EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional 2001 School of Management Coverage please click here: Lawn & Landscape Conferences.
CLICK HERE to order tapes of the 2000 School of Management sessions. Recordings are available in a number of formats and can be ordered individually or as a full set.
SAN DIEGO - Tom Grandy puts it simply: “Service agreements are the foundation stone for profitable growth in the 21st century.” Establishing a service agreement structure is often the first order of business for recently acquired and franchise operations. Successful companies can attest to the added value these agreements bring to a business.
| Upcoming Lawn & Landscape Conferences |
|
In addition to the annual winter School of Management conference, Lawn & Landscape holds an annual fall conference titled Business Strategies. Named “Managing Human Resources In Your Company,” this year’s conference is ideal for businesses of any size and will cover a variety of human resources issues. Business Strategies attendees in 2001 will hear from the leading experts on human resources from inside and outside the green industry, network with fellow industry professionals and walk away with the tools to make employee recruitment and retention a profitable part of their businesses. The 2001 Lawn & Landscape Business Strategies Conference: Managing Human Resources In Your Company conference will be held Oct. 7-9, 2001, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Details about this conference will soon be available at www.lawnbusinessstrategies.com. Additionally, the 2002 Lawn & Landscape School of Management will be held Feb. 17-19, 2002, in Charlotte, N.C. Details about this conference will be available later this year at www.lawnschool.com. For more information about Lawn & Landscape’s annual conferences, contact Maria Miller at 800/456-0707 or mmiller@gie.net. |
The benefit of service agreement departments includes:
- Consistent cash flow.
- You schedule your own work.
- Guarantees service work during the year.
- Eventual equipment/landscaping replacement.
- Improved job security.
- Happier customers.
- Technicians learn to sell service agreements, and they then can sell other services as well.
- Ability to increase the size of your customer base.
- Affects the eventual sale of your company.
Grandy stressed the last point - the value service agreements add to a company. By adding a service agreement, a business is enhancing their guaranteed service work, which allows them to place a higher worth on their company.
To launch a successful service agreement department, a company must determine their pricing strategy and coordinate their marketing efforts. A business can price low to attract new customers or price high to generate profits. Either way, customers will not buy into a service agreement without the marketing to back the program.
Following are some marketing suggestions to sell your new service agreement:
- Create a three-fold brochure that outlines key information.
- Send a letter describing the service agreement to your existing customer base.
- Send postcards that feature a product or service, a quote or joke, a coupon and a reminder to buy the service agreement.
- Offer commission to employees who sell service agreements.
- Install “telephone on hold” that advertises your service agreement while clients are waiting on the telephone.
- Insert a brochure with each proposal.
- Add a section on your customer response card.
- Print the service agreement on your standard invoice.
- Offer incentive programs to customers who buy the service agreement.
- Market the service agreement as an add-on sale.
- Make it easy for your customer to pay - consider adopting a credit card payment system for their convenience.
The author is Associate Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.
