Marketing Irrigation Service

[Green Sweep]

I would like to get an idea how you guys market the service end of the business (Start ups, blowouts, repair). Door hangers, referral discounts, ads ???? What works for you. Right now, we primarily service our installs, but there is so much service work in our area & I would like to grab some of it.

Thanks in advance,
Rob

[aquamtic]

ROB, I have found that placing an ad in the smaller community papers works well. Plus the costs are low.
Church bulletins work well also.

[greenworldh20]

dude,

you need to create the market place...show the 'people' they need your services.

how do we accomplish this?

you must answer this question: why should anyone choose you over your competition?

are you licensed through the ia? are you a cic or cid? do you offer awesome customer service? are you a factory trained technician in the specific brand of irrigation componets i , the consumer, have in my lawn?

why should i 'choose' you?

you have to create a 'niche' for your company...fill a need.


does your competition push hunter? then you could push rainbird...say it is 'better'. speak of the benefits of a 'rainbird' system...

you just created a 'difference' between you and your competition.

other things that might help seperate you from the competition:

catchy logo

uniformed technicians

office personell answering phone

attending industry trade shows and education seminars




just make your self different...it will get you 'noticed'.

network with local landscape contractors...that is where you will find a 'pot o gold'.

seriously, this is really marketing 101.

the easiest way is to look at sucessful companies in your area (you know who they are) and see what they are doing. sam walton, the late owner of walmart, always walked through k-marts stores to see what they were doing better than him.

see what your competition is doing right and what you are doing wrong.

if you need more help, drop me a line, always willing to help out.

brian

:eek:

now, here is a pic of my truck and trailer that seperates me from the competition. none of my competiion letters their truck or trailer neatly. i did mine up like crazy...i want it to be noticed...i want everyone to know who is installing that awesome irrigation system

[BULLGRAZER]

Thats the way to nail it Brian - well said!

-=KC=-

[kennyb]

good job brian, great looking rig also

[pokemon]

Brian

You nailed!. Good job :) I admire your work . Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

Dennis

[Mark B]

One of the things I did when I started up is that when I would see a mow & blow company I would stop and say hey my name is and here is what I do. If you know of anyone that needs my services please give em my phone number. I would stop by and talk to em for time to time to see how things were going with them (bsing). I done that for about a 1.5 yrs. It finally paid off. It was kinda hard for me to do it cause 95% of my work is service only. Then I picked up lighting I work it the same way. But I live in a small town.

[greenworldh20]

sleepyhead touched on a great point. he lives in a small town...so he specializes in 'service' only. (is that correct, sleepyhead?)

you have to change in order to survive...in a small town, you cannot 'push' a service that will not work.

you have to play to your 'strengths'.

one of them is 'change'. you have to keep your product fresh and innovative. you have to create consumer awareness for your product.

think 'outside' of the box. keep pushing your company forward...drive your company like you are an 'outsider' looking in.

great business people think like this...jack welch, former ceo of ge, sam walton, former owner of walmat, the owner of victoria's secret (can't remember the name of that dude)...all these people pushed their company past all others because they had a vision...one that no one else had because they did not view their business like others do....they tried new things...

yeah, i am ranting on, but keep trying to be the best you can...don't be negative...if you try some thing and it doesn't work out...so what? try something else...you never know how far you can go until you try, right?

john allin, owner of smg, the largest snow management provider in america, told me he doesn't worry about the people who say he cannot take snow removal national; he worries about the ones that think they can.

later,

b--

[Mark B]

Good point as well green. I live in between 2 large towns about 30 minutes I could be on the edge of each town.

So here is my question? When you want to go into another town what seems to work the best for you guys if you do just service only? Do you use flyiers, yellow pages, send a letter to some of the landscape companies? I'm just doing some thinking about trying that.

[greenworldh20]

another good question. here is what i do: i try everything. flyers, yellow page ads, networking with local landscape contractors.

the key point is to 'measure' the success of each type of 'marketing'. you do this by asking the client 'how did you hear of our company?'

make notes in a data base program...then you will have your 'answer'. when you see what works for you in a particular area, then you know where you can allocate your advertising and marketing dollars appropately.

you must be able to 'measure' everything...how else are you going to know what you are doing from year to year...what works and what doesn't?

example...3 years ago i was paying $960/month for a yellow page ad in a local phone book. i thought that since other successful companies had this size ad, i needed it too. that bill came out ot $11,520(give or take a few pennies). now, was i getting that much out of the ad? i had no clue because i did not track sales leads. since i did not track sales leads, i had no idea what my close ratio was.

the next year, i did track everything and i was able to measure our progress. yellow pages advertising was bringing in a lot of peeps that were shopping for price...not the type of client i want. plus, i was loosing money. i down sized the ad the next year, and i will down size it again this season.

tracking my leads showed us where our install work was coming from: over 50% of my work is referral...which is what we all should strive for..becoming a referral based business.

market your company right and do what you say you will do and you will be happy.

here is a project we did that was a referral...awesome landscape and very nice net profit on this job, too.

