How to get snow plowing customers on the streets you want to plow
Renew your current drives, choose streets that fit the route, and give nearby owners a specific reason to call.
Published 5 min read
To get snow plowing customers without a long detour, start by renewing last winter’s driveways. Then look for new jobs on those same streets. Walk each driveway before promising to clear it. Even a nearby job must fit the times you’ve promised your current customers.
Work the plowing calendar
Set your fall schedule around renewals and the drives still open on your route:
- September: send renewals and ask for an answer by a set date.
- October to early November: work the streets beside your renewals, before the first storm is forecast.
- First storms: talk to owners still shoveling their own drives.
Lock in renewals, then count open spots
Call or text last winter’s customers with your price and terms before looking for new work. Ask them to reply by a date you can plan around. After renewals, count the open spots. Use the driveway capacity guide to check how many stops your truck can still cover.
Ask a renewing customer if you may mention that you already clear their drive when you contact the neighbors. A referral on that street is easier to fit into your route than a stranger across town. Don’t give out a customer’s name without asking.
Keep the renewal message short: “I’m putting together my driveway route again. I can clear your drive and front walk under the same scope as last winter at [your price]. Reply by [your date] if you’d like a place.” Change the message if the work has changed. Follow up with anyone who hasn’t replied before treating their spot as filled.
Pick the drives you want, then the owners
In a 2020 PlowSite thread, a newer operator reported giving out about 750 flyers for lawn care and plowing. He got one plowing call. Another member suggested listing the driveways you’d take and mailing those houses. His test: “Why advertise to a driveway with no place to put the snow?”
Draw your area around stops you already have, rather than a town line:
- Mark your current drives and the streets between them.
- Time the detour to any street you want to add. Count the trip back to your route too.
- Reject a street if its travel time would push your last promised stop late.
No customers yet? Choose a few adjoining streets and walk them before you pay to print anything. A small first route is easier to price and serve than isolated drives around town.
Walk the drives before you print cards
Mark the drives you’d be willing to quote and the ones that need an on-site check:
| Pitch | Skip, or price for the extra time |
|---|---|
| Room to stack snow beside the drive or at the end | Boxed in by a fence, the garage and a neighbor’s lot |
| Straight push toward stacking space on the property | A bend that makes you back-drag and reposition |
| Paved, fairly flat, room to turn around | Steep, gravel or no turnaround, so you back into the street |
| Quiet street | Busy road where you wait for a gap in traffic |
| One owner | Shared drive with no agreement on who pays |
In a 2019 PlowSite thread, one operator described a drive at a busy intersection that takes 5 or 6 minutes at night and 15 or more at rush hour. Visit a busy street near the hour you’d actually plow it.
If you shovel, check corner lots for sidewalk on both sides. Check your town’s clearing rules before promising a time to the owner.
RouteLeads shows driveway length and shape for homes on the streets you pick, so you know which drives to walk first.
Send one clear offer, then knock
Once you have a short list, mail or hand-deliver a card that says which street you already plow, what you clear and how to ask for a driveway quote. Leave the price off until you’ve seen the drive. Put your business name and number where the owner can see them.
Give the card time to arrive, then knock on the doors you want most. If no one answers, leave a hanger on the door.
Ask your current customers before adding your business details to their driveway stakes. The flags show neighbors who clears that drive when it snows.
Write a card a neighbor can act on. For a street you really service, you could say:
“Cold Front Plowing clears driveways on Birch Hollow Rd. If you’d like a price for your drive and front walk, call or text Dana at [your number]. I’ll look at the drive before I quote it.”
Change the street and work to match what you offer. If you don’t already plow that street, leave out the first sentence. Note which street received each batch of cards so you can tell where a call came from. For help choosing a format, see the door hangers vs postcards guide.
When someone replies, ask for the address and whether they need the walk cleared. Arrange to see the driveway rather than pricing it from a photo. If they want only a one-off push, check whether you can fit it around your regular customers.
Walk the drive with the owner
When an owner agrees to a look, walk the drive together and ask:
- Where do you want the snow piled?
- What time do you leave in the morning?
- Is there anything under the snow I could hit, like pavers, sprinkler heads or a low curb?
- Do you want the walk and steps done, or just the drive?
The leave time helps set the order of stops. Write the price after you’ve seen the drive. If you offer seasonal and per-push terms, the snow plowing pricing guide shows how to work them out from your own costs.
Talk to owners still shoveling their own drives
When you’re plowing a street you serve and see someone shoveling, park out of their way. Ask where they pile the snow:
“Where do you put it all once the sides fill up? I run Cold Front Plowing and clear a drive around the corner. When you’re dug out, I can walk yours with you and leave a price for the rest of the winter.”
Their answer gives you a place to check when you walk the drive. Leave out the drive around the corner if you don’t clear one nearby. If they need help today, quote that job separately from a place on your regular route. A same-day call-out can interrupt stops you’ve already promised.
Decide whether a new drive fits
Before saying yes, add the minutes on site to the detour it creates. Put that stop in your actual route order. If it makes you late to a customer you’ve promised to serve early, don’t take it yet. Keep the owner’s address for renewal time and look for a drive you could replace.