LawnLad
02-18-2002, 08:01 PM
I'm looking for a little help here... brainstorming from those of you who might have a suggestion.
Because tracking customer information can be daunting... we're trying to collect all of it. I hate asking myself, "Was it Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones that likes pink geraniums?" "Were we supposed to put out Mrs. Dithington's patio furniture before May 1st?"
Therefore, we are just about to embark on standardizing our Landscape Maintenance Customer Files in an effort to build a custom data base later in the year. So we're starting with the hard copies now.
We want to make sure we have ALL relevant and available information on our customers. Some of the information we track is obvious... but I'm wondering what all you guys track and how you 'file it' or store it... and access it.
In each hanging file we keep several manilla folders. I mentioned some of this in a previous post. We have a folder for contract and updates, correspondence/survey, budget notes, and service notes.
In the Service Notes Folders we'll have standard pages (8 of them at this point) - one for each of the following topics... unless you guys give some other good suggestions.
Here are the topic areas we'll cover:
Basic Contact Information:
Name, address, phone, fax, email, children, pets, birthdays, etc.
Weekly service visits and site information:
Square footage, identify which mowers are used on what areas of turf, any cutting preferences, areas to watch (scalping, wet, grades), etc.
Seasonal Clean up:
How detailed is the spring clean up? Edge beds? Dormant pruning with clean up? How detailed is fall clean up? How often? Clean out ground cover beds, etc.?
Debris:
Haul Debris? Bag it and leave it? Where to leave the debris? When is garbage day?
Bed Maintenance Schedule & Expectations:
What do we prune? When, how often? Weeding? Perennial/annual care? Watering? Fertilizing?
Annual Flowers:
How many rotations (spring annuals, summer annuals, fall color and spring bulbs)? Color preferences? Flower preferences? Planting map. Pictures of past years plantings.
Turf Applications:
What type of fertilizer? Pesticide restrictions in whole or in part of property? Tolerance for pests (IPM approach)?
Other Services:
Do we clean their gutters?
Clean window wells out?
Firewood?
Holiday Decorating?
Budget Notes:
Break budget down into areas of concern, or list over all yearly budget. Has there been any budget discussion?
ANY suggestions on missing information, or method of keeping information would be helpful. I'd be happy to share with anyone what we come up with once we figure out what information we have to have.
Thanks for your help.
Doug
Because tracking customer information can be daunting... we're trying to collect all of it. I hate asking myself, "Was it Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones that likes pink geraniums?" "Were we supposed to put out Mrs. Dithington's patio furniture before May 1st?"
Therefore, we are just about to embark on standardizing our Landscape Maintenance Customer Files in an effort to build a custom data base later in the year. So we're starting with the hard copies now.
We want to make sure we have ALL relevant and available information on our customers. Some of the information we track is obvious... but I'm wondering what all you guys track and how you 'file it' or store it... and access it.
In each hanging file we keep several manilla folders. I mentioned some of this in a previous post. We have a folder for contract and updates, correspondence/survey, budget notes, and service notes.
In the Service Notes Folders we'll have standard pages (8 of them at this point) - one for each of the following topics... unless you guys give some other good suggestions.
Here are the topic areas we'll cover:
Basic Contact Information:
Name, address, phone, fax, email, children, pets, birthdays, etc.
Weekly service visits and site information:
Square footage, identify which mowers are used on what areas of turf, any cutting preferences, areas to watch (scalping, wet, grades), etc.
Seasonal Clean up:
How detailed is the spring clean up? Edge beds? Dormant pruning with clean up? How detailed is fall clean up? How often? Clean out ground cover beds, etc.?
Debris:
Haul Debris? Bag it and leave it? Where to leave the debris? When is garbage day?
Bed Maintenance Schedule & Expectations:
What do we prune? When, how often? Weeding? Perennial/annual care? Watering? Fertilizing?
Annual Flowers:
How many rotations (spring annuals, summer annuals, fall color and spring bulbs)? Color preferences? Flower preferences? Planting map. Pictures of past years plantings.
Turf Applications:
What type of fertilizer? Pesticide restrictions in whole or in part of property? Tolerance for pests (IPM approach)?
Other Services:
Do we clean their gutters?
Clean window wells out?
Firewood?
Holiday Decorating?
Budget Notes:
Break budget down into areas of concern, or list over all yearly budget. Has there been any budget discussion?
ANY suggestions on missing information, or method of keeping information would be helpful. I'd be happy to share with anyone what we come up with once we figure out what information we have to have.
Thanks for your help.
Doug