The “Ins and Outs” of Lawn Aeration Pt 1 of 2
July 7, 2021 – Episode 24
Join Frank in studio as he discusses the “ins and outs” of lawn aeration with his production manager, Bobby, In this first part of a two part podcast, Frank discusses with Bobby some of the challenges he dealt with as he just finished up the late spring schedule of their lawn aeration process.
Lawn Care Frank:
Have you ever thought about offering lawn aeration? Today we are going to talk about the ins and outs of lawn aeration and how it can be profitable for your business.
Announcer:
Welcome to the Lawn Care Frank Podcast! Where we help lawn care professionals, like yourself, start and grow their business. By tackling obstacles such as finding customers, hiring talented people, spreading brand awareness, and much much more. And now your host…Lawn Care Frank.
Frank:
What’s going on lawn care pros? So today we’re going to talk about some of the challenges that we face as entrepreneurs when we plan everything and things just don’t go right. So today we kinda finished up our lawn aeration for the season. At least the spring lawn aeration. We’re gonna do another fall lawn aeration, possibly so. For the spring lawn aeration we generally try to get that done in April/May. We don’t want to try to extend it out any further than that. And this year was kind of challenging because in April and especially in May we had tons of rain. Now here it is a few months later, early summer, and we just finished up the lawn aeration. So, I want you to just realize that those obstacles are going to come your way and you’re going to have to just pivot and continue doing the best you can. And that’s what we did. And we just wrapped it up and looking at our schedule for the rest of the year looks like we are right back on track. So sometimes you can’t really anticipate some of these things that are going to happen. Especially when it comes to mother nature. So you’re just going to have to pivot and get the work done. So now that we’ve talked about that a little bit I have here with me Bobby who is the production manager for the business. So we’re going to talk to him a little about some of the challenges that he’s faced, not just with the scheduling portion of it but also being out in the field or managing the field crew. So let’s get right into that. Hey Bobby so how are you doing today?
Bobby:
Oh doing great. Doing great.
Frank:
So how do you feel about just getting things done? Right? Like we just wrapped up so we can go, you know, have some fun right?
Bobby:
I am so excited that we got the production side of the aeration completed. It’s been kind of a long process, done a lot more than normal for us this year. And then just some of the challenges that happened, you know, as far as planning of when we thought we would get those done. But it is great to know I am completely done with them as of right now.
Frank:
So, as I was talking at the beginning you know with the scheduling part of the lawn aeration. How was that a challenge for you?
Bobby:
We just had a lot of unusual weather this year. We had a lot of rain. We had a lot of cold spells that came kind of late for us this year. The time that we normally are focused on doing the aerations and getting that production done just got moved and really kind of got pushed to a part of the year where we’re a little bit more focused on our granular service. You know, during the aerations a lot of the time we’re doing our we’re finished up our pre-emergents and getting into where we’re starting to get a lot of new customers. And we kind of have everything scheduled out where we’re managing new customers coming on, our existing customers we have and their services and then putting the aerations in as well. So with that piece being taken out and we actually had a lot more new customers coming on it was about a good balance for us. We were able to really keep the business on track and forward but it was just that it really hindered us on really getting that aeration done. But, so it was a challenge. Because we ended up just kind of keep moving it and moving it and moving it. And it’s one of those, aeration the way we do it we have a lot of communication up front with the customers. They know more than a week ahead of time when we are coming out and you have to really take that into consideration when you’re doing that scheduling. That if it looks like it’s you know 70,80,90 % chance of bad weather. You don’t want these people to get their lawn ready and then you’re gonna skip it because it’s bad weather and then you’re rescheduling it. So we really want to be as optimum as possible when we start scheduling those aerations from a weather standpoint.
Frank:
That’s great. So when you’re talking about, you know, the preparation side when it comes to the customer, we send out like emails we communicate with them letting them know some of the things they need to do like flag their sprinkler system and let us know if there are any obstacles or anything that might be under the ground right?
Bobby:
Right.
Frank:
That we don’t know about. Maybe it’s you know, a natural spring or whatever it might be right? So, we want to make sure that we’re kind of covering every base so we’re not damaging anything that doesn’t need to be damaged. So tell me a little bit about that as well. Like, I can just imagine you know we communicate, we communicate, we communicate but when we get out there what would you say you know what’s the ratio of you know the number of people that actually do the things that they need to do to make sure that we don’t run over cables, we don’t damage sprinkler heads or any other obstacles that they’re familiar with and know of that’s underground that we just simply don’t know because we’re not that familiar with the property as they are.
