last fuel oil bill?)<br>2. The price of labor is going up (President Clinton wants to raise the minuium wage)<br>3. Insurance prices are going to raise 6% this year(quote your insurance co here)<br>4. My banking costs are increasing(Alan Greenspan just raised the interest rate)<br>5. Lesco my main supplier is raising prices 3%(see their annual report)<br>6. Equipment costs are going up 5% (quote Scag here)Whoever thought a pickup truck would cost $30,000 today<br>7.Global Warming could cause future droughts which result in loss of revenue to Larry's Landscaping rendering him unable to cover his overhead.<br>8. Continue with more examples if you want to but always quote a verifible source for the increase.<br>There is no way I can substain the past service levels that you received with the current pricing levels. I must request that all existing full service lawn maintenance customers pay for my services on a 8 month budget plan. Your price of _____per month will include 33 mowings, one spring cleanup, aeration, fertilizing, fall cleanup(you have to spell out what you are going to do for them for the eight months) if this is not acceptable per diem cuts are ____per cut and all other services are time and material basis. Hourly charge is 48.00 per labor hour<p><br>What you are trying to do is the hardest thing in the green industry. Getting people to realize what they are paying to maintain their $100,000+ investment on a yearly basis instead of a per time basis. Once you do this, your life gets a lot easier.<p>There is no way I c

[yardsmith]

mark me down for doin' the monthly thing.<br>Something I thought alot about last year, & after the drought, It seems to be a feasible way to keep income leveled out during a very seasonable type of industry.<br>Let's get some votes from out there-<br>How many charge/bill monthly during the mowing season vs. billing monthly for 12 months- that's a way to keep $$ coming in during winter mths. when snow can't be counted on for dependable income<br>Any opinions?<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<p>

[Lazer]

I guess I don't understand.<p>You want to charge the same every month regardless of mowings/drought, etc. That's cool.<p>Why not do the same with snow?

[jeffclc]

Larry,<br>Looks like you put some thought into this. I agree with the post by fireball about not putting all the blame on the drought. I would not give any reasons, simply state that you are changing your business practices.

[lawrence stone]

Actually fireball I am not going to increase my individual prices from last year.<p>They still have to buy the aeration, dethatching, spring clean up, 5 step lawn,<br>3 step tree and shrub.<p>Here is the part of my actual contract I have<br>not told the group. I DEMAND to be paid up<br>front for my services. Even on any new commercial accounts. Here is the tag line<br>cut from one of my proposals:<p>The cost to provide all of the above services including providing all equipment, labor, fuel, fertilizers,<br>and herbicides is $13,568.00 including 6% PA sales tax which is payable in eight (8) equal installments<br>of $1696.00 to be paid on or before the first of each month from April 2000 through November 2000<p>If the check does not show up in my P.O. Box<br>by the first of the month I will suspend services until it arrives.<p> You see in my world it's my way or the highway. When you only market your services to newer $250k an up<br>homesites that equals $500k an up homesites<br>in the metro tri state or Phila burbs you<br>will have effectivly shut out all the &quot;lawn<br>cutters&quot; so they will have a hard time finding another company that can duplicate my services at my pricing levels.<p>I have 5 gear drive toro walk behinds (one 62, 2-52, and 2-44) that I have less than<br>10K invested into all those units. I have <br>a pesticide application vehicle (jrco spreader two 15 gal 12v spray tanks)I made from a 44&quot; walk behind that I paid $200 for with a blown engine. All are bought and paid for. If my present accounts don't like it they will be replaced by a new account with<br>higher gross profit margin.<p>Let them eat cake.

