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Need advise about sprinkler maintenance!

3K views 26 replies 13 participants last post by  FIMCO-MEISTER 
#1 ·
Does anyone offer an annual sprinkler maintenance contracts to residential customers? We don't do lawn maintenance, only sprinklers.

I'm wondering how to sell clients on signing annual maintenance contract that includes 2 system check ups besides the standard start up and winterization. Is there any information available of how to explain to them in the offer letter about the benefits of check ups done?

Should we include seasonal watering time adjustments as part of the same contract? But all the controllers are inside the garages. What to do about it?

Please share the experince. Any suggestions would be very helpful. :confused:

Thank you.
 
#2 ·
You have to give them a good package price that you can show then saves them money rather than paying a higher price to call you and have you come out..should they run into problems during the year.
The retiming should be included in the 2-season checks.You have to have acsess to the garages or go when they are home obviously to offer that part.
 
#3 ·
What'll ya do if something goes snap inbetween your visits??as a customer that is what would worry me more and if I had to pay on top of the yearly maint. contract...that would get me on edge quicker.

The info discussed here is pretty interesting....being on the West Coast many things you LC's do we don't deal with here or do differently.
 
#4 ·
Thank you for reply.
So I need to show them a comparison between $45 per check up (contract) and paying $60/hr when something happens. At the same time I want to put in the contract that repairs are billed separately.

How would you explain to them that it's a good deal?

Thank you.
 
#7 ·
Sell them the service and give them a discount for service calls as a "preferred customer" We check sprinklers after every mow and we adjust the clocks as needed with our regular visits. I agree with bumper we might as well be in different country's given what goes on in the west vs everywhere else.
 
#10 ·
A well worded service policy is an asset to your business . I spent close to 60 hours structuring ours. It is an extended warranty , it covers the entire system . The term of the agreement is 3 years . I have a list of exclusions .
It is very profitable . The customer is ours for that term , the competition is shut out . I sell this to all residential , we agressivly target our competitions customer base with a 60 % sucess rate.
 
#11 ·
dds66047 said:
Bumper,
I would still want to bill them for repair if something happens in between visits. I know it sounds strange but that's what I was recommended to do on the seminar and I want to try it.

Do you use annual contracts at all?
Most LC's do it all..landscaping, hardscape, irrigation, lighting etc. After the guarentee expires the money tends to be in the maintenance contract for plant materia,l color change out, pruning and the like.....and while there an irrigation check up and lighting adjustments. Therefore irrigation might be included as part of the plant maintenance but troubleshooting and repair is whole different ball game
 
#17 ·
I did really well w/ service contracts in Arizona...I did not call them that but I did really well.

I had two types....silver and platinum.

silver included 2 regular visits....feb-marchish and oct-novish.....these were typically my slower times so scheduling these visits wasn't a chore......the silver membership included these 2 visits to check all, set timer for season, and give recommendations etc. They received as many calls as they wanted throughout the year....it included all parts except timers....and they just paid a $35 deductible when we came out. They had to pre-pay the deductible over the phone with me...and they were told we will be out in the next couple of days, please flag the problem. We would ONLY fix that specific problem and we would NOT schedule a regular time. I would fit it in when I could. The cost to them was $225 and I sold a bunch of them. It was hard to get them all done with the help I had....so I hired someone and he did them all....and that is how my company grew.....he moved onto selling installs and the company thrived...the service contracts paid his salary basically and all else was gravy.

The platinum program, btw, was exactly the same without the $35 deductible and it cost the client $335.00

I sold a bunch of those as well....timer replacement was a $225 deductible. We fixed anything...even damage by mowers. It worked really well, here is sorta how it broke down.


30% of the people never called us...we did the checks and never heard from them.

25% of the people called us all the time. 90% of this group had platinum memberships...hint hint. They took advantage of us for everything...

The other 45% of the people used us an average number of times. Usually we heard from them 2 times per year beyond the regular visits. Lots of times it was during our really dead times...so it didn't matter ;)

We had about a 89% renewal rate and the 3 years I did this prior to the business being sold it grew by about 50 clients per year. At one time I had over 100 platinums and 200 silvers...do the math.

I plan to do the same thing here in Colorado where it will be much easier as there are 2 visits per year that dont' need to be sold even....winterization and spring start up. Lock them in for those and you have a customer for life. I will charge a bit less for the 2 services for pre pay...and a deductible for future visits...same as silver policy in Arizona. If I can sell 400 of them, my bills are paid and the rest is gravy.

Good luck to you.....
 
#18 ·
SprinklerGuy and MDIrrigation,

thank you very much for your great advise, it's really appriciated.

I think I'll be able to structure something similar to yours. If there are any more details that might help me in the process, please let me know or email dds66047@yahoo.com

Any help is very appreciated. I think I'll work on it this week.

Thank you very much.
 
#19 ·
Would anyone be willing to share a sample of what they have for a maintenance contract? I am just starting out on my own irrigation business, and of course the first customer wants to know how much yearly maintenance is going to cost and what would be included in maintenance. Thanks for the replies!
 
#22 ·
For myself before I became to busy selling my product I offered a once a month check for the entire system, which included checking each zone, replacing broken heads or spray tips and adjusting direction and flow for all heads as well. Since I am based in Florida I also trimmed all sprinkler heads or sprinkler head donuts as well as VBC once a month with my product called the TAS Trimmer. This service went very well for about two years untill I was forced to spend more time marketing the product for more customers here in the States. I charged $10.00 per month plus materials and never ran out of work, each property took me on average about 15 mins per visit per month. My story and I am sticking to it. All the best.
easy-lift guy
 
#26 ·
What the hell is that supposed to mean, spam man?
Your disparaging remark was returned with my reply. If you were referencing the use of a particular type of lawn edging I have used and still use,that is he reason for my statement. If not I misunderstood your statement, my apologies. On the other hand my product used in conjunction with my irrigation maintenance service has worked very well for myself and that is the reason it was brought up for this reply. Not sure about the spam man statement so if you would care to explain that would be fine.
easy-lift guy
 
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