Boosting Irrigation Sales

“Studies prove that the average person moves to a new house every five to seven years, and they commonly stay in the same general areas, which and that can mean a second sale for a good contractor,” commented Greg Ritscher, vice president of sales, Turf Irrigation Supply, Denver, Colo.

“I jump on calls that are leads from client referrals,” related Dan Ritter, owner, Custom Turf, Woodbury, Minn. “Then I ask the potential customer how many bids he or she is requesting to identify whether or not they’re a price shopper. If they’re not after too many bids, I’m still going to ask them what price range they’re looking to spend so I can figure out whether or not it’s worthwhile to make a visit to their property.

“I don’t want to spend time selling to someone I don’t want as a customer and thereby taking time away from people I do want,” Ritter continued. “That might just cost me a referral customer and upset the original customer who sent me the referral.”

Research conducted by Century Rain Aid illustrated an additional value to the importance of referral customers – profit potential.

“Our research showed that about 70 percent of people inquiring about a professional irrigation system purchase one within two years of their inquiry,” Day noted. “Almost 80 percent of those people purchasing systems chose their contractor on a referral basis, and referred contractors’ prices were 1 to 12 percent higher than non-referred contractors’ prices on average.”

The research also indicated that 56 percent of the customers of irrigation contractors couldn’t remember the name of the company that installed their irrigation system, however, further emphasizing the importance of staying in touch with customers in order to create and capitalize on referral opportunities.

DISCOUNT DEMONS. Discounts may be one of the simplest marketing tools available to contractors, but many industry veterans warn contractors against using them.

“I’ve seen a lot of contractors who like to offer customers a free rain or weather sensor or maybe a free winterization service as part of an installation contract, but such perks are only going to be attractive to the price-conscious customer,” commented Christie, “and contractors want to avoid getting too many of them.”

“We discourage contractors away from discounts because once you start offering them when can you stop?” agreed Ritscher, noting that a referred customer will then expect to receive the same deal as his or her neighbor. “Then the discount becomes an inherent part of sales.”

Ritter said he does offer $5 or $10 discounts to customers who sign a contract at the beginning of the year for system maintenance, but this is done primarily to generate working capital early in the season.

“The only time discounts may be of value is when a contractor is trying to extend his or her season to help with cash flow,” agreed Ritscher. “But selling irrigation services doesn’t generally lend itself to discounting because contractors are selling a durable product that doesn’t generally lead to repetitive customers.”

“If a contractor is doing quality work that produces referrals, discounting shouldn’t be necessary,” noted Day. Instead of offering discounts, he asserted that contractors need to look at raising prices.

“Irrigation contractors are professionals. The work they do is difficult, so they should charge accordingly for their services,” Day remarked, adding that he believes contractors could successfully add $250 to the cost of all of their proposals if the sales presentation is made effectively.

“But, instead, contractors focus on trying to save 1 or 2 percent on their material costs, which are typically 37 to 40 percent of the system price,” Day continued. “Why not focus on managing and growing the other 60 to 63 percent of the sale price?”