[SLSNursery]

Interesting approach Larry, but I have some input, if you haven't sealed and stamped them yet. We offer all customers an agreement each spring. The only customers we retain for mowing only (only a handful) are irrigated and don't miss cuts except in severe cases like last summer - they were at 26-28 instead of 30 visits. <p>It is not the customers problem that we may have a drought, and God, although he controls the weather, doesn't pay the mortgage. And, while I fully understand your reasoning, and the list provided by fireball, none of those items are relevant either. If you need to explain all that to your customer, then you need to step back, take a deep breath, and change direction. I have found that coddling residential accounts is detrimental to your health. IMHO, as soon as you or any other operator on this forum starts to handle them like commercial accounts (in a professional manner, without a laundry list of reasons for a price increase), I can almost guarantee you will have 1. a better customer base, 2. more gross revenue with less low barriers to entry work, 3. less wear and tear on your equipment. When we started to offer yearly or monthly payment plans about 5 years ago, I researched my lawn work, and studied the frequency of visits over several years. I determined that excessive rainfall was just as bad, if not worse (because of the stress and mad spring rush) than a drought. So, I figured that having an accurate price on all services was essential, i.e. - do not offer any loss leaders, don't try to make money back on the cleanups, etc. Price each service fairly, lump them together and divide it out over the 8 months or so. Then, for pre-payment in full for the season, we offer a 5% discount. Now, in most cases, we don't show how many visits are expected, or when they will be. I found that the more info you supply the customer, the harder it is to adjust to the weather, and the more opportunities each customer has to make you deviate from a standard plan of attack. What if for some reason out of your control you can't stick exactly to your schedule as laid out? If you were on the receiving end of this sort of arrangement I bet you would be checking off the days on a calendar. We also do not insist that they select the equal monthly payment option. For those customers who choose to pay as they go, we have screened them out to make sure they will provide us with some sort of work, drought or not, and their per cut price has already been calculated as accurate - with or without rainfall. A good balance of pre-pays, monthly's, and pay-as-you-go keeps the money flowing. We don't sell mowing, we sell service, and property maintenance. With few exceptions now, mowing is just one service in the group- it used to be the main one.<p>Your idea for the SASEs is good, I had it once, but some of the customers lost track of the invoices or envelopes. Some became close to death, and since there was no fresh copy I had to wait until the executor took over, etc. Even though it seems efficient to you or me, I have not had good luck 100% of the time.<p>Your use of the word sizeable is not a good idea in my opinion, because it invites questioning, and for all the efficiency you are trying to create, your efforts will be lost on the phone calls asking you to explain yourself. A guy called me today and left a message that if I didn't buy a machine by the end of the month, there might be a shortage in March, and prices are going up. He was crossed right off of the list without a second thought by me, because tomorrow his competitor is coming to the yard to demonstrate a similar machine. If I were your competitor, the customers would recieve a clear and concise agreement, with no subjective banter, room for a signature, and a list of terms (if you want a copy I can post a sample). Mine would be set in STONE, so to speak, and they would be able to figure out their budget without the threat of a sizeable increase. Repeat customers would also be able to calculate whether or not we raised the price. Our increase often reflects a COLA (cost of living adjustment), not weather matters or politics.<p>Finally, if you find yourself in a jam during droughts or slow winters, you might want to consider other work options. I was doing water well repair lines for a local pump company, and oil tank removal with our backhoe. This naturally leads to lawn and landscape restoration. We also picked up a brush chipper to do clearing, and tree removal/pruning (with the aid of an arborist). These options keep our maintenance crews busy all the time.<p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider

[HOMER]

I could not make it in this business if I didn't do it that way. I have succeeded in converting/establishing around 40 of my customers to year round and I just got off the phone with a guy who wanted seasonal mowing. I told him I wouldn't do it that way because there is something to do every month of the year. I think he will call back because I explained to him the rise in costs during the summer months, my way will be a flat rate year round, he liked the idea, and since it is in an area I am not working in I offered him a real good price. Another selling point to this idea is people with pools. They already have increased summer expense(I know this for a fact)due to the cost of electricity for the pump, extra water usage, and chemicals, or a pool service. By leveling off the mowing it might help them out and they might even be glad to do it that way. I have not had any problem gaining customers this way, in fact most that call request it now. I think in my area it is the norm now and not the exception. I still have some problems convincing industrial sites though. They don't see the need but as long as I get them back this growing season it helps with the expenses. This month has, and historically is, the slowest month for me because almost all the leaves are up and the grass is still dormant. I still go once this month though to pick up any remaining leaves and cut weeds or whatever needs doing. I offer a 30 cut plan as a standard mowing package and as bad as I hate mowing bahai, it will continue to sprout up even in a drought thus keeping me busy getting rid of that mess! I have my schools on a 33 cut schedule and they pay year round. I have also picked up a lot of residentials that have irrigation so the drought doesn't affect them either. <p>Bottom line, they have to pay for every other service on a monthly basis,they just need to budget for your new monthly invoice.<p>If you can afford to, (and I say that knowing that some can't, but you will)start turning the seasonals away and fill your schedule with as many yearly as you can. Now is the time to start working on them, you have several months to build your customer base to a level that you can still eat next winter! If you can't mow every month tell them you'll wash their car in the off months, your still providing a service and they ain't paying for nothing!<p>Homer

