Landscape Management, October 2010

no longer enough To increase sales landscapers move beyond referrals as their only means of marketing mouth company he says But we will no longer be a word of mouth company We will be more like the big boys and sell the way they do We think we need to start a more offi cial marketing and sales plan To accomplish this Bowen is now looking for a salesperson who can develop sales strategies grow and track the numbers and tie it all to marketing Maintaining current business and sources of revenue is No 1 on contractors priority lists for the next six months followed closely by growing business according to Landscape Managements survey And over the past two years one third of all small business owners continue to report weak sales as their top business problem according to the National Federation of Independent Business With sales being top priority its no wonder increased marketing is a key part of the contractor business game plan As Christy Webber president of Chicagos Christy Webber Landscapes insists Now is the time to make sure your name is still out there LM OCTOBER 2010 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET S11 L andscapers lose clients Its inevitable They die They lose jobs They sell their houses and move They divorce They get sick They cant afford us Jerry Tindel lists the many ways hes lost Cutting Edge Lawn Care clients in Austin TX The goal obviously is to replace these clients because clients are the lifeblood of all future growth Tindel explains If you dont continue to grow you will slowly shrink to nothing To avoid wasting away contractors market And in todays wary economy they are marketing a lot more than they used to To improve business growth next year 48 of small businesses say they will increase marketing according to a September Citibank survey Paramount Landscape president Brian Golembiewski has already spent three or four times what he typically spends in a normal year on marketing This includes putting together a short movie about his company buying e mail lists and sending out e blasts and dropping off fl iers and business cards to potential clients properties We didnt have to do much marketing in the past we got a lot of work just by word of mouth Golembiewski admits But with what is going on now were doing a lot more marketing to recover lost maintenance I am laying the groundwork now because I know it can take awhile to materialize Jeff Bowen is embarrassed to admit that up until this point he hasnt spent even 1 of the companys revenue on sales and marketing We were a word ofis TAKE AWAYS 2010 Marketing Setbacks 1 Lack of marketing presence 2 Increased competition and market oversaturation decreases effectiveness of traditional means 3 Doing nothing beyond word of mouth 2011 Marketing Goals 1 Increase marketing budgets to keep your name in front of current and potential customers 2 Try different and maybe less traditional marketing methods dont rely solely on customer referrals 3 Take advantage of low cost marketing opportunities public relations social media marketing etc to engage customers MORE VISIBILITY 48 of small businesses who plan to increase marketing in 2011 SOURCE CITIBANK Word of mouth