Start A Lawn Care Business

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How To Properly Name Your Lawn Care Business

Feb 23

Posted by Lawn Care Business in Lawn Care Advertising, customers, lawn business strategies | 1 Comment

Within the pages of the Start A Lawn Care Business guidebooks, we spend several pages discussing proper names for lawn care businesses.  More than simply telling you which names are “good” and which names are “bad”, we spend considerable time discussing business theory and customer psychology.  DON’T YAWN!!!  I know these subjects may seem boring to you but when you are naming your business you MUST consider your potential customers’ reactions to your business name.  If they don’t like your name, you may find yourself getting fewer customers than if you choose a better name. 

I recently came across an advertisement for a lawn care company.  I am perplexed by their choice of business name.  I want to show you the advertisement and I want you to let me know what you think about this business name.

how to name your lawn care business

If you’re too young to remember, a lawn dart was a children’s toy many years ago.  Children placed rings in their yards, stepped several feet away, then threw large weighted darts trying to land them in the ring.  It was great fun until the inevitable happened and kids started showing up in emergency rooms with giant weighted darts sticking out of their foreheads or lodged under their eyelids.

Unless you were the one penetrated by a lawn dart, it was a pretty fun game and made for some funny jokes talking about people with darts protruding from various body parts.  A common joke was to stick your index finger to your forehead and scream “LAWNDART.”

Okay, enough of the history. Let’s get back to the company’s name.

I think the name “LawnDart Lawn Care” is funny.  It is memorable and it made me laugh. 

However, from a business standpoint, I have to take exception with the name.  It is not a professional name and it will not instill confidence in its potential clientele.  Though the name might not deter a young homeowner (and maybe that’s who this company is targeting).  Would a homeowner with a large, expensive home really trust its finely manicured grass to someone who might not take it seriously?  Would an owner of a large industrial complex contract with someone who makes light of a serious and potentially dangerous situation where children are at risk?

Let’s not miss the point here.   The owners of this company are probably having a laugh and I fully realize that.  However, here’s a tip; sure, you can take a stab at different business names but if you are looking for long-term professional viability (and the most money possible) for your lawn care business, choose a name that speaks professionalism.

Once again, business theory and customer psychology are not the most exciting topics but if you want to learn how to choose a name that will increase your profits this year, take a look at our lawn care business guidebooks. The section on naming your business is great and you will learn how to properly name your business.   I promise, you won’t be bored. 

You can learn more about the lawn care business guidebooks and software package at our website:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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60 degrees in February.

Feb 20

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, customers, lawn care business, start a lawn care business | 3 Comments

2010 has been one of the coldest winters in recent memory in the Southeast.  We have experienced about 4 snowfalls and temperatures deep into the teens.  Our friends in the northern states probably don’t think that’s too bad a winter but, for us, it’s harsher than normal.

snow and the lawn care business

Though it’s far from over, winter’s grip is loosening this weekend.  With the temperature above 50 for three days straight and brilliant sunshine beating down today, I’ve observed wild garlic (commonly mistaken for wild onion) sprouts springing up in lawns all over our area.  Lowes and Home Depot are selling out of mulch bags and homeowners, working out in their lawns, are experiencing spring fever in unprecedented numbers.

If you are a new lawn care business owner you must feel compelled to pound the pavement and drive the roads in your area this season.  Right now is one of the very best times of the year to get new lawn care customer contracts for the upcoming mowing season.

I have a goal for you this week.  Do remember my 100 Door Knocks challenge I posed for your lawn care business as an advertising campaign last year?  How would you feel about revisiting that challenge this week by attempting to make contact with no less than 49 new customers. 

If you start tomorrow by making contact with a minimum of 7 new potential customers each day, you will deepen your reach by 49 new contacts by this time next week.

7 per day?  You should be able to speak with seven new people in just a couple hours each day.  A couple hours per day in February will reap HUGE rewards once the mowing season actually gets started.

Take advantage of winter’s break by getting out while the sun is shining.  Though colder weather is forecast again soon, it will make you feel warm that you have already increased this year’s customer list.

Once you get those customers, what do you do with them??? If you’re having trouble making the most of your existing customers and you want to know how to raise prices and make more money in 2010 than you made in 2009, pick up our Lawn Care Business package.  It is jam-packed with information to turn your lawn care business into a success.

To learn more, check out our website:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Lawn Care Flyers On Car Windshields

Feb 9

Posted by Lawn Care Business in Lawn Care Advertising, customers, lawn business strategies | No Comments

When it comes to advertising a lawn care business, I’m a fan of pounding the streets and knocking on doors. I believe the way to build strong client lists is through face-to-face contact. As such, I tend to shy away from flyers on telephone poles and advertisements on doorknob hangers. These advertisements, along with business cards taped to the outside of mailboxes seem to be an intrusion into your potential customer’s private space.

lawn care business flyer under windshield wiper

I saw this flyer under a windshield wiper recently. I could only think of negative connotations about this flyer.

1) It always ticks me off when people put flyers on my vehicle.

2) I never look at flyers that have been left on my vehicle. I tear them up and throw them away immediately.

3) There are probably rules against placing solicitations on vehicles in this parking lot.

4) If a windshield wiper gets damaged, will the lawn care company have to pay the repair bill?

5) If a strong wind blows the flyer away or the car’s owner tosses the flyer to oneside, can the lawn company be charged with littering?

While I am not 100% AGAINST flyers on cars and private property, I do believe LCOs should be very restrictive in their placement of such flyers.

