Author: Here's a topic that might ruffle some feathers.
It's what I call the "Full Service Myth". It's pervasive throughout the lawn and landscape industry.
It sounds something like this:
"Our customers want a one-stop shop."
I call bullshit on that.
This is lazy thinking based more on your own narrative than on actual reality (i.e.- decades of documented consumer behavior).
Whenever full service appears as the main promise a company makes, you can assume that it has been either unable or unwilling to actually name what it stands for.1
It's companies without a core competency that default to "full service" as their unique value proposition. Unfortunately, this is the mediocre majority of our industry.
Have a majority of your customers explicitly told you that they want a one-stop shop for all their outdoor needs?
If so, I would suggest that you have the wrong customers. These folks are probably not spending as much money as the average consumer would typically spend on specialized professional services.
Instead, they are buying your full service approach because you are cheaper than the alternative. They are buying you as a commodity, not as an expert.
Addressing this full service myth is a good lead in to the next article I will write about diversification. We'll explore the right way to diversify your service offerings to strengthen your positioning and expertise while avoiding being perceived as the "do everything" generalist landscaper.
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References:
1- Quote from Tim Williams, Positioning for Professionals, pg. 30
