Posting for prospects

Turf Pride Lawn Care, based in Mentor, Ohio, has a new strategy in 2023 for boosting business.

The company, which offers a variety of lawn care and pest control programs, is making waves on social media to try and entice a new clientele.

President Dave Petti says he hopes to see the new initiative really take off.

Petti says his son, a recent college graduate, has also joined the Turf Pride team to help take the company’s social media presence up a notch.

“We’re actually on TikTok now,” Petti says. “Though I don’t even know how that works, we’re getting a lot of views and followers from that. We’re running Facebook ads as well.”

Petti adds the motivation behind the social media emphasis stems from wanting to connect better with the community they serve and reach potential new clients.

“It’s something we’ve always kind of lacked,” he says of social media. “There are companies out there that do it for you, but it all looks the same. It’s not genuine.

“We wanted to give customers a clear picture of our company and a feel for us so they could put a face to the name and all that,” Petti adds. “I think social media is a good way to do that.”

Having a smaller team of 17 employees running eight routes, Petti says there hasn't always been time to prioritize social media before.

“I’ve never had the time or expertise to do it before in the proper way,” he says.

But now that his son’s on board, Petti says they’ve got a whole slew of ideas in the pipeline.

“We have a lot of projects for social media planned,” he says.

For example, Turf Pride wants to show the true ramifications of slice seeding a lawn in the spring.

“We can’t put our pre-emergent on it then,” Petti says. “So, we will follow the process and show how it’s not as effective if you do it in the spring as opposed to the fall.”

Petti says the company’s social media posts will be a healthy mix of fun videos and educational content.

“We want it entertaining and educational,” he says. “It’ll be like 60% educational content and 40% just entertaining. The TikToks tend to be more just for entertainment.”

The videos usually feature the same few employees who are comfortable and eager to be on camera — something Petti says is important to respect.

“We’ll go on a route and get some footage of them treating a lawn or doing certain things. There’s a couple people who team up to work on them,” he says. “We make sure the people who want to be on camera are and can do it. Some do not want to — like myself.”

For any other lawn care companies looking to improve their social media presence, Petti’s advice is simple.

“Always do more,” he says. “Consistency is key, along with knowing when to post and how often.

“We try to keep a consistent brand image,” Petti adds. “And we want to direct people to something, most likely our website, where we try to convert leads. But really, it’s more about keeping your name out there for when they get your piece of direct mail or email, they recognize you.”

And Petti adds it’s important to try out the latest social media platforms, and not get stuck on stereotyping them.

“It’s not just kids on TikTok,” he says. “Your customer is on TikTok, so you should be there.”

Emphasizing education

Every client wants the perfect, pristine lawn.

But getting it isn’t as easy as signing up for lawn care services. Petti says it’s a two-way street between company and client.

“Education is one of the most important things,” he says. “If your customer is not educated on what they have to do, your results won’t be there.”

Petti says the vast majority of customer complaints can be fixed with improved communication and educating the client on what they need to do to benefit the lawn once the technician leaves.

“Nine times out of 10 when the customers are not happy with the results, I can go on their account and find the issues…Usually it’s something they are doing, like cutting the lawn too short,” he says. “The problem isn’t always our service; it’s what they’re doing. And you have to be willing to discuss that with the customer.”

One of the most effective modes of communication are emails that are immediately sent to customers after each application.

“We always educate them by doing an after-service email that shows everything the lawn technician saw on their property and how they can fix those issues — whether it’s adding another service, or something they have to do,” Petti explains.

Petti also advises overcommunicating with clients.

“Communication is huge for us,” he says. “Every piece of the puzzle has to come together for that lawn to look its best.”

New this year, Turf Pride will have service managers follow up with customers who continually mow their grass too low with a phone call. That way, they can head off any problems later in the season.

“Emails are one way, but they’re not the only way,” he says. “If customers aren’t cutting properly, we will give them a phone call and ask if they’ve seen the email that says they’ve been mowing it too short. We’ll tell them the why and how to do it and go that extra step.”

Petti notes the company might even use text messaging to get the point across, as customers have different communication preferences.

He adds that mowing length has always been an issue and something he’s been educating customers on since he started the business 20 years ago.

“When I was out treating lawns myself, there were many times I was in their garage raising the mower blade for them,” he says.

Instilling this education with customers shows them you care just as much as they do, Petti says.

“I always tell customers we have the same goal as they do — we want them to have the best-looking lawns on the street,” he says. “Because our vans are wrapped, and we have marketing signs in their yard and that’s how we grow. If their lawn doesn’t look the best, then we’re not going to pick up the neighbors.

“We let them know what they can do on their end to get the best lawn and the best results out of our program,” Petti adds.

The author is assistant editor at Lawn & Landscape.