Probably a 1/3rd of my new clients have said it when I meet them to provide an estimate. They tell me, “I had a guy taking care of the place but then I never heard from him again.” The client is upset because out of loyalty they have waited for their service provider, meanwhile, the grass has continued to grow getting out of control. Whatever the reason, a simple 5-minute phone call is all is a service provider needs to do to resolve these situations. So why do so many lawn services just disappear?

Under Bidding

At one point in time, every lawn mowing service has done this. The newer the company the more frequent these mistakes occur, however, under the pressure of maintaining numerous properties despite rain, heat and estimates, even established companies have their off days where mistakes can happen. Professionalism is critical here.

Two scenarios can come from this:

Scenario 1: Often the owner of the company struggles to open a line of discussion and avoids what they fear may be confrontation of pricing. Next, they accept another job at a higher price and quit showing up to the job they under bid. With no notice provided the homeowner assumes their lawn mowing service is going to show up the scheduled day, maybe even waits an additional week wondering what may have happened. As this process drags on the lawn begins to get out of control.

Scenario 2: A professional lawn mowing service will recognize the job was under priced within the first couple of mowing’s. Being an honest company, they will only charge the estimated price for the work they have already completed, however, they will bring up the issue for the need to raise the price for future services and provide an adjusted price for the job moving forward. At this point the homeowner can make an informed decision on how they want to proceed with their lawn maintenance with plenty of time to decide before the lawn is out of control.

Over Scheduling

In Hot Springs Arkansas, lawn mowing service providers have six to seven months to acquire most of their yearly wages. While they will get various leaf removal jobs, mulching jobs, spring clean ups, fall clean ups, and pruning jobs, the mowing season represents a significant portion of their annual earnings. Its no doubt then that all lawn services want to have as many clients on their list as possible. In a perfect lawn service providers world, it would NEVER rain, and the grass would continue to grow normally despite this. In the real world the weather will often only permit three to four working days in the rainy spring season. Here also I’ll present two different scenarios.

Scenario 1: The mowing service schedule a full five days a week of work to maximize their weekly earnings. When it rains them out what they can’t get done either gets done on the weekend disturbing the clients relax time or get skipped that week together. If the client is weekly it will get overgrown but can be worked in the following week. If it rains enough this can happen despite the best laid plans, however, it shouldn’t be considered normal. If the lawn is a every other week job, there may or may not be room in the following weeks over packed schedule. Before you know it, jobs can be a month out and notices from the city of Hot Springs Arkansas begin showing up in client’s mailboxes notifying them they need to mow their properties or face a fine.

Scenario 2: Another option is for a lawn service to fill their routes for three to four days a week. On sunny rain free weeks this allows an extra day each week to keep up with shrubbery and other projects for their clients. On weeks where it seems to rain daily it adds the extra time needed that week to ensure each lawn is taken care of in a timely manner.

New business struggles and side hustles

Many new lawn service providers have yet to learn the cost of being in business. At first, they may think they are making good money and quickly fill their routes at lower than normal pricing. Often a few months in they discover their residential mower can’t handle the abuse of all-day everyday mowing in the blistering Hot Springs Arkansas summers. Then they recognize the need for general liability insurance due to a broken window or commercial auto insurance after a collision. If any of these issues don’t force the fledgling lawn service out of business, they quickly discover the need to raise their rates to stay in business. A professional lawn service has learned the ropes so to speak and knows what to charge to stay in business, provide for their families and employees, all while providing a quality service at a fair price to their customers.

So how do you find a professional lawn service?

· Any professional lawn service will have general liability insurance.

· Most professional lawn services will have invested in making a website.

· Ask them how long they have been in business, it takes a couple of years to lose the training wheels so to speak.

· Always ask for photos of their work. From these you can see not only the quality of past projects they’ve done but also how professional they are as a business owner. Any professional lawn service will already have examples of their work available to potential clients during the estimating process.

· While equipment doesn’t say everything about a lawn service the truck and the mowers on the trailer should appear to be dependable and maintained.

If one keeps these points in mind when hiring a lawn service in the Hot Springs area it shouldn’t be to difficult to pick out the professional lawn services from the other guys.

Zach Poole

Advance Lawn Care

501-617-2773