Every employee works at a different rate; therefore, every crew or group will complete the work within a different amount of time. To make your estimates and pricing as accurate as possible, you not only have to know which crew or group will be doing the work, but you also have to know how long that crew normally takes to complete those particular tasks as well. Makes sense doesn’t it?

Time and motion studies are easy to do, but will take some time to compile. First, you have to break down everything you do on a daily basis into different measurable tasks. For example, in the landscape industry you would time tasks such as mowing turf, trimming hedges, applying fertilizer, etc. Then you would need a measurable unit that you can break each task down into. Using the landscape example again, you can measure square footage. Pull out the stop watch and have the employee complete the work. Take the amount of time and divide by the square footage to get an accurate calculation of how long it actually takes. Do this with every employee and have them complete the tasks multiple times to get an average time.

Once you have times for every task and employee, then you can calculate how long it would take Crew ‘A’ to complete a job versus Crew ‘B’. With this data you not only get the most accurate pricing possible, but you’ve also created a structured, easy to follow process for setting prices.

Taking the time to conduct time and motion studies will help create the most accurate pricing possible. Many times we let outside influences such as others’ opinions affect our final price. I remember an estimating workshop I attended once, the instructor kept repeating over and over, “it is what it is”. In other words, once we put together an estimate, have covered all our materials and time, covered our overhead and allowed for a profit, then that’s all you can do. “It is what it is”. We need to be fair to the customer, but we also need to submit an estimate that will leave a fair profit in it for us. Time and motion studies allow us to do that with confidence.

With landscape maintenance we had regularly scheduled jobs from week to week. The regular work provided us with a labor pool that we could draw from when needed to finish a large project or to handle an emergency. Planning was easier for us because if we didn’t have any extra work we could have our crews help out with the maintenance. It created a consistent stream of income every month which lessened the stress of having to constantly push sales. Most importantly we had regular customers that we could cross sell other services to throughout the year. We were already doing business together so it was easy for them to have us take care of the work, rather than to go through the process of finding someone else for every job.

I have friends in similar industries who do not have maintenance programs in place. Every month they have to sell hard to keep all their employees working. When they don’t, people get laid off. The sales reps feel the weight of the world on their shoulders as they try to keep everyone busy. Now that’s tough.

So what type of product or service can you apply a continuity program to? It might take some thought, but every business can do it. Rethink your business. It will take some pressure off of everyone, boost profits, and create all sorts of other advantages you may never have thought of.