MowProHQ Blog/Pricing
How to Price Per-Push vs Seasonal Snow Contracts
Standby and per-push are different products. Do not sell unlimited storms for an October number you invented.
Standby and per-push are different products. One is a place in line. The other is a visit. Do not sell unlimited storms for an October number you invented because a neighbor said “seasonal is about twelve hundred.” That sentence is how a long winter eats the truck and a short winter makes the customer feel robbed.
This is the pricing fork, not a plow manual. You will not get salt rates or blade angles. You will get a contract you can defend at 6 a.m. when they ask why the walk was extra. For the go/no-go on whether to sell snow at all, read when to add or refuse. For putting the sold book on a board, see the route before the storm.
Two products, two invoices
Customers hear “you’ll take care of us this winter.” You must hear a SKU.
| Offer | They think they bought | You must write | Invoice looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal / standby | You will be there every storm | Trigger, cap, extras, start window | Season fee, then overage or extras |
| Per-push | You come when it snows or they text | Response window, minimum, when you say no | One invoice per completed visit |
| “We’ll see” | A warm feeling | Nothing you can collect | April resentment |
Mixing them in a driveway sentence is the usual failure. “We’ll keep you on the list and just bill when we come” trains them to expect standby service at per-push economics, or per-push freedom at seasonal prices. Pick one. Write it. Quote it. Put Regular vs Cash on the total if they will card it.
Seasonal is not “cheaper mowing but cold.” It is availability. You are holding iron, people, and a 4 a.m. slot. That has a price even in a winter that barely shows up. Per-push is not “nice guy with a blade.” It is a visit with a trigger and a right to say no when you are already committed.
What seasonal actually buys
A seasonal contract is a retainer with rules. If you skip the rules, you sold unlimited labor for a fixed check.
Minimum language:
- Surfaces: drive only, drive plus apron, walks, lot, dock — named
- Trigger: the inch mark that starts a visit
- Start window: before 7 a.m., by 8, commercial by 6 — pick one
- Cap: how many events are inside the season price
- Overage: the per-push rate after the cap
- Ice: included, extra, or not offered
- Second pass / drift: included once, extra, or not
- Cars in the drive: abort, partial, or extra for weaving
- Term: start date, end date, what happens in a brown January
Price the cap from history, not from optimism. If your market averages six events that meet the trigger, do not write “unlimited” because it sounds premium. Write six, or eight with a fat cushion, and an overage that looks like your per-push rate.
A light winter is not a refund event unless you sold a refund. Standby was the product. They bought the slot. Say that in October so March is not a negotiation.
A heavy winter is not a volunteer event. Storm nine without an overage line is you donating sleep. Put the overage on the quote. Customers who hate it can buy per-push instead. That is a clean no.
Worked example: eight-storm winter vs three-storm winter
Same 18-drive residential book. Same truck. Season price $900. Per-push would have been $90 a visit.
Unlimited seasonal, no cap: Three-storm winter, customer feels they overpaid. Eight-storm winter, you ran eight visits for $900 — $112 a visit before ice, overtime, and the 4 a.m. payroll. You told yourself it would average out. It did not.
Seasonal with a six-event cap and $85 overage: Three-storm winter, they still paid for the slot (that was the deal). Eight-storm winter, you invoice two overages. Nobody is shocked because the quote said so.
Straight per-push at $90: Three storms, they pay $270 and you were not on the hook to sit on the phone in October. Eight storms, they pay $720 and you had the right to skip them when the book was full — if you wrote the “when we say no” rule.
There is no morally correct SKU. There is a written one. Pick it on purpose.
What per-push actually buys
Per-push is easier to explain and easier to hide from. Hide it and you become the on-call municipal service with no retainer.
Write:
- Depth trigger (or “customer request” as a different, higher SKU)
- Minimum visit price
- Included surfaces
- Extras: ice, walks, second pass, drift refill, same-day return
- Response window: we go with the book, we do not guarantee 45 minutes
- When you will say no: already committed, outside the radius, after a cutoff hour
- How they pay: invoice after the visit, Regular vs Cash, portal link
The 11 p.m. text is not automatically a yes. If they are not on the seasonal list, they are buying leftover capacity. Price leftover capacity like leftover capacity. A same-night add after you staged the book should cost more than the neighbor who signed in October.
Do not let per-push customers live in the same mental slot as standby customers. On the board they can share a pocket. In the contract they cannot share a promise.
