Tall grass and trash in the weeds drive away customers.
Are you looking for new lawn care customers? An assertive disposition will help you add many new customers to your lawn care client list for free.
I took this picture a couple weeks ago and want to share a marketing strategy with you that I have used many times in the past.
Image is important in the retail world. Retail stores spend lots of money on signs and window displays all in an effort to lure customers into their stores. A bright banner or a well placed sign can be the difference in a car pulling into their parking lot versus driving by and shopping at another retail outlet.
Since image is important, can you imagine the customers that continue driving when they see tall grass and trash outside a store front? Though an untidy appearance will not deter all shoppers, each missed customer is a loss for the retail store.
These three stores are in a strip mall that appears to be on the decline. The grass is often long and there is often trash amongst the weeds. The property owner should be taking care of general upkeep but, for some reason, regular maintenance such as grass cutting is not being taken care of regularly. I have written before about assertive marketing for your lawn care business and here is how to do it when you see that a retail property owner is not taking care of his responsibilities.
You must realize that the retail store managers likely do not have the responsibility of grass maintenance. Grass cutting is normally the property owners responsibility. Still, if the grass is not cut, the retail stores’ sales suffer and the managers might be very willing to pay to have the grass cut. Most retail managers have small discretionary funds at their disposal.
After you have identified a property such as what is in the picture, go into the store with the smallest store in the shopping plaza (in this case H&R Block). Explain to the manager that you have your grass cutting equipment with you and you can mow the grass immediately. Tell him that you are aware that the property manager should be taking care of this but you are willing to do a one-time job so it looks nice for their customers. The manager of the first store (the smallest store) will probably tell you “no, let the bigger store pay for the grass cutting, they have more money.” If you are met with this rejection ask the manager if he is willing to pay $40 if the bigger stores agrees to pay the rest. After all, one extra tax return (H&R Block) will pay for the work.
After the first store agrees, go to the second smallest store (Family Dollar) and tell the manager that the other store has agreed to pay 1/3 of the fee. That manager will likely agree to pay since the first store has already agreed. The final and largest store (Food Lion) will easily be brought on board after you explain that there are a few grocery carts in the high weeds that you will pull out and bring back to the store.
Peer pressure (among the retail managers) and the retail managers’ fear of losing customers are great bargaining tools to get this retail plaza on your client list. After you perform the work and visit each manager to collect your pay, ask him or her to call the property manager and recommend your lawn care service. With a little luck and additional assertive marketing, you will be able to add this shopping center to your list of weekly clients.
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