I'm NOT letting this happen next year!!!

[coolluv]

Originally Posted by yardguy28

not if you can't get residentials to sign a 12 month contract that pays you whether you show up and do work or not.

in my neck of the woods, good luck getting that unless you getting commercial work.

for residentials its do the work, then invoice for work done at the end of the month. you don't show up one week to mow the grass, you don't get paid for that skipped cutting.

Yardguy you just don't get it. You maintain the whole property. That means lawn gets mowed, edged, trimmed and blown...Right?

Landscape plants get trimmed and pruned....Right?

Beds get weeded and sprayed...Right?

I only sign contracts with people who can afford to pay for it and don't know how or don't want to do it themselves. They just want to come home and see a nice lawn and landscape.

Soooooooooo..... if it is too dry to mow then I do other things. I still show up and do something because there is always something that needs to be done. It helps if you know what the customer has in the landscape and what needs to be pruned at what time of year.

Look I used to be a mow, blow and go guy too. But I learned that there is little money in that because most of the customers that want mow,blow and go ONLY.... are cheap @$$s. Soooooo... when it doesn't rain and the lawn dries up your **** out of Luck. If Paco offers to do the lawn for $5 cheaper........can you guess?

Thats right $hit out of luck..... Believe me you have to find the right customers and build your business on them. They are out there. I tried to sell contracts to everyone....but had no luck. So..... I targeted better neighborhoods and then I started to sell them. A good customer will actually like a 12 month contract.

I live on the outskirts of Atlanta...in redneckville. There are a few areas around me that I can sell contracts in but most around my area are either rednecks or Indians or Chinese or Koreans. They will not sign contracts! I don't even bother trying anymore with those people.

I get a lot of "yeah will call you or I'm taking other quotes. I don't care. I don't sell a lot of work and that's ok with me. I have enough work that I'm fairly happy with it..would I like some more? Sure.. but getting good customers takes time.

Some areas around me closer to Atlanta are more high end and are easier to sell contracts to those people. But...everyone and their mother is out there chasing those people. Not only that... you have to deal with traffic. And unless you've been to Atlanta...you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Even in the redneck neighborhoods I can still sell some contracts. But its not easy. The other thing is... you have to do very good work.

Example: I may go to one house and Mow, Edge, Trim and Blow. Then I walk around and inspect the beds. Pull some weeds...spray some weeds. Then I check the the landscape plants...prune here....trim there. Then I inspect the lawn. Maybe get out my backpack and walk the lawn or I notice some weeds when I'm mowing and make a note and come back after I finished everything else and spray those weeds.

I may spend 1 hour or 2 hours at that place that week. Then next week I may just mow,blow and go and in and out in 30 minutes. The following week I may mow, blow and go but spray some weeds in the beds or deadhead some flowers and spend 45 minutes at the property that visit.

The next week if the grass is toast then I may just check the beds and spray some weeds in the beds or pull a few weeds in the beds and spend 15 minutes there. But the monthly check is the same. Whether I'm there for 15 minutes or 2 hours the monthly check is the same. If it rains for 2 weeks straight and I can't service the property......I know you guessed it...The check is there and the pay is the same that month.

After mid December until the end of February I do nothing.....( except enjoy myself down at the keys)but that check is still there at the end of the month.

Get it.

Dave...

[coolluv]

One more thing... Professional image makes a difference and being able to talk intelligently about someones lawn and landscape is a must. That means knowing what they have in their beds and how to properly maintain them... and having a simple but intelligent...well thought out service agreement (Contract) that is easy to understand and explains everything so there are no misunderstandings later on.

But like I said before you have to do exceptional work also. Know your $hit and the customer will love you and refer you to other good contract signing customers. I spent many many hours on my service agreements and it shows.

My agreements weed out the scumbags because it scares the hell out of them but the intelligent people respect a well thought out agreement. That was part of my mistake in the beginning... I had a shitty agreement.

Dave...

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by coolluv

Yardguy you just don't get it. You maintain the whole property. That means lawn gets mowed, edged, trimmed and blown...Right?

Landscape plants get trimmed and pruned....Right?

Beds get weeded and sprayed...Right?

I only sign contracts with people who can afford to pay for it and don't know how or don't want to do it themselves. They just want to come home and see a nice lawn and landscape.

Soooooooooo..... if it is too dry to mow then I do other things. I still show up and do something because there is always something that needs to be done. It helps if you know what the customer has in the landscape and what needs to be pruned at what time of year.

Look I used to be a mow, blow and go guy too. But I learned that there is little money in that because most of the customers that want mow,blow and go ONLY.... are cheap @$$s. Soooooo... when it doesn't rain and the lawn dries up your **** out of Luck. If Paco offers to do the lawn for $5 cheaper........can you guess?

Thats right $hit out of luck..... Believe me you have to find the right customers and build your business on them. They are out there. I tried to sell contracts to everyone....but had no luck. So..... I targeted better neighborhoods and then I started to sell them. A good customer will actually like a 12 month contract.

I live on the outskirts of Atlanta...in redneckville. There are a few areas around me that I can sell contracts in but most around my area are either rednecks or Indians or Chinese or Koreans. They will not sign contracts! I don't even bother trying anymore with those people.

