Lay the foundation

Running a successful lawn care program isn’t just about spreading fertilizer or chemicals on a client’s property. It takes preparation to make sure your team has the right equipment and training, as well as a strong relationship with clients. Here are a few tips to get the most out of a lawn care program this year:

Start early. A successful start to the spring lawn care season begins in the middle of winter for the team at Landscape Enterprise in Salem, Virginia, says co-owner Darrell Hungate. Right after Thanksgiving, the company sends out written renewal contracts to all clients, then follows up on them after the holidays.

“We give them 60 days to renew,” Hungate says. “That gives them through the Christmas holiday, but also gives plenty of time for them to think about it, or for us to call, if they have any questions or want any add-ons.”

Hungate’s team also sends out newsletters summing up the year to the client, to remind them of the crew’s hard work and the value of the service. Since his 15 employees are assigned to particular properties, each newsletter can be personalized to the client.

As the only major employee (besides a long-term temp) at Wunsch’s Lawn Care in Willows, California, Brian Wunsch often visits clients directly and talks to them face-to-face about renewals.

He generally waits until after Christmas to talk about contracts, because “everybody’s got their mind somewhere else with the holidays,” he says, but continues the discussion through February if necessary.

Get ready. As renewal contracts go out in December, employees at J. Rick Lawn & Tree in North Dakota and Colorado are already preparing equipment for the spring lawn care season. The end of fall means cleaning and close inspection of equipment.

“Over the winter, whatever we determined needed repaired or replaced was done,” says Jon Rick, owner of the company. “We want to make sure we don’t have a problem out in the field where a hose bursts. A small problem can create a larger problem.”

The preparation includes updating any MSDS sheets to be kept in the truck, and checking spill kits to make certain the crew is ready in case anything should go wrong.

As clients renew or update their services, Wunsch takes time before the start of the season to revise his square footage numbers to make sure he has the right equipment and products to cover the properties. Though he’s been applying fertilizer for the past few years, this year he’s started offering chemical applications as well, which means building a new pricing structure.

He used a breakdown of the additional material cost per thousand square feet, but modified the price to cut out some overhead since he would already be on the property for maintenance. When he talked with clients for renewals, he made it a point to share how they were saving money by bundling services.

By Feb. 1, Rick has updated numbers for renewed and new customers finalized for applications starting in mid-March.

With those totals, Rick is able to use early order programs to save money on applications and ensure the first few weeks of the season run smoothly.

“We do early order for our chemical and fertilizer to make sure we’re stocked up for at least 8-10 weeks into the spring, so we don’t hurt production waiting on product,” he says.

Rick sets aside time at work to walk his employees through the company policy manual to establish expectations for the job and for clients before the first crews go out.

He also takes his employees out and physically walks them through an application on one of his properties before the season starts, “just to make sure everyone’s on the same page on procedure and processes,” he says.

The author is a freelance writer based in Ohio.

For more on spring prep, see the March issue of Lawn & Landscape magazine.