[mountain man]

In my initial meeting with a potential customer, I explain that our services are based on an annual agreement. I total up the total expense to the customer - mowing,aerating,overseeding,fertilization, leaves,irrigation winterizing, etc - for the entire year. I then divide that number by 12 for their monthly rate.<p>I have found that customers just want to be informed. By telling them up front, what will happen throughout the year there are no questions. The key point is explaining that we may be out more in March than January,but their monthly rate is based on the annual amount. Also because there are no big fluctuations from month to month I have less complaints/questions about the monthly bill and it is easier to keep customers from year to year. <p>Since using the annual contract, I have have minimal payment problems because the customer knows they are contractually bound. I do have a clause in the contract that states the contract automatically renews if neither party gives written notice of cancellation or modification 30 days in advance of the contract date. This way I can get rid of customers I don't want but I don't have to get new contracts every year. <p>I also heard of a different approach. The guy sends his bill for the upcoming month on the 15th (March bill goes out Feb 15). If payment is not received by the first then they do not perform the service. I am not a big fan of this because some people may get mad if their lawn doesn't get mowed because they don't prepay, but it is probably good for some of the seasonal or higher risk customers.

[lawrence stone]

No Phil the letters are not stamped and sealed I was soliciting useful input like your message.<p>I will not take on a residential mowing account if they are irrgated. They screw up my routine and I am not going to change for one stinky little 2k yearly account.<p>Excessive rainfal is no big deal for I only apply 2.5 lbs of 50% SCU N per year.<p>I have two killer 52&quot; toros with 16hp twin kohlers, use gator blades and side discharge.<br>The most I have to do is cut the turf again in the opposite direction when the turf is<br>10 days old in mid May.<p>I will take your advise a not to include a<br>mowing schedule. I will just state the turf will be mowed every 7 to 14 days as weather<br>conditions dictate.<p>As far as off season work goes I have lots of<br>non-green industry interests that are profitable. In fact I plan on importing english speaking laborers next season. You can pick them up at JFK.<br>How many do you want? Place your order now.<p>

[SLSNursery]

Larry - good call on the 7-14, we call it 'weekly' service. I'm not sure I understand the idea behind not taking irrigated accounts though. Over time, they are the most consistent, in the sense that they don't usually surge, and they don't drop off in the summer. We set the irrigation controls when necessary, and also make sure that they don't water on their assigned visit day. So if you can state that excess rainfall is no problem, then why not controlled irrigation. The folks who buy the irrigation often represent the target market for full service clients as well. You may be neglecting an entire profitable sector of your market. <p>Now, sit down, and zip it for a minute while you read this. I am going to make a point, and do not intend to start an argument. We accept credit cards for our supply business. Many people, contrary to your previous beliefs, use credit cards for monthly consolidation, accrual of airline miles, or other free benefits. They may or may not pay in full each month. That is not an issue, because each month our account gets credited, in advance for the full amount of their bill plus any extras, minus a small fee (our fee is small, relatively, and we need the ability to take cards for the supply business). No waiting, no questions, no problems. We have done jobs for Universities and the Federal Government, who were able to pay immediately by using a departmental Visa/Mastercard. No purchase orders, no bureacracy, etc. Think about it, even my Chinese Food Delivery guy, Ming, accepts Visa. <p><p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider

