Growing your business can have several different connotations, but the bottom line is this . . . you must retain your current customers and add more.
Yes, you can add services or invest in equipment to accomplish the work more efficiently, but without customers you have NO BUSINESS.
I don’t need to tell you how hard it is to find new customers. It can take lots of time and money to build your customer list. The traditional methods of Yellow Page ads and direct mail campaigns helped build many businesses over the past 20-30 years, including mine, but times are different . . . or are they?
Most customers still want to be heard – and hear from you, not just with a seasonal card or at renewal time. They may have questions or concerns but, with everyone so-o-o-o- busy, they forget to contact you. Perhaps you have a new service to offer, new products, or a better way to do something you’re already doing for them. Maybe you can stimulate their imagination to envision a new or expanded patio, deck, or new plantings – which can mean more money in your pocket.
To be a successful business owner you need your customers to trust you, respect your knowledge, appreciate your work, call you every time their property needs something, and refer you to their neighbors, friends, family, etc. In short . . . you must establish a relationship with each customer . . . and the key to any relationship is COMMUNICATION.
Tips for Landscapes (formally Garden Tips) was begun over sixty years ago to help lawn care, tree care, landscaping, and irrigation companies grow their businesses by adding new customers and retaining their current customers. Replacing lost customers is expensive and time-consuming without the benefit of actually expanding your customer list.
Tips for Landscapes retains the importance and role of printed marketing materials, but expands into the modern digital age, allowing people to read it on mobile devices. In addition to your customized masthead, this new version has been expanded to allow specific information, articles, and photos about your company. Also, readers (your current or future customers) can now request more information, ask a question, or request to be contacted electronically rather than depend on snail mail with reply postcards or self-addressed envelopes (although they are still an option).