residential contracts, [Archive] - LawnSite.com™ - Lawn Care & Landscaping Business Forum

jeckel7234

04-10-2012, 06:03 PM

how many of you do contracts with your residential customers. im in the process of getting some made, and was just curious how most customers respond to a contract, i assume the wealthier people 90k+ a year wouldnt have a big issue with it, just curious about medium income people.

grandview (2006)

04-10-2012, 08:04 PM

Don't use the word contract.try proposal instead.

jsslawncare

04-10-2012, 08:16 PM

Why don't you just-
1. Agree on service's
2. Pricing
3. Time
Uphold your end and hope they uphold their end. When it's all said and done if they don't have the money to pay, do you have the time and money to carry them to court? I don't. If you're not happy cutting the yard or they are not happy with you, do you really want to work for them? I wouldn't. This year I have 63 residentail accounts and 4 commerical and no contract's at all. I guess what work's for me may not work for everyone. I'll call it a "Service Agreement".

jeckel7234

04-11-2012, 01:02 PM

good to know, i guess i just assumed most other people had a contract/proposal. So do you have anything in writing at all or just a basic verbal agreement.

Nj shade

04-11-2012, 04:23 PM

I call my contract a seasonal agreement. Makes people feel better about signing, for some reason contract to a lot of people is a scary word. To answer your original question, 100% sign the agreement, will not work w/o it. I tell them that it's an insurance requirement that I have a completed copy on file.

jeckel7234

04-11-2012, 08:27 PM

I call my contract a seasonal agreement. Makes people feel better about signing, for some reason contract to a lot of people is a scary word. To answer your original question, 100% sign the agreement, will not work w/o it. I tell them that it's an insurance requirement that I have a completed copy on file.

i like it, is that something you made up yourself like 1 page or something more involved?

fireman gus

04-12-2012, 04:15 PM

All our clients signed auto-renewal "service agreement forms". If they don't want to sign we try to explain the importance of knowing what work is going to be done and when. If they still don't sign we don't do the work. Ours are a one page document we made for ourselves.

jsslawncare

04-12-2012, 05:23 PM

i like it, is that something you made up yourself like 1 page or something more involved?

I like it too.

TheGoat

04-13-2012, 03:46 PM

I have a service agreement. I find that it helps to get all the details out front right away. What services, how often, how much and when payment is due, cancellation terms and so on. Time passes, people forget stuff. I think about my job every day, how often do they think about it. I find it saves me headaches in the long run. get your post count up and I'll pm you mine.

jeckel7234

04-13-2012, 07:08 PM

I have a service agreement. I find that it helps to get all the details out front right away. What services, how often, how much and when payment is due, cancellation terms and so on. Time passes, people forget stuff. I think about my job every day, how often do they think about it. I find it saves me headaches in the long run. get your post count up and I'll pm you mine.

damn, im only at 7 ill get there soon enough

MJ Services

04-14-2012, 11:34 PM

I have a service agreement. I find that it helps to get all the details out front right away. What services, how often, how much and when payment is due, cancellation terms and so on. Time passes, people forget stuff. I think about my job every day, how often do they think about it. I find it saves me headaches in the long run. get your post count up and I'll pm you mine.

x2

I have a little 3 page deal I made up over a few weeks and a lot of thought. The first page is mainly for me with the customers information, address, job number, billing address, contact info, what services were requested, how often it gets done and the price per service. Then I have 10 items that cover my "terms". Things like payments, billing, hours of operation, keeping people and pets away from me while working, keeping gates unlocked, that I only mulch, etc etc. Then the back page is a just a table for me and the customer to record when service was completed. This is what I go to when I do my invoices each month. There's a early termination clause and some other stuff in there, no fancy legal wording, just simple, clear and concise. The customer gets a copy if they want but I only had one want their own copy. Then there's a spot for me and them to sign and date and it's done. I agree about calling it a "service agreement".