By Neal Glatt

The start of June has always been a significant milestone for snow contractors to start thinking ahead to next season.  But bidding for snow removal in 2022 is going to be more difficult than ever before to ensure that we win contracts with enough profit to withstand the current economic landscape.  Here’s what to do to win, and profit, this winter…

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First, it’s critical that you start now if you take snow removal seriously.  The professional snow removal contractors have already been bidding, and winning, snow removal contracts for months.  Property managers and procurement departments have been beginning their snow removal planning earlier and earlier, with many starting as early as March and April.  If you haven't started already, today needs to be the day.

Second, we need to act really fast when an opportunity arises.  In sales, the first company to respond wins the contract at least 75% of the time.  In a society where everything is available on demand, buyers have no patience for a contractor who needs days or weeks to prepare an estimate.  

Fortunately, we’re here to help by partnering with our friends at SnowBidder.com.  Taking decades of experience in estimating snow jobs of all sizes, we’ve been able to modernize the estimating process.  With SnowBidder.com, you can measure a property from your computer, assign the equipment and lot difficulty, select your pricing model, integrate weather data, and finish an estimate within minutes.  The best part is, the platform is offered completely free, thanks to our partners SnowEx, Western, and Fisher!

As an added bonus, there is an optional upgrade to send an electronically signable contract to your customer instantly.  If you choose to use the proposal builder functionality, there is a small fee for each contract to do so.  This is because the technology to support a legal contract signed online is very expensive to offer.  But if you choose to take the estimated numbers and put them into your own contract form to print or email, then there is truly no charge for this amazing product.

You can get started on SnowBidder.com right now, or you can follow a step-by-step guided course here on GrowTheBench to help you along the way.  Simply click here to take the free course.

If you are really serious about raising your rates and winning contracts, then you will want to attend our upcoming Forum for Sales located at Ventrac’s headquarters and proving ground in Cleveland, Ohio on June 14-15.  For two days, you’ll learn the proven sales techniques used to scale multi-million-dollar snow companies and win premium contracts.  Plus, you’ll get hands-on experience with the latest Ventrac equipment and have an amazing time networking with peers.  Learn all the details and register here, but space is limited so sign up today.

Snowfighters Institute is also offering a one-day estimating workshop at Ventrac on June 16.  You can attend this as a stand-alone event, or tack on this workshop to your Forum for Sales trip.  We’ll be using SnowBidder.com to estimate real properties and help you discover your own pricing strategy to create estimates quickly and accurately.  Learn more and register today at this link.

If you have any questions about sales, estimating, or the upcoming events, email me at Neal@GrowTheBench.com and I’ll be happy to help you.  Raising prices, winning contracts, and creating an estimating process needs to be handled right now for a successful winter, and we’re here to help.