Have you even thought about your snow equipment in the past few months ?  Now is the time to drag out the plows, dust ‘em off and check to be sure everything is in working order.  Yes – it’s late summer and snow is something to think about come Thanksgiving.  Not so, not so.  Who ever services your equipment will thank you (and if outsourced, may give you a discount for coming to him NOW instead of in November).  Supplies can be had now in short order.  Manufacturers are not backed up waiting on stock right now.  Aftermarket resellers have inventory in stock now.  It’s just easier to get what you may need at this time of year.

Trust me here……now is the time to start thinking about the equipment and making sure it all works as it should.

The alternative is to scramble just before it snows – and hope all is well.  Be professional about it and plan now.

I’ve just seen the results of a new poll about deicing.  Amazingly enough, some STILL insist they are putting down a ton of salt per acre of pavement.  A lot say they are putting down ¾ ton of salt per acre of pavement.  These folks are just looking to lose business to informed and educated contractors (and customers if they learn the truth).  Those who know 300 to 500 lbs of salt will work just fine (and even these amounts are overkill), have an edge over those who continue to take advantage of unsuspecting customers with these tactics. 

Then, when the educated contractor takes the business, they will be accused of “lowballing” and “undercutting”.  For those who are educated – ignore that stuff.  It’s not true, and we all know it.  A lot of times just being honest with the customer (and educating them about how much product is really required to do the job) is enough to get your numbers lower than the “competition”, make you look good, and make them look bad.

Educate yourself and your customers.  You’ll both be better for it.

“Most people/managers, even project managers do not understand, nor do they care about service or any of the other factors involved. They produce widgets and it is their job to get widgets (bids) out as quickly and cheaply as possible so that they appear productive and can spend the rest of their day fondling their ego.”

Now there is a profound statement.  A person I have communicated with recently, made this comment.  Sound familiar ?  Companies that solicit pricing on snow services often have this attitude.  It’s terrible that we have to deal with individuals like this.

He made another comment that I found profound.

“I have sat through prebids for both RFP & RFQ and never gotten the same answer twice for the same question and actually had to fight to get an addendum put out to document the final specifications. Then watched as the contractors’ performance bears no resemblance to the original contract.  Generally what happens is the contract gets conformed to accommodate the low bidder.”

This chap is not in the snow industry – but he could be, don’t you think ?

This goes along with my feelings about “bidding” snow services.  Any contractor who thinks “bidding” is a solid methodology for growing their business is moronic in their thought process (in my opinion).  Same goes for anyone who gives out advice advocating “bidding” snow projects (again, in my opinion).

When we did the snow project for the 2002 Winter Olympics, we did not have “the low number”.  In fact, we furnished THE highest price for the project.  Price (while a consideration) was not the mitigating factor.  It rarely is.

And – to go a step further – if the price is why you got the business, guess just how long it will take to lose it ??