I have a question about getting new accounts.

[River City Lawn Care]

I live in the mid-west (Kansas City, Mo), and it seems like there is so much competition out here that unless you are a huge company with a fleet of mowers and 10 trucks it's darn near impossible to land some of the larger accounts. Does anyone have any suggestions on this. I have a large neighborhood account that I do now (about 21 acres of homes), but I would like to expand. Please help.

[Mrs. H]

Getting customers, especially commercial/Industrial, is all about you and how you present. You are going to sell all the qualities YOU have that the other "big guys" don't. Maybe being more personal and accessable is something you can point out.

Draw up your bid on a neat looking letterhead. Doesn't have to cost, just make it up on Word. Maybe submit it in a colored folder along with copies of your licences and proof of insurance or whatever the customer is requiring. Call ahead and ask what docs are needed and when a good time to meet with the manager is. Wear a nice shirt. Clean, preferably not one you cut in (I know they get grundgy). Smile. Maybe point out other accounts that you do that the customer may have seen in town.

And be fair in your bid, to yourself. Undercutting can be detrimental to your profitablity. If you've got the equipment, you can do it better for less. Pick accounts that you are confident you can work with the equipment you have now. Walk in with that confidence behind you.

I wish you luck. Hope I helped a little. :)

[River City Lawn Care]

Thanks for the advice. I will that a try. I've been finding that a lot of the bigger commercial places want a combination of lawn and snow, and I don't push snow. I'm trying to find a sub for that but, I think most would like to be billed by one company instead of two. I don't understand the difference, it doesn't seem to me that it would be that big of a hassle to receive invoices from to different companies. Any suggestions other than start pushing snow?

[Mrs. H]

Sub-contracting work very well most of the time. If you really don't want to or don't have the equipment, Subbing can really help get the account if that is what the customer is looking for. I think it really does help when they can hire someone for a year and never have to think about the grounds maintenance again. They usually have bigger fish to fry.

[River City Lawn Care]

Is it better to have the sub bill me or have them send it directly to the account. I know some companies charge a little more than what their sub quotes to make a buck, but I don't really want to do that for pushing snow.

[Mrs. H]

When we were the sub, we would bill the contractor, who I am sure was making a little more than we were charging and saving on the gas and milage for getting to the site.

[River City Lawn Care]

Thanks for the useful info. I'm going to give it a try.

[CLARK LAWN]

if you want to grow you are going to have to plow. i make about 1/3 of my money from plowing and only have to work about 15-20 days out of the winter.

[River City Lawn Care]

It does appear that would be the easiest thing to do.

[lawnangel1]

I maybe one of those companies you are talking about. I have 12 trucks total and it seems I am always fighting the guys with 20 trucks. Bottom line David will always be fighting Goliath, there is just no way around it.Unfortunately these big companys have tons of money to blow on networking and marketing so every dime I put into networking and marketing has to be worth it. Bottom line be professional, do a quality job, do it a fair price. Remember not all commercial properties take the lowest bid.

[River City Lawn Care]

That is the truth around here. There is so much competition it's insane. From the bigger companies with fleets to even the smaller companies like mine, there are so many mowers around here it's hard to establish yourself.

[IN2MOWN]

I live in the mid-west (Kansas City, Mo), and it seems like there is so much competition out here that unless you are a huge company with a fleet of mowers and 10 trucks it's darn near impossible to land some of the larger accounts. Does anyone have any suggestions on this. I have a large neighborhood account that I do now (about 21 acres of homes), but I would like to expand. Please help.



Good luck. The market here is so saturated its unreal.

I like to play to the fact that I DONT have 10 trucks going out and I give every customer personal attention. Ive landed lots of accounts because people are just sick and tired of not being able to communicate with the companies they are using.

[River City Lawn Care]

What's been your best approach for getting contracts. It seems that people now are comfortable with their current provider and don't even want to be given a bid. I'm also having trouble finding people looking for services.

[IN2MOWN]

What's been your best approach for getting contracts. It seems that people now are comfortable with their current provider and don't even want to be given a bid. I'm also having trouble finding people looking for services.



Are you talking about commercial accounts or residential?

[River City Lawn Care]

I would prefer commercial but both would be fine.

[IN2MOWN]

I would prefer commercial but both would be fine.



Commercials are tough to break into. I got mine because my customers own the businesses or from friends.

Your best bet is to stick to residentials till you get big enough and then branch out.

As far as homes goes...I have always let my work do the talking. Word of mouth is the best reference you can have.

I do some advertising. Doorhangers and local newspapers are the best way to go. Postcards are great also.

Winter is a great time to get everything together for the spring. Start advertising in March and blanket your area. Make sure everyone sees your name. Get a sign for your trailer. Letter your truck. Join your cities Chamber of Commerce.

If you go to church advertise in their bulletin also.

DONT waste your money on a yellow book ad. I spent over $4000.00 in 3 years and got ONE lead off of it. Its a total waste of money.

Also think about a website. I get a lot of traffic off of mine.

[Dschlott]

River City -- Gotta tell ya I wish we were a small company right now.. The fact that as a smaller business your overhead is extremely low as well as taxes, payroll, etc... Use this to your advantage when formulating a tight bid. Use your best rates to break that first nut open. Your larger companies cannot compete with you -- what holds you back is a long list of performance successes. I would have to say this market is prime for the small guy who can forulate a great presentation and guarantee personal service.

As far as your sub and how they bill -- they bill you - the reason you would offer that sub is so your commercial customer writes just one check a month.. Consider searching out a few subs this winter to make yourselk more turn-key -- get a pool guy, spray sub, plumber (for backflows only), an irrigation guy, and a snow company on your list of ammo for your next big target.

[River City Lawn Care]

Thanks for the advice. I sent out about 400 postcards last year and only received 1 call. I know you can expect a low percent on those, but I thought I would get more than one call and it only ended up being a one time deal to get the season going for this home owner.

I never really thought about having all those other subs on hand but it really makes a lot of sense. I do have people I would use but have never made it official that they are the ones for sure, it was more like if something came up I would call and see if they could check it out, no guarantee that they would do it.

I don't necessarily want to become big time, I would like to just remain busy and not have to have a whole lot of window time. I prefer the one stop bigger jobs.