A Killer, Step-By-Step Direct Mail Strategy for Green Industry Professionals

As landscape professionals, our work speaks for itself - the better the design and installation - our reputation reach increases. Hence the reason the majority of client leads come from referrals and from those that actually witness our work.

Recently, our design/build firm began a landscape project in an exclusive gated community where I realized that it would be advantageous to make personal contact with the homeowners in that neighborhood.

Although yard signs and door hangers have worked in the past, we wanted to make it much more personal to generate more interest in our work, company, and client's property.

Going the extra step

We created a direct mail piece in the form of an introduction letter that was sent to every homeowner in the community. The letter included our company's elevator pitch and outlined the details of the landscape project we would be coordinating.

We felt the letters would be more effective and have greater impact if we personalized each--even hand writing the names and addresses on the envelopes.

We used multiple online resources that not only gave us the neighbor's addresses, but also their names and telephone numbers. We cross-referenced this information using Google Maps to ensure we located every house in the neighborhood.

We always make sure our office staff knows when a landscape project is about to begin so we can send the letters the same day we call for a utility locate. This way, the letters arrive right before we begin the project; which in turn builds anticipation in the neighborhood.

It's often the little things we do that catches the attention and earns the respect of potential clients.

This direct mail strategy does not require massive amounts of time or money to execute; yet the increase in brand awareness and reach is an incredible payoff. This, combined with a strong reference from the actual client, is a recipe for future success in this neighborhood.

One night during this particular landscape installation, I drove through the community around 7:00 pm and spotted many families strolling past the project we were building right in front of their eyes. My hope is that our introduction letter encouraged this action.

You can do the same wherever you work. This is a marketing strategy that all landscape companies and professionals can execute in any neighborhood.

In the video below Jason walks you through, step-by-step, how to identify your client's neighbors and how to extract their contact information.