Considering that it employs more than 1 million people, with market size of USD$105.1 billion, it’s safe to say that the landscaping industry in the U.S. is booming. This is enticing news if you are interested in starting your own landscaping business. (1)
If you’ve already started one or are still in the planning stage, you need to know how to generate leads to increase your sales volumes. Lead generation refers to the process of getting people who are interested in your business to fill your sales funnel. Once you get their contact details and understand their interests, you can continue to interest them in ordering your services.
With that in mind, here are the top lead generation tactics you can use to grow your landscaping business:
- Demonstrate professionalism
Professionalism is a crucial element of success in the workplace. For your landscaping business, you can show professionalism by being punctual during appointments, dressing in branded work gear, communicating well with clients, and by maintaining honesty and integrity. Landscaping business software can also really help you to appear more professional by supporting you with the following tasks: (2)
- Sending appointment reminders
- Tracking and sending invoices
- Creating professional job quotes
- Sending timely SMS notifications and updates to your customers
- Accepting online payments
Using such industry-specific tools portrays you as a competent and organized business that customers like dealing with. By investing in these tools, and enhancing customer satisfaction as a result, it creates a ripple effect of maintaining current customers and attracting new ones through positive engagement, reviews, and referrals.
- Leverage the power of price marketing
Price is a critical element of the 4P marketing mix, the other three being product, place, and promotion. As it’s the only element that generates a turnover for your business, you must master how to price your landscaping services. (3)
Here are some of the pricing strategies you can use:
- Market penetration strategy
- Bundle pricing
- Premium pricing
- Tiered pricing
- Price skimming
- Psychological pricing
- Geographical pricing
- Loss leaders
- Competition-based
An effective pricing strategy goes a long way in achieving customer satisfaction. Consequently, more potential customers get drawn to your brand.
- Market your brand on social media
In the modern world, you can’t ignore the power of social media. About 4 billion people around the globe use social networks. The figure is set to rise to 4.5 billion in the next three years. There’s a high likelihood that the people residing within your area of operation hang out on social networks. So, it’s only logical to follow them there and hang out with them. (4)
You can start by creating your business’ pages on mainstream social sites. Then, craft a content strategy to keep your followers engaged constantly. Such interaction with your present and potential customers creates a bond, which is key to influencing them to do business with you.
- Attend trade shows
Hundreds of trade shows take place each year. If you’re careful enough, you won’t miss hearing about some in your locality that are most relevant to your business. Take this opportunity to showcase your landscaping brand to the attendees.
If possible, try to give a speech. Speaking at such events significantly exposes your business to the crowd, increasing your chances of getting customers. Also, trade shows offer an excellent opportunity to network with individuals and firms with similar interests. Don’t be afraid to initiate conversations with attendees. Be bold and tell them what you do. Most importantly, leave your business cards with every person you happen to talk with.
- Use pay per click advertising
Pay per click (PPC) advertising is an ingenious approach to getting leads fast. The good thing about it is that you target people already looking for services similar to yours. For instance, if a web user searches for ‘landscaping services in Kentucky,’ and your ads are optimized for these keywords, your brand can pop up at the top of the search engine results page.
To this end, make a point of designing your landing page to quickly explain who you are, what you do, and how customers can benefit from your services. If they’re pleased with your offers, they won’t have any reason to abandon you and head off to your competitor’s sites.
Conclusion
You can set up your landscaping business for success by adopting smart lead generation strategies, including portraying a professional image, pricing your services correctly, connecting with customers on social media, using PPC advertising, and networking at trade shows. The aim of these strategies is to attract potential customers to your sales funnel and pursue them further until they avail of your services.
References
- “Landscape Industry Statistics”, Source: https://www.landscapeprofessionals.org/LP/About/Industry-Statistics/LP/Media/landscape-industry-statistics.aspx#:~:text=Size%20of%20the%20Industry%20Statistics%20from%20the%20IBIS,businesses%2C%20an%20increase%20of%204.9%20percent%20from%202020.
- “Professionalism in the Workplace”, Source: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/professionalism-526248
- “The 4 Ps”, Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps.asp
- “Number of social network users worldwide from 2017 to 2025”, Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/
