EXCELLENT TOPIC!! I totally agree. Image is key. And it will make you more money too. More about that below. But image is so crucial to building a big business or even maintaining a stable small business.
Of course you can only do so much so fast. At first, we just wore jeans or shorts and some decent T-shirts. They didn't match but every day they were clean and there were no holes in them. We looked as good as we could when we were working. And when I went to give estimates, I tried to look even better.
It's taken me a long while but we've finally got our image about as good as I'd like it. You can only afford to do a little at a time. That's what I did. First thing was T-Shirts. I wanted the people to know that it was Lewis Landscape in their yard, not some yeah-hoo sneaking around. I followed the lead of the big companies in my area and got bright shirts with our name in huge letters on the back. At the same time, I chose a company color. It's important. Down the road you will need to think of media consistency. You don't want to have white trucks, red shirts and green hats. Not only does it look tacky but it doesn't remind people of who you are.
Next thing I did was paint all of our trucks the same color. Mind you, I didn't put on $3000 paint jobs. I found guys who did pretty good work for little money. I bartered with an autobody shop. I had an uncle paint one with me (for free). Point is, make it look nice and professional, but no need to spend a ton of doough. It's a work truck. The flip side of that is you probably don't want the Earl Shibe $199 special either. Also, I keep our trucks looking clean. Except during the winter, we wash them every 2-3 days. Hosing them off every day if necessary.
With just the Shirts and trucks alone, we immediately got noticed in a big way. I chose bright red because it gets noticed. Green is overused. Choose whatever you like. One company in my area has a great color scheme. All their trucks are yellow / green two-tone. They get noticed! But be consistent.
Personal image is also important. I always to choose workers who had clean cut hear and face. And I always make sure that I have nice clean hair and no facial hair (it matters to some people).
That's the basics. But there's more when you get bigger.
Next, I added Sweat-shirts, for when it rains. I found that T-Shirts worked great but when it rained or was cold, they were covered up. So I bought us all matching Sweatshirts to throw over the t-shirts when needed. Then when it gets to hot, we just take them off and the T-Shirt is visible. Works great.
I have biz cards that are matching.
My most recent purchase, and this only happened a few months ago, was hats! I got some cool baseball style caps with our name on them. It's required attire now. At the same time, I also splurged a little on myself and got a few fleece vests and a fleece jacket monogramed for myself. They look sweet.
Nowadays when I roll up to a house, people know instantly who we are just by looking out their window. When I go give an estimate in my hat and fleece jacket, it makes a great imporession. People know we're legitimate. There's an instant respect that's given. A lot of it is my demeanor too. I'm a lot more confident these days. I can land most any job when I talk face to face with someone. But part of that confidence comes from knowing that the image is helping pursuade them.
You will earn a lot of respect with a professional image. Look at what the bigger companies do in your area. Follow their example. That's all I did. I just copied them.
It will make you a lot more money too. People are much more happy to pay an additional $20 or $30 more a month if they think it's going to be done by pros. Also, you will find people are way more lax with their money when you look like a legit operation too. I've had people who I just met say this to me; "You know what? I like your estimate. Let's do it. I'm gonna be in and out of town a lot over the next few months, here's a check for the first 3 months of service. I am sure you'll do great. Thanks!" I just met them and they are throwing me money!! Without ever having done a minute of work for them! That never happened a few years ago. Also, for major jobs (big clean-ups, etc.) I can ask for 1/;2 down and get it almost every time. Something I could have never done before. People feel comfortable with a professional company.
One more thing I might ad. With matching trucks, shirts, etc. you will get a lot more P.R. than you think. People automatically assume you have a fleet of 20 trucks. It's so funny. I go to gas stations all the time and the attendent will say something to me like "Geez. This Lewis guy sure has a lot of these Chevy trucks, doesn't he? I see you guys all over town." Heck, we only got 3! But people notice us all the time.
Well, that's my 2 cents. Hope someone somewhere learned something
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Jim Lewis - Lewis Landscape Services
http://www.lewislandscape.com
