Running a successful landscaping business involves a lot more than cutting grass, trimming hedges, and shoveling snow. For it to really work and bring in steady profits, your company’s behind-the-scenes operations must run just as smoothly as your lawn equipment does. Streamlining your payment processes through the use of recurring invoices is one of the most effective ways of transforming payment processing for contractors from drudgery into a quick, easy, and automated task.
What are recurring payments?
Long used by fitness and daycare centers, the recurring payments or subscription model lets you set up ongoing payments with customers who expect to receive goods or services regularly. The two of you agree to have a predetermined amount of money withdrawn from the customer’s bank account or credit card on a set date. They also specify how long the arrangement will continue. Once the “subscription” is initiated, both buyer and seller know exactly how much money will be exchanged and when. With this type of electronic invoicing, you’ll have a clear idea of your cash flow, and customers can rest assured that they will receive their products or services in a timely fashion, with no delayed or late payments!
When you run a landscaping business, it’s easy to waste hours creating and sending repeat invoices for services that may happen as often as once a week. That amounts to time you could be spending much more efficiently in other ways. When you enroll your customers in recurring payments, you can free up your schedule to allow for other important tasks, safe in the knowledge that your money is on the way.
Incorporating recurring payments into your landscaping business model.
The best news of all about these subscription payment arrangements is that they are incredibly easy to set up. Here’s how to get started.
- Take time to choose a high-quality payment processor. The company you hire to assist you in accepting your customers’ money should offer you a full set of features, including the ability to set up recurring payments using your point of sale system. If you have already settled on a vendor, speak with your representative to be sure that they can provide you with the tools you need. Don’t forget to also consider what you will be required to pay in the way of processing fees and other costs. If your current processor can’t accommodate you, it may be time to consider switching to one that can.
- Set up your payment processing platform. After you find the service provider that’s right for you, there will be a bit of initial work on your end. It will involve setting up a database filled with customer data, prices, and descriptions of all the services you provide. Although doing this may be tedious, it will benefit you in the long run because it will enable you to generate invoices with just a few clicks. After the initial work, your only task will be to perform ongoing maintenance to update current customers’ information or add new data about products or customers.
- Create billing cycles. This involves making a template for your brand using your customer and invoice database. Jobs can be categorized by type or frequency. Then it’s just a matter of making invoices for weekly, biweekly, monthly, or annual cycles. Determine how you want to structure your rates, set the due dates, and schedule when you will be sending the invoices. It’s as simple as that.
- Set up automated payment reminders. There may be situations when recurring payments don’t work for certain customers. In these cases, you can still use your point of sale system to conduct electronic invoicing. Your system can send out automated reminders that prompt customers to make payments. Generally, most merchants opt to send two or three of these, with the last delivered close to the due date. On this final message, you can set your system to also include a message about late fees that can provide further encouragement to the customer to settle the bill immediately.
Recurring invoicing is a win-win for everyone involved in your landscaping business. It gives you and your employees more time to do other things, and your customers enjoy a better relationship with your business. No matter how you look at it, incorporating this type of billing into your lawn-care company will sow seeds that will help you flourish and provide superior service to your customers.
