help me out with 2003 price raise!

[GrassBustersLawn]

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I agree with MASTER - dump the 2 year guarantee. You might end up regretting it in a BIG WAY. Also, I wouldn't offer a reason for needing an increase, but I would keep a couple of reasons ready in case a client calls and asks for one. Some good ones are:

1. Gas prices going up. Not only do you have the cost of gas for your mower, but for your truck to get you to your jobs. Mine only gets like 10 mpg while pulling a trailer. Clients don't think of that.

2. Insurance costs went up. EVERYONE can relate to that.

3. Maintenance costs for your equipment went up. Tell them that the mechanic that works on your mower gets $45 per hour just like the guy that works on their car.

The client sees that we are at their house for 1/2 an hour and get $25 to $40 bucks for that and think we are rolling in dough. I take every opportunity to explain that we have all the above mentioned expenses plus the thousands of dollars worth of mowers sitting on our trailer that allow us to do it in 1/2 an hour. Also, they don't see us changing oil and sharpening/changing blades on a daily basis.

Good Luck

[FeartheDeere]

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O.K. guys, I'll drop the 2 year gaurantee. Thanx for warning me of this. You're right that I can't expect to do a price raise of any more than 20-25% of the cost or I'll be pushing it.

GrassBustersLawn, You make O such a good point! One of my teachers was getting one of my classmates to mow her 5 acre lawn for only $20/hr. He wasn't informed of how to bid either, but anyway this customer thought she was getting ripped off because $20/hr was more than she makes. I tried to explain to her that we don't get all that equipment for free and it's definately not free to maintain the equipment and your business! Thank you guys for your advice.

Another question though, Does it aggravate cutomers much to have a price increase EVERY year until you're about where you need the price at?