[Mark B]

Most of my work comes from a sign that I set out in the lawn area for 2 weeks after I get finished with the work that I ahve done. I have always asked how did yo find out about me?

this is funny I priced a landscape job over 1 year ago the lady calls me up last week and says I know the price has changed but I'm ready for you to do the job. :D

A nutter one had a lady call me about 2 weeks ago. I asked the question she said I saw your sign out in the yard and I liked the why you did the lights and I want my house to look like hers. :D

I think on my next lighting job I'm going to light the sign up so peeps will see my sign. :D

[greenworldh20]

sleepy head...

seems like the lawn sign is working for you...so you have a 'direction'...and you are thinking 'outside' the box, by lighting the sign on 'lighting' jobs....i like that...


good for you...seems you are on the right path to $$$

brian

[Mark B]

When I first started I bought 1 sign $55.00 with my old biz name on it. Within 2 weeks that sign moved all the way around the block it was in 4 different yards.

I didn't have any luck with yellow pages.

My next thing is going to be the lights then I will have a small sign that I can change the top to
irrigation service preformed here
landscape lights completed
new landscape installed
and so on. whatcha thinks bout dat?

[greenworldh20]

sleepyhead...too much work for one sign...invest in 'throwaway' signs...ones you can leave on a jobsite for a few weeks and the home owner can 'discard' them. this saves you the time to drive back to the account and 'get' your sign. not to mention those signs always get 'scratched'.

nothing like putting a new 'disposable' sign on a just completed landscape job.

try bags unlimited in rochester, ny. they had good competitive prices for 'plastic bag' signs.

brian

[Mdirrigation]

Go 1 step further with the sign idea. I am sure you have seen the alarm company signs. I have the same size sign that I attach to the mailbox post . I also use the throw away signs they both work great. But the small sign stays there for years.

As far as a data base you should add every phone call that comes in into a data base ,my computer captures every phone call with name and number thru caller ID . If you see another company installing a sprinkler add it into the data base , 3 years ago i went back to my old estimates from 10 years ago, the jobs I didnt get , I added them to my data base .

[greenworldh20]

more good ideas! this is looking like a great thread. yes, you can database all leads provided you have the systems set up to do so...for companies under $500,000 this is a daunting task...the owner is wearing all the hats...life is crazy at this point.

now, databasing homes where you see the competition i believe is a waste of my time...why do it? i only like to divert all my energy to clients that inquire about my services...not to ones that employ the competiiton.

now, what program did you link your caller id to to get the info into your computer???

brian

[pokemon]

Yes, like Brian said inquiring minds wants to know "what program did you link your caller id to to get the info into your computer??? " and

What's the purpose of databasing the jobs you did not get ???
:confused:

Did you generate sales if any from the jobs you did not get ???

Dennis

[Mdirrigation]

Originally posted by pokemon
Yes, like Brian said inquiring minds wants to know "what program did you link your caller id to to get the info into your computer??? " and


There was a answering system on my hp computer when I bought it I dont know the name of it . I am working on getting the same tracking system a heating oil company uses He is going to change the paramaters a bit to fit my needs.

What's the purpose of databasing the jobs you did not get ???
:confused:

Sprinklers last years , people move , or didnt like the job that was done, contractors go out of business. A lowballer may have done the job. You know that adress has a irrigation system ,

Did you generate sales if any from the jobs you did not get ???

Oh yes ,162 new service customers and counting on the last mailing of 1000 . Signed service agreements with a check enclosed. I resend everyone 2 times a year over a 2 month period Jan and aug. We add to the data base all winter , for my irrigation and other trades , the other info I package and sell to other contractors . It keeps 3 of us busy all winter when there is no snow.


As brian said he likes to think outside the box. Also think long term ,service work is there in a good economy and bad. I have been in irrigation for 22 years . I see companies come and go , only 4 others around have been in business as long or longer than me. It was 7 or 8 years ago a contractor around here went into bancrucpy,at the auction everyone was bidding on his worn out equipment and trucks, I bought 2 junky looking computers
nobody wanted and got all the customers for 42.00 .




:)

[pokemon]

MdIrrigation,

Thats awesome! How you generated sales off other accounts.
Thanks for sharing

[greenworldh20]

i agree with pokeman. hats off to mdirrigation for going the extra mile. if you were in my market you would keep all of us irrigation contractors on our toes...make us work 'harder'.

brian

[Mdirrigation]

I want to pose a question to you guys . What is a service customer worth over 1 year? And the same customer over 10 years?

