Most landscape and lawn care companies are in full swing since warm weather arrived a few weeks ago. Long, busy days cleaning up yards, mowing, planting and keeping customers happy leave little time and energy to chase down overdue accounts. Because owners and operators spend the greatest majority of their time focusing on customer relationships and maintaining good reputations in communities, a few tips to effectively managing and maintaining accounts receivables during busy times can help business flourish.
Establish a Policy for Payments
A strong way to begin the new season is to inform new and existing clients of your company's billing process and follow up procedures. This method manages client expectations and lets them know how and when they will be billed and the time frame in which they are expected to pay. By communicating your company's payment policies, you eliminate uncertainty and surprise when a bill is received and reduce the number of unpaid accounts. A reputable collection agency can help but establish solid billing procedures first.
Collect debt and retain customers.
When faced with the challenge of having to collect overdue funds, many landscape and lawn care businesses will simply stop serving the customer and write off the debt to avoid alienating customers or damaging their reputations. A more effective way to deal with overdue debt is to act early on overdue accounts. A reminder sent to customers is a gentle way to prompt them you are serious about collecting on their overdue account and is typically perceived as non-threatening, yielding successful results.
Hire Quality Employees
Employees are the key to your success whether they are on the front lines cutting lawns or behind the scenes making appointments and following up on billing. Employees represent you and help maintain your reputation. Staff members also play a critical role in recovering monies owed by conveying business policies while still treating customers diplomatically and respectfully. Take time to hire quality people to be part of your team and train everyone properly to be sure they are familiar with billing policies as well as good customer service methods. A little time spent shaping up your front line can drastically improve your bottom line.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
QUESTION:
Running Lawn Care Business NO CLIENTS NEED HELP!!!?
Hi there names Josh
I am running a lawn car business thanks to grants I got from the goverment and I have posted ads given out aleast 600 flyers and still not one call.I need help I don't get why I haven't gotten atleast one call
and How can I attract more people to use my service?-
ANSWER:
My best guess would be that it is midway through summer and people who use a lawncare service usually select their companies in the late winter early spring
Having worked for many seasonal business my suggestion for marketing is at least 2 months before the season kicks off
Better luck next year
-
-
QUESTION:
What tools would i need to start a successful lawn care business? And how do i attract customers?
I'm looking to start a business in lawn care and landscaping. I know all the tools i need and have them for concrete work. But im also looking to get into retaining walls, mulch beds, blue prints for landscaping, decks and patios, mowing, and of course any other odds and ends. I love doing the work, and im also unsure on how to attract customers without spending huge money on advertisting. Essentially im wondering what tools and equpiment i will need to run a successful business.-
ANSWER:
first you can go to Sears or tractor supply and get a whole truck full of supplies like weedeaters and bush clippers.then start out and do you friends lawn to make sure you do an awesome job then you send out flyers and get you friend to tell thier friends and soon you will have a business on the lawn.
-
-
QUESTION:
Me and a friend are starting up a Summer Landscaping/Lawn Care business. How much should we charge?
For the basic mowing lawns and doing weed whacking around the yard, what would be a good base price for running a serious summer lawn service business with a friend of mine? Are there other calculations we would need to include? (Labor, yard sizes, gas for the mowers?)-
ANSWER:
You did mean to say my friend and I, didn't you?
Prices for lawn care vary widely depending on your area. Obviously you can not charge as much as a pro. Call some local places and ask what they would charge for a lawn. Give them the size of the lawns in your area and then decide what you think is fair. I think would be the minimum.
Of course you need to take into account labor, the size of the yard (you need to know how long it will take so you can schedule your day appropriately). You need to consider both gas for the mower and the gas for your vehicle to get from job to job. You might want to consider some liability insurance just in case you run over someone's prize winning roses.
Try to get your customers on a repeating schedule IE: every week or two so you can spend your time doing the work and not trying to find more clients. Good luck!
-
-
QUESTION:
tips for starting lawn care business?
i am 15 years old and want to start my own lawn care business. i have about 3 years of experience doing yard work so i know how to do all the manual work but i just want some tips on how i should run it should i heir some help etc.this year i just have a self propelled mower ,weed eater, blower but i am hoping to save up and get a riding lawn mower and trailer next year so i can do more lawns
like i said i have all the equepment i need for the first year and the second year all im geting is a used lawn mower(500)and a trailer(500-700) and i am defenaltly not hiering help the first year-
ANSWER:
Here you go.
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Start-a-Lawn-Care-Business&id=976727
-
-
QUESTION:
How to start a lawn care business?
I am 15 and I want to make a lot of money this summer, of course I could try to find a job but not many people will hire a 15 year old boy. So in return i thought up starting a lawn care business, the company will limit it self to mostly mowing, and weeding, with the occasional other jobs around the yard. I have asked a few guys if the want in and they all seem pretty intrested but how can i ensure they wont back out? if i loss them the business goes bell up considering i have no equipment but i will be running the show, and the business side of it. Also whats a good price for mowing and weeding, i want to be able to beat all other services, any help would be great, thanks.-
ANSWER:
Don't worry about the other guys, go into this as if it really is gonna be just you. If they back out, then you won't be left having to mow 15 yards a day by yourself.The price is variable; the bigger the property, the more you can safely charge. I wouldn't go so far as to get exact square footage, that would be too tedious, but anything that will take more than an hour to finish you could probably add an extra per 20 minutes over an hour to your normal rate. So if it's an hour, let's say you charge (just an example!). But if you mow for an hour and 40 minutes, you could charge the initial , then another for the 40 minutes. in less than 2 hours isn't bad money!
-
No related posts.