[DA Quality Lawn & YS]

addressing a few points. You should be raising every single year. Inflation hits every year, this one is just a larger hit.

if you don't raise by a significant amount, will you even be in business. A lot of people are taking about 7%-8% inflation rates…. But we are being hit harder. Trucks are up 25-35% more. Fuel is up 50% more. Labor is up 8-10%. On and On

Fear is what is holding you back. Tips are optional, and you would likely still get them.

Correct, this is as good of year as ever to increase prices significantly without too much complaint as everyone out there realizes inflation is affecting supply prices.

 

[Tn Turf]

In my experience the ppl who are interested in prepaying a full season expect 10%-20% off as a 'thank you'.

Not gonna happen.

I prefer billing weekly with automated payment reminders setup through YardBook for mowing. Billing weekly earns us more TIPS. We can earn an extra $300 to $600 per week in just TIPS alone.

Having YardBook's tip option has been amazing. Offering pre-paying as an option could cost us upwards to $80k per year in TIPS.

I had 2 customers who didn't pay 2021. One owes $60 for mowing. The other ended up paying late January after being persistent. If I lose under $100 per year, while earning these kind of TIP revenue, then I'll accept that. Lol

 

[Tn Turf]

I bought this 4X6 trailer from lowes last spring for $650 and barely a year later it's almost a grand…

View attachment 481129

I'm remodeling an investment home I bought for a rental property. I have LOWES FOR PROS account and when I reorder more materials, I can see the price increases. Materials just keep shooting up at a high rate with no signs of a slow down anytime soon.

We raised our mowing prices at the beginning of fall 2021. No push back what-so-ever. Everyone was happy to pay more. Some even asked why it took so long, they were expecting it sooner. I really didn't want to raise prices when they are all tipping me so well, so I figured it evened itself out.

After raising prices they tipped even more! That said, I am dropping probably over 60 accounts and downsizing due to labor issues. I am 100% getting rid of push mow yards, hill yards, wet yards, corner lots, toy yards, heavy landscape yards, and any yard that has snags to it.

The yards I am dropping I'm gonna see if I can sub them out....

 

[gardiner]

addressing a few points. You should be raising every single year. Inflation hits every year, this one is just a larger hit.

if you don't raise by a significant amount, will you even be in business. A lot of people are taking about 7%-8% inflation rates…. But we are being hit harder. Trucks are up 25-35% more. Fuel is up 50% more. Labor is up 8-10%. On and On

Fear is what is holding you back. Tips are optional, and you would likely still get them.

Until you price yourself out.
I just added to my schedule.
When I told him 50 a week.
He says better then 60.
That the price has increased by 5.00 the last 4 seasons.

 

[Crazedtodo]

I'm getting new accounts in January lol. I'm pricing around $120-$140/hr and there's been zero pushback. Just landed a $70 account today that should take me 20-25 minutes. Got a dozen or so price increase letters going out soon and I'm feeling good about them. The dollars not what it was a year ago but it's good to feel on top of inflation.

Im assuming 2 men would be 60 per man hour?

 

[spitfire3416]

I'm getting new accounts in January lol. I'm pricing around $120-$140/hr and there's been zero pushback. Just landed a $70 account today that should take me 20-25 minutes. Got a dozen or so price increase letters going out soon and I'm feeling good about them. The dollars not what it was a year ago but it's good to feel on top of inflation.

120-140 per man?!?!?

 

[Brucey]

Until you price yourself out.
I just added to my schedule.
When I told him 50 a week.
He says better then 60.
That the price has increased by 5.00 the last 4 seasons.

So you started him at $30 and now he's at $50?

 

[Brucey]

120-140 per man?!?!?

He's a solo operator.

 

[gardiner]

So you started him at $30 and now he's at $50?

I'm starting it at 50
His last guy was bumping it up 5.00 the last 4 years. what I was told.

 

[spitfire3416]

He's a solo operator.

That's crazy. I live and work in one of the most expensive areas of the country in NJ and gross $100 per hour. Everyone says I'm high. I don't get it.

 

[DA Quality Lawn & YS]

That's crazy. I live and work in one of the most expensive areas of the country in NJ and gross $100 per hour. Everyone says I'm high. I don't get it.

I get $70 here in the Upper Midwest and seem to avg in just fine.

 

[RSG]

My wife has been steadily raising the prices on new customers and we keep getting the jobs. Making me think we're still too low now that we're in wealthier markets.

 

[Brucey]

My wife has been steadily raising the prices on new customers and we keep getting the jobs. Making me think we're still too low now that we're in wealthier markets.

There are clients that will choose the most expensive option, rightly or wrongly assuming that will be the "best". Shoot for the moon.

