Marketing & Sales Insight for the Lawn & Landscape Industry

Over the past two years I’ve spent a lot of time scouring YouTube and the Internet. I’ve wanted to get a really good sense of what kind of marketing tips are out there for lawn and landscape companies.

I’ve made a few general observations…

• The large majority of content addressing marketing for landscapers is geared towards entrepreneurs and businesses under $2 million in annual revenue. 
• Most of the people offering these tips are either A) well-intentioned small business owners sharing their personal advice or, B) landscaping marketing agencies that specialize in small businesses.
• And lastly, most of the popular "influencers" make money by producing videos (ads on YouTube, product endorsements, selling software, franchises, or courses for startup businesses).

None of these things are bad. However, these landscaping marketing strategies may not apply for companies with an annual revenue of over $2M or for companies pursuing aggressive growth goals. These tips are aimed at the bulk of the landscape industry, small startup businesses.

Just like you don’t want to be Just Another Landscaper, I don’t want this to be just another article about marketing for landscapers. These are not basic tips. They are specifically for companies that plan on surpassing $2M in annual revenue (or are well past it already).

Videos are one of the most impactful marketing and recruiting assets in the green industry.

They can make your landscaping or lawn care company appear to be on a whole other level than your competitors.

The right video can make job seekers excited about a rewarding career with your organization. 

Or, if the videos aren’t great...they can have a very unfortunate effect.

Prospective customers can raise their critical eyebrows and wonder why you would ever create a video so cringe-worthy. 

Job seekers can be unimpressed and turned off. 

In the mind of that ideal prospect or job recruit, you’ve suddenly lost all credibility. 

Maybe you are remembering some examples right now. Maybe they’re on your website….ouch…

Meet Bob. 

• Bob owns a landscaping company. 
• Bob is buying a lawn care business to add more annual revenue. 
• Bob is going to mail out some transition letters to his new customers and plans to keep delivering “the same great service.”
• Many of Bob’s new customers are going to cancel in the next year and find a new provider.
• Bob is going to curse the day he wasted his money buying a lawn care business. 

Do you WISH you could get 30x more lawn care leads each month?

Do you WISH you could take $1M of lawn care business and turn it into $2M in just 18 months? 

And what if that wasn't just an increase for this year, but meant more recurring revenue? That's makes that extra $1M in lawn care sales even more exciting!

Today, I'm going to share a case study with you on how one Memphis-based company became the master of their lawn care marketing success.

Want some tips to grow your lawn care business? Here they are...as you WISH!

In the past 20+ years that I’ve been in the lawn and landscape industry, I’ve noticed a growing trend in which many lawn care companies and even some landscapers are adding pest control services to their offerings.

After all, if you are already maintaining your customer’s property as a trusted partner, why not offer them more ways you can help them while growing your lawn care or landscape business with a highly-profitable new service line?

Personally, I worked at a full-service firm that added, inside-out pest control services. It was so successful that it grew to about $1.2 million in annual revenue in just about seven years. It was also one of our most profitable departments with the lowest cancellation rates.

Have you ever won a large landscape maintenance bid, or landed a huge design/build project, and your immediate thought was, “Oh shit…”?

“Oh shit… did I estimate this accurately?”

“Oh shit… now we have to hire more people.”

“Oh shit… how will we fit this in our production schedule?”

I know the feeling. When I operated my landscape design firm years ago I loved selling the “big idea” (and collecting the deposit check) but dreaded what came after. That’s when all the second-guessing began.

With this in mind – and assuming I’m not the only landscape professional to have felt this way – I want to discuss the subject of “client concentration” and offer a practical framework which I think can keep many of you from potential and unnecessary financial stress. And, maybe more importantly, personal stress.

Marketing problems at your lawn or landscaping company...they are plenty...

Lack of brand awareness...

Advertising/marketing campaigns that fall flat on their face.

Frustrating relationships with marketing agencies...

Unqualified leads...

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Now before you spiral into depression, take solace in one reality.