Commercial lawn care is won on the phone before it is won on price

Commercial lawn care is landscape maintenance provided under contract to a business, property manager, HOA, or government entity, rather than a single residential yard. It is typically bid or quoted as a route or contract, priced for a season or year, invoiced on terms like net-30, and requires proof of insurance before work starts. The mowing itself is similar to residential work, but the buying process, pricing, and paperwork are different.

Start by getting your insurance current, usually $1 million to $2 million in general liability with the client named as additional insured, and put together a simple capability sheet showing your crew, equipment, and current accounts. Then reach out directly to property management companies and HOA management firms in your area, watch municipal procurement sites for public bids, and respond fast whenever a bid request comes in. Speed and professionalism win more commercial accounts than the lowest price does.

Most property managers, HOAs, and municipalities want a certificate of insurance showing $1 million to $2 million in general liability coverage, with the client listed as an additional insured. Municipal and government contracts sometimes add bonding requirements on top of that. Get this in place before bid season rather than scrambling once a request lands, since a missing certificate can knock you out of consideration before price is even discussed.

Residential lawn care is priced per visit, for one yard. Commercial lawn care is priced as a season or annual contract, covering a defined mowing frequency, edging, blowing, and often add-ons like fertilization or snow removal, and it usually accounts for a whole route of properties rather than a single stop. Getting the route density and drive time right in the price is what separates a profitable commercial account from a bid you regret winning.

Most property managers, HOA boards, and municipalities solicit or renew landscape maintenance contracts between January and March for the season ahead, so that is when the majority of bid requests and RFPs go out. Companies that have their insurance, proposal template, and pricing ready before that window respond faster than competitors who scramble to get organized once the requests start arriving.

An HOA contract covers the shared common areas of a residential community, entrances, clubhouse grounds, and shared green space, decided by a volunteer board on a fixed annual budget. A property management contract covers a commercial site, an office park, retail center, or apartment complex, on behalf of an owner, and the same management company often oversees several properties, so winning one account can lead to more across their portfolio.

Yes, when the property fits it. Fertilization and weed control, irrigation checks and backflow testing, seasonal mulch and color, and snow or ice removal in colder markets are common add-ons that raise the annual contract value and give the property manager one vendor to call instead of several. A property manager who is not shopping for a second or third vendor for the rest of the grounds work is also less likely to shop for a new mowing vendor at renewal.

Almost always on invoice, typically net-30 and sometimes net-45, after the work is completed and billed for the month or the visit. This is standard in B2B landscape maintenance, but it means a company moving into commercial accounts needs enough cash flow to cover 30 to 45 days of labor and fuel before that invoice gets paid.

Price matters, but it is rarely the only factor. Property managers commonly quote the same job to three to five vendors at once, and the contract often goes to whichever company responds fastest, shows up prepared to the site walk, and submits a clean, professional written proposal. Being easy to reach after the walk, for a question or a change, matters just as much as being easy to reach for the first call.

Yes, especially for smaller commercial sites and single HOA properties, which do not require the scale of a large landscape company. What a small company needs is current insurance, a written proposal process, and reliable phone coverage so a bid request never goes to voicemail. Many small companies build a commercial book of business one property management portfolio at a time, starting with a single site and growing from there.

Ask the property manager or board what decided it, price, scope, timeline, or a prior relationship with the winning vendor, and note it for next time. Most commercial contracts rebid on an annual or multi-year cycle, so losing this round does not close the door permanently. Staying on the property manager's vendor list and checking back before the next renewal window is a normal, and often successful, way back in.

AutoRev answers every call 24/7, including the property manager calling three vendors in the same afternoon, so a bid request never sits on voicemail while your crews are out mowing. It qualifies the caller, books the site walk on your calendar, and follows up automatically on a proposal that has gone quiet, plugging into the field service software you already use so nothing needs retyping. It works on top of your existing schedule and software, and it can run the schedule itself when you would rather work in one place.