The landscaping industry is ripe with unique challenges — and for many companies, you cannot measure success by sales or purchases alone. Instead, succeeding in the landscaping business and securing long-term growth depends on retaining contracts.
Turning one-time customers into long-term clients is essential for growth. It’s important to remember that the contracting process isn’t as straightforward as making a sale. Above all, landscaping professionals should prioritize customer relationships from the start. From there, the right strategy can help to secure recurring contracts.
Customer-first approach
Renewing landscaping service contracts is easier when businesses act quickly and start the process early. Treating the first day of a job as a trial run and setting up the initial contract for success is crucial to the process. Doing so can turn new clients into long-term customers.
Landscaping businesses also need to issue competitive prices to support securing long-term contracts. Offers must be competitive and meet customers’ long-term needs at a price that works for your company’s bottom line.
Customer relationships matter
When it comes to proper landscaping, your crew always knows best. Opportunities to sell enhancements exist well beyond initial client requests. Clients’ properties can tell you a lot about return business opportunities.
Give the site visit your full attention, ask the customer about areas they haven’t mentioned yet, and share any specialty services you provide that you may not cover during initial contract negotiations, such as:
- Tree trimming and care.
- Pest control.
- Irrigation system maintenance.
- Power washing.
- Gutter cleaning.
- Fertilization.
Landscapers also should use contract renewals to their advantage, showing customers how it makes things easier. Contracts allow:
- Routine work.
- No need for ongoing communication.
- Automated renewals.
- Healthy lawns and landscapes.
- Reduced pricing due to regular lawn care.
Explore other benefits that may be unique to your business. Routine services and automated renewals also can be a gateway to other services clients may be interested in further down the road, fueling long-term growth.
Keep contracts top of mind
The importance of the customer relationship extends far beyond the contract renewal process. That’s why it’s critical your entire team — from crew to estimators and even office workers — treat every client interaction as an opportunity to secure a new contract.
Standardized processes, company-wide visibility and connecting departments all strengthen this approach. You will also benefit from mobile access to your system so your team can show clients how your operations function from the field.
Don’t forget to review customer satisfaction policies and discuss what steps are in place to continually meet evolving customer needs. Even while working with a satisfied customer, businesses can strengthen existing trust by allowing customers to share their thoughts and feedback immediately or even a few weeks after the service. Some of the best ways to do this include:
- Empower crew leaders to ask customers if they are happy.
- Email or text surveys for customers to complete on their own time.
- Respond to postings on review sites such as Google, Yelp and Angi.
Landscape professionals can forge lasting relationships built on responsive, dedicated and adaptable service by providing customers with a point of contact for issues or questions and offering exclusive services to contracted clients. By keeping these tips top-of-mind during the renewal season, businesses can secure long-term, repeat contracts.