There are too many legitimate outlets for advertising to risk the downfalls of improperly placed flyers.

If you want to learn correct forms of advertising and advertising that REALLY WORKS, look at our business program located at our main website: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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A Lawn Care Owner’s Epiphany

Jan 4

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, equipment, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, money | No Comments

As a new lawn care business owner back in 1992, I remember the day when things started to change for my lawn care business.

My partner and I had been mowing residential lawns for almost 6 months. We were continuously picking up customers and were beginning to make decent money. However, we just weren’t growing the business to the extent I knew we were capable.

An epiphany happened to me that first summer. As I mowed a customer’s lawn, I saw two Navy fighter jets fly overhead. They were practicing for an upcoming air show and were flying low and fast. Even through my hearing protection the noise of their engines made me jump. I stopped my work long enough to watch them make several passes overhead. It was an impressive sight.

For the rest of the day, two words kept going through my mind; performance and efficiency.

Jet fighters scream performance. It is thrilling to watch a jet blaze by at 600 mph 2,000 feet above the ground. This is performance at its utmost. Fighter pilots’ lives depend on their jets.

Fighter pilots also demonstrate the ultimate in efficiency. Every move must be accounted for and no move is wasted. If a pilot needs to steer 15 degrees to the right, he moves his controls only enough to make the turn…no more, no less.

I used these ideas to analyze my lawn care jobs. I quickly discovered that I was being tremendously inefficient in my business. My route planning was inefficient and my mowing patterns on customer’s lawns was inefficient. I was wasting effort at every level of my business and the reasons behind my inability to grow my business became clear to me.

Additionally, I took serious looks at my equipment. It did not scream performance the way a fighter jet screams performance. We started our lawn care business on a shoestring budget. Because of this budget, we purchased inexpensive, slow, non-powerful equipment because it was all we could afford. After taking hard looks at my budget and my equipment, I took swift action of a systematic upgrade of all equipment.

By the end of that first year, I was operating an efficient lawn care business. My routes were well planned. My mowing patterns were designed in such a way that no move was wasted. And, my lawn equipment? Yes, my lawn equipment was hard-core commercial equipment that screamed “PERFORMANCE.”

If you are struggling with your lawn care business because of similar issues that plagued my first year then you should take a look at our Lawn Care Business strategy guidebooks.

We developed this program after 17 years in the business to help newbies and those that need help getting more customers and making more money.

As indicated above, we spend considerable time in the program helping you learn how to be more efficient with your lawn care business. Route planning and mowing patterns are only two of the concepts we discuss.

We also show you which type of equipment to buy. Purchasing the wrong equipment can hobble your business and prevent you from growing as you should. With our guidance, you will be able to purchase mowers that will propel you in your business and scream performance.

The lawn care business strategy guidebook and software program is available from our main website. www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Be Assertive Not Aggressive

Nov 24

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, customers, lawn business strategies, sales | No Comments

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

At one time or another, we have all experienced annoyingly pushy salesmen. Whether it’s at the mall, a used car lot, on the telephone, or even at my own front door, annoyingly pushy salesmen turn me off and rarely gain me as a customer.

I was thinking about forceful selling tactics and how they relate to the lawn care business this morning during a business seminar. The presenter was talking about the art of getting your foot in the door. He told us that getting your foot in the door is the first step to acquiring a new customer account. “Since a prospective customer’s first inclination is to shut you out, aggressiveness is needed to surmount that first obstacle.”

Being in the lawn care industry for 17 years, I have to completely disagree with the “agressive foot in the door” principle. Instead of winning customers, this tactic drives customers away.

I like to be assertive instead of aggressive.  Assertiveness is when you use intelligent pursuasion to show prospective customers how you can be of benefit to them.

I want to give an example of getting your foot in the door using an assertive sales technique.  When I was in the early days of my lawn care business, I used to walk neighborhoods and knock on doors.  Most people politely refused my offer for estimates.  Some people gladly accepted.  Still, others rudely shut their door in my face.  I did not want to turn into an aggressive salesman so I developed a strategy of assertive behavior when met with a rude prospect.  One day, a gentleman seemed very annoyed when he opened the door, I gave him my quick 30 Second Elevator Speech but by the time I was 10 seconds into the pitch he skreetched “NOT INTERESTED” and proceeded to slam the door.  Before his door closed I yelled:  “YOU’RE KILLING YOUR SHRUBS!”

The door slammed and I walked off the porch with my head hung low feeling dejected from yet another “No.”  Before I reached the last step off the porch, this man opened his door and asked “WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

I told him he was killing his shrubs because his air conditioner’s condensation overflow was leaking into his shrub bed.  Slight watering is okay but the last two shrubs in his bed were standing in water.  He said “SHOW ME.”

Now, I was only new to the business and was intimidated by his attitude.  Being a beginner landscaper, I showed him the problem and offered an easy solution of  fastening a drip tube to water the entire bed evenly instead of only one section.

He appreciated my advice and asked me to bid on his grass cutting contract for the summer.  I told him the price and got the job immediately.

Aggressive sales would have never worked with this customer.  However, an intelligently assertive response as his door closed worked wonders and got me a long-term customer.

If you are interested in more sales techniques used to get customers for your lawn care business, check out our business guidebook package at our website:  Start A Lawn Care Business

Even if your not in the lawn care business, this package will help teach you sales, estimating, and customer relations.

 

People who purchase our Lawn Care Business Package learn how to be assertive instead of aggressive.

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