By David Crary 
Competition is getting fierce in the lawn maintenance business. Trying to win the client by offering the lowest bid is becoming less and less palatable. Keep your profit margins up and win the most new accounts by employing these 5 lawn-maintenance bidding tips:
1. Pre-qualify potential clients
Don’t waste your time bidding on accounts that don’t fit your company’s capabilities and strengths. Increase your closing ratio by only bidding on accounts that appear to be a good fit. This means you have to pin down what your company is going to specialize in and focus on doing high quality, productive work in that area. Ask potential clients what they are looking for in their service provider. If they are only concerned about rock-bottom prices and you specialize in premium quality, then don’t waste your time making a bid. Also, ask for location, size and use (retail, HOA, etc.) to make sure they fit well with your company.
2. Impress with your quality
You can’t run a successful business without a healthy profit margin. Make yourself more valuable to your clients by providing excellent customer service and high quality service. Don’t place your value in being the cheapest service in town because that will drive your profit margins down further and further every time somebody offers a better price. Emphasize the quality of your work and your excellent customer service in the bid, providing testimonials and pictures of top properties. Some companies will even have potential clients meet them at the nicest properties they manage to give them a tour and explanation of what they do that puts them above the competition. The point is to make the bid about how much happier you will make the customer compared to the other guys, instead of letting it be about how much you will charge.
3. Educate on specifics
To develop your bid, visit the property and take notes on exactly what will be required. Take note of problem areas like ditches or obstructed areas where riding mowers can’t be used. Write out exactly what you will do and why you will chose one method over another. When presenting your bids, educate potential clients how your company will perform the work, so customers will understand the costs associated with your services. Show them how you will help them avoid costly problems down the road. Teach them ways to save on lawn care, like fertilizing grass in the fall to encourage root growth when top growth won’t go crazy. It may be helpful to present your bids in person at the client’s home or office. This lets you control how the information is presented and forges a relationship with potential customers that makes it easier for them to choose you since now they know you already.
4. Hold your ground
Unfortunately, many customers today are just looking for the cheapest possible price and won’t care how awesome you are. Let these customers fall to the little startup companies who have to charge low rates to actually win accounts. If you have established yourself as a leading, quality company, don’t falter into the game of lowering your price into ranges that aren’t up to your company’s profit standards. When existing customers come to you and ask if there is a way to lower the price, work with them to find ways to save them money without eating the cost yourself- maybe you can skip 2 mowings in late summer when the grass grows less, maybe they can skip 1 fertilization this year, etc. Work with your bookkeeper and field service software to know what costs are associated with each service you offer. Then you can promote more highly profitable services and know when to say “no” to low-ball offers.
5. Follow up
It’s important to ask the client upon bidding when the final decision will be made. This may change, but at least you will have a rough idea. You can usually wait about 1 week from when you turned in the bid to when you call. When you call, simply ask if they’ve made a decision yet about your bid. Ask them if there are any additional questions they have regarding your bid or services. Many businesses will follow up three or four times until they get an answer. If you don’t win the bid, ask why and how much your offer differed from the winning bid. Take notes and rebid next year. Just make sure you are presenting your company as professional and courteous.
Bidding effectively is essential to running a successful lawn-maintenance business. It may be one of the most difficult parts of the business, but if you use the tips above, you can get in the groove of creating great bids every time. With thorough planning and proper time investment, you can bid well and win all the accounts you need to keep your lawn-maintenance business running and growing strong.
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