 

[sidemouse]

I did want to add...
Yes, I've had a few jobs at $100-$120 an hour but...
Those jobs usually don't entail an entire hour or more of labor.
So 20 minutes at $120 an hour is $40...

I mean, do I include the time it takes me to shut off the truck in that?

That being said, yes it's been like a breath of fresh air but at some point my own inner resistance to raising prices (again and again) has kicked in... I've actually stopped myself from raising prices here and then, simply because greed has never done me a whole lot of good and I'd rather be remembered as the guy that stayed some kind of reasonable throughout this whole mess.

What does bother me to no end, is certain contractors charging $1,000 for an hour or two of actual work.

 

[Gus McGee]

My wife has been steadily raising the prices on new customers and we keep getting the jobs. Making me think we're still too low now that we're in wealthier markets.

My metric has always been keep raising prices until we get a bit of resistance. If you are landing the vast majority of your quotes or people are accepting your quotes the second you send them over, you know your prices are too low.

I don't know if these astronomical prices I charge will last forever, but the one thing I do know is this industry was way overdue for major price increases. Some companies up until recently were still charging what I and many other companies charged back in the 90s. I think some folks had the mindset of wanting to be impoverished serfs.

 

[Tn Turf]

My metric has always been keep raising prices until we get a bit of resistance. If you are landing the vast majority of your quotes or people are accepting your quotes the second you send them over, you know your prices are too low.

I don't know if these astronomical prices I charge will last forever, but the one thing I do know is this industry was way overdue for major price increases. Some companies up until recently were still charging what I and many other companies charged back in the 90s. I think some folks had the mindset of wanting to be impoverished serfs.

Yup. 60/40 rule is a good number to live by. If y'all are getting over 61%+ leads saying "yes", then your prices are too cheap. If you're prices are too cheap then you are:

1) working harder and longer
2) unpleasant work/life balance
3) enduring more costs & expenses
4) earning less net income

I certainly hope guys out there busting their butts aren't leaving money on the table.

 

[RSG]

[

My metric has always been keep raising prices until we get a bit of resistance. If you are landing the vast majority of your quotes or people are accepting your quotes the second you send them over, you know your prices are too low.

I don't know if these astronomical prices I charge will last forever, but the one thing I do know is this industry was way overdue for major price increases. Some companies up until recently were still charging what I and many other companies charged back in the 90s. I think some folks had the mindset of wanting to be impoverished serfs.

We are getting more yeses, but we are also zeroing in on our target demographic, and it wasn't where we thought it was. We got a lot of push back in a lot of the areas we were targeting before.

 

[Cut n Strut]

My metric has always been keep raising prices until we get a bit of resistance. If you are landing the vast majority of your quotes or people are accepting your quotes the second you send them over, you know your prices are too low.

I don't know if these astronomical prices I charge will last forever, but the one thing I do know is this industry was way overdue for major price increases. Some companies up until recently were still charging what I and many other companies charged back in the 90s. I think some folks had the mindset of wanting to be impoverished serfs.

I dunno man, it’s hard to use the closing rate to determine where your prices should be - just my opinion. If you have built a reputation that stands apart, you can pretty much name your price - assuming your service backs that price up. At least that’s what I’ve experienced. Raised prices, got 0 push back. I dropped a few that I just didn’t enjoy servicing($ was fine) and I kid you not, they asked how much $ it would take to stay on the schedule. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t about the $. If a customer was referred to me, the price doesn’t matter to them. If a new client has “heard” or “seen” me before needing service, it’s name my price as well. I close around 90% of estimates, of course I vet really heavily on the initial contact. I just don’t think the close rate alone is a solid measuring tool.

 

[Velo781]

I have been out of the business for 4 years now. I was charging 35 for most lawns then. I saw some posts on my neighborhood groups where people are charging 50-70 for a lawn. (About 8k sq ft lots in austin tx). Mother inlaw says she has a hard time getting her lawn guy to show up.
Have prices gone up this much? Wow

 

[Gus McGee]

I have been out of the business for 4 years now. I was charging 35 for most lawns then. I saw some posts on my neighborhood groups where people are charging 50-70 for a lawn. (About 8k sq ft lots in austin tx). Mother inlaw says she has a hard time getting her lawn guy to show up.
Have prices gone up this much? Wow

Mowing prices have gone up a lot this year. If the 8k sq ft lot has a fence we would charge around 50 bucks a cut. If it has a narrow fence than even more. No fence, price for us would be a minimum of 45 per, even if the lot is 1 sq ft. Labor is too difficult and fuel prices are too high to tread water on mowing services.