What percentage are you increasing your existing accounts annually?

[justmjc]

How much of an increase are you tacking on to your existing customers? I've been following about 4%.

Mike

[Rustic Goat]

Don't see how you can have a set % increase. Any increase should be dependent on the increase of overhead cost factors, unless you're making up for bidding errors.

[maple city]

> What percentage are you increasing your existing accounts annually?

If you increase your customers annually, you won't have them for long. Do you want the services you use to increase your price every year? I don't. If you bid correctly, you shouldn't have to increase very often. Our last price increase was when the gas prices shot up.

The market value for lawn care (in our area) seems to be going down. Factors like lowballers, poor job market, and too many LCO's have made this a difficult area to make decent money. If you are lucky enough to get faithful customers, you don't do things like increase their prices every year. There are many other comapnies that will do the job for less than what you charge.

[Runner]

Exactly... every few years or so, they may see a couple of bucks, but it doesn't happen often, and it doesn't happen straight across the board. there are always different term and factors for each customer. That's the sad thing about this biz... there are places that I did 15 years ago that are paying what they paid me then. I even have some places that are only paying maybe ten bucks difference (like from 25 to 35) in all that time. One is loyalty, and two, is the fact that THAT is all the market will bare. There are just too many hum-drums out there who will come in for 20-25 bucks TODAY!

[Phil Nilsson]

If you want to get out from "under" low price pressures ... rise up to the larger market where there are fewer players. For example ... what small company could handle complete grounds maintenance for a huge facility consisting of hundreds of acres ... like total grounds care for a University or a military installation?

Phil