Maine

[McFarland_Lawn_Care]

Nice work, Stan. I just targeted a higher end subdivision 3 days ago with some door flyers and got two of them today - nice neighborhood and I hope to land more once I get my truck parked down there and start working....=D One guy is a realtor and wanted extra cards to give to his clients ;-)

[stan the man]

great for you. get your truck in there that will work. realtor that is a good deal he sell a house and give the home owner a card. if that work out with him you can work on his pricing. that will be good for him to get you work.

[McFarland_Lawn_Care]

Originally Posted by stan the man

he sell a house and give the home owner a card. if that work out with him you can work on his pricing. that will be good for him to get you work.

That's exactly what I told him! He's really excited and I think planning on trying to drum up enough business to virtually get free service for the season from referral credits. Do you offer any type of referral discount or program to your current customers, Stan? I've had pretty good success with it - everyone seems happy.

[stan the man]

yes i do. if a full time account get me a full time account then i give them.
refer 1 person=2 free mowing
2 people = 3 free mowing
3 people = 4 free mowing
5+ people 5 free mowings + $50.00 gift card to a local restaurant.
but they have to be mowing Plowing spring and fall clean ups to be full time account
if they are not full time account just mowing they get
refer 1 person=1 free mowing
2 people = 2 free mowing
3 people = 3 free mowing
5+ people 4 free mowings + 25.00 gift card to a local restaurant. if my full time accounts take the contact for the year and paid it with the 4 time payment plan they get 10% off the total bill. pm with your email address and i can send you copy of my contact. you can see how i have it set up. i do have 10 free mowing that i do for the year and 10 free fall and spring clean ups that is for the storage of my plane at a airport. one place i do a clean up at takes us 5 days do to. so that 10 days on clean ups and the mowing is 1 day to do.

[McFarland_Lawn_Care]

Ya, my program is short and simple $100 cash paid to any current customer who refers a new customer who signs a contract with me. I do a little snowplowing but really haven't been pushing that as much - probably will focus on it more this year though.

[stan the man]

you guys looking for a mower WALKER 20HP MOWER - $3200 (NEW GLOUCESTER) craigslist > for sale / wanted > farm & garden

[we dig it]

ok Question for all... How do you trim around chain link fences? I just use my string trimmer but would like to find a way that does not force me to buy stock in the line... lol

[McFarland_Lawn_Care]

hahha....Great question.....I have 2 or 3 with them.....I actually only trim the fence every other time if it's really bad. This year I am going to try to sell them on having me spray the immediate fenceline since I got my license. Also thought about getting the "Edge-It" attachment for one trimmer - looks like it would work well. ANOTHER technique that works pretty well, is use a back pack blower to blow all the tall grass towards ONE side of the fence and THEN trim it on that side - this make the grass stick out a little further and easier to reach with a trimmer.

[we dig it]

Ya I thought about doing them every other time since i have 2 daycare buildings fully fenced and 4 baseball fields! AND on spring cleanups how do you all do them and stay profitable, yet affordable? If you were to rake each by hand you would have to charge for 3-4 hrs on a average lawn in this area...? Is there an attachment that would make this easier/faster? THANK YOU!

[McFarland_Lawn_Care]

What part of the cleanups are you talking about? I am actually currently trying to figure out how to speed mine up a bit too, but over all they are just very time consuming! Pick up the sticks as best you can then blow the leaves out of gardens etc, then vacuum them all up in the middle of the lawn. I also use a tine de-thatcher attachment on the front of the riders sometimes if it would help. But I often spend 3 hrs on a cleanup. Just the name of the game - be sure to charge for it! =D

Jason