Harvest Group

Podcast – Part 2: Strategies to Deal with Increased Gas Costs

by Cindy Code On

The Harvest Group GROW Show Podcasts have by and large focused on practical ways to make more money. With this goal in mind, we have developed a two-part series on “Dealing with the Rising Cost of Gas.”

Part one discussed four ways to help minimize this increased cost. If you missed part one please click here. Part two will focus on ways to approach your customers with varying ways to offset this added cost.

Know Your Costs

  • What are your actual costs for fuel or any other petroleum products?
  • Have you implemented everything you can to minimize the cost? (Listen to Harvest Group Grow Show Part One on this subject.)
  • How much have they gone up over the past year, three months?
  • Do you separate and track your off-road gas from on-road gas?
  • How much fuel is used for your particular job site?
  • Are there any anomalies that make the fuel usage higher or lower on this particular job?

Know the Specs

  • During the last gas increase, many companies instituted surcharge clauses.
  • Do you have a fuel, or any other extenuating cost increase, a clause in your agreements?
  • How much longer do you have on your current agreements?

Know Your Customer

  • Know their business: How are they doing with their business? Good/Bad?
  • Know their budgets: What do they have in their budget for contingencies?
  • Know their fiscal year: When is their fiscal year?
  • Know their mindset: Are they receptive?
  • Know them well: Can you seek their input and advice on how you should handle?

Know Your Options including:

  • Do nothing
  • Charge a surcharge
  • Wait until the end of the contract period and ask for an adjustment
  • Build it into your Enhancement pricing

If our listeners have any other ideas on ways for saving on gas cost, or on ways to approach your customer, please feel free to share them with us and we will pass them along to all of our listeners. Please drop us your thoughts and ideas below.

Start the Process

Get your FREE Initial Consultation

Cindy Code

is an award-winning journalist who spent 22 years with Lawn & Landscape magazine communicating with contractors nationwide -- both in print and online — to help expand their businesses and to become more profitable. She is an active ambassador for the green industry as a founding member of Project EverGreen and the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association and also serves on the PLANET membership committee. As a member of the The Harvest Group, Cindy’s areas of focus will include: marketing and communications, social media, public relations, and research.

1 Comment

Bill,
All good stuff.
I would like to add another simple yet sometimes overlooked piece to this.
Seriously take a look at the R and S of it all Routing and Scheduling) and suggest that all (driving and jobsite function) overlap be reduced or better yet eliminated. How? Take a “very close” look at the driving patterns and routing, drill into them more, and begin to eliminate waste through more efficient routing and scheduling.

Comments are closed.

See Articles by Category