Mondays and Tuesdays

[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