[Cooper Landscaping]

For those of you who offer multiple payment options:
For "financing" (spreading the bill for 8 months of work over 12 so the customer has a set rate each month) do you charge and extra?

I ask this because I know a lot of the people who offer full season pre pay will give the customer a 10% discount.

From my point of view this discount is given because you have all of the money for the whole year available in the beginning of the year, more of convenience to you. Plus you don't have to send out bills to them after they pay the one time.

Using this point of view, financing is more of an annoyance as you are acting like a bank and essentially "loaning" them the money. Until the full amount is payed off for the year, you are out however much money they still owe. You have to send out more bills (12 a year instead of say 8 a year if you were billing monthly).

I'm just wondering if anyone charges and extra percentage for the financing option. I'm looking to expand next year and I'm curious as to how you guys do this.

Thanks
-Coop

 

[Cooper Landscaping]

Matt-
Thanks for that. Right now I'm in Japan and using a computer that doesn't have excel- I'll be home in less than a week so ill look at it then.

Originally posted by GLAN
just cause any of us has broken down the payments to an equal fee for every month does not mean it is payable over 12 months.

My season is 9 months. If they want a budgeted payment, they have the option to pay it 9 months or 10.

Glan-
Thats a point I hadn't thought about. This question was more directed at the people like Etwman (I don't think hes around anymore) who split the payments over 12 months so they have income year round regardless of how much snow they got. I was just curious as to whether they charged extra for it. But thanks for your idea, that might work a little better!

Thanks for the replies, keep em coming!
-Coop

 

[Cooper Landscaping]

Glan- When I said regardless of the amount of snow they got they have year round income I'm refering to the people who get paid per push. In my area most people wont sign an annual contract because it varies so much from year to year. For example: last winter- we had something like 13 plowable storms, as opposed to the year before when we only had one plowable storm. If the contract is spread out over the 12 months, we get paid year round, no matter how much it snows. If it snows a lot, well then you get more money (if you plow), in addition to the money you're already making off the contracts. Did that make sense?

-Coop