[lawrence stone]

IMHO irrigation is a waste of the money and<br>natural resources. If you pratcice IPM why not go all the way. Last year there were drought restriction on irrigation of lawns.<br>So when the irrigation was needed you were<br>breaking the law (your nasty neighbor was always looking out his window ready to turn you in to the water cops). I have no need to<br>damage sprinkler heads etc. In my area a customer with irrigation is less than 1% of the total market.<p>As far as the credit cards are concerned it may be needed in your broad scope of business<br>but in my narrow scope the guy who collects<br>air miles is just the opposite of the types of new residential customers I want to attract. <p>Anyway I demand to get paid up front this year. Why should I have to wait for my money <br>and lose 4% or so of the gross?

[lawndogs]

I can't believe you wouldn't want properties that had irrigation. All my clients have a sprinkler system and I didn't miss one week of cutting.They even time them so they don't interfere with our cutting times.

[lawnboy1]

Why don't you send your customers a copy of your &quot;MISSION STATEMENT&quot; then they would understand what you were really were trying to do.

[thelawnguy]

I, too, am no fan of automatic sprinkler systems. The one account of mine which has them , never fails, power failure, she forgets to reset them, 10am the sprinklers are going and I cant do my stuff.<p>Bill

[SLSNursery]

Well, in response, we had no water restriction, and in my opinion, it was acceptable to let the lawns go dormant, rather then partial watering. Those lawns which were watered regularly didn't waste water, those who didn't waited for 6 weeks, and then the lawns came back. Not sure how you can wiggle IPM in, but I certainly didn't fertilize dormant lawns, I regularly inspected for insects whose presence on drought and heat stressed lawns is common, and I communicated with the customers, so they could avoid total lawn renovation needs in the fall. <p>The credit cards - well before I had a broad scope of operations we didn't take them either, but I at least want to share what I feel is a good option. And 4% is higher than normal. Plus if you collect the money the second you print the invoice you don't wait at all. Enough said. <p>One last point - you sort of laid out terms (in your words you demand the pre-payment), but I don't read it quite that way. Sure you will suspend service, but one of your customers may hold the check at the time of a drought, you will suspend service, they will pay you when the lawn needs mowing, you will resume service, or drop them (I'm sure you would drop them). See where I'm going? If not try this - Spell out your collection terms. &quot;1st payment due by March 1&quot;, &quot;7 subsequent payments due on April 1, .....&quot;. Then, clearly state whether you have a grace period and how long it is. Such as &quot;Payment is due on the 1st with a 15 day grace period. Service will be suspended if payment is not received by &quot;pick a day&quot;. Then, you should state what the finance charge or penalty is for those people whose check does not arrive on the 1st. Something like - &quot;Invoices (too bad you don't have any, just SASEs) are due upon receipt, NET 30. 1 1/2% interest for late payment plus collection costs, etc.&quot;<p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider

[lawrence stone]

Good input Phil.<p>I can enclose 7 invoices with the SSAE no<br>big deal. As for as the fine print is concerned this is what I have worked up so<br>far:<p>The cost to provide all of the above services including providing all equipment, labor, fuel, fertilizers,<br>and herbicides is $2,135.90 including 6% PA sales tax which is payable in eight (8) equal installments<br>of $266.98 to be paid on or before the first of each month from April 2000 through November 2000.<p><br>ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSAL<p>The above prices, specifications, and conditions are hereby accepted. You are authorized to do the work as specified.<br>If for any reason you are not satisfied with my services you may cancel the service at any time with a 30 day written notice. At that time all services will be prorated to reflect the price of the actual services rendered. To authorize services please sign, date, and return this proposal within 30 days of the date of this proposal<p>ACCEPTED: Date_________Signature_______________________<br>=============================================<br>I will now include the points you have outlined above in my next draft.<p>And as always thanks much for your valuable<br>time.<p>Any other comments?

