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Pay Up Front?

4K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  southside 
#1 ·
I have read much of what has been said about how you all bill and collect. Here is what I want to do. (We are talking about primarily residential mowing)
1. Agree in writing on a price per stop, exactly what will be done and how often.
2. At the end of each month send each customer a bill showing the stops for that month and the work done with the total due. Include a self adressed stamped envelope and tell them it is due by the 15th of that following month.

Clean, simple and as easy for the cutomer as possible.

Comments?
 
#3 ·
Hello Starcity:

Hey, you got the right idea! Maybe don't give them the stamp, let them furnish the stamp, like Lazer said.

Think about it, doing it this way is the most professional & the only way all other major companies do it. If you ask as you go it is more trouble for the customer & that's not what they hired you for.

It leaves yourself open for more complaints. I bet if you wait on check everytime it will take a least 10 minute averaged out or longer per check. Figure you do 50 lawns a week. Look at all that time you spend waiting on money already owed to you.

Over 8 hours a week you loose waiting on checks & complaints. You could have made another $250 to $500 that week. Thats a truck & a house payment a month.

Work Smarter not Harder!

----------
GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com
My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/
 
#4 ·
I wouldn't do it that way at all. Because the customer will be behind 45 days if he waits until the last few day to send you the check. If he doesn't pay you at all then you are in the hole 3 or more cuttings. In a perfect world this would work. I try to get my customers to pay me right after I cut. If they are not there I leave them a bill. Due upon receipt. Make sure customer know it is urgent that you get your money. Look back at the post on the dead beats we have run into. Now contracts customers are different. If they pay at the end of the month. Only give them 5 or less days to pay. man just starting out you are going to need your money. I just wouldnt let customer get 45 days behind the first cutting. You will be pulling your hair out by then.
 
#6 ·
we res bill after each mowing, yes that does mean sending out 80 invoices a week and the payment is due upon net. We include a self addressed envl, why because its different. and its gets us paid faster. Walmart makes you pay before you leave the store and they provide a person to take your money. thats how i need to get paid. We do about 8g aweek in mowing and i can't give terms to my clients {walmart doesn't}. My com accounts also get bill after each mow, but they get net 10. sounds demanding but we provide the service and we need to get paid.we bill spring clns the same day and fall cln and shrubs trim same day. for 15 years i fought with cash flow and since i changed the cash has been 100% better. the stamp cost is a cheap marketing tool "your the landscaper who" has his client in all ways.
 
G
#8 ·
I have a mix of customers that pay COD (each time) and a mix of customers that are invoiced at the end of the month for the work performed.

With todays fast paced lifestyles, and many two income families, more often than not, the customer is not home when I mow. It got too confusing for the customers and myself to keep truing to figure out "did my husband pay you last week? I'll pay you for next week now..."

I put the ones that I miss more often than not on the monthly setup. The ones that are usually home, reitred, home office, too rich to work, I generally collect as I go. If I miss them, I will leave an invoice in the door, and collect it next week.

I like having a mix. It helps with the cash flow. I did get too many customers on the monthly billing, and would get into a bit of a cash flow situation; all the money was coming in in one week, then little for the rest of the month.

What I did to relieve this was to move half of the monthlies from the end of the month, to the middle of the month. This sis two things, helped monthly cash flow, and also split my billing time into two days per month instead of doing it all at once.

I was all COD for a while, but it got to be too much trouble. It is worth it to me to have to wait the little bit for the money. I also have people that like this, they only have to write out one check per month.

I have one guy that doesn't like monthly or even COD. He prefers to pay 50% on April 1, and the balance at the end of the season. I like this setup also. It gives me some extra startup money, and also is like getting an end of the year bonus. I would not want to get too many customers on this plan.
 
#9 ·
Starcity the way we bill is every month, but we bill at the beginning of the month. But all of our properties are on contract.If you do $2400 worth of work a year have them pay you $200 a month. Once you ve grown in size it gets easier this way. You might have to do alittle more work in the growing months , but if you are doing $15,000 to $20,000 a month in July you will also make the same in Jan and Feb.Put it on paper and suggest it to the customer.
 
#10 ·
I bill all my annual customers at the end of the month. I will start picking up extra after I cut now that the season is upon us and that helps with the cash flow. I have as many seasonals as I do annuals and I used to think that was a bad thing, but when you put them all down on paper they really contribute to the bottom line. They kick in when my expenses really skyrocket so it kind of offsets things, when the season winds down so does the expenses and I'm back to a "fixed income" so to speak. The main thing is get enough on a year round basis to maintain through the winter months. We still want to be able to chat with you next winter!!!!! I really neglected the seasonals last year and put them on the back burner, what I am going to do this year is work them into the route, if they don't like it they might be looking for somebody else this summer. I do wait for the check on these customers because @ $1.57 for gas now, I think I'll need it quicker!

Homer
 
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