How Landscape Companies Can Modernize Their Prospecting

Budgets are tight, competition is fierce, and landscaping deals are harder than ever to close. What’s worked for your landscaping company in the past is easier for your prospects to ignore, so you have to try something different. You need to modernize your prospecting efforts. 

Property managers have tons of information at their fingertips to help them make the best decisions for their property. If you want to break through, your landscape prospecting needs to be personalized, relationship-driven, and add value at every step.

Some of our clients initially struggled with sales enablement and came to Landscape Leadership to uncover ways to streamline and modernize their prospecting. Here's some of the advice we shared. 

Position Yourself as a Thought Leader

A referral is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door with a prospect. But how do you become the company everyone recommends?

One way is to establish yourself as a thought leader in the landscaping industry by providing value without asking for anything in return. You can do this by writing helpful articles, contributing to industry magazines, speaking at events, and being active in the local community.

Image Source:  James Martin Associates

Since property managers are bombarded with companies sending them promotional content and immediately asking for a meeting, you can stand out by sharing articles that address their current pain points.

• How to Maintain a Safe Commercial Landscape by Level Green Landscaping
• 10 Tips for Preparing Your Commercial Property for Winter Snow Removal by KD Landscape
• What’s The Best Ground Cover to Replace Grass in Florida by Ground Source are all great examples of helpful content.

This content, such as in-depth articles and case studies are great things to share during your prospecting outreach to position you and your landscape company as experts and serves as a way to provide value instead of just asking for their business. You need to ease into it.

Warm Up Your Leads on LinkedIn

Do you answer unsolicited sales calls or open unexpected emails? Probably not. 

One of the most critical elements of modern prospecting is building a relationship instead of an ambush approach.  

Visit their LinkedIn profile and if they have a premium account they’ll see your name under recent visitors. Next, add a comment on a recent post of theirs. Don’t just say “Great post”, mention something specific within the post that contributes value and shows you read it. If they belong to a LinkedIn group that’s also relevant to you, go ahead and join. The goal here is to get them to be familiar with your name. 

Image Source:  Level Green Landscaping

Once that familiarity is established, you can send a connection request with a personalized note. If they accept, then you can share an article or case study they may find interesting. After months of providing value and building rapport, you can ask if they’d be interested in a meeting to discuss their landscaping needs.

[RELATED READING: 10 Things Landscaping Salespeople Shouldn't (& Should) Do on LinkedIn] 

Customize Your Email Outreach Approach

Property managers get tons of emails, which means you need to do something to stand out. 

Try to identify what you have in common.

• Did you go to the same school?
• Do you have mutual connections?
• Do you have a similar hobby?
• Are you a member of the same professional group?

You could also mention something about their property. Maybe they have a tree at the entrance that looks great or one that’s infected with bagworms. 

The first 25 percent of your email should be that personalized information and the remaining 75 percent can include a relevant case study or in-depth article that can be used for all your prospects in that industry. Work smarter, not harder.

Incorporate Video Outreach

One way to capture your prospect's attention is with a video rather than a block of text.

This can happen in a few ways. First, you can send a custom video introduction that explains who you are and why you’re reaching out to them. This personal approach shows you invested the time to record something specific for them and is a great way to showcase your personality and be engaging. 

You could also share a customer testimonial video that explains how you helped a similar client. 

(Below is an example of one of the videos we created for Level Green Landscaping.)

Or you can explain one of your services. For instance, it can be hard for prospects to understand just how many potential problems their trees and shrubs can face. A “Plant Health Care” video may help them understand how impactful preventative care can be.

[RELATED VIDEO SERIES: How to Use Personalized Sales Videos ] 

Build a Relationship: Don't Be a Begging Salesperson

If you don’t modernize your prospecting you’ll keep getting ignored and will look like every other landscaper out there who just wants to sell services. 

However, if you do invest the time to build a relationship, prospects will see you as a selfless partner offering something of value. They’ll see you as a trusted expert rather than a begging salesperson. 

Thankfully, there are a few tools that can help you automate a part of the process. 

One of these tools is HubSpot. Take a look at 10 Cool Things HubSpot’s Sales Software can do for your Landscape Sales Team or reach out to Landscape Leadership for guidance. 

If you like regular insights like these, subscribe to our blog. We’ll send you new articles right to your inbox. If you’re ready to kick ineffective sales to the curb and focus on a strategy that builds relationships the right way, feel free to request a consultation.

Image Source:  Dall-E image generator