Landscape Management, October 2010
mercial maintenance services or do you say youre providing an attractive environment for commercial tenants Do you say you build patios or do you say you create living spaces to serve as a backdrop for countless good times with friends and families Successful communication requires identifying with the listener and good marketing relies on the ability of the marketer to clearly promote the benefi ts of their services Write down the services you offer Then write down the benefi ts of each of those services People buy benefi ts Put someone in charge of your marketing The best person for your marketing position may already be working for you Look for an employee who seems to get it and understands why people are buying from your company to begin with An ideal marketing coordinator will be able to think like your clients in order to plan creatively for future marketing efforts The owner generally has the clearest vision of the companys unique selling proposition and should be involved in the marketing plan However green industry business owners often have signifi cant operational responsibilities and need to delegate marketing responsibilities to other individuals Develop marketing channels Look at each segment of your client base as an individual channel to target If you offer a diverse group of services this segmentation can be done in terms of which services certain clients buy leading you to develop mini marketing plans for individual types of consumers If you offer a narrower set of services youll need to develop a clear picture of who your buyers are For example Gary Donovans TurfMasters has grown to one of the largest independent lawn care companies in Connecticut in just six years by avoiding diversifi cation in favor of specialization Weve developed a strong sense of who we are and more importantly who we arent which has allowed us to focus all our energy on our best prospects Donovan says Go on the offensive At the outset of the current economic downturn many companies made a hasty decision to cut marketing expenses If you look at marketing competition as a battle this is equivalent to retreating Every company needs to watch costs but if other companies are reducing their marketing efforts you have an immediate advantage by maintaining or increase yours Polish your public image Ideally your employees and vehicles will add to your companys professional image Practically speaking landscaping is a 87 OCTOBER 2010 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET
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