Price increase letter to lawn care customers
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Hi [NAME], It is nearly that time again. Here is your programme for [YEAR] so you can sign it off before the first cut on [DATE]. Your lawn, as we have it: [SIZE / DESCRIPTION] Option 1 — the full programme, as last year [N] cuts plus [N] treatments (feed, weed, moss control, aeration): [NEW PRICE] for the season Last year this was [OLD PRICE]. Option 2 — cuts only [N] cuts, edges and clippings taken: [PRICE] for the season Pay the season up front by [DATE] and take [PERCENT]% off either option. The treatment prices are the main change — fertiliser and weed control cost a lot more than they did two years ago. Cutting has gone up by less, mostly fuel. Reply with "1" or "2" and I will book you in. [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
How many customers can this price rise lose?
10% ÷ (40% + 10%) = 20%
Open the full calculator, with your prices and customer count →in the off-season renewal, before the first cut of the year
5–10% per cut or per treatment
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hi [NAME], [BUSINESS] here — your [YEAR] lawn programme is in your inbox: full programme [NEW PRICE] for the season or cuts only [PRICE], [PERCENT]% off if paid by [DATE]. Reply 1 or 2 and you're booked.
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in lawn care instead:
- fertiliser and weed control products rose steeply and have not fallen back
- mowers are replaced every few seasons, and the replacement costs a good deal more than the old one did
- fuel for both the truck and the equipment
- most rounds are priced per lawn from the year the customer signed up, however much the round has grown since
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- "The kid next door will mow it for less."
- He will, and for mowing only he might be fine. Offer Option 2 without the treatments, or treatments only — the part a teenager with a mower cannot do. You keep the higher-margin half of the job either way.
- "Can we skip the treatments this year?"
- Yes, and say plainly what happens: "Fine by me. Expect more weeds by late summer, and it will take a season to get it back." Customers who hear the consequence in advance tend to add the treatments back by June.
- They ignore the renewal and expect you to turn up anyway.
- Send one reminder a week before the first cut. If there is still no reply, turn up once on the new price and note it on the invoice. Silence after two notices is acceptance.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesMore letters: home and outdoor
Other trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these lawn care customers, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.