The worst day to sell snow removal is the morning after the first storm. Your phone rings nonstop, every caller wants their driveway done in the next hour, you cannot take most of them, and the ones you do take are one-off jobs at whatever price you shouted into the phone. The best day to sell snow removal is a warm afternoon in September when nobody is thinking about it, which is exactly why most owners do not.
This guide is about signing snow removal contracts before winter: who to contact, when, what to offer, and how to let customers sign up on your website instead of on the phone. ProTyz handles the list, the reach-out and the booking page; the pricing decisions and the follow-up are yours.
Why contracts do not get signed in time
Three reasons, usually together:
- Nobody has a list. Last winter's customers are in a text thread, an invoice folder and your memory. Reaching them means reconstructing who they were.
- The offer is not written down. If the only way to get a price is to call you, the customer waits until they need it, which is the day it snows.
- The season sneaks up. August feels early. October feels early. Then it is November 15 and the plow needs a new cutting edge and there is no time.
The fix is a calendar, a list and a booking page.
Tactic 1: Work the August-to-October window
Set three dates on the calendar and treat them like storm days:
- Late August: first message to last year's list. "We're planning routes for this winter; want your spot back?"
- Late September: second message to anyone who has not replied, plus a public push (Google Business Profile post, a sign on the truck, a note to your lawn customers).
- Mid-October: last call with a deadline. "Seasonal contracts close October 31; after that it's per-push only."
Tactic 2: Let Top Opportunities build the list for you
If you ran last winter on ProTyz, the list is already there. Top Opportunities is a rule engine that flags clients who are due for re-engagement, and one of its rules is seasonal: a client who booked a service around a year ago and has not booked it since. Come August, last winter's snow clients start showing up on the Overview card and in the full Opportunities tab.
Reach-out is one click per client, with an editable draft. On the Free plan the message goes by email; on Pro ($10/month flat) you can send it by SMS, which for snow customers tends to get a faster answer. ProTyz never sends these on its own; you read the draft, tweak it, and press send. The Monday digest email lists who is due that week so you do not have to remember to check.
Make the draft specific: the address, what they had last year, and the seasonal price you are offering now. "We plowed 14 Maple last winter; here's this year's seasonal rate and a link to lock it in" converts far better than a generic blast. For the weekly rhythm, see Top Opportunities: who to call this week.
If last winter was not on ProTyz, type last year's clients into the Clients tab with their address and a note ("per-push, double driveway, gate on the left"). The seasonal rule catches them next year without any effort.
Tactic 3: Offer seasonal and per-push side by side
The classic snow pricing dilemma is that seasonal contracts are great for cash flow and route planning but scary for the customer in a light winter, and per-push is the reverse. Offer both, and let the customer choose on the booking page.
In Services & Pricing, set up two services:
- Seasonal Snow Removal Contract: one price for the season, billed however you handle it (monthly installments or up front), with a defined trigger depth (say, 2 inches) and a defined scope (driveway, walkway, steps).
- Per-Push Snow Removal: a price each time you come, with the same trigger and scope.
Put the trade-off in the service description in plain words: "Seasonal is the same price whether it snows 5 times or 25. Per-push is cheaper in a light winter and more in a heavy one. Seasonal customers are plowed first." That last sentence sells more seasonal contracts than any discount.
The numbers are yours. A common approach is to price seasonal at roughly an average winter's worth of pushes; check your last three winters' push counts before you set it.
Tactic 4: Use driveway-size inputs instead of "call for a quote"
Snow removal pricing depends on a few things the customer already knows: how long the driveway is, whether it is single or double width, whether there is a walkway and steps, and whether they want salt. Those are exactly what ProTyz priced inputs are for.
On the booking page, the customer picks the service, then answers the inputs you set up: driveway size tier (short single, long single, double, circular), extras for walkway, steps, salting and a second entrance. The itemized quote updates live, a ZIP check confirms they are in your plow area, they enter their details, and confirmation goes out by email (SMS on Pro).
A few decisions that are on you:
- Set a minimum price under Pricing & Policies so a tiny driveway still covers the trip.
- Define the ZIP list tightly. Storm-day response times fall apart when the route sprawls. Say no to the far ZIPs in September, not in January.
- Write the trigger and the timing policy into the service description. "We start when accumulation reaches 2 inches and aim to clear all seasonal customers within 6 hours of the end of snowfall." Customers who know the rule do not call at 3 AM.
Tactic 5: Convert your lawn customers
If you mow in summer, your best snow prospects are already paying you. They know your truck, they trust your crew, and their address is in your system with a note about the gate.
On ProTyz, lawn care and snow removal are two service lines under one login, with one shared client list. Add snow removal as a second line in Settings, and every lawn client is already a snow client record; you do not re-enter anything. In the Clients tab, filter the list to lawn customers who have never booked snow, and reach out. A short message in September ("Same crew, same truck, now with a plow. Seasonal contract for your driveway is $X; here's the link") to a list of people who already like you is the highest-return marketing a two-season business can do.
The team side works the same way: crew members are qualified per line, and the calendar will not double-book someone across a fall cleanup and a first-snow push. The mechanics are covered in run cleaning, lawn and pest under one login; for the season itself, see snow removal scheduling software.
Tactic 6: Make the contract easy to say yes to
A few small policy moves push undecided customers over the line:
- A modest early-bird price for signing by the September date. Even $25 off a seasonal contract creates a reason to act now. Set it up as a coupon code in Pricing & Policies; it applies at the coupon step on the booking page and expires when you say.
- A referral line in every reach-out: "Know a neighbor? Two houses on the same street plow faster, and I'll take $X off both."
- Priority language. Seasonal customers are cleared first. Say it everywhere.
- Reviews from last winter on your site's reviews page. If you sent review requests after last season's jobs, they are already there. If not, this is the year to start.
What ProTyz does not do
ProTyz will not write your contract terms, will not collect card payments for the seasonal fee (deposits are recorded, card capture is deferred), and will not send the reach-out messages automatically. It builds the list, drafts the message, hosts the booking page with your pricing and inputs, and confirms the booking. The August calendar reminder, the pricing decision and the second follow-up are yours.
FAQ
When should I start selling snow removal contracts? Late August for your first message to last year's customers, with a second push in late September and a firm cutoff in mid-October. After that, per-push only.
Should I offer seasonal or per-push pricing? Both, side by side on the booking page, with a plain sentence explaining the trade-off and a note that seasonal customers get plowed first. Let the customer pick.
How does ProTyz know which clients to remind me about? Top Opportunities has a seasonal rule: a client who booked a service about a year ago and has not rebooked it is flagged. You review the list on the Overview card or the Opportunities tab and send an editable draft by email (Free) or SMS (Pro). Nothing goes out without you pressing send.
Can my lawn customers book snow removal without re-entering their details? Yes. Lawn and snow are separate service lines under one login with one shared client record, so a lawn client's address and notes carry over to their snow booking.
Start free at protyz.com — no card, about 15 minutes to a live booking page. See the snow removal lander at /for/snow-removal or click through a sample site at /demo/snow-removal.