A snow removal contractor should send renewal offers in late spring, follow up through the summer, and have signatures in hand by August or September. In GoHighLevel a Custom Date Reminder keyed to each account's season start date sends the offers and follow ups on a fixed countdown. The bottom line: property managers buy snow service well before the first flake, so a renewal that arrives in October is competing with a decision already made.
What the industry timeline says
The Snow and Ice Management Association's resource center says clients often wait until the first snowfall to sign, that this wait and see approach creates risk, and that ink on paper early is the difference between a controlled season and a scramble. One contractor it quotes starts renewals right after the season with a formal review, and another delivers renewal contracts by August or September so clients have time to review and ask questions before the fall rush. A regional snow manager writing for Ruppert Landscape cites SIMA's 52 week timeline, which puts the start of negotiation in summer and awards by the end of summer, and says waiting until September or later can leave you with a contractor at capacity.
A national facilities services company's buyer side timeline shows why: it drafts the request for proposals from mid May to June 30, sends it July 1, has responses due August 1, does legal review in August, selects a provider September 1, holds site walks and staking in September, and starts the season October 1. A contractor whose renewal reaches the property manager in May or early June is in the file before that RFP goes out. A smart service vendor's guide adds that seasonal flat rate contracts usually run November through April in equal monthly installments, which is why they are sold in September, not November.
The countdown
| Days before season start (October 1) | Step |
|---|---|
| After the last storm | Post season review with the property manager |
| About 150 (early May) | Renewal offer with next season's price and terms |
| 120 (June 3) | Follow up if unsigned |
| 90 (July 3) | Second follow up, with a price hold date |
| 60 (August 2) | Third follow up, before RFP responses close |
| 30 (September 1) | Final notice, and site walk scheduling |
Build it in GoHighLevel
- Add each property manager as a contact, with fields for Season start date, Contract type (per push or seasonal), Renewal status, and Price hold date.
- Build a workflow with the Custom Date Reminder trigger on Season start date, 150 days before, that sends the renewal offer by Send Email.
- Add triggers for 120, 90, 60, and 30 days before, and an If/Else on Renewal status so signed accounts exit.
- Add a task for the account manager at 90 days to call unsigned accounts.
- Use a Send SMS action only for managers who agreed to texts, and set a Time Window for business hours.
- Create a Smart List for unsigned renewals by month so your team can work the list.
- In the workflow's Settings tab, turn on Stop on Response, choose the Timezone, and set a Time Window for weekday business hours.
GoHighLevel's Custom Date Reminder page says the trigger fires before, on, or after a date, that in contact based workflows you can choose supported contact date fields and supported opportunity date fields, that it does not fire for a contact whose date field is empty, and that a workflow can hold two triggers, one before and one after the date. It also describes a Match on the year option for reminders that repeat every year, so read that setting's description in your account and test it with a real date field.
GoHighLevel's Workflow Settings page says Stop on Response removes a contact from the workflow when they respond to a message sent from that workflow, and only for that contact. It says Allow Reentry controls whether a contact can enter again, that Allow multiple Opportunities lets each of a contact's opportunities start its own run (on by default in new workflows), that the Timezone can follow the account or the contact, and that the Time Window restricts when communications go out, uses one window for every day, and does not affect internal actions such as tags, fields, or opportunities. Its Automating Opportunities page lists the Pipeline Stage Changed and Opportunity Status Changed triggers, both filterable by standard and custom opportunity fields, and its Opportunity Changed trigger page adds that this trigger also detects changes to lead value, assignment, and custom fields, with date field filters. A HighLevel agency help center article says opportunity custom fields are created under Settings, then Custom Fields.
What the workload looks like
For example, a contractor with 150 commercial accounts and five touches each sends 750 messages over the summer (150 times 5). If 60 percent renew at the first offer, the 60 remaining accounts (150 times 0.4) get the calls that matter.
Mistakes to avoid
- Waiting for the first snow. Buyers decide in summer.
- A renewal with no price hold date. The date creates the deadline.
- Skipping the post season review. It starts the conversation.
- Texting managers who did not agree. Use email by default.
How this was handled before
Contractors mailed renewal letters in the fall and phoned the accounts that did not answer. That matched a market where owners signed when the weather turned. As facilities teams moved to summer RFPs, a fall letter became a late one. A date driven countdown puts the offer in front of the manager while the budget is still being set.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. Property managers usually prefer email for contracts, so ask before sending texts. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
When do property managers buy snow service?
SIMA's guidance puts negotiation in summer with awards by the end of summer, and a facilities company's timeline sends its RFP on July 1.
What is a seasonal snow contract?
A flat price, usually billed in equal monthly installments from November through April, according to a service software vendor's guide.
When should I send the renewal?
Late spring is a strong start, and August or September is the latest that SIMA contributors recommend.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.