When I was doing landscaping 20 years ago, the most profitable time of the year was the fall. Here in NC, the fall is when homeowners aerate and overseed.
I had a 26" Ryan walk behind aerator. It took me around an hour to do an average sized yard. My first day with the aerator I worked pretty much from sunrise to sunset, and left a TON of money on the table. I didn’t know any better. But I leaned a valuable lesson. For the rest of that fall, I only booked enough jobs to fill half the day, but I still worked till sundown every day. Nearly every call I went to I had multiple neighbors hear the aerator, walk over, and say ‘can you do mine?’
A large percentage of homeowners don’t realize they need a service until they see they service. Consider this the Marketing Law of ‘keeping up with the Joneses.’ Even today, I have a neighbor, Tom. Tom is a great guy, but he’s always that guy. I get my kids a quad for Christmas, he gets his kids a bigger quad on Dec 27. I pressure wash my driveway on Wed, he’s out doing his by the weekend. We all know someone like that.
My point is, NEVER be on a job without some sort of branding displayed. The family at 3704 may not even know their driveway is dirty…until they see how clean the driveway at 3702 looks after a wash. I’d suggest a nice yard sign stuck in the ground the minute you get to the job. If it’s a nice neighborhood, ask if you can leave it up for a few days after you’re done. 9 out of 10 homeowners will be happy to allow this.
Always leave the homeowner with a dozen or so of your business cards. “Just in case your neighbors ask” you’ll say. They’ll comment. They’ll ask. And then the response you want is 'I think I have his card around here somewhere…" and that’s a call. That’s a job. It’s not even a sell. The job you’ve done is the testimonial. Your work is the pitch.
And this should go without saying, but just be a nice guy. Go above and beyond. The only thing the customer can tell their friends about you that’s better than ‘he did a good job’ is ‘he was just a really nice guy.’ The friends can see your work. They can see you did a good job. Getting the confirmation on your character seals the deal. The old adage is completely true: make a customer happy and they’ll tell 2 people. Piss them off and they’ll tell 20.
My days of landscaping and pressure washing are long past. Now I own a printing business, but truly miss the days of working outside. I kept a few cool toys - one of them a Northstar Pressure Washer. 13HP Honda Motor, CAT Pump. 3500PSI @ 4GPM. I bought it around 94 or 95, and aside from replacing the 3 ceramic pistons once and the pump seals once, it’s been maintenance free. Pretty decent for the homeowner weekend warrior. I spent about 10 hours this weekend doing my (very large) driveway. I expect Tom out doing his any day now.
If you have any marketing needs - signs, cards, shirts, mailers, banners, anything. Please don’t hesitate to message me for pricing.
Thanks
GN