I get a lot of "yeah will call you or I'm taking other quotes. I don't care. I don't sell a lot of work and that's ok with me. I have enough work that I'm fairly happy with it..would I like some more? Sure.. but getting good customers takes time.

Some areas around me closer to Atlanta are more high end and are easier to sell contracts to those people. But...everyone and their mother is out there chasing those people. Not only that... you have to deal with traffic. And unless you've been to Atlanta...you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Even in the redneck neighborhoods I can still sell some contracts. But its not easy. The other thing is... you have to do very good work.

Example: I may go to one house and Mow, Edge, Trim and Blow. Then I walk around and inspect the beds. Pull some weeds...spray some weeds. Then I check the the landscape plants...prune here....trim there. Then I inspect the lawn. Maybe get out my backpack and walk the lawn or I notice some weeds when I'm mowing and make a note and come back after I finished everything else and spray those weeds.

I may spend 1 hour or 2 hours at that place that week. Then next week I may just mow,blow and go and in and out in 30 minutes. The following week I may mow, blow and go but spray some weeds in the beds or deadhead some flowers and spend 45 minutes at the property that visit.

The next week if the grass is toast then I may just check the beds and spray some weeds in the beds or pull a few weeds in the beds and spend 15 minutes there. But the monthly check is the same. Whether I'm there for 15 minutes or 2 hours the monthly check is the same. If it rains for 2 weeks straight and I can't service the property......I know you guessed it...The check is there and the pay is the same that month.

After mid December until the end of February I do nothing.....( except enjoy myself down at the keys)but that check is still there at the end of the month.

Get it.

Dave...

my full service or whole property as you call it includes 1 spring clean up, mulch once a season, basic shrub pruning twice a season (usually once in the spring and once in the fall), weekly mowings when needed and weekly fall clean ups.

I don't do fert/weed treatments or get into any kinds of plants or shrubs except basic shrubs. I don't pull weeds.

once the spring clean up, shrubs pruned and mulch is down its weekly mowings until the leaves start to fall.

regardless I don't do contracts. they pay for work performed only. in the summer some weeks are skipped if the grass doesn't need cut. by summer everything is done except weekly mowings.

[larryinalabama]

Typically youll have 3 real good months 6 ok months and 3 terrible months. I dont know why people get into this business unless lawncare is their passion, its not a easy business.

[kgflyboy]

The original poster is in MO. 12 month residential contracts are a little easier to float in GA than in MO. I have thought about trying to promote 8 month contracts, which would include predetermined services divided into 8 equal payments, but 12 month contracts don't seem like a plausible solution for the OP.

Things have slowed down to a crawl for me too, but fortunately I have another full time income. Try to make up for the lack of income now by selling aeration, verticutting, overseeding, etc. in a couple months.

[ed2hess]

Originally Posted by kgflyboy

The original poster is in MO. 12 month residential contracts are a little easier to float in GA than in MO. I have thought about trying to promote 8 month contracts, which would include predetermined services divided into 8 equal payments, but 12 month contracts don't seem like a plausible solution for the OP.

Things have slowed down to a crawl for me too, but fortunately I have another full time income. Try to make up for the lack of income now by selling aeration, verticutting, overseeding, etc. in a couple months.

I continue to be surprised about the lack of irrigation in areas up north. In our area almost everybody has to have irrigation to keep stuff alive. We don't have much water but don't you guys have tons of water for irrigation? I don't think the good ole days without high temp are going to return......our area gets just a little hotter each year. Ten years ago we didn't see 110 to 115 and now we see a few days like that

[Patriot Services]

I will never understand why guys can't sell monthly service in any state. Sure I can go 12 months here. Just make it apply to your area.
Posted via Mobile Device

[kgflyboy]

Originally Posted by ed2hess

I continue to be surprised about the lack of irrigation in areas up north. In our area almost everybody has to have irrigation to keep stuff alive. We don't have much water but don't you guys have tons of water for irrigation? I don't think the good ole days without high temp are going to return......our area gets just a little hotter each year. Ten years ago we didn't see 110 to 115 and now we see a few days like that

Some people have irrigation, but not many. It's really not necessary unless you want a yard that is beautiful all summer. Most people around here are happy with an ok looking yard in the summer. Yards tend to look the best in the spring and fall here.

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by Patriot Services

I will never understand why guys can't sell monthly service in any state. Sure I can go 12 months here. Just make it apply to your area.
Posted via Mobile Device

it's not monthly service that can't be sold. it's CONTRACTS that can't be sold.

residentials don't wanna pay if nothing is being done. sure you could sell a contract easy if work was being done weekly. but residentials expect a cheaper invoice by the end of the month when grass cutting is skipped. and no one wants to pay a lawn maintenance invoice in December when it's snowing out.

I don't blame them. I'm perfectly fine with the way things. I treat my clients like I would want or expect to be treated. I'm certainly not gonna pay when work isn't being done. I don't wanna be paying my landscape invoice in December when it's snowing. I want the work to be done for the month and invoice me at the end of the month for work that was actually performed.

[grandview (2006)]

Our area is funny.I can sell seasonal snowplowing with no problem and if it don't snow they are happy .Now try and sell a seasonal lawn cutting and you have to skip a week,they cry all over the place.