There are many factors to consider when choosing a lawn care service provider and no single aspect should determine that decision, specifically price. The most important thing to do first gather facts:
- What is being quoted?
- What is the purpose of the program?
- Why are they recommending it?
- Why do they use the products that they do?
- Do they research new products or use the same old stuff?
- What specific problems does your property have and are they being addressed?
- What exactly is included with the program?
- How many times are they on the property?
- Who is on the property?
- When are they there?
- Will they be treating the whole property or spot treating?
- Are the measurements which determine the cost accurate?
- Do they have a full money back guarantee or do they only give you back the last application?
- Who is the owner?
- Where are they located?
- Do they have a call centre?
- Do they auto-renew or are you in control of what happens on your property?
These are just a few questions to help you get started. Most of the questions directly relate to the over all cost of a seasonal lawn care program. However, the direct tangible economic costs which affect the results of a program are based on the following:
- # of schedules applications
- # of scheduled site inspections
- amount of product being applied
- quality of products being applied
These play a large part of the overall cost, but they do not guarantee results. And the whole point of having a service provider is RESULTS!
This lawn had 2 spring applications of weed control, 2 fertilizers (spring and fall), fall aerating, fall over-seeding and fall micro soil stimulation.
Although results are appear to be the most important factor when paying for ANY service not just lawn services…Have you ever heard of a company not being able to send an invoice because they ran out of paper? More on that story in the next post…the intangible costs.