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Upload your CRM production data to ChatGPT to work out what an aeration and overseeding job really costs
Cory Overman, owner of Shades of Green, a lawn care company in Lafayette, Indiana, in Lawn & Landscape magazine
He uploaded production data from the company's CRM into ChatGPT, and it gave him the average cost per single pass on a lawn, per double pass, and how much seed is required per square foot. He also uses ChatGPT for complex Excel functions.
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ChatGPT
The problem
He was figuring out what to charge for aeration and overseeding, and working out the averages by hand would have taken days.
What happened
"It would have taken us several days and many manhours to do this manually and ChatGPT figured it out in 10 minutes," he told the magazine. Self-reported; the prices he set aren't given.
Quoted in the source: Cory Overman, owner, Shades of Green. Source: Lawn & Landscape: Automating the green industry (2024 Technology Report) (2024-10-09) · Added 2026-10-19.
How to set it up yourself
- What Shades of Green did: the owner uploaded production data from his CRM to ChatGPT and had it work out the average cost per pass and the seed needed per square foot before setting his aeration and overseeding price.
- Export a season of completed jobs for one service from your CRM: lawn size, crew time, passes, material used and price. Remove customer names and addresses.
- Upload the file to ChatGPT with the prompt below and ask it to show its formulas, so you can rebuild the key numbers in your own spreadsheet.
- Check two or three jobs by hand against its averages before you change a price, and add your overhead and margin yourself.
Copy-paste prompt
Attached is a season of {SERVICE, e.g. aeration and overseeding} jobs from {COMPANY NAME} (no customer names): lawn size in square feet, crew hours, number of passes, seed and material used, and price charged. 1) Work out average labor and material cost per 1,000 sq ft for a single pass and for a double pass. 2) Work out seed used per 1,000 sq ft. 3) Flag rows that look like data-entry mistakes. Show the formulas you used so I can check them in Excel. Don't suggest a price; I'll add overhead and margin myself.One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-10-17)
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Checked prices: ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-10-17)
Rather not do it yourself?
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