[pogo]

If the lawns in San Antonio did not have sprinkler systems they would not grow. I encourage water. We have droughts every year, and we are irrigated from an aquifer which make restrictions tough in the summer.<br>As far as year round contracts go....I love them. But not every customer seems to like this. I have built my lawn business with a &quot;boy down the street mowing lawns&quot; image. I keep EVERYTHING simple. I see the customer as my boss. So what ever is easier for them to pay me is fine with me. I have only been stiffed on about 5 mowing in 4 years of business. I have about 130 residential and commercial accts. Of course all my commercial accts are under year round contracts. About 60% residential have us come out year round. In San Antonio a regular mowing season runs from March-December. So there is only two months that we dont service everybody. <br>I like contracts but I dont require them. I would rather not scare the potential customer off with something as simple as mowing the lawn. <br>

[fireball]

Sometimes I get lost and forget where I was or what was important or what forum, web site said what.<p>imho this is what i know about credit cards. It is that upper middle class customer that credit cards and air miles is important to them. because those air miles are non-taxable to them, they love em and thats how they want to pay their bills. I personally will take a credit card over cash and checks anyday. enter the number in the computer and within 5 sec the money is in your account ready to be spent by you. A check or cash you have to make out a deposit slip(10 seconds because I write slow)and a trip to the bank(10 minutes). Now Larry has a good point, it is not worth the 3 to 7 per cent that the bank charges for the transaction for a small guy. However the banks are now making it real easy for bank transfer and e-pay. I don't see much of a future for checks or cash. They will still be with us but the banks are going to make you pay for processing them and you can stand for hours in line waiting for the one teller to process your paperwork. In my business most of my customers have trust funds that pay for their properties. The fund automatically transfers the monthly fee on the first of the month just like the contract tells them to do. One time in 38 years is the only screwup that I had. Software problem at the bank, they spent more time making sure I wasn't upset then what the problem was.<br>The point of my list of things going up in prices was that if you have the ability to raise your prices you have to in 2000 or your giving money to your customer by charging them the same as last year. Larry is worried about getting paid in advance and the money will make 4% in his account for a month. But then he turns around and by not raising prices he gives the customer back 6% because inflation and his suppliers have gone up. I too, have automatic inflation indices in my contracts but not COLA's. The problem with COLA's is they are 6 months to one year behind what your costs are and sometimes don't even reflect what your situation is. The COLA for Philadelphia is 2.8% for 2000, now compare that to the rate crude oil went up. The COLA's take into account the cost of clothing, electricity and a bunch of other things that really hold down the quick rise in prices that we suffer in the agricultural commodity side of things. Don't get me wrong, COLA's are great and are better than nothing but their simplicity means that they are less than perfect.<br>I know that I don't coddle my customers but I don't expect them to sign a blank contract. We both agree that the maintenance of their property will require about 33 cuttings per year, 1 aeration, 4 fertilizing, etc and that is how we arrive at a fair price for 12 months or 5 years. What my contract says is not how many times the grass will be cut and when but the grass height will not exceed 4 inches. See my contract is based upon standards of performance not how many times and when. 3 years ago we had a wet spring and we got down to a four day cutting schedule and total for the year was 36 cuts. Customer won and I lost. Last 2 years because of drought and hot weather, we have have done 26 cuttings, customer loses and I win. Cutting is one example but the same principal applies to all the other services that I offer. If your paperwork doesn't spell it out specifially(why don't they have spell check for forums)is a bunch a tree limbs down from a storm litter or storm damage, i can guarrentee that you will have problems.<p>Getting back to Larry's orginal problem. I don't know an easy way of going from a residential customer who does everything verbally to a customer that knows all the in and outs of COLA's and contracts. He is right about working for high end customers. His way of doing it seems a little harsh but you have to do it somehow in order to survive and be succesful. The customers that value his service will do it his way and understand his situation. The ones that don't value his service will quit and take advantage of another fool. Lord knows that we won't have a shortage of fools anytime soon

[SLSNursery]

