Dear Lawn or Landscape Business Owner:
Bad news: The folks trying to sell you $40,000 websites and $3,000 per month social media management plans and $1,000 per month ad words campaigns are going to be pissed about this article. Here’s why.
They make a fortune off you by making your marketing too complicated.
If your marketing is too complicated or hard to understand, you’ll feel like it’s something you can’t figure out. That’s just plain wrong.
Good news: Marketing does not have to be expensive, complicated or hard to understand. But…I promise you…if you want your company to grow…if you want to get the high-paying jobs…if you want the prestigious accounts in your town…marketing MUST be done!
This is why we are publishing this series on marketing your lawn or landscape company. We want your marketing to be successful, affordable and easy.
In case you missed it, the links to Landscaper Marketing Plan Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3 are found below.
But let’s get into the Landscaper Marketing Plan – Step 4 right here and now.
Here’s the simple – but powerful – dripping with gold lessons we’ve learned with dirt under our fingernails through 36 Spring seasons.
If your business is to grow…you must have a Client Communication Plan. There are three parts to this communication plan including:
- Frequency of communications
- Quality of communications
- Communication methods
Here’s what every lawn or landscape business owner needs to know about marketing so they will never be taken advantage of.
Frequency of Communication
Lawn and landscaping companies that enjoy fat profits take their marketing seriously. It’s not an afterthought. It’s a high priority. In fact, the time to work on marketing is carefully planned into the weekly schedule of personal priorities.
The business owner commits to creating a marketing communication plan with a minimum frequency of once-per-month client communication. Anything less than monthly communication will fall short on the need for consistency.
You see, when you demonstrate consistency in how frequently you communicate, you are demonstrating consistency in business practices. Consistency builds trust with your clients and prospects. And buyers give their money to those companies they know, like and trust.
Commit to frequent client and past customer communications and you can build a company that will never run out of work. Better yet, you will consistently attract the most prestigious and high-paying jobs in your area.
But here’s a word of caution. You can’t trick good customers into buying from you. You must pay careful attention to what you talk about in your communications. Your quality of communication matters. So keep reading…
Quality of Communication
If you want to earn the business of the high-paying customers in your market, they must know, like and trust you. So you must provide helpful, useful, insightful and accurate information on the subject of lawns, landscapes, plants, irrigation, drainage, pest control, garden design …or whatever it is that YOU try to make a living selling.
Your messages must be uncopyable!
The only way you can be uncopyable is to tell your personal stories of the projects, people and passions you encounter. Your personal experiences will be unique. Tell personal stories so people get to know you. Really…
If you happen to be a landscaper, tell stories about landscaping projects and the customers who hired you to do those projects. We know that writing stories is not easy for lots of landscapers. However, writing stories is a skill that can be learned, improved and perfected over time.
When I made a personal commitment to write, publish and mail a monthly newsletter for my lawn business customers, it was a serious challenge. I remember being scared that my message may not be perfect. I remember thinking I’d have misspelled words, grammar errors or dangling participles in my writing. But I did not let those fears stop me.
Our early newsletters had three simple parts. It covered no more than a half sheet of the cheapest white paper money could buy. Section one was the list of upcoming maintenance shores for the month. Section two was a message about the recommendations for irrigation watering schedules. Section three was a short story about a customer, employee or vendor who stood out in my mind that month. In most cases, the message was under 300 words. Rarely was the message over 500 words.
Delivering twelve messages a year with 300-500 words delivered 3600-6000 words per year to the group of clients and past customers most likely to hire my company again and again.
Then we learned how to use photos in our messages. Can you complete this saying? A picture is worth __________________?
We added a photo of our favorite plant of the month to our newsletter message. The message grew to a full page over time. We invested in technology to keep our publishing costs as low as possible but as professional looking as possible.
I’ll never forget sitting with this highly-respected real estate broker one day as he held my newsletter in his hand. He said, “Tony, be careful with marketing like this. It could make you a millionaire.” I smiled. 😀
Of course, I never missed a monthly newsletter once I made that commitment to publish. A few years later, I sold that little landscape company for a seven figure profit. The real estate broker was correct!
Can consistent and quality communications really be the secret to marketing success? Dang skippy kemosabe!
Communication Methods
You and I are having a communication moment right now. The moment that you get this message and read this message, you are learning something useful. IF you use this information, you will likely create a seven figure future for yourself.
It don’t matter if the seven figure future occurs on one sunny day when you exit your highly profitable company or you accumulate cash year after year for a few decades…your financial future is tied directly to your ability to market your business in such a way that YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE THE LOW BIDDER!
This message originated as a few hundred words on a Google document. We converted it to an email. We delivered it to your inbox at 6 am EDT on Saturday morning…the exact same time we deliver a useful email message each week…a tradition that we have followed with near perfection for over a decade.
Email is just one communication tool. A handwritten postcard could be another communication tool. A message placed into an envelope along with an invoice for services is another communication tool you might use.
Your phone is a communication tool. So is that text message app on your smartphone. A big box dropped in your office by a guy in a brown uniform with a gift enclosed and a proposal for services could get your personal message delivered to the exact right prospect on the exact right day to help you be uncopyable. Do you get my point here?
Most landscapers will never need a thousand new customers (like those high-priced digital marketers promise you’ll find online if you give them $40,000 or $3,000 per month or whatever). You might need 10 or 20 or 50 more customers over the next 12 months. This communication plan will get you the growth you need.
So I want you to commit to enhancing your communication plan by making a commitment to consistent communication frequency, quality communications and low-cost but highly-effective communication methods like we’ve discussed here today.
And you know what’s going to happen? You’re going to win some new accounts. You’re going to get your existing and past customers to buy your services over and over and over again. Along the way, those satisfied customers will refer your company over and over and over again.
When you take control of your marketing and take personal responsibility to commit to a steady and consistent communication plan, your business is going to grow.
I know this sounds pretty simple. I know you can understand this concept. So just do it!
You’re going to stand out in a crowded marketplace. and you’re going to steadily build relationships so people will come to know you, like you, and trust you. Promise you it’s true!
What do you think?
I’d love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to Tony@TonyBassConsulting.com
Happy Easter,
Tony Bass, founder
866-923-0027
PS – Just in case you missed our previous sessions on the Landscaper Marketing Plan training series, you can follow the links below to get your marketing refined, tuned up and pulling in the high-profit jobs in your area:
Landscaper Marketing Plan – Step 1 – click this link
Landscaper Marketing Plan – Step 2 – click this link
Landscaper Marketing Plan – Step 3 – click this link
