After spending more than a decade working for a major lawn care franchise, Joe Perry was ready to strike out on his own and provide a more personalized service.
“I felt like I was going to work every day and putting a fire helmet on because all I was doing was putting out fires,” Perry recalls.
He’s now the owner of American Lawn & Tree Specialists in Skyesville, Maryland. “I started the company in 2005, and it was basically just me for the first few years,” Perry says.
Now, the company has increased its team to seven technicians and two front-office employees, plus a full-time salesperson. And Perry says they still deliver the personalized service they are known for and having those connections with customers has allowed them to upsell additional services.
“I’d say about 89% of our customers have lawn care services,” Perry says. “That can be a fertilization plan, aeration, a disease control program, or anything to do with lawn. That’s basically our get in.”
Perry says it doesn’t take long to impress those customers, and then they’re ready for more.
“We’re constantly trying to come up with ways to upsell our customers with different programs,” he says. “It’s like when you go to Domino’s and order a pizza – it’s our job to sell you the wings, the sodas and the desserts. So those are the other services we provide, such as perimeter pest control, flea and tick programs and mosquito control. Those are great because they’re monthly services and it’s recurring business.”
Other add-on services they offer include soil testing, aeration and vegetation control.
“Vegetation control is where we target mulch beds, cracks, crevices and fence lines,” Perry says.
Perry adds that one way to get customers on board with these add-ons is through targeted marketing at the appropriate time.
“Right now, we are hot and heavy with Bermudagrass, and Bermudagrass, in our area, is a problem,” he says. “So, it’s really taking off with all the moisture that we had. So, we can selectively take out Bermudagrass with three treatments and we charge accordingly because it’s an extra service.”
According to Perry, email blasts and leave behinds are other great ways to highlight other services.
“We have literature that we leave and emails that we send out based on time of year,” he says. “Like right now is mosquito season, so obviously we’ll send that out.”
But Perry says one of the most important ways to ensure these add-ons is by making sure his technicians are knowledgeable and can communicate with customers effectively.
“I personally train all of my guys,” he says. “I’m constantly training and take every opportunity to train them because it’s only going to be a benefit down the road.”
For Perry, a hands-on training approach is best.
“I go and do truck rides or do a couple lawns with my technicians,” he says. “I’ve done it for 26 years and I’ve been asked any questions you could ask a technician. So, I want my technicians prepared. I want them to respond confidently. Then when you go to sell the customer something, they’re more apt to buy from you.”
Perry adds that training is even more important in a tight labor market. But he’s lucked out this year and hasn’t had much turnover.
“I’ve got the same staff I started the year with…so I’ve been blessed this year with consistency in staffing and that’s half the battle,” he says.
