Truck stop education

Last month, a local truck stop asked us to quote some landscaping at their location. I have seen the huge, new operation. I met him two hours after he called in and while walking around on the site with him, I asked him how many quotes he was getting. He said, “Hopefully just one – yours. I’ve had an incredibly hard time finding someone who would even work with us. People don’t show up, or they show up and they don’t get back to you. Or they do crummy work, which is what we have now.”

Wow, I thought, I often hear landscapers telling me they need work, how could he have such a hard time finding a landscaper? I got him a quote back the next day and after a week of him getting approval from corporate, we were awarded the job. It was about six days’ worth of work for us. Not a huge job, but not a small one either. It looks like we’re going to get to take care of the truck stop now as well as do a lot of other things for him. So, what are two lessons? Here they are:

1. Handle your phone calls promptly. We live in a “people want it now” world. If your calls are answered promptly by a smiling professional who can get the prospect or client a solution quickly, you will sell the job more than 75 percent of the time. So, how are your calls handled? How easy are you to do business with? How fast do you get back to clients and prospects?

I sold a job valued at over $12,000 just by showing up and being easy to do business with. I think we do a pretty good job with this at Grunder Landscaping Co., however we can always get better. So, I’m going to talk to my entire team about this by the time you read this. What do you need to do? What are you going to do?

2. Always ask your clients, “What’s next?” When I built my new home almost 10 years ago, we had all the hardwood floors and carpets put in by a very good company. Their workmanship was excellent and we were happy. Now, I need new carpeting in many parts of the house because four kids and two dogs destroy stuff! I’m going to go with someone other than the company that put the flooring in when we built the house. Why? Because the company that works at my office asked me if I needed anything at home, that’s why. No other reason. They caught me on a good day.

How many sales have you lost just by not asking your clients what’s next? How many of you know that after 10 years a home landscape is in need of enhancing, and you just call your clients and see if you can come talk to them?

I know we have some work to do there, folks. We worried far too often about some marketing gimmick when a phone call to a client and asking them if they want to talk or, even better yet, sending a photo of what their place looked like 10 years ago and one now and a note or email to see if they think they could use a little tune up?

At the end of the day, stick to the basics and you’ll find success faster than if you are always trying new things and never completing the things you started. Stay focused on what matters most and what makes the biggest difference in your client’s eyes.

Had the company that installed my carpet called me two years ago because they know carpet lasts about that long in a busy house, they would have gotten the order, I can almost promise you.

So, how are you doing with asking your clients “what’s next?” Marty Grunder, Mr. Bigshot marketing, leadership, and professional speaker guy, has to tell you Grunder Landscaping is NOT very good at this, and we’re going to get good at it because I know it could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of work to us next year.

No Band-Aid needed. We all get caught up from time to time in bright, shiny objects. That’s called innovation. At the end of the day, stick to the basics and you’ll find success faster than if you are always trying new things and never completing the things you started. These basic ideas alone I shared with you will make your business better. Stay focused on what matters most and what makes the biggest difference in your client’s eyes.

Let me close with a story. Recently, while on a consulting visit with a growing landscaping company, the owner proudly showed me a tackle box full of gift cards from restaurants and the local car wash, note cards and other trinkets to give unhappy clients. He said, “My managers carry these in their trucks and when a client is unhappy, we can spring into action.” I gave him a puzzled look and he said, “You don’t like my idea, do you?” I said, “I’d rather your company be so good at the basics, that you didn’t need a box like that in trucks to make clients happy.” He frowned and said, “You’re so smart, it’s nuts.”

To which I said, “Nope, I used to carry stuff like that myself until I realized rather than putting a bandage or gimmick on the problem, it would be better to go train and educate our team on the mistakes we are making and trying to eliminate them altogether.” I now know a focus on the basics, like the two shared above, make a huge impact. Hopefully you’ve taken this route as well. L&L