Customers Help

[stuntmanlogan]

Hi ive got a couple questions about a customer that ive had since the first year I started my lawn care business. Is whats going on is today I just received his final check in the mail. And in that I also received a note from him it says. Dear Logan I dont know if i want you to do my leaves (leaf removal) next season its just to expensive. Lets talk about it in the spring. So from me I see as he still wants me back to mow witch is fine with me cause im not a big fan of leaf removal anyways. This customer is along with two others who live right next to each other. The bill was the same for all three. I told all three of them what the charges would be and the other two were completely fine with the price and he didnt say anything but okay. This is what I charged 45 dollars for blowing out of landscapes, mowing up leaves and hauling them away to the dump spot and 15 dollars was the dump fee. So total 60 dollars for roughly an hours plus worth of work each yard so total roughly 3 hours to get it all done. I got the price from I charge 25 dollars to do the yard with just mowing which only takes me about an hafe an hour tops so I figured that 20 dollars would be for the bagging part and dumping and time, plus gas to haul the leaves and pull them out of my trailer when I got there I thought it was a good price for that service. So I guess my question is when spring comes how should I tell the customer why I am charging this amount besides my expenses.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

So I guess my question is when spring comes how should I tell the customer why I am charging this amount besides my expenses. Maybe you could go about it in another way? What if he spread the costs out over the year? We have seen in other discussions how some lawn care business owners will charge a fixed rate every month. This would include all mowing, gutter cleaning and leaf cleanup at the end of the year. Do you think your customer might be more interested in something like this?

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[stuntmanlogan]

Im not sure im thinking about sending him a letter about all my expenses and what im making just to let him know that I need to charge this price at the minimum for his property.

[Steve]

If you try that, let us know how it turned out.

I just don't think that is going to help you sell leaf cleanups to him next year. It's possible a payment alternative would help but it's up to you and you gotta do what you think is best.

Keep us posted.