[Expert Lawns]

I am having a problem filling my Monday and Tuesday mowing schedules. Everyone wants Thursdays and Fridays (obviously). I have all residential accounts, and only have Wed, Thurs, Fri filled. Who has this problem and how did you solve it?

 

[MacLawnCo]

dont give them the option. you tell them when you can fit them in. this way you can run your route most effeciently

 

[Cut 2 Please]

Do an excellant job on the lawns. Go above and beyond the customers expectations. Do the little things like blow out the carport, the patio, and front porch. Make them very satisfied with your work and do not give them a choice as to which day they get serviced. Tell them you are in that area on X day and that is when they fall on your route. The will give in to get the excellant service.

 

[Expert Lawns]

right now I am simply telling people that since mowing has already started, that wed through fri are filled, but we would be more than happy to have them on the mon or tues schedule. some have said "we'll try to find someone else then" and some say "we'll do some checking around anc call you back" The thing is, is that there is someone out there that has room on their thurs or fri, and these people will find them. I guess I need to sell myself better, just as Cut 2 Please said.

 

[brucec32]

I've always thought it was CRAZY to start promising any day of the week to customers. Inevitably you have delays, weather, etc, and you wind up running around in circles to stay on schedule. The better lawns I put towards the 2nd half of the week, the weed patches and such were mowed early. And what happens if it's 330 pm on a Wednesday, you've finished ahead of schedule, and you are 2 minutes from a home you have promised to do on a Thursday or Friday? You gonna pass it up?

It just gets complicated. I have had a few late-week requests over the years, but I find they don't make as big a deal about it if you don't bring it up first. "once a week before the weekend" is good enough. Just use common sense and get a sense of how lawn-conscious each customer is. The guy who dotes over it and has a fine lawn will probably notice it's getting longer by Saturday, so mow him Wed or later. But granny crabgrass patch isn't going to care, or shouldn't. Commercial could also go up front early in the week, since they're there on weekdays to enjoy it.

 

[triadncman]

i have the same problem, and havent solved it as of yet. Everyone wants to be mowed on Friday. I do have a full Thursday

 

[GrassBustersLawn]

HOW BAD DO THEY WANT IT? CHARGE EXTRA. Have them put their money where their mouth is. $10 for Thursdays & $20 for FRIDAY! NO KIDDING! That will either fill up your Mondays & Tuesdays or FILL UP YOUR WALLET.

I will usually try to schedule my commercial accounts on MON or TUES. That fills the slack, plus gets their props looking good during the week when they are open for business.


Mike

 

[David Haggerty]

I'm beginning the five day schedule today.
And my so called "schedule" is always "give-or-take-a-day."

It kind of gets the customer's focus off of me, and my schedule. So they can concentrate on the condition of the lawn.



Dave

 

[AL Inc]

Expert- We usually take care of the "additional" work on Mondays and Tuesdays. Pruning, mulching, land clearing, new installs, etc. These services are more profitable than mowing so I've never tried to fill Mon/Tue with mowing.

 

[Luscious Lawns]

I also do what Al inc said. On Mon. and Tue. I do pruning, spraying, clear drain gutters, do equipment maintance, perform 1 time jobs (they never get Thursday or Friday) My weekly high value accounts get the first dibs on Thurs, and Fri. Churches, Funeral Homes and Cemeteries prefer the end of the week also but unsold lots, right of ways anything that is rough gets the Mon or Tue schedule

 

[grass_cuttin_fool]

I also try to do mulching and pruning on mondays and my equipment maintenece such as greasing, checking tires, sharpening blades, oil changes . Tuesday for me is the start I have some conveinance markets I mow and they get the tuesday route

 

[MP350]

I only mow on Mondays & Tuesdays, the rest of the week I do tree work. I have only been asked twice to mow near the weekend. Put I do mow right before holiday weekends.

 

[CamLand]

we have always used monday and tuesday as days to do pruning ,tree work,and mulching.and we cut wednesday through saturday...

 

[wriken]

once mowing season starts we do our odd jobs on Mon/Tues, or we cut the 10 day, 2 week people. Other then that we don't give them the option either.

 

[lawnranger44]

We mowed on the same day every week for our first year and it SUCKED. If it rained once or twice, everything got screwed up.
It now states in our policies sheet that "your lawn will be mowed at a time that is convenient for us"PERIOD

 

[Expert Lawns]

Last year I had mondays open, and I would take advantage of it like many of you have said......mulch installs, repairs, maintenance, hedge trimming, etc. This year I would like to fill that gap with mowing. The side jobs can be done late evenings after the mowing is done, or on Saturdays. I can do my maintenance on Sat and Sun as well.

 

[AintNoFun]

we do all of our commercial properties on monday and tuesdays

 

[proenterprises]

Thats funny, the company I work for, monday and tuesday are the biggest days. We probably do 25-30 lawns on monday, same amount on tuesday, 10-13 on wednesday and the handful that are left on thursday. Friday is either catch up from rain/delays, an odd job at his house or jobsite (builder) or just the day off.

 

[Expert Lawns]

proenterprise, that is a sweet schedule

 

[lawnmedic1]

No lawns are scheduled for Friday. We have a church than requested end of week mowing so it would look good for services on Sunday. Charged them 30 percent extra. Work 4 10 hour days Monday thru Thursday, Friday off unless weather dictates...Chuck