In the last article I provided access to the recent 60 Minutes news story on how Robots are coming. Not sure if you had a chance to watch…
But just to show you another way that ROBOTS ARE COMING….
take a look at this recent article in Landscape Management
Magazine.
In the article you will learn how a number of techno-disrupters are using Internet based sales systems to take control of the customer order process. Interesting! These marketing agencies are taking 10%-30% of gross revenue in exchange for:
- Finding the buyer
- Processing the order
- Collecting the money
- Sourcing the lawn service provider
- Following up with quality control
- Paying the lawn service provider
- Creating a method for repeating 1-6 using robotic systems
Let me explain in plain English: A robot could replace the salesman, estimator, and office staff.
Here’s my take on this emerging robotic technology. The market (ex. some customers, industry outsiders and technology teams) think YOU are a commodity.
As YOU (or your sales team) are being replaced the price for lawn mowing service will fall by 25%-50%! The guy on the lawn mower is safe. His job is not at risk. Your job…as you know it as a sales person or manager…is targeted for automation.
Is it Time for You to Quit?
Personalized services with high touch points are rarely low price point commodities. People pay extra for top notch service, service bundles, personalized services, and customization. So the answer is No, dont quit.
Look, there is ALWAYS a lower priced option for the customer. There always has been and will continue to be low end providers. But you can certainly avoid the low-price pressure with correct positioning in the market. I dont want you to become a commodity. But this guy does.
Heres a quote from a co-founder of an automated Internet based marketing agency:
No longer should being a good negotiator or having a Porsche in your driveway have any effect up on what you pay to have your lawn mowed. We want every homeowner with a similar sized lawn as their neighbor to pay the same price across the board.
Heres why you better pay careful attention. This guy is armed with 7 million dollars of investor money and 49 employees building out the online infrastructure to make lawn mowing purchasing a 3-4 click process.
He is not alone. I count start-ups armed with well over $10 million in investor capital deployed to make this happen quickly.
Listen, you CAN choose to be treated like a commodity. Just let someone else: market your services, price your work, establish the payment channel & then take a cut for themselves. Boom… youre not a commodity.
Established companies better pay careful attention to what is happening in the space of robotics, automation and streamlined payment systems. New start-ups and one-man armies who remove the overhead created by traditional marketing and sales processes (using technologies like those in the article above) will offer lower prices. Platforms like those above will likely utilize market based pricing driving costs to the lowest common denominator…making sure that lawn mowing, snow removal, holiday lighting, and fertilization services become a commodity.
Be careful, the best way to prevent yourself from becoming a commodity is to learn enough about this type of technology so YOU can lower your costs of business, engage your customers in a more personal relationship and profit from a streamlined payment collection process. There are much lower cost ways to do these things than to pay 10% to 30% of the sales price to a middleman.
If you want to learn more about automation and affordable robotics for your company…www.superlawntoolkit.com/meet
The call is free. But there are only a handful of meetings I have opened upon my schedule.
WARNING: you have 3 choices:
- Ignore what Im explaining
- Learn enough about robotics to defend against this attack or
- Begin to use your own technology to automate your company
The choice is up to you. Like or not robots are coming.
Once again, Id like to meet up with you and explain how to fix this problem.
Just place this address into your web browser. My automated secretary will handle the rest.
PS If you dont want to talk, thats fine But please….join me online to learn more. 50 landscape company owners paid $995 to access this information last year. Are you missing out on this techno revolution? Watch this video to learn the 5 Critical Mistakes Found on Landscape Websites.