Ice, walks, salt, and other extras that bankrupt a nice number
Ice is not “a little extra on the plow.” It is material, time, and a different liability story. If you apply melt, it is a line. If you do not, the contract says you do not do ice. Selling melt you will not apply is how someone slips.
Walks are not a free helper task. They are minutes in the dark with a shovel. If the seasonal number assumed a blade on a drive, a sold walk needs a person and a price.
Salt and sand on lots are where shops invent complexity they cannot bill. You can invoice completed visits. Complex per-storm salt and material contracts may need extra setup. Until that setup is real, keep material as an explicit line you can explain, or do not sell the lot.
| Extra | Bundle only if | Otherwise |
|---|---|---|
| Ice melt | Priced and staffed | Named extra or “we do not do ice” |
| Walks / stairs | Helper is on that truck | Separate SKU |
| Second pass | Drift rule is written | Per-push add |
| Lot salt | You can measure and invoice it | Extra setup or decline |
Regular vs Cash still applies in January
Winter does not cancel processing fees. If you take cards, publish Regular and Cash on the quote and the invoice the same way you would for a mow. Dual pricing is not a summer hobby. A 4 a.m. card pay should not be the first time they see the card total.
Put the policy on the seasonal agreement and on every per-push quote. The portal is where they pay while the drift is still in the yard. Waiting until April because “snow is different” is how you donate the week. The closeout habit is in invoice snow before the thaw.
Commercial lots vs residential drives
A lot is not 12 drives. It is a window, a pile plan, often material, and a customer who believes the employees should not see snow. Price the window. Price the pile relocation if you will push twice. Do not use the residential seasonal number times a gut feel.
If the lot will steal every storm from the residential book, it is not extra revenue. It is a different company. Either it is first on purpose and the drives wait (and those customers know), or the lot waits, or you refuse the lot. Changing that in the dark is how you lose both.
Residential density is the lawn-shop advantage. Price it like a pocket, not like 22 unrelated events. That is why the first-season playbook starts with the same customers you mow.
How MowProHQ holds the two products
MowProHQ lets you quote and invoice both shapes: a season fee with extras, or a visit at a time. Free includes quotes, invoices, dual Regular vs Cash pricing, the property list, the schedule, the portal, and the Conversations inbox. You invoice completed visits. Complex per-storm salt and material contracts may need extra setup.
Growth is $39 for dispatch, GPS, unlimited seats, a live site, and timeclock. Pro is $89. Phone is $19. AI receptionist is $29. Sign up if you want the October number on the same record you will bill in January.
Price the slot or price the visit. Write the cap. Write the extras. Show Regular vs Cash. Then stop inventing a third product in the first squall because someone sounded disappointed on the phone. Disappointed in October is a quote change. Disappointed in February is a winter you already worked for free.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between per-push and seasonal snow contracts?
- Seasonal or standby is the customer buying a place in line and a promise you will show. Per-push is the visit. They are different products with different invoices. Do not mix them in one driveway sentence or both sides will feel cheated after a long winter.
- How do I price a seasonal snow contract?
- Price availability plus a fair number of events, then define what happens after that number. Write the depth trigger, start window, surfaces, ice, and the cap. Unlimited storms for an October number you invented is how a long winter bankrupts the offer.
- How do I price per-push snow removal?
- Price the visit: trigger, minimum, what is included, what is extra (ice, walks, second pass, drift refill). Show Regular vs Cash if they will card it. Write when you will say no — a 11 p.m. text after you are already home is not automatically a yes.
- Is a seasonal snow contract cheaper per storm?
- Only if the winter is average and you capped the events. In a light winter the customer overpaid for standby. In a heavy winter you underpaid yourself if you sold unlimited. That is why the cap and the overage rate exist. Do not hide them.
- Should ice melt be included in the plow price?
- No, unless you priced it. Ice is its own product: material, time, and liability. If you are not staffed to apply melt, the contract says you do not do ice. Bundling it into a cheap seasonal number is how you donate bags and still get the slip call.
- Can I use Regular vs Cash pricing on snow invoices?
- Yes. Winter invoices still need a policy. Publish Regular and Cash on the quote and the invoice so card fees are not a surprise at 6 a.m. Dual pricing is built into MowProHQ on Free.
- Does MowProHQ handle per-storm salt contracts?
- You can invoice completed visits. Complex per-storm salt and material contracts may need extra setup. Keep the visit price and the material line honest on paper even if the software is not a full salt ERP.
