ST. PAUL, MINN.—According to the Green Industry Benchmark Report recently released by HindSite Software, 2012 was a relatively good year for businesses. In fact, 83 percent of survey respondents indicated that their revenue had either stayed the same, or grown when compared to 2011. Given those results, green businesses are optimistic for the future, with just 6 percent expecting revenues to decline in 2013.
But there are concerns. Just 4 percent of Green Industry businesses think the new healthcare plan will have a positive impact on their businesses. And though many expect revenues to grow, just over half of respondents expect to add staff in 2013.
These 2013 Green Industry Benchmark Report is the culmination of a month-long surveying effort by HindSite that reflects the outlook expressed by hundreds of survey respondents who provide services ranging from landscaping and irrigation maintenance and installation to mowing, fertilizing and snow plowing.
“Our goal in this project was to deliver information that would help Green Industry businesses understand where they stand in relation to their competition,” explains HindSite’s marketing manager, Chad Reinholz. “The Green Industry Benchmark Report contains information that will help Green Industry business owners be proactive instead of reactive.”
Among the key findings:
- Specialization is on the decline. Green businesses continue to rapidly add new products and services in an attempt to keep their competitors from stepping foot on their customers’ property.
- Expect prices to rise in 2013. More than 60 percent of respondents indicated they are going to raise prices in 2013.
- Most green businesses don’t have sophisticated marketing programs. Those that can capitalize on modern marketing tactics like social media and email marketing will be at an advantage.
- Green businesses not only are very active in business and trade associations, but that activity seems to be paying off. Those active in associations are much more likely to experience revenue growth than those that don’t.
- Field service software is underutilized, but impactful. Those using field service software were more likely to have experienced aggressive growth and less likely to have seen revenues decline in 2012.
“As a marketer, I was surprised by how many Green Industry businesses get the majority of their leads from word of mouth,” Reinholz says. “That tells me that for most green businesses, sophisticated marketing isn’t part of the equation.”
The Green Industry Benchmark Report is available for free at HindSiteSoftware.com/2013-
