FEATURES
In Your Own Words
Winter Marketing
Ohio
“What do you guys do for winter marketing? I am looking to start booking jobs for the spring, and I was thinking about doing some winter sale postcards, the home and garden show and, maybe, an ad in one of our local papers. Just wanted to see what everyone does to spike interest in the winter season.”
Michigan
“I’m interested in this, also. I was thinking about a direct-mail campaign offering a landscape consultation for free.”
Ohio
“I tried to offer a free ‘design with purchase’ deal, but no one really bit on that. I am thinking like 10 to 20 percent off by signing up before the first of the year for a project in the upcoming season. This will help us out big time by letting us be in the field as soon as the weather breaks instead of out hustling jobs. Another problem we run into is design time; our designer gets pretty busy in the early spring with the rush, but he can usually turn things out in a day or two this time of year.”
New Jersey
“We do the garden show every year; it generates some good interest. Best advice: do a giveaway. We did 5 yards of mulch last year. To enter the drawing, they fill out a card with name, address and phone number. Ask them if you can call them towards the end of the winter to schedule an appointment, or schedule one right then.”
Northern New Jersey
“Now I know how I am going to advertise in the spring! Maybe I’ll get the booth next to yours!”
Ohio
“Last year, we had a drawing for $250 off any landscape job. The lady we drew didn’t build her new house, so no one won. We sent out a mailing to all who entered, and received one call for new work. I would say last year’s show generated 10 decent jobs, ranging from maintenance to installs. We hope to push hardscapes this year, big time. I am also going to get footballs with our phone and logo on them to give out.”
Washington
“We had a ton of luck last year with the home and yard show, but our show is enormous, so it’s hard to get into. Of course, we got lots of homeowners who were there only to ask questions of our expertise so that they could go home and fail miserably trying to do an install. We actually had one guy who wanted $125,000 worth of stonework, and then called us out to his house to show him how to do it. Moron.
“We have had a lot of luck meeting contractors, taking them to lunch, and letting them know why to choose us instead of the next guy—gets us a lot of new construction, which is preferable.”
Ohio
“I had the same thing. They would call me out, ask what I could show them for free, and then do a large retaining wall themselves with no backfill and none of the joints lined up. Oh well, I guess everyone has a few of them.
“What do you take when you go meet a contractor for lunch? I am thinking about putting together a small PowerPoint for hardscapes/landscapes so I can run it on my laptop instead of just feeding them printed literature. Just an idea. I am also going to get our Web site up and going, so I can point them in that direction as well.”
Georgia
“Have a nice, huge sign made; put it on the back of your trailer; go park at a Home Depot, Lowe’s or any high-end area; and sit by the phone. We tried this last year with a lot of success. Saturday and Sundays were the best days. I have even parked in front, near or inside certain neighborhoods early Saturday morning, and it worked pretty well. This is an inexpensive way of advertising. You are not wasting money with mailers or time with flyers. I would average about three to four calls a day, which was great for just parking my truck. We save the mass mailers for the spring, when the impulse is high.”
Maryland
“I have been thinking of doing this for quite some time, making a big sign and using our medium-duty dump truck.
“Home shows are OK, but statistics show that home shows are becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the Internet. One can shop for decent contractors from the comfort of his/her home.”
Liberty Township, Ohio
“I always make sure I eat my lunch in nice neighborhoods in the spring when I am driving the clipboard truck around.”
Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
“I hate doing it, but cold calls have always worked for me. Most of the time, the clients didn’t even know I was still in business or lost my number and were looking to have more work done. I’ll say about 50 percent or more of our work is repeat clients looking to add on or do something new; I call them the ‘golden goose’—they keep coming back and spending money.”
Ohio
“I do a lot of cold calls for commercial maintenance, but I think I am going to send out a mailer to my current customers to see if I can spark some interest there.
“Anyone else have any ideas or do’s and don’ts.”
Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
“I don’t like the discount thing. When I think of discount, I think of cheap or lower quality work. I’m not saying your work is cheap or low quality; that is my interpretation of the word ‘discount.’ Hey, if it works for you, keep going with it.”
Arkansas
“We offer a 20 percent discount. It works. ‘Build your beds now to plant this spring.’”
South New Jersey
“We don’t offer discounts, we offer ‘end-of-season pricing.’ Basically, we explain that during slower times, we can offer better pricing than during the busy season.”
Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
“End-of-season pricing sounds very professional, and I bet it generates a decent amount of work for you.”
Maryland
“The hardscape business is supply and demand driven, just like most other industries. We have peak season and off-peak season—peak time, charge more; off peak time, charge less!
“Consumers think that the only time this work can be done is spring and summer. So, they wait until spring to call, wanting the work done pronto.
“Well, in spring and summer, we are swamped, and because the demand is there, I charge full price. If prospective client A doesn’t wanna pay it, I know prospective client C will.
“During the winter, most hardscapers lay their employees off. By offering off-season discounts, it allows us to generate work and cash flow, thus keeping the guys busy at least 20 hours a week.
“Last year, we worked every day in December, and we even kept working through what is normally our Christmas break. In January, we worked for two weeks before the snow hit, and in February, we worked half the month—all while most contractors were sitting home praying for snow. All thanks to ‘off-season’ discounts offered to previous clients and to clients whom we gave estimates to, but did not have the funds at the time when the estimate was given during peak season.”
Michigan
“End-of-season pricing kept us doing retaining walls and decks through the end of November. It was a little tough with the snow and cold, but the money was good.
“I wouldn’t do anything special during the winter. People just aren’t thinking about being outside right now. I’m going to wait for the snow, do paperwork and work on updating my Web page. When spring gets here, the phone calls will start to come in. Yellow pages ad is the best thing I have right now. It references the Web page, and that gives people a chance to see my work prior to calling.”
South New Jersey
“This spring, when our schedule is full, I am going to offer end-of-season pricing at the time I submit the proposal. It seems we can never get done all of the jobs that we estimate in the time people want, and they don’t want to wait. Offering them a discount for end-of-season pricing gives them an incentive to wait, and gives us job security going into a tough time of year to advertise work.”
Missouri
“That sounds like a very good idea!”
Tennessee
“I have done a show in February for the past four years. This year, we got Best of Show, and it really helped. We had 37 leads down on paper—not from them signing a paper and dropping it in a box, but talking to them face-to-face. Out of 37 leads, we only got about 10 jobs, but one was a great one that led to this whole year’s work through other great jobs.
“Now, when I go meet someone about a job, I take my laptop and show up with 2,000 pictures of work, and then set a date to go see the jobs and meet previous customers. I did this with one family. I washed and vacuumed my truck, and they rode 45 minutes to look at a job we just finished where they talked with the owner. When we got back, they said I had the job right there. That makes you feel good.”
“In Your Own Words” is contributed from the lawn and landscape forum at www.lawnsite.com. Visit them, and join in the discussions.
