Get serious about snow ops planning
Standardizing success for any winter management business requires a 52-week focus and a commitment to planning and implementing standards of practice. The snow and ice management industry should plan like the retail industry, which prepares for the next holiday shopping season the day after Christmas. In this way, the end of the current snow season should ideally be considered the beginning of the next snow season.
SIMA 52-week timeline - available here
Being forward thinking includes planning sales and operations at least 6 months ahead of each deadline and establishing growth plans two years (2 winter seasons) ahead. Therefore, it’s important to approach your planning in quarterly "chunks" of time: 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months ahead.
SUMMER / FALL: LOCK IN SALES AND NEW CONTRACTS
Summer is the best time to identify and/or reacquaint yourself with new sales prospects, subcontractor relationships and material ordering. If you’re still in "renewal season", you’re behind the eight ball. The ideal time to renew clients is during the postseason review process. Many clients will feel that it is too early and you will need to be prepared to overcome that objection.
New contracts need time
When evaluating new contract opportunities that provide less than 60 working days of preparation time, consider whether you can realistically meet a client’s level of service requirements. This includes educating the client on the amount of time it takes to procure the proper capacity of people, equipment and materials. For example, given the current economic environment and supply chain challenges, the timeline for purchasing or renting equipment could require an additional 3-6 months (optimistically) to purchase a new vehicle.
For sales, target Sept. 1 as the cutoff date for finalizing contracts. Educating your clients to mutually commit to this target requires the contractor to consider when property owners are typically accustomed to awarding contracts versus when they should.
WINTER: PRE-STORM & POST-STORM REVIEWS
Winter is when the work gets done, but it is also prime time for observing, assessing and documenting improvement and optimization opportunities. Don’t wait until after the season to identify gaps and opportunities to better serve your clients and make your team’s lives easier for future storms and future snow seasons.
Download Key Client Issues in pdf format, includes Spanish version.
