An Interview with Dave Arnett
A spray rig is a huge investment, and it’s crucial that the one you purchase is the right rig for your lawn care business. Everything from reliability to capacity and configuration can significantly affect the success and profitability of your lawn care operation. How do you make sure you don’t end up with buyer’s remorse?
We put that question to Graham veteran Dave Arnett. Dave started out on the shop floor, custom building spray rigs back in 1985. Today, as sales manager, he uses his 35 years of experience and vast knowledge of spray equipment to make sure lawn care operators get the spray rigs that work best for them.
Here are his recommendations for anyone in the market for a new spray rig.
Focus on high-quality spray equipment.
Top of the line spray equipment may cost more upfront, but the return on investment is worth it. The “hidden” costs of trying to save money by going with lower grade spray equipment include:
- Repair costs
- Lost revenue (and tarnished reputation) due to downtime
- The expense of replacing major components or the spray rig itself due to shorter lifespan
All of these costs can quickly add up and cancel out any savings you hoped to gain by going with a lower quality, less expensive spray rig.
Choose a spray rig that gives your lawn care business room to grow.
When you buy a rig that can handle only your current customers, your business isn’t able to grow. A good rule of thumb when purchasing a new spray rig is to go with the capacity you expect to need 5 years down the road. Otherwise, you’ll need to buy either a larger rig or an additional rig before you’re financially ready to or risk losing would-be customers to your competitors.
Look for a spray equipment provider known for its customer service.
A high-level of service should extend from before the sale throughout spray rig ownership. Here’s what you should look for in a provider.
- They want to understand your lawn spray business. In order to recommend the right spray rig, your provider should strive to understand the important aspects of your particular lawn care business, such as:
- What part of the country you work in
- The types of services and treatments you offer
- The makeup and organization of your routes
- Your current and future business goals
- They are able to customize. A good provider should be willing and able to custom configure spray components to improve your efficiency and profitability – and even suggest improvements you hadn’t thought of.
- Service continues long after the sale. Whether it’s having replacement parts and repair kits in stock and ready to ship quickly, or talking you through maintenance and repairs over the phone, you should feel you have an ongoing relationship with your provider. You need to know they are there with advice you can trust whenever you need it.
That’s how Dave approaches his job every day, and for him, helping customers make a living by getting them the right setup is about the best job he could hope to have.