It’s always uplifting when signs of spring start to appear. Even weeds and bugs are welcome in their own way, because they mean your lawn care business is looking at another busy season. Here’s a short review of the simple tasks you and your crew can do now to ensure that your spray rigs stay ready to take on higher demand.
Winterize in reverse.
If you winterize your equipment when temperatures are at their lowest, step one is replacing everything you removed. Return screens, plugs, strainer caps, and so on to their correct places. And while you’re doing that…
Inspect your spray equipment carefully.
– Examine belts for signs of wear and check their levels of tension. If you tighten any, remember to leave about half an inch of give in them.
– Check hoses for leaks, cracks, and dry rot.
– Clean screens to reduce strain on pumps and keep flow rates steady. This particular task should be done every day.
– Test your reels by pressing the master button to make hoses wind up. This is another simple task that should be incorporated into technicians’ daily routines.
– Bucket test your pumps by clocking the time it takes to spray three gallons of liquid from the tank into a bucket. That’s the amount that’s appropriate for 1,000 square feet of lawn, and it should take about one minute.
– Make sure that each rig is equipped with fully stocked repair kits. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to fill any gaps and even order extras of the parts you replace most frequently.
– If your area isn’t under water restrictions, washing rigs once a week is the best way to stop chemical corrosion from shortening the working life of your rig. A clean rig also makes a positive impression on both customers and random people you pass who might decide to become customers someday.
Get your new employees ready.
Returning members of your team may need some spot reviews, but this time of year you’re focusing the bulk of your attention on new hires. This is your best opportunity to communicate your company’s guiding principles, your safety protocols, and your expectations for their performance. The time you invest in training now will pay off in the future. Employees are more likely to stay in jobs where their responsibilities and their roles within the company are communicated clearly, which means fewer turnover hassles for you.
Focus your thoughts – and everyone else’s – on customer relations.
Most lawn care companies sign up the majority of each year’s crop of new customers during the spring. A good principle to keep in mind (one which many of you have already internalized) is the value of your current customers. It may not seem like it when leads are coming in steadily, but in general it’s harder – and more expensive – to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one. Your employees should be encouraged to spend as much time as is necessary to address the concerns of your current customers. Recruiting new customers is great in the moment, but retaining customers is the key to long-term growth.
If you have questions about purchasing lawn spray equipment, spray units, or spray rigs,we’re here to help.