Snow pros have discovered that the best time to begin selling snow contracts is at the end of the winter, right after the winter season wraps up.
One of the most common complaints we hear from snow contractors is that their customers wait until the last minute to make decisions and sign contracts. They are chasing decision-makers into October (and in some cases November) to push them to make contract award decisions. Obviously, these late-stage decisions are no good for anyone since there is little time to procure equipment, hire and train staff, perform pre-season walkthroughs, etc.
However, as much as snow contractors complain about these late decisions, not all do something about it. Without disrupting the status quo, they will find themselves in the same predicament next fall: chasing decisions makers into October and even November. There is a better approach.
The better approach is to meet with your customers as the winter is wrapping up. The initial part of this conversation is all about getting feedback. How did we do? What could we have done better? What did we both learn this winter? Asking questions and listening establishes a foundation that may be built on for the next part of the conversation.
After obtaining feedback, a natural progression is to remind your customer that the contract is up for renewal (or in year 2 of 3 or whatever the case may be). This will lead into a conversation about renewing the contract. Is there something that needs to be tweaked in the contract before it’s ready for renewal? If so, what is it?
The goal of this discussion is ultimately to ask your customer to renew the contract right now. If not, why not? Why wait for several months? What value is there in delaying?
It may be helpful to point out that there are negative implications of delaying, such as the time and effort of having to revisit all of this again after time has passed and memories have faded. Why not just take care of the contract now while everything is top of mind?
Another negative implication of delaying is your ability to have certainty about whether you will be retained. This affects your ability to make equipment decisions, staffing decisions, material purchases, and more. Why would your customer put you in this position if they intend to retain you anyway? How does delay benefit them if it hurts you?
Finally, this discussion may lead to you discovering the reason for delay. It may be that your customer wants to shop around or needs to conduct a formal RFP process. The delay may be a warning or it may be a formality. Find out which it is.
Bottom line is that the end of the winter is when this discussion should occur, not in August or September!
Now go forth.
Phil
