Help bidding snow removal

Need some help from you snow guys. I am bidding a total summer and winter package. The guy wants one price for everything and pay the same amount all twelve months. How do I bid for the snow removal and salting without knowing how much and how often to expect snow? The lawn care will run about $12,600 and I would hate to lose this by overpricing the snow removal. Thought about subbing it out, but would hate for it not to be done correctly and lose the account for something out of my control. Any help would be greatly appreciated.By the way, this is in Indiana

 

Hey Rider 1000, how about trying to sell the person a 8-10 month contract on lawn care and then a 3-4 month contract starting in december for snow removal.

its hard to say exactly how much snow you are going to get in Indy. Being from dayton, we are in about the same situation. If he really wants a monthly on snow then i would research back and find the average snowfall for indy for the past 15 years. Say it is 30 inches. Then say your contract says you plow when there is 2" on the ground. Then you charge him for 15 pushes ? and 15 saltings ?

He would probably say well it doesnt snow that much around here. I dont really know since all of our contracts our on per time. I will say that i would add to those figures a little and also put in a clause that lets you charge for additional work after you have gone over 15 pushes.

These guys up north where it really snows might be able to help you more. I dont think i could sell a seasonal contract in Dayton Ohio.

 

If you aren't sure about how much snow there will be do like Earth Works said and sell them a separate contract for snow. Instead of a seasonal price, price the snow by the plow or by inches, and then price the salt out per aplication. The other guys on here will have some better ideas on exactly how to set it up.

 

I would just give the customer a price for the lawn and/or landscape maintanence and then do the snow by a per snow event plowing(dusting to 3", 4" to 6", etc) and salting/de-icer per application. It would be a lot easier and take some of the guess work out of it.

 

bidding snow

Rider,
Try to sell the customer 2 contracts first if he insists on monthly for snow plowing and scaping then I would go two ways about it either shoot for the stars on the price and explain to the customer that you can not predict acts of god and that you need to protect yourself in the event of a bad winter.(I have had many customers change their thought on that when I quote them that price.) Option 2 if customer insists and you don't want to lose the job plow the place on a monthly basis, but charge the customer for the saltings. You know everytime it snows that you are going to have to salt. Your profit margin for the salt will cover any kind of loss that you have for snowplowing. I have contracts like this and it works out very well. Of course tell your customer that that his monthly contract is for a truck only, and in the event of a big storm that heavy equipment is extra. my method for figuring monthly deals is usually 15 plowings divided by five.my winter contracts are five months. Explain to the customer that their is no way you can determine how much salt you will need over the season.

 

WE have several accounts like this.I agree with the other guys also.I feel that the customer might be looking for ONE contractor to do everything,but might agree with 2 contracts.
It could be done with one price for everything,but you need to find out how much snow you get a year,freezing rain,etc.
Also to be fare to everyone this should be a minimum of a 3 year contract.
P.S.Maybe ask some contractors for prices for the season to get some idea what it might cost.Don't be afraid to ask your customer what he is paying now!
Good Luck

 

You arrived at the lawn care figure in pretty good order. Use the same idea for snow removal. Get some background on snow amount and frequency, add a certain amount for CYA, and present in the format he wants. I agree on salt being an add-on. If your customer wants a single reliable monthly cost payment, look at it as an opportunity for a steady income. We don't get that too often in this business. If that's what he wants then he'll pay for it. Thats how your local truck dealer sells those $40K trucks, you swallow it by monthly reliable payments .

 

Ride give me a call at 860-859-0739
I have many of these types of contracts and will happy to walk you through it.
Dino