I guess I shouldn't have been so vague when introducing my use of a COLA. Maybe it could be called a CDBA (cost of doing business adjustment). I called it COLA because it seems like my COL goes up pretty evenly each year. Let me say(arbitrarily), about 6%. Bottom line is that on some accounts we streamline the workload, and maybe don't need as much material(mulch, grass seed, etc.) from year to year. These accounts don't need to go up in price because we make it up in savings on the material, or even labor. I consider it a savings on labor if over time you can reduce the time spent on a job with the same men and the same equipment. That is, don't just buy bigger mahcines and assume because you finish faster it costs less. Overall, though, we like to raise prices a little when we can. Otherwise its harder to get the bigger increase farther down the road.<p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider

[fireball]

PHIL or LARRY<br>Here is the wording that I see on 95% of all contracts that I encounter:<br>ADJUSTMENT TO CONTRACT AMOUNT**CPI:<br>Effective with each anniversary date of the commencement of services hereunder, there shall be a percentage increase in the monthly Contract Amount equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the then previous year for the _______ Metropolitan area, all items<p>Note one; you have to find out what metropolitan statictical area you live in, and insert in blank space.<br>Note two; this will enable you to catch up to what happened last year. It is better than nothing and at least it keeps you from going backward in profit erosion due to inflation<br>Note three; just because you have it in your contract, doesn't mean that's it is enforceable. A lot of people cut and paste things from other people and don't realize that it can't be done where they live. You have to run these clauses by your lawyer to see if it is possible and you want the case law(where someone already went to court over it and how the judges ruled on it)on it to back it up. Should cost you at least $1,000.00. I don't have much esteem for lawyers who tell you that everything looks okay and then you get in court and he starts talking that you have to settle because of mitigating circumstances that he didn't consider.

[acutabove]

Dear Mr. Stone,I'm new to this forum,so I'm not sure in which way to proceed. You can't be serious about that letter,are you? It sounds to me that you expect everybody else to foot your expenses,when you should honestly factor all these things in before-hand.Next thing you know you'll be asking the government to subsidize you because you failed to forsee these things in the future.Please rethink this, it will only hurt your business. Thanks for listening.

[lawrence stone]

acutabove wrote:<p>&gt;It sounds to me that you expect everybody else to foot your expenses,when you should honestly factor all these things in before-hand<p>What the hell are you talking about. Did get<br>confused about have way through the threads?<p>I don't need any cola etc.<p>And if you know anything about business how<br>can one provide any goods or services<br>without the customer first footing the costs<br>(expenses) then appling the needed gross profit margin to be in business next year?

[fireball]

Boy Larry you are mellowing, the moment that i saw acutabove I knew he was a new guy.<p>Anyway, I agree with you. The object of business is to make the other guy pay your expenses plus a profit. If all else fails, a government buyout ain't so bad, for example look at Chrysler. Its the American way

[Nilsson Associates]

Must not be Lawrence on that post?

[Finecut]

No, Phil must not of been Lawrence... of course you don't know much about Stone or what he is considered... I guess. Sell him a book Phil!

[Finecut]

<br>

[turfquip]

[Finecut]

ED,<p>Read the post STOP THE ROLLING STONE.

[accuratelawn]

Lawrence,<br>How did your customers respond to your letter?<br>I sent out a similar letter and have had several calls for landscaping and fert. Not a single customer has mentioned price. (I did not ask to be paid in advance, but did state a penalty for late payers).

[goose]

I have been using the 12 month equal billing for 6 years.I include everything in the total cost for annual service ,36 to 52 visits ayear, aereate dethatch, fert program and anything else they want .Divide it by 12 .It can be done and it is very successful for me. In the winter months we always stay busy enough to keep 2 or 3 full time people busy.In the summer months we do pay more part time labor and fuel but we always pick up some pay as you go customers.I also bill the first of the month.As for irragation , we need it here and our average property we maintain is about $500,000 and they all have them.They usually have them on at about 4 in the morning so they are never aproblem During the summer of 99 we didnt miss a cut.I look back and I see I was rambling but I was replying to a couple of post.To wrap up year round billing works great!