6 Tips to MAXimize Your EOP Budget

EOP can be hectic. You’re trying to finish out the season and you already have to think about next season? What?  We get it. We’ve done the heavy lifting for you and put together these quick tips for tackling your EOP order and MAXimizing your budget. How much of a hero would you be if you saved enough to pay for that spring #polyonparty fertilizer application?

1. Agronomic Planning
As you’re trying to sort through which products to invest in during EOP, consider starting with a good agronomic plan that addresses course expectations and aligns them with the budget dollars you have available to spend. Your Harrell’s sales representative can provide you with up to three years of purchase history to get you started on your agronomic plan. Then you can prioritize playing surfaces in order of importance as far as greens, tees, fairways, and roughs. Then prioritize agronomic inputs based on fertility needs and historic pest pressure. Healthy plants are less susceptible to pests and diseases. Take a Balanced Approach to your planning and be sure to consider:

• Fertility (Granular and Liquid)
• Nematode Pressure
• Disease Pressure
• Insect pressure
• Weed Pressure

Consider how many times you are going to fertilize throughout the year and whether you will fertilize granularly and/or foliar and when do you have heavy nematode pressure? How widespread are your disease issues, is it greens only, do you deal with chronic issues like fairy ring that need to be addressed in a program? Can you afford to be on a preventative fungicide program, if so, how often are you spraying? How do you want to address insect pressure like mole crickets, grubs, and sod webworms?

Your Harrell’s sales representative can develop an annual program for your facility. Your annual program is a customized agronomic plan to meet your unique needs.

2. Utilize Paks
Once the overlying agronomic plan is designed you can then begin to find ways to save the maximum purchase amount and help you achieve the greatest rebates. One of the easiest ways to save money is to utilize paks. Paks are bundles of products manufacturers couple together and provide up front discounts so that you are buying multiple products. Dollars toward paks also count toward spending levels with each manufacturer so essentially you are double dipping on the amount of money saved. Now paks don’t always make sense depending on product mix,your Harrell’s team has meticulously broken down each pak to provide you the best recommendation possible that will save the most dollars.

3. Buying in October
Another way to make sure you are in the best position to save is by ordering in October. For the most part,every company gives an added incentive to order early in the program. This is anywhere from an additional 1-3%, on average and all you have to do is order in in October, so why not? A little preparation provides an added bonus of additional savings.

4. Utilizing Terms
Along with the substantial rebates offered during EOP you are also given terms to pay for the product well into the middle of next year. This allows you to utilize your agronomic program in conjunction with the terms to increase volume on products purchased to gain better rebate potential. Check out the vendor programs for specific terms.

5. Brand Loyalty
There are several options to assist with any agronomic program. In many situations, there are key chemistries that are a must have in certain circumstances. However, for the best savings, consider bundling with one manufacturer with a broad portfolio that addresses most of your agronomic needs. This will allow you to gain the greatest volume of sales and maximize your total rebate with them.

6. Bill and Hold
If you are tight on storage space and cannot store all your products ordered, utilize Harrell’s bill and hold process. This allows you to purchase products, utilize terms, lock in rebates, and have the product delivered when you need it. Ask your Harrell’s representative about Bill & Hold.