[pokemon]

Let me take a stab at it. By using quality components from the top 2 to 3 manufactures over a year there should not be any repairs. If you did the install properly the first time, however; we all do not live in a perfect world and maybe one or two components out of 10 installs is defective or bad install so I would guess from $0.00 to $125.00 the first year and the same customer over 10 years? probably $300 - $1000.

[Mdirrigation]

Lets base it on a service customer that you didnt install and the sprinkler system is 2 years old

[greenworldh20]

you cannot comment on a system some one else installed...there is always a reason why someone installed a system and does not maintain it...

but, what the hey...

i will guess:

two service calls...under $100 in materials.

brian

[Mdirrigation]

A lawn sprinkler service customer , over the course of 10 years has the potential value of thousands. How , first the normal repairs , spring turn ons and winterizations. Second people change their landscape and enlarge their houses (moving lines)
Third, people move, if you have their trust you will install their next sprinkler without any competition. Finally the customer will refer you to their friends which means more work, and the domino effect goes on. A satisfied customer is the best advertizing.

When we service a systen we dont comment on the installation contractor , I make an assessment of the problems and provide solutions based on accepted irrigation design and practices.

[greenworldh20]

md...

what would you do in this situation:

new client calls you...states they have an existing irrigation system 3 years old that has a broken head. you arrive to home repair head and check system. upon checking system you find

1- zones that have rotor and sprays on same zone...heads too close together and some areas with no head to head coverage.

2- rotor heads hitting the home watering foundation plantings

3- homes with no backflow or inadequate backflow devices.

4- systems with no waterproof wire splices...6 valves in a 4 zone valve box...

my question to you is how do you tell a homeowner that they need hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in repairs to their system with out speaking bad about the other contractor?

check out this pic of a beautiful job...explain this to a client...

[greenworldh20]

can you explain to a client what is wrong with this plumbing???

tell the client we need a licensed plumber to fix this mess...and that we need backflow protection...plumbers get $400 for this in my area...then we need to re-connect to irrigaton system and check...should cost you around $700

not picking on ya....just some scenarios i have been in...looking for answers.

brian

on this pic...copper comes out of home, t's into blow out valve, and goes to pvc mainfold....nice, huh...love that 'piece of copper sticking out of the ground'!!!

[DanaMac]

When I run into these situations where the system is complete crap, i tend to make judgement calls. If the homeowner seems understanding and sounds like they would be willing to start making some changes, I will fix whatever problem I was called out for, and give them a price to fix the bad workamnship.

But if the homeowner doesn't care, says it works just fine, I put it in myself, etc - I tell them here is the price to fix it, but I will not make any repairs unless I can bring it up to code. I tell them it compromises my license (not really but it sounds good) and reputation to work on a system not up to regulations.

[Mdirrigation]

First I would fix the problem I was called out for and make any other quick and easy adjustments . And give them the bill.

Then I would show them pictures of a properly installed backflow , and explain to them 2 things , first that they could get sick due to back siphoning , and that second that the pvc pipe in theis basementhas the potential to break and flood their basement , pointing out that everything else is copper and that the tie in was done prior to the pressure regulator , and failure is only a matter of time. And I could not see a manual shut off valve

All this would then be noted on the invoice so I have this recorded as a pre existing condition.

Now you have shown them how crappy a job the other contractor did with out saying the contractors name. All you have to say this isnt done to code and is potentially dangerous to your health and will possibly flood the basement.


As far as all the other repairs , no dont hit them all at once , mention that you have the capabilities to fix them. Now that you have your foot in the door you will be the one he calls back.

Once the backflow has been done and what looks like the master valve has been relocated to the outside the customer will be impressed, you will now have the winterization and future repairs , if the rest of the system follows the same quality you pictured you will have quite a few in the future. The 700 dollar figure it right about what I would charge to fix the problem. .

Now you have a service customer who will spread the word, he now knows that the other contractor screwed him and you didnt say a word about the contractor personally , his work did all the talking. Keep that picture in a book and next to it have a picture of the proper way and when you give an estimate show new customers what they may get.

That is a common install in my area , just as common as a sprinkler hooked up to a hose spicot. I change over about 25 of these a year.

I dont try to sell all the repairs at once , I first gain their trust and confidence , then I know I will get the rest of the repairs over time. This customer will move from that house in time and you will get the next his next install.


This is one of those customers I want because they have the potential for 1200 dollars of service work in the next 2 or 3 years. $700 for backflow , 125 for the first service call and the following blow outs, and repairs.

[greenworldh20]

md....telling them this is saying something bad about xyz company.

[Mdirrigation]

No, telling them that something is not done correctly and resulting situation could potentially could harm them would only be a statment of fact. Any assumption that the xyz was was bad or incompentant would be a decision that customer would make on his own .All you have done is warn him that the improper installation is dangerous. You, as a professional in your field , would only be bringing this to his attention. As you should.