Maintenance

When Paul Wolbert of U.S. Lawns meets with franchise owners about boosting their sales, he tells them to take a walk – around their customers’ properties, that is.

“Do you need to add flowers, irrigation, mulch or trees?” Wolbert asks. “The best way to determine these things is to set up a meeting with the customer and walk the property.”

Attentive customer service is the key to identifying a customer’s needs, says Wolbert, who is vice president for U.S. Lawns, a national company based in Orlando, Fla.

Wolbert estimates that U.S. Lawns reaps profit margins of 30 to 60 percent profit on its mowing and maintenance services. To realize such returns, he says companies must demonstrate in-depth knowledge of customers’ needs and have a passion for quality.

To boost sales for this segment in 2011, U.S. Lawns is now offering customers incentives such as gift cards.

The company also sets up targets that the salespeople are expected to reach and offers bonuses to those that exceed these goals.

If your company is looking to add mowing and maintenance services in 2011, you need to understand the highly sensitive, seasonal nature of the work, Wolbert says.

“You have to plan ahead of time constantly,” Wolbert says. “For instance, it’s important to plant before the season peaks – otherwise, you’ll never satisfy the customer.”

The right equipment, like a leaf blower, can also make maintenance easier by saving you time instead of doing work manually, says Tim Whitt, president of Pied Piper Services of North America in Oklahoma.

“I don’t take the time to rake everything up.,” he says.

Thorough product knowledge is also an essential prerequisite for any lawn and landscape company seeking to dominate this segment, Wolbert says.

“You need to know what will thrive – and not just survive – in a given area,” he says. “For instance, what grows in the sun or shade? What grows throughout the year?”

Native plants offer greater value, last longer and are more sustainable than non-native plants, so customers appreciate their use in landscape designs, says Wolbert. “Know your natives,”  he says. “They’ll give the customer more bang for their buck.”

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