Bobby:
Sure, you know absolutely I would say that on average about 50% of our customers actually get out there and flag the lawn, have it you know sectioned off to where we know. Also, with that we kind of like the lawn to be mowed within a few days before. So, once I’m walking through, one of our things that we do on every lawn that we go to is even if it is flagged we’re still, the technician is still walking that lawn to look and see if there anything that they might have missed. Sometimes customers will think like there a big grate there but when they’re behind that machine it is like 6 ft that your kind of looking over the edge of your car. You can’t see exactly where your bumper’s at. So, you kinda gotta want to have that flag so you can see where everything is and make sure you avoid those things. So, the technicians always walk the lawn to see if there’s anything else that we need to flag to kind of help us. And then to just look for those dangerous areas that could be possibilities. But so having that lawn mowed is also kinda a key point as well. And definitely makes it easier for the technician if there’s not 6 inches of grass they are trying to push this machine through. It’s a lot easier to see sprinkler heads in case people forget or the solenoid covers. That’s the, I’d say the solenoid covers is the number one thing that people don’t flag because they think it’s just so obvious. But like I said once again you’ve got 6 inches of grass, you’re 6 feet behind. It’s really hard to see some of that sometimes and then you hit it and it can be an unfortunate situation.
Frank:
Yea for sure and you hit on a couple really good points. You know, so for our audience so they know. We actually, you know, walk the property just like you said, not only looking for those obstacles but one of the other important things that you just pointed out was safety issue. Right? Because we also as much as we are, you know, on the property the fact that we’re not there everyday you know, it’s a good idea to walk it. Because what if there’s a big crater right? And again if you’re behind that machine you’re not going to see that big crater or you know it’s you know a lot of the lawns are not perfect flat lawns right?
Bobby:
Oh absolutely.
Frank:
So you have lawns that are gonna have you know bumps and valleys….
Bobby:
Tree roots and sometimes there’s you know the grade of the lawn can sometimes be very deceptive. I mean where it looks like oh that’s not that steep of a hill but when you have this machine that’s got a lot of force and a lot of power and it’s a little wet and then it’s already kicking up mud cause it’s pulling out these cores. You know it can be dangerous really fast. So you really need to know that lawn if you’re not familiar with that lawn. That technician, you know, our technicians, you know they do all the lawns. But some of them they’ve been doing for years and years and they know them inside and out but some of the newer ones they really need to walk it and be aware. Cause it’s a different mentality when you’re putting down granular ,or spraying for weeds vs running an aeration machine.
Frank:
Yeah and that aeration machine can really, it’s really bulky, it’s heavy and sometimes you can lose control of it. So it’s really important to try to stay in those flat areas, right?
Bobby:
Oh absolutely.
Frank:
And you know you’re gonna run into some of the hilly areas but one of the things that we do is encourage our employees to when they run into an area where it just doesn’t look safe or they are not sure about it. You know tell us a little bit about that and what our policy is as far as covering ourselves as far as from an injury standpoint, right?
Bobby:
Right, we always teach the technicians to think safety first. Walk the lawn and make sure everything looks good. If there are any areas you’re in doubt. Don’t do it. Just don’t take the chance. You know you could run the machine, our machine actually will run without having the aeration pump being pumped into the ground. The tines actually go in the ground. So you can actually run the machine over it without it actually being activated and punched with holes in the ground to see how it can control like oh wow this is pretty steep. It can’t even get up it. So once you’re in that situation it’s a lot easier to kind of test it out vs having that machine go on full blast as putting holes and if you get to a point where you can’t push it up and it just sits there and pow pow pow it just keeps driving holes in. You can really damage the lawn. So we always teach them you know when in doubt just see if you can drive the machine over it without the tines being activated. Cause if you can’t there’s then there’s no chance of being able to do it that way. And then just really looking and being aware of where you’re at. You know if you’re going to be going backwards. You know, is there a pool behind me? I don’t need to fall in with the aeration machine in a pool. And then really being careful where you drive that machine over, you know, like if there’s a patio you can’t you know you don’t really want to take a machine like that over steps or stairs or you know take it on a wooden patio. Cause you don’t know how strong that wooden patio is, you know. Having a flat rock surface that’s different like a driveway. You’re not typically going to break a driveway or sidewalk or something like that if you drive over it with a machine. But with a wooden patio? I don’t take that chance. I wouldn’t want anyone else to take that chance. So we just skip those areas if we have to and I can tell you 99% of the time if a customer calls and says hey y’all didn’t do this area here and we explain to them it’s a safety issue. We can’t get to it safely or the machine doesn’t fit in that area or we have multiple machines that we cannot get into that area cause you’ve got stairs that go from your front yard to your backyard and there’s just no way around it. They understand. It’s a lot easier to communicate to somebody that we’re safe and we want to be safe and we want your stuff to also be taken care of VS oh we can just muscle it through and try to get it through the rocks. It’s just not worth taking a chance with the machine and the safety and then the damage of someone’s property whether it’s a stone walkway or a wall or anything like that you just got to be very very observant of what you’re doing.
