The leaves are falling like crazy in our town now. I was gonna run an add for clean-ups next week. Leaves are really covering up yards now, but there are still a ton left on the trees. How do you charge appropriately here to do it now and know you'll be back again once or maybe even twice more yet this year? The yards around here are average $80 - $120 for a fall leaf clean (takes an hour almost 2 sometimes). Do you keep hitting em' with those amounts everytime? Wait longer for more leaves to come down in hope they don't hire someone else in the meantime? Advice here would greatly be appreciated.
I have several customers that sign up for regular fall leaf removal. I come every two weeks starting around Nov 1st and continue until the trees are bare (usually by Christmas). They pay less per visit and their yard never gets too out of hand with leaves.
I schedule each account with 2 cleanups for the fall. One cleanup is usually around the end of October, when most of the leaves are on the ground. This sweep usually gets the bulk of the material out. The second cleanup is typically middle November, cleaning the remains of the leaves left and the rest for the winter. I tend to bill both at the same amount, time wise they work out to be a little different, but the shorter second cleanup balances with the longer first one. Hope this helps.
For the most part, I wait until all leaves have fallen. This is usually around the first week in December. The exception is if the customer has a special request. I have my discharge deck on my Walker now and the collecting deck won't be put on until after the end of the season. By special request, I mean I will come out and mow over them, but won't collect them.
Keep hitting them with the same amount every time you go out to blow. It is better for them to pay you $100 every two weeks than shell out $1,000 one time for leaf cleanup. This way they can keep you busy during the slow season.
