"Mommy, are those same Lawn Care
people going to cut our grass again this year???"
That is what one of our lawn
customers told us their 5 year old daughter asked one March when the
grass was beginning to grow. The customer told me that they had
planned to do their own lawn care work that year until their
daughter asked that question.
Sometimes, it really is the small
things which will keep your lawn care customers coming back year
after year.
This week's tip deals with a
couple of very simple ideas to make sure your customers remember you
during the winter so they will call you back when spring rolls
around. I will also show you what led to the girl's question and
why we were able to keep that customer after they had already
planned to cut their own grass.
As we move through October, November begins it's run
and leaves become more of a chore. Anyone who
has been in the Lawn Care Business for any amount of time knows how
hard leaves are to work with. Leaf raking is a time consuming and
strenuous activity. In the Summer101.com Lawn Care Business program
we spend quite a bit of time discussing how to price leaf raking
jobs.
I am a big believer in doing
small things to keep your business name in the minds of your
customers.
Several years ago, I came across
leaf bags that where in the designs of ghosts, pumpkins, witches, and
turkeys. They were small and at 50 cents per bag they were fairly
expensive. I decided to use them as a marketing tool.
With lawn care customers that had
children (and even those that were just young at heart), I filled
a few decorator bags with leaves and placed them on the customer's
porch. I received many comments from customers. They liked
the
personalized and humorous touch.
Getting back to the question
asked by the customer's daughter. For that particular house, I had
used pumpkin shaped bags. The family incorporated those bags into
their Thanksgiving display in their front yard. After it was time
to take down the display, the daughter would not let them throw out
the pumpkin bags filled with leaves.
When springtime rolled around,
she made sure that her parents hired me again to do all of their
lawn care work for the upcoming year.
I only spent $1.00 on the two
bags that I left on that customer's porch. That was a well spent
dollar. It assured me of that customer for years to come.
As a business owner, I recommend
that you always look for new and creative ideas to keep your
business name in the minds of your lawn care business customers.
You never know how meaningful a small action will be to them.
Something as simple as a 50 cent leaf bag might be the deciding
factor of a customer calling you back in the Springtime.