Frank:
Absolutely so and it’s not like we’re not doing, you know, 95% of the lawn. We’re actually doing 95 or 98% of the lawn. In many cases we’re doing 100% of the lawn. So, it’s that 2%.
Bobby:
Oh absolutely. And it’s very minimal. I mean it is you know out of the hundreds that we do I mean you. I mean you’re talking about 2-5 people that are like oh wow that’s an area we can’t do. It’s like you said 99% of the customers we’re doing 100% of the lawn.
Frank:
Awesome, awesome. So going a little bit further into that as far as the customers. You know, after we explain it to them and they understand that hey we didn’t hit this particular area because you know cause it’s a safety issue. Like you said they totally understand and it’s not something, you know, they are asking for a refund or anything crazy like that. But if we were to be in a situation like hey am I going to get like a rebate because you didn’t do a 2% of my lawn. Maybe they have a 10,000 square foot lawn and we didn’t do, you know a small 200 square foot of it. And typically that’s going to be it right? Like they had 100 square feet of a 8,000 square foot lawn that might get missed because it’s a safety issue. Maybe it’s an uphill or downhill. Or whatever it may be. So push comes to shove if a customer is just irate for whatever reason. Which i don’t think we’ve ever had a case like that but just for our audience so if they you know run into a situation like that from a customer standpoint, what would you do to kinda calm them down? Or you know give them a refund or give them partial or something like an additional treatment next time. Just to make them happy. What would you do?
Bobby:
Typically you know obviously gauging what the customer, how they are talking, how long they have been with us, you know how much they spend with us. It’s all is a factor in how you take care of them. Typically I would just give them something on the next service. I’m not going to discount that service we did today. I am going to discount something in the future. Say hey on the next fertilization/weed control we’ll go ahead and give the half off on that next one. And just make it to where it’s, you know, a good win/win for both of us. I definitely don’t want to be like oh I’m giving you $4 cause that’s about what the percentage is on the aeration. I don’t want it to be like that. I want em to fill like we heard what they said but also I am going to educate them that hey if it’s a safety issue it’s going to be like this every time. So just know going forward when next year when we come out to do this we are not going to do that same area and we are not going to adjust the price and it is going to be this price. And the reason why I am doing this is because I want you to be educated and hit your expectations. So for next year the expectation will be just what we did today for the same price we did today but because it’s kind of a surprise for you today I am going to do something for you for the next visit. But I am not going to adjust my price every year because they have an area that we can’t get to or whatever.
Frank:
And that’s a great point. You know like you don’t want to just, you know, discount it like half off or whatever cause you just couldn’t do one small area. But again you would gauge what the reaction of the customer and how long they’ve been with us and all those other things. And just going back to that we’ve really never had a problem with the lawn aeration I just kinda want to let the audience know that if they run into that irate customer that is just demanding a refund or what have you which is kind of unreasonable if you’ve done 98% of the lawn and you come to 2% of the lawn you know you’re not doing it because you don’t want to break your back or you don’t want destroy their property or you don’t want to destroy a $8,000-$10,000 machine so you can you know bulldoze through it like you said early. Right? Awesome, awesome. We’re going to continue this conversation next time with Bobby and we’ll catch you in the next podcast. See you next time lawn care pros!
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