6 Successful Techniques For Promoting A Lawn Service Or Landscaping Business
There are definite advantages to owning a landscaping or lawn business. There are of course the obvious advantages of being outdoors all day enjoying the fresh air and not being stuck behind a desk in the same office day after day. But to be successful it requires dedication and a commitment to succeed. This can involve long hours beginning early in the morning and going until dusk. You’re out servicing your clients all day and you do not have a great deal of time to be worrying about marketing and promotion. But if you neglect to maintain effective marketing you will fail.
Luckily there are some inexpensive yet very effective ways to promote your landscaping business that do not require a substantial amount of time. You have certain advantages over many other businesses when it comes to promotional opportunities. One of the major assets you have when it comes to promoting is your visibility. You and your crew are in the public eye the entire day. If you are not using this visibility to your benefit your passing up a enormous opportunity.
Let’s take a look at some of the more successful companies that provide similar services. The main ones that come to mind are True Green and Chem Lawn. There are some very important keys to the way they take full advantage of their high profile services. These factors are major contributors to the success and recognitions of their brands.
1. Professional looking uniformed staff. One of the most important things you can remember is that “Image is Everything.” Think about it. If given the choice most people would choose the person in the professional looking uniform over the guy in the wife-beater t-shirt wearing a bandana and covered in tattoos. The t-shirt guy might be more skilled but he doesn’t come across as a professional and that can turn away potential clients. We’re not talking suit and tie. It can be as simple as a pair of dark work pants or short pants with a dark colored shirt that of course is clearly identified with the name of your company. The best option would be a small logo on the front breast and large on the back of the shirt with the phone number. In addition to maintaining a professional appearance, wearing a uniform like this is also helping to advertise your business. Everyone that drives will be able to see your name on the shirts and associate that name with the beautiful property that you are working on.
2. Vehicles are mobile billboards. The name of your company and Phone number should appear prominently on all your company vehicles. If you are pulling open trailers there should be panels on both sides displaying your logo and contact info. Think about how many people see your vehicles during the course of a day; potentially thousands. You may want to consider vehicle wraps for your vans or pick-up trucks. But at the very least make sure that your name is displayed on your vehicles – Big and Bold.
3. Canvas the neighborhood. You might be working a property on a certain street and there might be 30 – 40 homes within a couple of blocks. While you are taking care of the property send one of your staff out to put door hangers on all the houses close by. Let them know that you’re working in their neighborhood and offer them an incentive to try out your service. Door Hangers are fairly inexpensive to print but can go a long way in promoting you business. If you put them out in every neighborhood you work in your name will slowly become more recognizable. This will turn into more business.
4. Get yourself into the homes. Direct mail is still one of the most effective forms of promotion. The key is to be consistent. If you mail out a postcard to an area one time and then never do it again because you didn’t get a hundred new customers you’re missing the point. It’s true that most of the postcards you send will end up in the trash. So what? The average response rate on a postcard mailing is about .25% – .5%. This means that if you mail 5000 pieces you could see anywhere from 10 to 25 calls. If you generally charge per month for your service one customer is worth about 0 over 12 months. If your mailing cost 00 you would need to sign up 3 new accounts to make it a success. But it may take a couple of mailings to the response you’re looking for.
5. Get in their web space. If you do not have a web site yet, I only have one question for you. Why Not? You can have a basic website designed for around 0 that will look great. All of your promotion should have your website address on it. The benefit of a website over other types of promotion is that there is no limit to the amount of information that you can put on it. You can have pages explaining all the different services that you offer; a gallery page featuring photos some of the nicer properties that you maintain; a contact page where connect with
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