Give & Take

George Greenough is in the estate landscape business, acting as master gardener for clients who sometimes join him outside and pull a few weeds, water some flowers or just chat while he works. One client invites Greenough over Friday evenings for a casual happy hour tour of the property to discuss what’s on next week’s landscape agenda.

These are atypical clients, in a market on the New England seaboard, north of Boston, where one’s reputation matters as much as the price charged for services. At least, that has always been the case for Greenough, who maintains a discreet client list, just 20 accounts strong, so he can deliver personal service. 

“I am the one who actually does the work,” Greenough says simply.

And Greenough sells the work, delivers invoices and befriends clients, who hire him year after year because they trust Greenough on their multi-million dollar properties.

When Greenough raises prices, he distributes a letter explaining exactly why. This communication further cements client relationships: Greenough shares a piece of his business with customers, and they take stock in his success by continuing to support his firm by purchasing services. A written explanation is only fair, Greenough relates.

“Once my customers hire someone and like the service, they don’t want to change,” Greenough says. He gives them no reason to look elsewhere, and his plan is to continue this strategy by maintaining prices – and even lowering them.

Last year, Greenough raised maintenance prices 5 percent to cover fuel prices. This year, he’s thinking about dropping his hourly rate by $5 – a decrease in his $40 rate, which is higher than other landscapers in the area. “I’ve talked with friends in the industry, and they aren’t raising prices, so we are staying on the same page with each other,” he says.

Greenough says he isn’t putting his services “on sale.” But he recognizes even high-end customers are shopping around, and there are plenty of fly-by-night businesses interested in picking up the type of jobs Greenough has. In these economic times, even high rollers are counting pennies. Greenough charges a flat hourly rate and distributes invoices that detail the work performed on each property.

This year, he may institute a 12-month payment plan, offering clients an annual rate based on the average cost of service for the previous few years. “I’m going to give customers the option to pay in monthly increments, and charge for additional services and plowing,” he says.

For now, he delivers weekly invoices. Collections had been steady, until November. His accounts receivables show $2,000 outstanding that month, increasing to about $4,000 of unpaid invoices in December, and he is not sure how quickly clients will pay their January snowplowing bills. Greenough billed about $9,000.

Cash is king in a tough economy; Greenough knows this. He can invoice clients all he wants, but if no one is paying, then how much is he really earning for work performed? To encourage faster payment, Greenough tested an incentive plan in January. “If you pay within 10 days with a personal check or cash, you get 10 percent off,” he says, noting that 10 percent off a $600 plowing bill “isn’t bad” at $60 less than the regular cost. He’s not sure whether he will continue this discount once spring breaks.

Greenough’s goal is to maintain the same number of clients, perhaps “trading up” a difficult account for a promising property that could bring higher profits.

Proponents of diversifying one’s customer mix might gulp knowing that one of Greenough’s clients makes up $47,000 of his total revenue – about one-third of his business. But Greenough likes to make a difference on the properties he does service, really providing that personal touch. So far, his business plan has worked, so he’s sticking to it.

The author is a freelance writer based in Bay Village, Ohio.