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How a Lawn Care Estimate Works in Service Autopilot

Published on February 1, 2018

Since a lawn care estimate is one of the main ways to win new clients, it's important to streamline the creation and follow-up process using the #1 lawn care software.

By using the best lawn care software to create the perfect lawn care estimate and follow-up process, you can:

  • Ensure you're pricing for maximum profit
  • Automate an effective estimate follow-up process
  • Create quick, professional estimates from anywhere
  • Virtually measure properties accurately and give estimates by phone

By manually creating your own estimates, you're:

  • Allowing for mistakes where follow-ups can get lost and forgotten about
  • Wasting valuable time you could've saved to spend growing your business
  • Delaying the time it takes to follow up (allowing the client time to go with the competition)

Use this article to find out how to use Service Autopilot to streamline your lawn care estimate process and never miss another follow-up.

Done for you Estimate Template with built-in Pricing Calculator

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Price Services for Maximum Profitability

First, before you can create a lawn care estimate, you’ll first need to ensure your prices are set to meet profit goals.

In order to do so, you'll need to track time for EVERY client to determine how much profit each client is generating per hour.

Plus, Service Autopilot allows you to instantly check average time on jobs and profitability for each client. Which means, you don't have to spend countless hours crunching these numbers on your own.

As a result, you can create quick, confident estimates which maximize profitability.

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Creating the Perfect Lawn Care Estimate

After working out your pricing, it's time to create the perfect lawn care estimate with winning sales copy that's sure to increase conversions.

If you don't have Service Autopilot for estimate creation, here's how to use the free template we've given you:

1. Input Information on Your Services

After downloading the estimate template, input the relevant square footage for each service. However, if all of your services work off turf square footage, this number could be the same for all of them.

Keep in mind, there are tables on the second worksheet that compute your rate based on your Client Size table.

Next, all services rates are added together, and the total is the bolded number at the bottom of the column.

2. Customize the Template With Business Information

Within the Rate Matrix Information table, there are six simple tables. Each row within the table means from “0” to “1000” square feet the rate is “$30.”

You can edit this table to include all price breakdowns by square footage.

Although, make sure to increase the next row’s starting value by 1. Keep in mind, none of the cells in a table should have the same number, or it’ll break the formula.

Also, don't forget to upload your contact information, company logo, and service names/descriptions into the sheet. In most cases, this is as easy as clicking on the relevant field and editing the text.

By the way, here's how to insert your logo into cell A1 of the template:

  1. Click the location you'd like to upload the picture
  2. Insert > Pictures
  3. Select This Device
  4. Browse the picture you want to insert, select it > Open

Remember, you must first delete the placeholder logo in cell A1 before inserting your company logo.

3. Present the Client With the Quote

Now, you’ve customized your estimate template and you're ready to prepare a quote for the client.

Step 1: Add Contact and Size Information

Start by creating a copy of your template. In your file explorer, right click on the template and click “Copy.” Then, in the same folder, you can right click again and click “Paste.”

Input the date, the client’s name and address, and the relevant square footage into the template. This will automatically compute the rates on the sheet.

If you're quoting fewer than six services and don’t need to use a line, simply delete the text from its text box and delete the formula in its rate cell.

Step 2: Tweak Sales Copy for Specific Clients

You can choose to personalize the sales copy we provided or write your own.

Step 3: Send

Go to File > Print. Make sure it prints as a single page. You can select the PDF option here to save the quote as a PDF to email to the client or you can physically print and mail the quote to the potential client.

Automations is the  #1 way to follow up  with clients. If you’re not using it, your business might still be successful - but it won’t grow. 

Start Automations Tour

In Service Autopilot, our automations send emails and texts to:​

Every lead after an estimate is completed
Clients after their property has been serviced​
Remind leads and clients to send you customer feedback​
Update outdated or declined payment information​
Inform them when a service can’t be completed due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. weather)​
Remind them of maintenance tips (i.e. putting a cover on the outdoor faucet before the winter)​
Start Automations Tour

The Power of a Lawn Care Estimate in Service Autopilot

While the lawn care estimate we've given you is fantastic, it's still only second-best to an estimate created in Service Autopilot.

Imagine if you could create an even better estimate using the #1 lawn care software:

  • From anywhere
  • In less than 5 minutes
  • With an automated follow-up campaign
  • With automatically tracked campaign results for easy review

Your time is valuable, and you can't afford to make mistakes by forgetting estimates.

Service Autopilot saves countless hours of your time by automating the entire lawn care estimate creation and follow-up process.

Grow Your Lawn Care Business... Faster 
(and with Less Stress)​

Instant invoicing

Better scheduling

Manage your clients and employees all in one system

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Close the Deal With a Professional Lawn Care Estimate

Creating the perfect lawn care estimate and follow-up process is as simple as equipping yourself with the best lawn care software.

Using Service Autopilot, you'll have the power to:

  • Virtually measure properties with precision
  • Generate instant, accurate estimates from anywhere
  • Implement an automated follow-up process for every estimate

Now, you know how Service Autopilot can help you quickly convert more clients by creating the perfect lawn care estimate with an automated follow-up process.


Related: Create an Instant Lawn Care Estimate That Sells


Originally published Feb 1, 2018 5:34 PM, updated July 13, 2022 8:15 AM

Owen

Cody is a copywriter with Service Autopilot. He was writing before he could read, dictating stories to his mom. Of late, he distills business principles and practices learned from his ever-increasing trove of books and his year with SA Support into digestible blog posts designed to provide maximum value to service industry business owners.
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