At the LM Growth Summit, three lawn care operators discussed their growth goals for 2018. Here are some of the ways they’re expanding.
TV and radio: Rodney Creech, owner of Lawn Plus in West Alexandria, Ohio, invests his sales and marketing dollars in TV and radio ads to help get his company’s name out. “We cover 12
different counties in Ohio,” Creech said. “We’re on three different TV channels, and it’s huge for us.”
Referrals: Lawn Plus also requests referrals from current customers and offers incentives of $15 credits for new customers and $30 credits for current customers providing the referral.
Social media advertising: LCOs also can look to social media advertising to build their brands. “We’re deploying a lot of dollars on Facebook, and we’re moving a lot over from pay-per-click,” said Kendall Hines, CEO of Lawn Doctor of Grand Rapids, Mich. His company takes advantage of Facebook’s “look-alike audience” feature, in which a business would upload its customer list, Facebook finds those customers online and mirrors a similar audience, so the business can then target its advertising to that new audience.
Telemarketing: Lawn Doctor is also turning to an unexpected marketing option: telemarketing. Hines said he’s in the process of hiring staff to contact current, canceled and pitched-not-sold customers. “We sent letters, but we never had the manpower to call behind it,” said Hines. “And now inputting that telemarketing division, we have the power to do that.”
Networking with contractors and suppliers: Nathan Brandon, CEO of Pure Green in Nashville, Tenn., uses a range of marketing tactics including Facebook, Google, pay-per-click advertising, organic search and networking events. Partnering with contractors in his network is also a part of his growth strategy. “I’ve got (a contractor) specifically who does high-end installation work,” Brandon said. “And he’s constantly growing. He hates maintenance, but does it because he has to maintain the properties that he installs.” Brandon also connects with suppliers such as nurseries for leads on potential contractor partners who may refer business to him and vice versa.
