Attend a Demo and Win a FREE Yeti Cooler! Get Details
As the cost of doing business rises, your lawn care prices should be adjusted accordingly.
Although, the fear of losing clients shouldn't keep you from raising lawn care prices. Naturally, your lawn care prices should increase when costs rise.
Even though the loss of some clients is inevitable, there are a few ways you can keep clients and help prevent them from leaving.
This article will show you how to increase lawn care prices and decrease the chances of clients leaving for the competition.
Naturally, business costs rise every year, which causes lawn care prices to also increase.
Although, with the recent labor shortage, the cost of doing business has spiked. In addition, the rising costs of materials, equipment, and transportation have lead to even more massive spikes in cost.
All of these factors coupled with an increase in demand has forced many lawn care businesses to choose between two options:
More than ever, during these times regular re-evaluations in lawn prices need to be performed.
As a result, these price re-evaluations will help you determine your current break-even point - allowing your lawn care business to meet necessary profit goals.
However, it's important not to copy or closely compare your lawn care prices to the competition.
Remember, with the wide pricing variances, it's more important to factor in average local and state costs.
By raising lawn care prices at the right time of year, you can reduce the likelihood of losing clients to the competition.
By far, the worst time of year to increase lawn care prices is during the busy selling season. Depending on your area, this is likely around spring selling season.
Remember, the competition is aching to leap at the chance to steal your clients.
Which means, the competition likely is already trying to poach them with flyers, business cards, targeted social media ads, Google Ads, and any other tactic they can think concoct.
In turn, if you can avoid it, you don't want to give clients a reason to leave you when the competition is already breathing down their throats for a quick sale.
Although, there are instances where a price increase during peak selling season is unavoidable.
For instance, if an unprofitable client is causing you to hemorrhage money, then you'll have to increase their price.
However, in this scenario, it would actually help your business for a highly unprofitable client to leave for the competition.
While you should always try to avoid increasing lawn care prices during the busy selling season, these are a few of the best times to raise it:
After all, one of the best times to raise lawn care prices is when the competition likely is already too busy to poach your clients.
Plus, when you raise lawn care prices at the end of the busy season, many clients will often forget about the increase altogether.
Prior to rolling out a new increase onto your entire client base, it's important to first increase prices onto your least profitable clients.
In turn, you can use your least profitable clients to test out the process and improve it.
As a result, if you lose your least profitable clients while perfecting the process, it won't hurt the business as much as losing profitable clients would.
To start, re-evaluate all of your accounts and calculate their profitability. Next, compare it to your profit goals to see if they meet the necessary criteria.
In addition, this process is simplified, quick, and easy using Service Autopilot. Use the #1 lawn care software to quickly evaluate client prices and profitability.
At last, you don't have to throw away endless hours tracking down files and crunching numbers to calculate the profitability of your clients!
All of your clients affected by the price increase should receive a letter explaining the reasoning behind the price change.
It's important to use your price increase letter to help clients understand why their prices are going up.
Plus, it gives you the opportunity to reassure them that this price increase secures their continued high-quality lawn care services.
[insert lawn care business logo]
Dear [Client Name],
Due to rising economic factors, [Lawn Care Business Name] will be adjusting our prices soon.
Our billing reflects the labor, equipment, maintenance, fuel, office/billing expenses, and other various costs, which make up the price of our services.
In order to continue providing you with the highest-quality lawn care services you deserve, our lawn care price for [insert client's lawn care service agreement] will increase to $XX.XX on Month Day, Year.
We will continue to invest in the best materials, equipment, and training available to us. This will allow us to send the best lawn care professionals to your property.
We're continuing our commitment to a complete satisfaction guarantee. If you're not 100% satisfied with your lawn care services, then we will return, free of charge to resolve the issue.
As always, call our office at XXX-XXX-XXXX with any questions, comments, concerns, or updates to your scheduled services.
Sincerely,
[Lawn Care Business Owner Name]
[Lawn Care Business Owner Signature]
Instant invoicing
Better scheduling
Manage your clients and employees all in one system
Once you've sent the price increase letter to your least profitable clients first, you'll want to test it on a small number of profitable ones.
You can easily determine the success of the price increase process by simply sending email and text surveys. Next, use this feedback to improve the price increase process for your most profitable clients.
In addition, using Service Autopilot Automations, you can send automated surveys, via email or two-way texting, to receive feedback.
Remember, the best way to ensure all profit goals are being met on a weekly and monthly basis is to regularly evaluate your lawn care prices.
Also, it's important not to be afraid to increase prices on unprofitable or minimally profitable clients.
Keep in mind, it's better to lose a few unprofitable clients than to throw away valuable resources, which could've been spent on more profitable clients.
Raising your prices doesn't have to be intimidating or overly complex. Start using these effective strategies today to raise lawn care prices without losing clients!
Related: Lawn Care Pricing: How Much to Charge for Your Services
Originally published Feb 2, 2017 1:54 PM, updated Jan 19, 2022 11:44 AM
Tags: Business Operation
