How to create seasonal service packages and maintenance plans

Start by bundling your most common, repetitive jobs into simple, fixed-price packages. This is the key to creating a steady, predictable income stream and simplifying your quoting process. Instead of pricing up every single small job, you can offer clients a clear, valuable service like a "Yearly Lawn Care Programme" or a "Winter Garden Tidy-Up" for a set fee, making it much easier for them to understand the value and commit.

Why create service packages?

Moving away from one-off jobs towards recurring service plans has huge benefits for your landscaping business:

• Predictable Revenue: A client on a yearly maintenance plan provides you with guaranteed income every month, smoothing out the seasonal peaks and troughs of landscaping work.
• Simplified Quoting: You save significant time and effort by having pre-priced packages ready to go for common requests.
• Easier Marketing: It's much simpler to advertise a "Spring Garden Blitz for £199" than just "general garden services". It gives customers something concrete to buy.
• Increased Customer Loyalty: When a client signs up for a maintenance plan, they are committed to using your services for the long term, building a stronger business relationship and reducing your need to find new customers.

How to build your service packages

Follow these steps to develop a compelling menu of services that sells itself.

1. Brainstorm Your Routine Jobs: List all the regular tasks you handle for clients. Think about things like lawn mowing, weeding, hedge trimming, leaf clearance, and feeding. These are the building blocks of your packages.
2. Group Tasks by Season: Think about what a garden needs at different times of the year. Group your routine tasks into logical seasonal offerings. For example, spring is about preparation, summer is about maintenance, and autumn is for tidying up.
3. Define What's Included: Be crystal clear about what the customer gets for their money. If your "Spring Tidy-Up" includes two hours of weeding, state that. If it includes mowing the front and back lawns, write it down. This prevents any confusion later on.
4. Set a Fixed Price: Calculate the time and materials needed for each task in the package. Add it all up, and then consider offering a slight discount (perhaps 10-15%) compared to buying each service individually. This makes the package feel like a great deal.

Top Tip: When pricing, create 'Good, Better, Best' options. For example, a 'Basic' lawn care plan might include fortnightly mowing, while a 'Premium' plan could include mowing, feeding, and scarifying. This caters to different budgets and needs.

Example landscaping packages

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• The All-Season Maintenance Plan (Monthly Fee): This is the ultimate goal for recurring revenue. A typical plan might include fortnightly visits from March to October and one visit per month from November to February to cover all essential tasks.
• The Spring Garden Kick-start (One-off Price): A package designed to get gardens ready for summer. It could include a final leaf clear, a first mow and edge, weeding of all borders, and pruning of specific shrubs.
• The Autumn Tidy-Up (One-off Price): Prepare a garden for winter. This could involve extensive leaf clearance, cutting back perennials, and a final lawn cut.
• The Complete Lawn Care Programme (Annual Price): A specialist package focused on one area. For example, five visits across the year to apply seasonal feed, weedkiller, and moss treatment, plus aeration and scarification at the right times.

Best practices

• Be Clear on Exclusions: To avoid misunderstandings, clearly state what is not included. For example, your maintenance plan might exclude waste removal or the cost of planting new flowers.
• Promote Them Actively: Don't just create the packages – sell them! Mention them on your website, on social media, and at the end of every one-off job you do.
• Offer a Payment Incentive: Encourage commitment by offering a small discount to clients who pay for a full year's maintenance plan upfront.