How to bid on Commercial Accounts

[J & J's Lawn]

Hello,

I need some advice on a few things about Commercial Accounts. Namely, How do I bid, how much to charge and where to begin to find the accounts.

I am new to the Lawn Servicing, but I'm not. My Great Grandfather started a side lawn business and it has passed down to my Grandfather and my Father. The problem for me is that not one of them decided to make this a full time legitimate business. It was always a side thing for them as it for me now, but I want to make this my fulltime business. I had a Grand total of 62 accounts for this season with 42 of them currently active. I have been reading alot of postings and figured that you guys could help me out. I want some commercial accounts!!! I think that is what is needed for me to take my Lawn service to another level. Don't get me wrong, the Residential business is okay, but I don't make even a third of the money that I see other companies making. Please help me out on what to do. I want to start preparing now for next season!!!

Thanks,

Jason

[Team Gopher]

Hi J & J's Lawn,

We put together a free booklet on how to get commercial accounts and marketing secrets. Feel free to download it. I hope it will be helpful.

[J & J's Lawn]

Thank you!!

[beano]

Dont underbid yourself, its better to not get a job and make money somwhere else than rather to be stuck in a contract where your making just a few dollars per hour.

[SOMM]

In almost 2 decades of our operations, with assorted commercial accounts of banks (until they're bought out by other banks, and added onto the parent bank's LCO), condo's( a snow removal nightmare) hotels, strip malls, & warehouses, there's a few things the commercial properties or facilities managers like to hear and see:

1) at least a million bucks worth of G/L - general liability insurance (should cost you no more than slightly over $110 per month), that your insurance company can fax a certificate directly to the decision maker.

2) if you run a crew outside of just yourself - Workman's Comp. Insurance. In many states -check wth yours- you can avoid being locked onto your state's "WC-bandwagon" (that you can seemingly never get off of, once you're on it) by letting a reputable temp-labor agency do all your Fed,State, Local Tax, & Workers Comp. payroll deductions for your crew, as they are in business to have negotiated better WC rates than you can, in many cases. You conduct your (experienced crew leader from the competition, friend, or relative) new laborer's interview-process, get their full and middle name/ date of birth/ and driver's license#(not social sec.# !!) -INFO, give your new recruit the next business day to report to get signed up at the temp-labor agency, then just call-ahead to the temp-labor agency the same business day you interviewed your new recruit with INFO (so they can do police records check, prior arrival to advise you, if you desire) , and let them know that (name of) new recruit will be showing up to get signed up tomorrow.

3) (It's all about Route Sales & efficiencies) All commercial property or facilities mangers like to hear: "as we start our day and as we finish our day - Our ______(Actual Name Of Route: side of town, county, location of actual prospective commercial account) Commercial Route is always in proximity to your prestigious facilities! When you call _______(your company name) for any concern up to and including 3 pm that same business day - we will be there that same day to personally address your concern, or if we get the message after 3pm, we'll be there for your concern first thing next business am!

4) What to charge : (Always feature snow removal on a seperate written agreement) Always give them a choice of options on your, mutually-signed, written maintenance agreements(contract): One Year, Two Year, etc.(always leave them a 60-90 written cancellation-option, if you can't make things right to their specs, so they don't "whipsaw" you with immediate cancellation!) (always featuring an amount equal to at least 4-6 mowings or 1.5 months as "Contract Damage Forfeiture" so your commercial contract will always have teeth enough to recoup your losses in Small Claims Court if they try and "whipsaw" you); Per Occurrence, Seasonal Add-Ons Per Occurrence, or Monthly Managed Billing (same monthly price for all your necessary maintenance products/services). Always feature a stiff returned check surcharge amount of about 2.5 times of what your bank will charge you, including specific late-fees. Consider including "Recovery Surcharges" for degree-of-difficulty issues with steep or obstructed areas, excessive irrigation(without rain gauges - ask them if their irrigation system shuts itself off during rainfall), storm recovery, overgrowth and encroaching wildgrowth.
Because you're dealing with "what's in it for me?", "numbers" kind of people: always try to avoid whole-dollar figure$/ number$ on your invoices, and always add on some cent$ - it shows more thoughtfulness and that you care enough to put a "sharp pencil" to their account's invoices( $89.61 always looks and sounds better than $90 ). Always indicate on the agreement and on their invoices a Prompt-Payment Discount Amount (of at least 2.8 to 5.5 % discount) ONLY IF remittance is received by your company on or before a specific date, as this will speed their cash to you!