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this question keeps coming up over the last 10 or so years with some heated arguments as to cut no matter what or to leave it,.what did you do last summer ? its not too bad if the customer gives you a few days notice so you can book in other work a good customer will find you somthing else to do
The simple answer is to put the customers on annual contracts, paid in equal monthly installments. Most customers like the system as it evens out their spending - they also maybe end up with a better service.
if you agree an annual quota of visits then thats what the custmer agreed. If the grass isnt growing on one visit why not spend the same amount of time spraying liquid seaweed over the lawn ? I.e. you are being employed over a set amount of visits to cut and care for the lawn - you cut when it needs cutting and spray a care product when not growing ?
A good enough reason as you need to diversify and offer complementary services, or you end up being straight-jacketed and unable to respond to changing weather conditions, customer whims etc.
Ultimately it has to be a business decision ( which is why we are in this job to basically enjoy work.....along with making money and enjoying life )
I don’t know what part of the country you are in, but here in north Derbyshire there isn’t much sign of the grass slowing down. It has been both hot and wet recently which has moved the grass on quite a bit.
I only ever had one domestic customer that used to say it didn’t need doing on the odd occasion, but I sacked them.
You get long ends etc. and although short, the grass still benefits form a cut and looks far better than being left.
The trouble is that although the grass may not be as long as it usually is when it’s time to cut, it will have grown to some extent. So if you miss one cut, the next cut will probably take more time and effort as the grass will be longer than it should have been.
So you not only lose out on the income from the missed cut, but you then have to work harder for the income off the next cut.
I don’t hear anyone offering to pay us more in late spring for the extra work involved when the grass has grown much longer between cuts.
Perhaps this should be the message to customers. ‘We won’t charge you more when the grass has grown a lot, if you don’t ask us to miss a cut when the grass has grown only a little’.
Hi Andrew,
I feel your pain. I would agree with both Dan and Gary .Hedge cutting is one obvious outlet to get you through these difficult months if work dries up, sorry for the pun...
Best
Paul
I very much doubt that. As Gary says, diversify so there's always other work you can do in their gardens when the grass isn't growing. If the grass hasn't grown, it really is perfectly reasonable for them to cancel the grasscut in my opinion.
It is a frustrating scenario, I always wonder to myself how would they feel if they showed up at work one morning for the boss to tell them he doesn’t need them and send them home with no pay!
It is Adam,
But if the people are ok and you approach it sensitively you could enquire if there is other work that might fill that time just for the dry spell. It might come to nothing but it could work out..
Best
Paul
Thanks for all your responses.
There is no standard solution as all our businesses differ operationally.
I have two teams out just doing lawns each day and is a big chunk of our sales. Year contracts would be good option for me and save me a lot of time invoicing.
Rain due this week, so problem over.
Off to have a round of golf now.
Cheers guys