Lawn Care Payments Options: Getting Clients to Pay You

Struggling with lawn care payment options from your clients? 

First off, you’re not alone.

This is an extremely common problem among business owners… especially lawn care business owners.

This article will show you:

• How to get your clients to pay you on time - every time
• What actions you can take to prevent future late or missed payments
• Practices that make your expectations clear to the clients - from day 1

These are some tips that’ll help you stop losing money, and nip this problem in the bud ASAP…

Terminate Lawn Care Services Immediately

So if your client has been paid and they’re not returning your calls, texts, or emails…

So what do you do?

Terminate all lawn care services immediately.

Chances are that they forgot to pay, but that they’re busy. 

Why Clients Sometimes Don’t Pay

Here’s the truth…

You deserve to be paid for services rendered WHEN services are rendered.

If they’re busy, and they’re not contacting you back, then you have every right to terminate their services… immediately.

What to Do

Send them a notice that once their outstanding charges are paid in full, services will resume. 

Unless your contract states otherwise, and you can drop the client, this decision is up to you. 

If you think they’ll do it again, DROP THEM.

Clients Who Communicate Their Circumstances

Now, if your client expressly communicates a situation with you - PRIOR TO THE DUE DATE - this is up to your discretion. 

Only you can make this judgment call because only you truly understand this situation.

Please keep in mind that you need to be fully prepared to lose that money, in case the client can’t pay.

Why This Topic Is So Important

Lots of lawn care owners allow invoices to build up to hundreds… even thousands of unpaid invoicing.

In the hopes the client will eventually pay, THEY STILL KEEP SERVICING THE PROPERTY. This is NOT a valuable use of your resources and just stop while you’re still ahead.

Create an Electronically-Signed Contract

It’s important to email your client a contract where they sign the estimate and the service agreement.

While this isn’t necessarily a legally binding contract, it sets the tone between you and your client. 

Once it’s completed, just email the estimate with a signed form at the bottom.

Also, I’d recommend setting up a template for this document and making it automated.

If you automate your follow-up process, your estimate will be emailed to the client instantly! 

This means WAY less work for you, because you won’t have to remember to do it later.

When you automate estimate emails:

• Ensures you don’t forget to send it
• It shortens the sign-up time
• It gets you money WAY faster
• You have a signed contract - so no one can argue the terms
• It communicates your expectations to the client
• Gives the client the opportunity to communicate their expectations
• Opens a line of communication between you and your lawn care client

It’s important to send estimates ASAP, because the more time you wait… the more likely they are to find another lawn care company.

There are several benefits to using Service Autopilot for this. You can:

• Create and customize your own forms and automations
• Add an electronically signed form at the bottom of your estimate
• Obtain the IP address, time, and location the document was signed
• Check the email open rates
• Monitor the email bounce rates
• Begin automated email campaigns - create them and let them run on their own, even while you sleep!

It’s important to start your relationship with your new lawn care clients the RIGHT way. You should make your expectations, prices, and anything else clear from day one which will make your clients more likely to pay on time.

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Follow Up

Following up is a HUGE aspect of maintaining good client communications. 

And it helps you get paid too

When you maintain follow-ups with your lawn care clients, you:

• Create a level of trust and intimacy
• Create an open form of communications
• Know how your team is doing
• Know how you can improve your services
• Lessen the likelihood of disgruntled clients
• Increase your client retention rate
• Your employees are happier - they know how they’re doing
• Your clients are happier - they’re being heard
• Open huge marketing opportunities - ask for reviews from your happiest clients!

The benefits on this list could go on… and on… and on. I can’t stress to you how important it is to follow up with your clients.

You should follow up after:

• An estimate is sent
• An estimate is accepted
• A service has been completed
• A client has complained or sent a bad review
• A client has submitted an awesome review

It’s so important to create a “friendship” of sorts with your lawn care clients. Following up is a huge part of that!

Have a Chat

After you’ve exhausted every means of communication trying to reach your client - and they still haven’t paid… you might just have to go talk to them in person.

Depending on the outstanding debt and value of the client, this action may or may not be beneficial to you.

If the outstanding debt is worth your time or they’re a high-value client, you should try to talk to them in person. 

When you go to the client’s home or commercial property, be sure you:

• Bring copies of the invoices
• Bring the contract they electronically signed
• Remain calm and collected
• Leave if the client becomes belligerent

For most of you, the outstanding debt isn’t worth seeking legal action. So this is your opportunity to not only keep your client - but actually get paid.

Lawn Care Payment Options: Credit Card

In the digital era, being able to accept credit cards and online payments is so important.

Clients Love Credit Cards

But when you have automated payment processing in place it makes it way easier to streamline payments for your clients.

Here's why most clients prefer automated payments with credit cards:

• Rewards: Many clients get rewards points, cash back, and other incentives from their credit card companies
• Convenience: Clients don't need to "remember" to pay as everything is automated for them

Implementing Payment Processing

Setting up payment processing can be complicated, but it doesn't have to be when you use Service Autopilot.

Here are a few ways you can get started with payment processing:

• Clear messaging: let your clients know that they can pay with credit cards directly on your site or through your portal
• Team training: Be sure that your team (in the office and the field) is communicating this new way for clients to pay

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Conclusion

In order for your lawn care clients to pay you on time (every time), you need to always have an open stream of communication.

And we’ve just shown you:

• How to get paid on time, every time
• What to do when a client misses a payment
• Preventative actions you can take to avoid missed or late payments
• Resources that’ll help you cultivate good relationships with your clients

Client relationships are literally everything. When they love you, they don’t want to leave. 

If you’re a client, they’re way more likely to communicate with you.

These tips will show you how to create and cultivate this relationship with your lawn care clients.

Related: The Best Way to Win Commercial Lawn & Landscaping Contracts

Originally published Mar 20, 2019, 8:28 AM updated on Mar 7, 2024, 9:50 AM